ANDREW BUCHANAN
Sparta
Summary
Experienced team leader and operational manager. Utilizes strong organizational skills to optimize workflow and improve team efficiency. Track record of fostering collaborative work environment to achieve collective goals.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
PreK-12 Supervisor of Social Studies, World Languages and ESL
Sparta School District
11.2022 - Current
- Manage three departments with responsibility for 35 direct reports.
- Evaluate and manage district-wide PreK-12 curriculum and instruction.
- Manage budget and financial planning priorities for three departments.
- Hire new staff.
- Develop professional development opportunities for district staff.
- Liaise with local and state agencies.
Facilitator, Echoes and Reflections
Anti-Defamation League
01.2022 - Current
- Provide access to effective educational strategies and instructional support for a variety of subject areas, including history, social studies, and language arts.
Adjunct Professor
Kean University
01.2021 - Current
- Teach graduate classes for the Holocaust Resource Centre, seminar classes: Teaching the Holocaust, and Teaching Prejudice Reduction.
Senior Education Program Associate
Jewish Foundation for the Righteous
06.2022 - 11.2022
- Managed the Foundation's national Holocaust teacher education program and served as a liaison to the education community.
- Organized and implemented the Foundation's professional development programs for middle and high school teachers and for Holocaust center education personnel.
- Authored and marketed the Foundation's classroom materials and publications.
- Maintained relationships with the Foundation's partner Holocaust centers and museums throughout the country and internationally.
- Presented educational workshops to groups of teachers and students.
- Interacted with grant makers and donors on matters concerning the education program.
Social Studies Teacher
Randolph School District
01.2001 - 06.2022
- Member of collaborative inter-departmental team of core subject teachers serving 100+ students, addressing their academic, social, and emotional needs.
- Successfully navigated challenges related to virtual, hybrid and in-person learning, including team responses to mental health problems, family dysfunction and special needs issues.
- Taught students grades 9-12 across all skill levels.
- Courses included AP US History; AP European History; Honors Holocaust and Genocide Studies; US History I and II; World History; World Religions; America and the Middle East; Introduction to Philosophy & Ethics; Art as Democracy, Propaganda, and Resistance. Also spearheaded and taught dual enrollment class with Kean University.
- Designed and led professional development sessions for high school/middle school staff on interdisciplinary instructional strategies, lesson planning, anti-bullying, and current affairs.
- Updated and created curriculum: Revised RHS AP US History curriculum; designed and wrote high school elective courses on the Middle East, Ethics & Philosophy, Social Studies/Visual Arts, and a dual-credit course with Kean University.
- Led Option II, a program providing non-traditional learning such as internships and self-directed research.
- Worked with mixed-ability Option II participants to develop a business plan for student-run school store, which achieved profits of $20k in its first year.
- Ran Career Days for students to interact with professionals in law enforcement, legal services, health and human services and national intelligence.
- Mentored and supervised students running a TEDX Youth event.
- Participated in designing a feasibility study for a staff Health and Wellness Center; held outreach meetings and conversations with various school stakeholder groups.
- Collaborated with Morris County Community College regarding articulation agreements to help students achieve dual credit.
Education
Ph.D. - Department of International Relations
University of St. Andrews
03-2000
M.A. - Modern and Scottish History
University of Glasgow
07-1990
Skills
- Staff development
- Training and mentoring
- Goal oriented
- Staff management
- Customer service
- Employee motivation
- Attention to detail
- Decision-making
- Strategic planning
- Complex Problem-solving
Accomplishments
- Supervise team of 35 staff members.
- Counsel students and their parents to prepare them for the transition to further education.
- Mentor and supervise staff in a whole-child approach, focusing on social/emotional learning, mentoring, coaching and family support
- Mentored and supervised students, providing non-traditional learning opportunities such as internships and self-directed research.
- Designed and led professional development sessions for staff on interdisciplinary instructional strategies, lesson planning, anti-bullying, and current affairs.
- Updated and created curriculum: designed and wrote elective courses.
- Presented at national and international conferences.
Certification
- Education Leadership: Principal & Supervisor
- Research included: Tackling Senioritis in High School, Do Flexible School Schedules Increase Student Learning?
- Teacher of Social Studies, Standard Certificate, State of NJ.
- OSHA 10+ Career and Technical Education Training at Rutgers University, NJ.
Awards
Named Morris County Teacher of the Year – Finalist for State Teacher of the Year, Emmy Nomination in the Public/Current/Community Affairs Program/Special category, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Mid-Atlantic Chapter: Goethe-Institut Transatlantic Outreach Program Fellowship in Germany; Alfred Lerner Fellowship at Columbia University., Margot Stern Strom Innovation Grant Recipient, Facing History and Ourselves., Robert I. Goldman Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education.
Publications
- Peace with Justice, MacMillan Press, UK; St. Martin's Press, US, 2000.
- Analysis of conflict resolution, peace, and social justice principles within the 1993 Israeli-PLO peace process.
Additional Academic Activities
- Summer Teacher Training Facilitator for high school, middle school and college educators at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
- Adjunct - County College of Morris, taught Middle East History.
- Tutor: SAT, SAT Subject Tests and ACT skills.
Timeline
PreK-12 Supervisor of Social Studies, World Languages and ESL
Sparta School District
11.2022 - Current
Senior Education Program Associate
Jewish Foundation for the Righteous
06.2022 - 11.2022
Facilitator, Echoes and Reflections
Anti-Defamation League
01.2022 - Current
Adjunct Professor
Kean University
01.2021 - Current
Social Studies Teacher
Randolph School District
01.2001 - 06.2022
Ph.D. - Department of International Relations
University of St. Andrews
M.A. - Modern and Scottish History
University of Glasgow
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