Abby Kerlin, GSE ’00
BSCAA Distinguished Service Award
After graduating from Bank Street Graduate School in 2000, Abby Kerlin began her career as a public-school teacher in Lower Manhattan, in which she taught kindergarten, first, second, and third grades. Inspired by her close observation of children, Abby’s interest in cognitive development and curriculum led her to pursue an MA in Human Development from Teachers College. There, she focused her research on the relationship between inquiry-based instruction and the development of metacognition in young children. Abby went on to supervise student teachers at Teachers College and taught Social Studies courses at Hunter College. Today, Abby serves as an instructor in early childhood curriculum as well as the director of general education programs at Bank Street Graduate School. She is also the academic director of Bank Street’s Long Trip, which seeks to examine the sociopolitical aim of educators in a democratic society.
Allyx Schiavone is executive director for Friends Center for Children. With over 30 years of experience in early childhood development and elementary education as a teacher and administrator in Connecticut and New York, Allyx is an advocate for early care and education. She has served as program coordinator for New Haven-based Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES), an early childhood classroom observer for Southern Connecticut State University, and a budget coordinator for the New Haven Board of Education. Allyx has taught in several elementary schools and pre-school settings in New York City, New Haven, and Greenwich, Connecticut; directed summer camps; and written and supervised curricula at elementary, middle, and high school levels with an emphasis on multidisciplinary studies. Allyx is also a founder of the New Haven Children’s Ideal Learning District NH ChILD. She holds dual master’s degrees from Bank Street Graduate School in early childhood development and elementary education as well as a bachelor’s degree from Union College.
Cynthia Turnquest-Jones is the founder of Tha Brown Urban Mother Partners, Inc. (“Tha B.U.M.P”), a volunteer service organization that provides support and heart-to-heart occasions for females in communities and families who suffer from the tragedy of their loved ones being harmed or murdered. Cynthia has programmed The Bronx Girls Rock, literacy night, Parents as Partners, pep rallies, Grab & Read, and traveling museum events. Cynthia’s journey as an educator inspired her to begin writing, as a contributor to Black Westchester online. Cynthia has also joined forces with the law enforcement community of Mount Vernon, New York to donate books to young readers. Cynthia earned two undergraduate degrees from Iona College in social work and elementary education before receiving her Master of Science in Leadership for Educational Change from Bank Street Graduate School in 2009.
Shavon Frazier is an early childhood educator in Brownsville, Brooklyn at PS 184, The Newport School. She has spent the past four years teaching kindergarten and, prior to that, she taught pre-kindergarten in Brownsville for five years. Shavon was featured on the cover of Teaching Young Children Magazine in 2014 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). She recently represented her fellow early childhood educators and Department of Education colleagues at the UFT Listen Up Panel, where she was chosen from over 500 applicants to be one of eight educators to discuss class size, curriculum, and developmentally appropriate practice. Shavon has been an adjunct lecturer at the CUNY School of Professional Studies for the Child Development Associate program since fall 2017. Shavon holds a Bachelor of Science degree from SUNY Oneonta in both early childhood education and early childhood special education as well as early childhood leadership degrees from Bank Street Graduate School.
Zipporiah Mills began her journey in education at Hunter College, where she majored in elementary education and Black & Puerto Rican studies. She joined Bank Street’s Center on Culture, Race & Equity (CCRE) in 2018 following three decades of working as an educator and school leader in New York City. As an equity specialist and facilitator for CCRE, Zipporiah channeled her passionate commitment to equity by supporting educators to understand their identities, the biases they hold, and the challenges that exist in the school’s ecosystem. She encouraged participants in her sessions to view children as she did: each as capable as the next, with strengths to be explored and lifted up. Zipporiah knew the importance of creating community as a powerful driver for change. From her 16-year teaching career at PS 273 to her tenure as principal of PS 261, Zipporiah treated community-building as mission-critical. An educator at heart, Zipp committed energy to inform the public about the harms of accountability measures tied to testing and inspired hope that a better way is possible. Therein lies the best representation of Zipporiah’s ideals: a better way is always possible. On October 12, 2021, Zipporiah lost her fierce battle with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC).