Dr. Christy Lamb is an education improvement specialist at a top-rated educational research firm. Christy started her career as a middle school ELA teacher through the Teach for America program in Houston, TX.
Christy completed her undergraduate degree in Sociology, knowing public education was the ultimate end goal. Moving back to Kansas City after a few years in Texas, she hopped back and forth between elementary and middle school serving as an ELA teacher, instructional coach, reading specialist, admin intern, assistant principal, and head principal.
Serving as head principal for five years in a Prek-5th grade building, Christy shares her various experiences and life lessons with The Modern Principal community. In her current role, Christy is afforded the opportunity to collaborate with k-12th grade administrators, as well as state officials, educational researchers, and district level leadership. This provides incredible insight into the national education landscape.
Dr. Karen Hile is a 20-year veteran of public education, currently serving as an Assistant Superintendent in Human Resources.
Karen completed her BA and BS in Psychology and set off to get certified through completing her Masters while having her own classroom through the Kansas City Residential Internship Program. Having no experience, it could have been an utter disaster for her students and herself for that matter, but instead because of the support built into the program, it ignited her fire for this profession.
Going from teacher to instructional coach, to admin intern to principal in urban, suburban and rural schools for the past 18 years created learning experiences she shares at The Modern Principal. The past 8 years were leading a Prek-4th grade elementary school, with the district’s behavior program and multiple other special programs. This year, she moved into a district leadership role, focusing the next chapter of her career on the human resources field and the power people bring to our schools.
Karen and Christy completed their doctoral degrees and dissertation together, with research focusing on principal succession planning.