Team

Dr. Kelly Pascarella
Founder

Kelly served in public education for 16 years as an inclusive classroom teacher in grades K-8 and as a gifted education coordinator. She earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration, a Master’s Degree in K-12 Leadership and Administration, and a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education.

Kelly’s doctoral research investigates the abundance of resources available to us as teachers, including teachers' information and communication technology capacities, personal information management systems, access and evaluation of digital education resources, and open education resource sharing.

As a mom and a teacher, she knows it can be hard to keep up with the latest resources and content that can best engage and impact learners in the classroom. She invites the educators of Education Blueprint to use this platform as the overarching tool to manage and follow technological development and educational resources as one professional learning community.

Building the infrastructure to support teachers' modern day digital needs comes down to one truth: all children deserve equal access to a quality education. The more tools you're aware of as the teacher, the greater levels of engagement and impact you can have on your students as an educator.

Nicole Kelly
Chief Content Curator

Nicole has 8 years of teaching experience in both the public and private educational settings. She earned her Master’s Degree in Administration and Curriculum and Instruction and her Elementary Education and Secondary Social Studies Education Degree from Duquesne University.

Nicole is passionate about learning and loves to develop creative lessons, explore educational resources, and seek out professional development opportunities. She loves to collaborate with teachers and believes that is one of the best ways to grow in the field. Nicole hopes that teachers who visit Education Blueprint will find it a place to explore new resources and share their knowledge with fellow colleagues.

Laura Lisien
Non-profit Business Manager

Laura has a deep understanding and love of non-profit management. In 2003, she graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Museum Management. In 2006, she earned her Master's Degree in Public Policy and Management from the Heinz School of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon. From there, she furthered her business acumen in the Public Sector for more than six years at Deloitte Consulting as a Senior Consultant in the Strategy and Operations practice. She worked with clients such as Pennsylvania Department of Health and Human Services, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and the Marine Department of Medicaid and Medicare on technology and finance projects.

Her love of non-profit management, especially pertaining to education organizations, has led her to take on her current role at Education Blueprint. Her goal is to set up, run, and manage the organization's non-profit structure in order to maximize the benefit of the platform for all educators. She is also a dedicated wife and mother of two boys and is an active member in various Parent Teacher Organizations for the Upper St. Clair School District.

Jeff Gargas
COO / Co Founder @ Teach Better

Jeff Gargas is the COO and Co-founder of the Teach Better Team (Creators of www.teachbetter.com, The Grid Method, and Teach Further) and co-author of the book, “Teach Better.” He works with educators to increase student engagement and improve student success. He also offers 1-on-1 coaching for teachers who have a product or idea they want to share with others to better education.

Prior to co-founding Teach Better, Jeff was the owner of ENI Multimedia, an online marketing firm, where he worked with entrepreneurs and small businesses, assisting them with web design, social media, content marketing, and brand awareness.

Prior to all of this, Jeff was an adjunctive professor at Kent State University and spent 10+ years in the music industry. He has spoken at conferences around the country, and has successfully promoted more than 500 events and launched 7 businesses in a variety of industries.

Jeff is passionate about music, and enjoys spending time with his family as often as possible.

Bridget Belardi

Bridget is a 22 year veteran teacher of everything between kindergarten and 5th grade. After earning a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education with a Reading Endorsement from John Carroll University, she was a classroom teacher for 10 years. A Master's in Library and Information Science led her to pursue a position in her school's library. Currently she is the Librarian and Makerspace Coordinator at Foster Elementary School in Mt. Lebanon School District in Pittsburgh, PA. She is also the school Tech Coach.

On the side, Bridget loves teaching teachers and is an adjunct professor at Wilson College where she teaches Google Earth in the Classroom. Before having her own two children, she held positions in the Discovery Educator Network where she trained teachers in various educational technology skills all over the world. Bridget is a board member for Matt's Makerspace and loves curating Maker Education content. She brings a wide array of resources to Education Blueprint and loves that EB is an easy way for other teachers to learn, network and share too.