Our Team

Associate Superintendent, Educational Services

831.466.5806

Executive Director, Santa Cruz County College and Career Collaborative (S4C)

831.466.5813

Cristine Chopra is the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz County College and Career Collaborative. She began her career in education in 1996 as a high school English teacher in San Jose before moving to Seattle. While in Seattle she served as the Director of the Collaborative for Instructional Development at the Washington State GEAR UP Project as well as supporting the Center for Curriculum Transformation and the Center for Multicultural Education. Dr. Chopra earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Washington in 2014. She has taught undergraduate and graduate students at UCSC, and CSUMB but is happy to have come back to K-12 work.

The College and Career Collaborative aims to increase post-secondary access and attainment for students in Santa Cruz County. Through partnerships with K-12 districts, Cabrillo College, UCSC, and CSUMB, the Collaborative provides early college experiences for students, professional development for educators and counselors, and monitors K-16 data to help districts track their progress. Additionally, Dr. Chopra champions other initiatives in the county that affect equity such as grading practices and Ethnic Studies courses. She strives to assist districts to think of their students’ futures beyond high school graduation and bridge the divide between K-12 and postsecondary institutions.

SEAD ToSA

831.466.5882

Suzanne began her career in education in 1988, as an elementary school teacher.  She taught in the classroom for 30 years, and has been a curriculum leader in Social Emotional Learning (SEL), mindfulness, and Readers and Writers Workshop.  For the past few years she focused on supporting district-wide implementation and integration of SEL practices.

In her role as the Social Emotional Academic Development (SEAD) Coach at the Santa Cruz COE, Suzanne collaborates with several schools across the county to implement a deeper dive into SEL Systems Work through a partnership with CalHOPE.  She also co-facilitates the SEL Community of Practice, for district and school leaders, teachers, school counselors, school psychologists, and coaches to network, learn, and share about Transformative SEL conditions and competencies.  She is a member of the Student Services Department and collaborates extensively with Educational Services.

Math Coordinator

831.227.0347

We are thrilled to announce that Anney Fagan has joined the Santa Cruz COE C&I Department  as our new Math Coordinator! Anney brings incredible experience as a teacher, math coach and new teacher mentor that makes her a perfect fit for this role. Anney is deeply committed to equity, and her vision aligns closely with that of our COE and the Santa Cruz County school community. Reflecting on her new role, Anney shares, “I am honored to serve our community in this way! I  want to thank Kevin Drinkard for facilitating meaningful experiences for our students, families, and educators during his six years as the COE’s Math Coordinator. I look forward to continuing the critical work of ensuring every student experiences success, joy, purpose and a sense of belonging in their math journey.” 

Multilingual Achievement Coordinator

831.515.9504

Senior Director, Santa Cruz / Silicon Valley New Teacher Project,  Director of Equity 

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Melissa started out as a public school teacher for thirteen years. Teaching in California, Louisiana, and Connecticut, she worked primarily with students in grades 5-8 and Alternative Education.  Melissa has her National Board Certification in Early Adolescent English Language Arts, and she is a literacy specialist.  She has a Masters in Education from the University of Louisiana Lafayette and her clear administrative credential.  

For the past ten years, Melissa has been part of the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project (SC/SVNTP) working with new teachers, mentors, and instructional coaches. In the spring of 2020, after reviewing program data, reflecting on our core value of equity, and given the socio-political context, the SC/SVNTP set forward a goal to “achieve educational equity by developing antiracist educators who focus on student outcomes.” A year into this laser focus, Melissa is now in a split role as the Senior Director for SC/SVNPT and Equity for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. As the Senior Director of Equity, Melissa supports the Santa Cruz COE’s internal equity work and partners with districts to explore and expand their development as educational leaders for equity.

Environmental Literacy Coordinator

831.466.5711

In her role at the County Office of Education, Amity leads countywide efforts to build environmental literacy of K–12 students and teachers. Amity works to provide equitable access to outdoor learning experiences that inspire all students to develop the vision, skills, and motivation to create healthy communities and a healthy planet. She also supports teachers in using local environmental connections to increase relevance of core instruction across content areas and to create opportunities for civic and environmental action. 

Her 25+ year career in education has focused on equitable access to environmental education, inquiry-based science programs and integration of school and community-based education programs. Amity has served as regional coordinator for the California Department of Education’s California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC) Network; director of BioSITE (Students Investigating Their Environment), a nationally recognized watershed monitoring and cross-age teaching program serving youth underrepresented in STEM fields; and program coordinator for the Pitzer College Experience in Nepal Program.  Amity currently serves on the California Environmental Education Initiative’s Leadership Council and on the board of the California Environmental Education Foundation.

Arts Coordinator

831.466.5827

Audrey began her career at the age of 8 when she held her first summer camp in Chicago, teaching play-based lessons to 12 neighborhood children and earning $50.00 for her work that summer. Many lessons were learned in that first summer of teaching and learning including the importance of creativity; social and emotional learning especially individual and community expression; contextualizing instruction in what students knew and brought to the group; collaboration and joint activity; explicit and clear communication; infusing the arts into everything. Thus began a decades-long journey of teaching and learning spanning preschool through university. 

As the Arts Coordinator for the Santa Cruz COE, Audrey focuses on issues of equity and access to the Arts as well as the great importance of the Arts on social and emotional learning. Working with many local and state-wide Arts organizations in addition to our districts, Audrey collaborates to bring high quality, systemic, standards-based Arts residencies and programs to our students.

EdTech & Innovation Coach

831.466.5810

Stephanie Sumarna has been in education for more than 11 years.  She started as a middle school CORE teacher in Gilroy, teaching an integrated course on English Language Arts and Social Studies.  From there, she went on to work as both an upper and lower elementary teacher.  She joined the Santa Cruz COE team in 2020.

Her life as an educator changed when she attended her first CUE Conference in the Spring of 2014. She has always been passionate about utilizing EdTech and innovative teaching practices to support her students, but it was at this conference that she realized there was a bigger world of like minded educators.  She implemented Genius Hour in her third grade classroom at Bonny Doon Elementary School right away and never looked back.  At the Santa Cruz County Office of Education she is realizing her dream of building networks within her community to foster that same excitement for what school could be.  Stephanie works with both the Educational Services and Tech+ Teams to help bridge curriculum and technology as an EdTech and Innovation Coach. She aims to support, empower and inspire teachers and administrators.

Science Coordinator

831.466.5727

Heather Wygant has been in science education for 26 years, teaching geology, environmental sciences, physics, biology, chemistry and engineering, primarily at the high school level.  She served as a Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) for several years working with K-12 science teachers to implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).  She was actively involved in the NGSS rollout training as a presenter and facilitator. She joined the Santa Cruz COE team in 2021.

Heather’s passion for equitable science instruction and learning, and goal to engage traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM fields is focused on the full implementation of NGSS.  In her role as the science coordinator, she supports science instruction that is aligned with the NGSS by supporting districts and teachers with the equitable implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards. As the NGSS person, she is also the director of the Santa Cruz County Science and Engineering Fair which serves all students in the county in investigating phenomena and solving problems that are of interest to them.

Executive Assistant, Ed Services

831.466.5800

Kasey joined the COE in 2022 and began working with the Human Resources team to support classified staff across the county. She spent her undergraduate years at UC Davis, where she worked as an assistant in the Student Services Office. Her mom works in Special Education and has always inspired her to explore a career in the educational field.

Having recently transitioned to the Educational Services team in July, Kasey enjoys working at the administrative level to support valuable programs similar to the ones she enjoyed participating in during her K-12 years. She remembers being an involved student while growing up and she appreciates the work that goes into keeping these services running. She is excited to continue learning about her new role and looks forward to deepening her knowledge of the offerings and partnerships of the COE.

Administrative Assistant, S5C

831.466.5817

Gina started working in the educational field at the Career Center while attending Watsonville High School.  This experience led her to a position with Granite Construction Company which gave her extensive knowledge of working in the capacity of an Administrative Assistant.   In 2001, She started working at the County Office of Education in the Human Resources Department. Gina has assisted in many roles in the COE including work with multiple departments such as Alternative Education, CDRC, Spelling Bee/Mock Trial, and the New Teacher Project. Having worked in various capacities within the county office of education has given her a greater understanding of how the SCCOE supports all 10 of our districts.  

In 2017 Gina began working as an Administrative Assistant in the Educational Services Division with the Santa Cruz County College and Career Collaborative (S5C). In this role, she provides multiple supports for the S5C collaborative in both fiscal and event management. Through this work Gina aids in promoting college and career readiness by assisting in publications and promotion of college and career-related materials and data, and in celebrating our local high school graduates.

Administrative Assistant, Ed Services

831.466.5802

Laurie has been an Administrative Assistant for the COE for 22 years.  She has supported Educational Services, the ROP Program, the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project, and TICAL.  She has worked with many wonderful Administrators, Directors and Coordinators.  The most fun she has had in her support role is assisting the Coordinators with our student academic events.  She will continue in her support role for Educational Services until her retirement.