Our Team

Julie Pile, PresidentJulie Pile first became engaged in her children’s school when her daughter was in kindergarten.  The PTA was looking for help with their website.  She had just completed an overhaul of her employer’s website and felt she could contribute her talents.  In that she was a full-time working mom and the website could be done outside of school hours, it was a way she could help without being physically present at the school.  Through those first years of attending PTA meetings, she felt she was not part of the “in crowd” and was sure other parents felt the same.  She was determined to make a difference and make it so that all parents/families felt welcomed at PTA functions.

Eventually she became President of the PTA and at the same time was invited to participate in a program sponsored by the The Prichard Committee for Educational Excellence called The Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership.  This program gave her the knowledge and tools to start working even more closely with her children’s schools.

Julie can be often be found on Twitter chats leading discussions on getting more families, guardians, mentors and the community involved in education.  Opening doors and changing cement walls to glass walls.  She was elected to the Boone County School Board in 2018 and has served as a Parent Ambassador in the Boone County School System. Also in 2018, she was named to the inaugural class of the EdTrust Fund Parent Fellowship class.  In 2017, Julie was named the inaugural recipient of the Beverly Nickels Raimondo Kentucky Parent Leadership Award named after the found of the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership.  In 2015 she was recognized as the Bammy Award People’s Choice Parent Leadership recipient.  She has served in multiple PTA positions including Vice President of Communications for the Kentucky State PTA and past President of the recently formed Boone County High School PTSA.

 

Laura GilchristLaura Gilchrist is a teacher turned consultant who is on a mission as ParentCamp Vice-President to teach every family-school-community how to come together in joyful connection and collaboration as ONE TEAM, ONE ECOSYSTEM for kids. The big goal is Family-School-Community-Integration and nationwide research about the impact of Family-School-Community Collective Efficacy.

Laura is passionate about teachers and teacher agency. She loves working with them and they love working with her. As CEO of Kid Champions Consulting Laura helps teachers and schools humanize and transform teaching and learning, whether it’s face to face and/or virtual.

Laura taught amazing middle schoolers for 20 years in Lee’s Summit, Park Hill and for most of her career in North Kansas City. Laura was a MO State Teacher of the Year TOY Finalist in 2015 and received the Christa McAuliffe Pioneer in Education Award from the KC Northland Chamber of Commerce the same year. In a quest to explore education ecosystems and follow her heart, Laura hopped over the state line to coach incredible teachers for 3 years in Wyandotte County in USD 202. Additionally, she has been honored to witness and be part of the Kansans Can Redesign Project.

This ParentCamp foundational quote is the basis of Laura’s work. “Everything needed to help kids thrive is already within your family-school-community ecosystem.” Laura is passionate about nurturing, building and tending to “The Ecosystem.” She knows building trust and connections are necessary for human happiness and for future collaboration.

In fact, since 2011 Laura has been doing just that. For three and a half years, Laura organized and held monthly KCEdu meetups with the help of many wonderful teams and partners, bringing KC’s educators, ed organizations and community and industry together for kids. Laura attended and supported educators at over 30 Edcamps and she co-organized multiple Edcamps including EdCampKC at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, one of her most cherished organizing memories.

Laura values curiosity, presence, trust, non-judgment and Walking the Talk. Laura wants every child/learner to have the privilege of feeling seen, heard and valued for the divine soul they are and to wake up surrounded by a deeply connected ecosystem of caring adults through which love, opportunities, resources, information and belonging flow freely to kids.

Laura believes we can transform our family-school-communities for kids from our SCHOOLS, using the Virtual ParentCamp Model and the Family-School-Community Integration System. Laura lives in Kansas City with her husband and their 3 churlish chihuahuas, who miss “the kids.” Rumor is she’s a big KC Chiefs fan.

 

Emily HowellEmily is a District Continuous Improvement Consultant for the western half of the state of Missouri. She supports teams of teachers and administrators in system-wide best practices to support high levels of achievement for all students.

Prior to her consulting work, she served as an elementary teacher and principal in both public and private schools in Missouri and Kansas. Along with supporting educators’ instructional practices, she is passionate about social-emotional learning and holistic wellness for all members of the school community, and provides yoga and mindfulness workshops for schools and non-profits across the Kansas City area.

 

Ted HuffTed is a retired Middle School Principal. His passions focus on character education, stakeholder voice, academic excellence, and parent and community engagement.

In 2014, Ted joined the #PCChat Voxer book study “Beyond the Bake Sale” (which included Julie, Laura, and Jay). From there, Ted joined the #PCChat team to present at the National Conference in Chicago, IL. From that conference, he continued working with his school’s Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Team. This dedicated team of parents led an engagement initiative. As a result of their passion, dedication, and collaboration, Ted’s school was named a National Partnership School with the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS) four times. Throughout the years, he remained connected with #PCChat and #ParentCamp, serving as a participant and facilitator for the National ParentCamp virtual events.  As a retired middle school principal, Ted remains connected with family engagement, while working with the entire ParentCamp Coach team.

 

Jay PosickJay is a recently retired 35 year educator, spending the last 20 years as a building administrator. Thirty-two of his thirty-five years in education were dedicated to middle school. Jay connected with Julie Pile on Twitter and Voxer while doing a book study on “Beyond the Bake Sale.” Over the years, Jay stayed connected via Twitter and Voxer and once retired, joined the ParentCamp community.

 

 

 

 

Kristen is a retired teacher of 21 years. She started her career in 2001 teaching high school English and soon after, discovered a love for Media Arts which led her to the world of Technology. Throughout her career, Kristen had the privilege to work with amazing students, staff, and parents. Luckily, she crossed paths with Julia Pile while teaching her daughter and son. Julia’s passion for parent involvement was contagious. Kristen was encouraged to create family-friendly events that her students led and together, they worked to establish the first Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Team at Camp Ernst Middle School. They collaborated on many projects that improved the culture of the school. Kristen is thrilled to be part of the team. She enjoys the energy and excitement everybody brings.