Beverley L Hall

On July 1, 1999, Dr. Beverley L. Hall became the 15th appointed superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools (APS). Following her appointment, she promised to transform the district by using nationally proven reform models, facility upgrades and business operations redesign. Six years later, her promise materialised as test scores went up, ageing facilities renovated and a new blueprint for business operations is being implemented.

Prior to working in Atlanta, Dr. Hall was State District superintendent of the Newark public schools, the largest school district in the State of New Jersey. Before the New Jersey appointment, she served as deputy chancellor for Instruction, New York City Public Schools; superintendent, Community School District 27, Queens, New York; principal, Junior High School 113 and Public School 282, Brooklyn, New York.

In addition to serving as APS superintendent, Dr. Hall is chair of the Advisory Board of the Harvard Urban Superintendents Programme where she serves as a mentor superintendent to participants in the doctoral programme. She was named an Associate in Practice at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education for 2003 to 2004. She is also a member of the Commission on Teaching, which develops specific policy recommendations to deal with the teaching crisis in America.

In 2006, she was named to the Urban Education Research Task Force, established by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, to give advice on issues affecting urban education.

Dr. Hall is chair of the Advisory Board of the Harvard Urban Superintendents Programme where she serves as a mentor superintendent to participants in the doctoral programme. She was named an Associate in Practice at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education for 2003 to 2004.

Dr Afua Cooper

She is a dynamic and riveting performer. She has brought her poetry from page to stage insuch diverse events as the prestigious Toronto Harbour front International Reading Series, and Diaspora Dialogues. She has read all across Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the United States and West Africa.

Dr. Afua Cooper is an award-winning poet, author, historian, curator, performer, cultural worker, and recording artist. Known as a proponent of the African-Caribbean poetry genre, dub poetry, she has fused together the scribal, literary, musical, and performative aspects of that art form in her performances.

Her poems have been anthologised in national and international publications, and translated into several languages. She has published five books of poetry, including the award-winning, Memories Have Tongue. Her newest book of poetry is Cooper Woman, a work in which she attempts to bring together the personal and the political, the esoteric and the esoteric. Her latest poetry CD is Worlds of Fire.

Dr. Cooper holds a Ph.D. in history with specialities in slavery, abolition, and women studies. She is one of Canada's premier experts and chroniclers of the country's black past. Dr. Cooper has done ground-breaking work in uncovering the hidden history of black peoples in Canada. Her most recent historical publication, The Hanging of Ang?lique, The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montr?al, cogently explores the life and death of Marie-Joseph Ang?lique, a Portuguese-born black slave woman who was hanged in Montr?al in 1734 for allegedly setting fire to the city. Since its publication in February 2006, Ang?lique has been reprinted twice. This has resulted in the book becoming a national best-seller.

Dr. Cooper recently won the Harry Jerome award for professional excellence.

Contributed

Ashlei McFarlane

Dealing with the needs of the autistic child is a challenge, but Ashlei McFarlane makes it look easy.

Delivering her treatment witha mixture of applied behaviour analysis, music and art therapy, McFarlane helps the children to not only be able to perform basic actions (like buttoning their shirts), but also to express themselves verbally and non-verbally.

McFarlane is a past student of St. Hilda's Diocesan High in Jamaica and Manhattan College in New York where she majored in liberal arts with a focus on psychology and the biological sciences. In 2004, McFarlane received her master's degree in clinical psychology from Hartford University. She is expected to receive her Ph.D. from the same institution this year.

The title of her graduate study is 'Autism in children and Adolescents: Effective Naturapathic Remedies'. She uses numerous non-prescription remedies, including some medicinal plants found right here in Jamaica, successfully presenting another positive image of her island home. Ms. McFarlane's interest in autism was inspired by a relative who has the condition.