PAUL MARTONE possesses nine years of teaching experience, which he earned in middle schools, high schools, and colleges and universities in New York and Oregon. He is a published writer of fiction with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oregon and a Master of Arts degree (Distinction) from the State University of New York at Albany. In the past five years, Paul has taught courses in Creative Writing, Literature, and Rhetoric & Composition at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon.

BRIAN CHRISTOPHER is a professional writer, screenwriter, playwright, songwriter, musician, teacher, editor and publisher. His short stories, poems and essays have appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies, and he has three published collections of poetry: Skin, Angels in Exile, and The Detective Poems. He is the founder, editor and publisher of Quiet Lion Press, which has released books for numerous local and national writers since its inception in 1991. A professional songwriter and musician he plays guitar, bass, piano and drums. He teaches classes in writing, playwriting, songwriting, acting and improvisation, both privately and in numerous area schools. He has taught extensively for Saturday Academy, Community of Writers, and the Literary Arts/Writers in the Schools program. He is currently on the faculty of PSU, Marylhurst University, Portland Community College, and The Northwest Academy.

JADA PIERCE, (University of Oregon), BA (Purdue University), has taught at the middle school, high school, and college levels for the past eight years. She entered education through Teach for America, teaching English and Social Studies at Booker T. Washington Middle School in Baltimore, MD, for three years. During this time she also completed coursework at Johns Hopkins to become certified in secondary education. She moved west in 2003 to complete her MFA in poetry writing at the U of O, where she taught Introduction to Poetry Writing, Poetry Workshops, and Composition 101 and 102. The past three years she has taught tenth and twelfth grade English and journalism at Jesuit High School here in Portland. Currently, when she’s not teaching English and Humanities in both the middle and high schools at NWA, she can be found writing or performing music with her rock-n-roll band, Chores.

SHARON WEIR, M.Ed. (Portland State University), BA (University of Oregon), joined The Northwest Academy in 2005, having previously taught at Clackamas High School and in the Portland Public School District. Sharon brings an inquiry based cross-curricular approach to the classroom, where she teaches Ancient Civilizations, U.S. Constitution, Speech and Debate, Greek & Latin Root Words, and Study Skills at the middle school. With a joint background in Art History and Social Studies, she strongly believes in fostering student creativity and achievement, and encouraging students to make connections between core subject areas and the world around them.

JULIE ELLINGTON, has taught at University, Middle, and/or High school levels for the past ten years in the U.S. and abroad. She has been with NWA for 6 years, where she teaches Exploratory English, EH I, World History, and French. Her academic and professional credentials are in Sociolinguistics, Rhetoric and Composition, Literary Theory, Language Acquisition, and World Literature, which she earned at various institutions, including OSU, PSU, Université de Poitiers, La Sorbonne, and The University of Tunis. When she is not in the classroom or grading papers, Julie can be found writing or tending to the animals and food on her urban organic farm.