MEET THE SRL 2025-2026 AMBASSADORS

Abby Jaillet 

Teaches: Media Production / Broadcasting

School: Vestavia Hills High School, Vestavia Hills, AL

Bio: Abby is a former English teacher turned media and broadcasting teacher. She is passionate about helping young people develop skills and tell meaningful stories. 

Fun Facts:

1. Former band kid; marched with the University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band
2. Loves word association games, especially NYT Connections
3. Most embarrassing moment as a media teacher: I flew a drone straight into a tree once, and the local fire department was called in for assistance

Why I love SRL: I love SRL because of its amazing resources (hello, StoryMaker!), but also because of the community it fosters. Many of us media teachers are “singletons” and don’t have anyone in our buildings to bounce ideas and questions off of. SRL gives me a place to connect with like-minded educators across the country who are all doing the same thing that I am doing!

Ask me about: how to start a successful broadcast program from scratch

Anita Crouch

Teaches: AP Research, English 12, Journalism
School: Cass Technical High School, Detroit, MI
Bio: Anita transitioned to teaching after working a glorious chapter at Borders Bookstore. She is officially an English and journalism teacher and unofficially, an unlicensed nurse, counselor, coach, and social worker.

Fun Facts:

1. 1. Loves old movies at Detroit’s Redford Theater (a Detroit classic 1928 neighborhood movie palace where they play live music on an original Barton pipe organ) 
   2. Obsessed with 80s music
   3. Bob’s Burgers fan—Louise Belcher is her kindred spirit

Why I love SRL:  One of the best lifelines I ever got was about eight years ago, when I randomly came across PBS SRL while searching online to find journalism material for a class I was thrown into with zero prep and a 1985 journalism textbook. SRL has brought me so far and has offered my students relevant tools and strategies to understand journalism.

Ask me about: teaching engaging photography assignments. Ask me about counternarratives—rethinking the news assignment.

Ashley Porter

Teaches: Video Production 1, 2, 3, 4
School: DC International School, Washington D.C.
Bio: Ashley is a former Emmy Award-winning TV journalist, now a high school video production/broadcast teacher and department chair. Her students have earned national recognition for stories about topics including DC statehood, immigration, food justice, and LGBTQ+ youth choirs.

Fun Facts:

1. Was a TV reporter/multimedia journalist before becoming a teacher. Dressed as a zombie and got tackled by a rugby player during her TV tenure
2. Training for a marathon with teachers nationwide
3. This is the second school she’s launched an SRL partnership with

Why I love SRL: My first job out of high school was in public media. It really solidified my love for video storytelling, and I think all students should have access to such opportunities! That’s how my eyes were opened to SRL — I was looking for a way for students to be empowered to tell stories in their communities and potentially be published beyond campus. That was seven years ago, and I truly believe that SRL has been the most transformative partnership for our students, the best thought partner, the most thorough curricular collaborator, and also has the kindest, most hardworking producers!

Ask me about: running a program on a smaller budget, or about creating a mildly chaotic class community that embraces student creativity

Chris Sloan

Teaches: AP English, Photography, Journalism
School: Judge Memorial, Salt Lake City, UT
Bio: Chris teaches high school English and journalism. In the summer, he instructs Michigan State University’s Master’s in Educational Technology overseas cohort in Galway, Ireland.
Fun Facts:

1. Dual citizen of the USA and the Republic of Ireland
2. Plays guitar
3. Hitchhiked across the Western US

Why I love SRL: SRL has been energizing my teaching since 2013. I love learning from professional media makers and awesome educators
Ask me about: Using an inquiry approach to storytelling

Eric Gutierrez

Teaches: US History, CTE Film/TV Production, CTE Entrepreneur Essentials
School: Haskell STEM Academy, Cerritos, CA
Bio: Eric has over 25 years of teaching experience across high school, middle school, and college levels. His unique style engages students and taps into their creativity.

Fun Facts:

1. Loves traveling and relaxing on the beach
2. Experiments with growing his own food forest (or at least trying to…)

Why I love SRL: I love the supportive network of educators, the concrete lesson plans, and the multiple opportunities they have for students and educators
Ask me about: how to integrate multimedia into US History classes.

Gil Garcia

Teaches: AVP1, AVP2, Digital Audio, Digital Media Publishing
School: Eastside High School, Austin, TX

Bio:  Gil is a 30-year film and video professional with 10 years of teaching experience. He helped pilot the SRL program in 2009 and was named the distinguished broadcast adviser of the year in 2016 by the Journalism Education Association. He co-authored the textbook Television Production and Broadcast Journalism, 4th edition.

Fun Facts:

1. Has a full back tattoo that has taken 58 hours to date (still going) 
2. Obsessed with mid-century modern furniture
3. Was once a contestant on a reality show

Why I love SRL: I love SRL because of how it allows kids to be involved with something bigger than themselves. It provides the resources for teachers to expose their students to the world of journalism and teach them critical skills like media literacy.
Ask me about: anything regarding interviews: lighting, camera, sound, ANYTHING

Julie Tiedens

Teaches: Journalism and English
School: Black River Falls High School, Black River Falls, WI
Bio: Julie began advising back when her rural school’s news outlet was a twice-a-month newspaper laid out in Pagemaker. Never one to shy away from change, she guided the shift from print to an online site and daily video announcements. She’s also the adviser behind more than 20 editions of her school’s yearbook—but shhh, that part’s a little under the radar.

Fun Facts:

1. Designed a dorm room entirely around one word: “grey”
2. Has two standard adorable poodles: Izzy and Arlo
3. Currently posting most of her runs to TikTok (badly)

Why I love SRL: Everyone is so welcoming, and without SRL, I’d probably still be looking at a microphone and wondering which part to talk into.

Ask me about: making it work with a limited budget and small staff

Krista McKim

Teaches: Broadcast Journalism, Yearbook, and AP Language and Composition
School: Rockville High School, Rockville, MD
Bio: Krista is a National Board Certified Teacher who believes in project-based learning, helping students use storytelling to advocate for themselves and others. She’s a Master Oratory Fellow (Ford’s Theatre),  Master Journalism Educator (Journalism Education Association), and was named “Most Likely to Survive the Apocalypse” by her students.

Fun Facts:

1. Lived on three continents
2. Heading to Antarctica as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow this winter
3. Dyslexic—and yes, she does teach English

Why I love SRL: SRL saved me when I was tricked into teaching video production. Their resources came up when I googled teaching video production. I went from knowing NOTHING to running a two-year broadcast journalism program.

Ask me about: classroom management in a project-based class, and using mentor videos!

Michael Kaufman

Teaches: Broadcast Journalism
School: Fredrick V. Pankow Center, West Bloomfield, MI
Bio: Michael has been teaching since the VHS era and still has so much to learn. He’s been lucky to have been recognized by my peers both in broadcast and theatre education for a few nice awards over all those years. He works in a technical center where students go to class because they are interested in the subject, and his TV studio evolves constantly, thanks to supportive administration

Fun Facts:

1. Taught kids canoeing at a summer camp in Algonquin Park, Canada (was one of the best jobs)
2. Was a professional actor; tap danced over jewelry in a JCPenney commercial
3. Favorite recent gig: Co-hosting the Teacher Reporting Labs podcast with Mike Conrad 

Why I love SRL: I love the SRL community the most. Being the only full-time video teacher in my district can feel isolating, and you have no one to learn from or relate to. SRL is such a warm and welcoming community, and the SRL staff is incredible. I got involved in SRL through Mike Conrad, who said it was a game-changer, and he was right. I went to the Teacher Workshop in 2016 in DC, and I was hooked!

Ask me about: how to help students get a cinematic look in a boring school hallway

Mike Conrad

Teaches: Video Production / Advanced TV / Film Studies / IB DP Film
School: Royal Oak High School, Royal Oak, MI
Bio: A former broadcast professional (20 years) now teaching kids (15 years) how to be professional broadcasters. Speeding through life as a lifelong learner with my wife and son.  But also trying to stay grounded – that might be the hardest part.

Fun Facts:

1. Runs school and community chess clubs
2. Mini-bernedoodle Bigsby just turned two
3. Plays in a band, Midnight Proof (check them out!)

Why I love SRL: SRL gives us the community we need.  For many of us, we are a department of one.  And nobody understands that.  So this is our space.  These are our people.  And we are here for each other.
Ask me about: building community!  How to let admin, your school board, parents and your entire community experience Student Reporting Labs and the amazing work that your students will create.

Mindy Pavone

Teaches:  Studio Art, Advanced Art, Drawing + Painting, and Digital Media/Multimedia Production
School: Clinton High School, Clinton, NY
Bio: Mindy is an art teacher who advises the Clintonian yearbook and founded C-Town Live, the school’s first student-run news broadcast. Self-taught in broadcast and journalism, she guides students in creating award-winning yearbooks and provides real-world media experiences, fostering creativity, inclusivity, and empowering confidence to use their voices.

Fun Facts:

1. Born on an island… but can’t swim
2. First job at 14: bat girl for the New Haven Ravens, a minor league baseball team
3. Currently writing and illustrating her own children’s book

Why I love SRL: I love SRL because it has helped me grow as a teacher in a field that I knew nothing about. I have met amazing people who have inspired me to do things that I didn’t realize I was capable of. I first got involved in SRL in 2020. I was looking online for anything that could help me with my nonexistent curriculum that I had no idea how to teach. When I found SRL, I felt like I had struck gold!
Ask me about:  how to teach a multimedia production class with little to no experience.

Robert Casas

Teaches: Digital Media Production, Broadcast Journalism, AP Computer Science Principles
School: Westview High School, San Diego, CA
Bio: Robert has been teaching since 1997, at Westview since 2003. He taught AP European History for 19 of those years. He’s been teaching media classes since 2012.

Fun Facts:

1. Owns a ‘74 bus he drives on weekends
2. Most of his family is in Bavaria
3. One former student appeared in two of the last three Star Wars movies

Why I love SRL: SRL connects my students to a network of passionate storytellers. It helped me turn my broadcast journalism program into something my students love doing.

Ask me about: how to embrace new directions in your career, like going from a history teacher to a broadcast journalism/filmmaking/podcasting teacher.

Trina Moore

Taught: AV, Journalism, Yearbook, Graphic Design, Digital Audio, Speech, Theatre, etc. (retired)
Bio: Curious, creative dabbler with decades of teaching experience.
Fun Facts:

1. Her photos have appeared on album covers and beer cans
2. Convinced a carload of teenagers she learned to drive in reverse
3. Flew over the Bermuda Triangle TWICE and lived (only Gen X can truly appreciate this she fears)

Why I Love SRL: I first fell in love with Student Reporting Labs around 2011, when I was building our school’s very first media program. At the time, I was searching for guidance, a sense of community, and real opportunities for my students—and SRL gave us all that and so much more. To this day, it continues to do just that. My students grew into stronger storytellers and more motivated journalists, and along the way, I grew into a better teacher. I love SRL because it stays relevant, thoughtful, and always willing to grow and learn right alongside its members.

Ask Me About: creating authentic connections with students, giving honest feedback without breaking kids’ souls, or how to teach composition that makes any kid a better cinematographer