Meet Our Team
Dr. Monique Henderson
Monique is the author of 31 Things your English Learners Want You to Know: Lessons from the Classroom. She has more than 20 years of experience in education, including time spent researching and writing about public education in Mississippi, Southern California and Texas.
She has worked as a teacher, serving students who are English learners, homeless students, and migrant students. She has served as an English Learner consultant and project manager at an education consulting company in Ridgeland, Mississippi and also as the Director of Special Populations for the Mississippi Department of Education, overseeing the state’s English Learner, migrant, immigrant, neglected and delinquent and homeless initiatives.
Monique has provided extensive coaching and technical support to teachers, principals, superintendents and others in more than 65 school districts.
Her expertise includes addressing the needs of EL students in rural schools and schools with students of diverse linguistic backgrounds. She has worked in schools where EL students made up 75 percent or more of the student population, and schools with just one English learner.
As a former journalist, she has previously co-authored three books about education and education leadership and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Redlands in Southern California and Lonestar College in Texas.
When she is not teaching, conducting professional development or writing, she and her husband Matt can be found cheering on their teenagers and trying to stay one step ahead of two rowdy and demanding labradoodles.
Gabby Davis
Gabby Davis is a retired Mississippi Migrant Education Service Center Director. Before her work with the migrant program, Davis taught Spanish and was the EL teacher for Webster County Schools for 14 years.
Davis is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society, the Sigma Delta Pi national honor Hispanic society and a Cum-Laude graduate of Mississippi State University with a B.A. and an M.A. in Foreign Languages and a minor in Technology.
She is a native of Mexico and a fluent speaker of both Spanish and English. Davis has extensive experience teaching English and Spanish as a second language, training and translating, as well as serving as a consultant and interpreter for various corporations. She is also nationally certified as an occupational Spanish instructor through Command Spanish, Inc.
When she isn't working, she enjoys spending time with her family, including her grandsons, knitting and exercising.
Dr. Pam Simon
Dr. Pam Simon has overseen Title III supports for English Learners in the Rankin County School District for more than seven years. She has served previously as a principal and assistant principal. She also has worked at the Mississippi Department of Education as a teacher recruiter.
When Dr. Simon isn't supporting educators and students, she can be found hanging out with family or traveling. She also is known as a lover of shoes and all things accessories! She enjoys motivational readings and working within her sorority.
Dr. Simon has a checklist for everything, especially so when it comes to helping teachers and students "take EL to the next levEL!"
Patricia Bynum
Patricia Bynum is a former language arts teacher who understands the science of reading and how to accommodate instruction for English learners and other students who struggle. She has more than 30 years of experience in K-8th Grade ELA. She has conducted multiple EL boot camps and tutorial sessions for EL Engage and understands the nuances of the LAS Links assessment. She has coached teachers in both EL and Special Education.
Mrs. Bynum has spent years learning and studying the study of phonics and sounds. She has trained teachers using PHONICS FIRST TRAINING as well as led multiple student sessions. She obtained her Bachelor’s in Elementary Education from Miss. State University and a Master’s in Administration from Miss. College.
When Patricia isn't working hard to take EL "to the next levEL," she enjoys spending time with family, working in the yard and traveling.
Rob Brown
Rob Brown has served as Coordinator of EL Support Services for the Starkville Oktibbeha School District. He has already made a big impression as a presenter and coach, providing engaging, high-interest professional development.
He earned both his BA in Communication (with an emphasis in Public Relations) and his MA in English (with an emphasis in TESOL – Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Mississippi State University. He has served as a teacher of high school English, creative writing, and television production, and as teacher of English Learners, librarian (at both the high school and elementary levels), curriculum technology specialist, and, most recently, as the Coordinator of EL Student Support Services.
Before his time with the Starkville Oktibbeha School District, he worked as an on-air personality at two radio stations, as a member of the news production team at two television stations, and as the Executive Officer of the Georgetown University Animal Care and Use Committee. Rob has also served as the Head Teacher at Lincoln American School in Chiayi, Taiwan, and as one of the first two non-Taiwanese teachers to teach English at a National High School in Taiwan (at the National Chiayi Senior High School).
Rob has also taught English in Sukagawa, Japan, and is a co-author of Chapter 4, “The Key Elements of Online Learning Communities,” in the book Handbook of Research on Practices and Outcomes in E-Learning: Issues and Trends, edited by Harrison Hao Yang and Steve Chi-Yin Yuen and published by IGI Global in 2009.
When he isn't working hard to "take EL to the next levEL," he can be found enjoying his record and movie collections. (And if you ever need another trivia team member, he's definitely your guy!)
Amanda Brazelton
Amanda Brazelton is an absolute master at figuring out how EL students can be effectively served in the general education classroom, as well as in the EL program.
Amanda is our first Alabama-based coach, and she understands data and as an interventionist. She used data to implement effective Tier 3 interventions to help her students - including many English learners - to grow.
She has a Bachelor's degree.in Specific Learning Disabilities from The University of Alabama and a Master’s degree in Mild Learning Disabilities from Alabama A&M University. She holds 30 years of classroom and inclusive experience.
Amanda has been married to her husband Mark for more than 26 years. She has one son, a daughter-in-love, along with two grand dogs. She is a rescue dog mom to Dixie Belle and Sadie. Amanda enjoys spending time with family, reading, and watching sports — in person or on TV!
Dr. Kim Patterson Roberts
Dr. Kim Patterson Roberts has truly made a name for herself through coaching, not only in Mississippi, but nationally, including in a number of schools where most of the students are English learners!
In addition to her work with EL Engage, Kim is an independent professional learning consultant in partnership with the Center for the Collaborative Classroom. She brings our districts more than thirty years experience teaching in K-12 and university classrooms. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Mississippi State University.
Formerly the director of the Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute, Kim has extensive experience designing and facilitating professional learning experiences with teachers, both in-person and virtually, to support teaching and student learning. She has authored or coauthored articles and chapters for publication and has developed and written a variety of curriculum and professional development materials. Kim has consulted with numerous school districts in developing whole-school professional learning models and has facilitated hundreds of workshops across the country.
Kim’s favorite job, however, is being Kimma with her two grandchildren, Finn and Ollie. Kim lives on a farm in Pontotoc, MS with her husband, Tim, their three horses, one
miniature burro, two dogs, one cat, and sixteen turkeys. Most weekends you’ll find Kim and Tim hauling to rodeo and jackpot events around the Southeast, where Tim
competes as a team roper and Kim as a barrel racer.
Dr. Tricia Bridges
Dr. Tricia Bridges is a veteran educator known to many educational leaders - both in the Southeastern U.S. and the nation.
She is an award-winning teacher with about 20 years of classroom experience. At EL Engage, she will be working with coaches on resource creation. She also will have a role in marketing and school improvement efforts.
She left the classroom to become the first secondary teacher-in-residence at the Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute, where her duties included creating and delivering professional development.
She has a strong background in assessment and served as an assessment specialist for the Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute and Preps, housed at Mississippi State University.
She also served as an instructional specialist in the Petal School District and created the teacher coaching division of JBHM Education Group. Later, she worked in similar capacities at Generation Ready, where she was the Mississippi Director and also served with national leadership on a variety of projects.
.png)
Jodie Parham
Jodie Parham brings expertise around English learners with special education needs and we are SO excited to have her on board.
Jodie is a nationally certified Academic Language Therapist with over twenty years experience working with children with language differences and providing reading support services for students, teachers and administrators. She received her Master’s degree in Dyslexia Therapy in 2008 from Mississippi College and completed a Master’s level certification in School Psychometry at the University of Alabama Birmingham in 2018.
She has also completed extensive training in dyslexia, language development, and reading remediation across the country, including Comprehensive Orton-Gillingham, LETRS, Alphabetic Phonics, Reading Readiness, Multisensory Math, Multisensory Reading and Spelling, as well as Dyslexia Identification and Diagnosis through the Texas Scottish-Rite Hospital in Dallas and the Shelton Evaluation Center in Dallas.
Jodie has a high level of expertise related to the Science of Reading and how this body of research can be used to support English Language Learners. She has worked in both public and private settings and has served as a Resource Teacher, Case Manager, Interventionist, Dyslexia Teacher, District Instructional Coach, and District Intervention and RtI Coordinator. She was appointed and served on Alabama’s Literacy Task Force for three years, providing state-level support with the implementation of The Alabama Literacy Act.
Jodie has special interest and experience in the unique reading and language needs of English Language Learners. She has used her experience and training in working with English Learners, struggling readers, and data and diagnosis related to language differences to guide teachers, administrators, and districts on determining the unique language needs of English Learners. She has special interest in supporting districts in MTSS support for English Learners and in determining when the learning behaviors exhibited in students are unique to English as a second language or an indicator of a learning disability.
She also is a great addition to our team because of her HEART! She believes in the potential of every child with an enthusiastic approach to support that fosters success.
When not supporting teachers and students, Jodie loves spending time with her husband, Joe, and two kids, Lily and Charlie, as well as her two furbabies, Blitz and Piper. She loves to travel with her family, plan a great party, and decorate for any event. She loves to create a Friday night charcuterie board, has worked for years to master creating the perfect curry, and is a self-proclaimed floral design enthusiast.