
Currently, Pandora is the Assistant Director for the Educational Environment (EE) Focus Area of the Illinois Statewide Technical Assistance Collaborative (ISTAC). The ISTAC is the Illinois State Board of Education's model of integrated technical assistance for families and school districts. Each ISTAC project uses a coaching and support network model, focusing on building the capacity of districts through the implementation of evidence-based practices, utilizing data collection and analysis in support of data-based decision making. The EE Focus Area was known as Project CHOICES from 1989-2013.
Pandora holds a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Master of Arts in Educational Administration. As an educator for over two decades, she brings a variety of experiences to the educational systems, educators, parents, and individuals she supports. Her teaching career began at Meridian CUSD #101-the same district in which she was a student from 1st grade through graduation. There she co-taught and supported a wide-variety of learners in general education classrooms. She brought skills in planning curriculum, teaming, collaboration, and implementing supports for a variety of learners to the co-teaching partnership. As a Project CHOICES' (currently known as ISTAC-EE-Focus Area) consultant for 15 years, she collaborated with district and school teams to facilitate change that increased the capacity for systems to support an increasingly diverse student population.
When not facilitating, presenting, coaching, or consulting she loves to spend quiet time at her southern Illinois home surrounded by nature, her husband, several hound dogs, family, and friends.