ONE TEAM. ONE NETWORK. ONE MISSION.
Meet Our Team!
Just as we strive to learn about each and every member of our community, we want to introduce ourselves as well! Use the buttons below to navigate the background, current role, social media links, and publications of the team member you wish to learn more about.
Chad Ostrowski
Twitter: @ChadOstrowski
LinkedIn: Chad Ostrowski
Author, "Teach Better" (Explore Here)
Chad Ostrowski is the Co-founder and CEO of the Teach Better Team.
Chad Ostrowski started his career in education when he was chosen as one of only 50 individuals in Ohio to be granted the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship. Through this fellowship, he received his Master’s in Science Education and gained intensive training and expertise in STEM education, Problem Based Learning, Inquiry based instruction as well as other cutting edge educational methods.
It is through these foundations and his experience in high needs, inner city education that he created and developed the “The Grid Method” in order to synthesize his knowledge of best practices in education into a system that allowed ALL of his students to meet and exceed their potential.
As CEO and Co-Founder of the Teach Better Team, he has shared and continues to share his knowledge and expertise in Mastery Learning and instructional innovation through workshops, speaking engagements, and professional development for schools, districts, and organizations across the country with the goal of helping all teachers and students THRIVE.
Jeff Gargas
Twitter: @JeffGargas
Instagram: @_JeffGargas
LinkedIn: Jeff Gargas
Author, "Teach Better" (Explore Here)
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 leads the EDUpreneur Mastermind and 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.
Brad Hughes
LinkedIn : Brad Hughes
Twitter : @brad_hughes
Instagram : @bradnewspodcast
YouTube : Brad Hughes
Brad Hughes is a Training and Development Specialist with the Teach Better Team. He's passionate about connecting with kids and dedicated to supporting all the significant adults in kids' lives.
Brad is an elementary school principal and Chief Encouragement Officer in Ontario, Canada, with 30 years of experience educating children and youth. Prior to school leadership, Brad taught for 16 years in classrooms from Kindergarten to eighth grade, most recently teaching middle school Visual Arts, French and Special Education.
As a certified Self-Reg School Champion, Brad has an ongoing commitment to reframing the joys and challenges of school life through a Self-Reg lens. He is also eager to shift the conversation from educator self-care to community care at the school and system levels.
Brad has facilitated the Teach Better Administrator Mastermind, writes the Better News blog series, and hosts The Good News, Brad News Podcast on the Teach Better Podcast Network. He has contributed chapters to Things I Wish [...] Knew (2021) and the upcoming book for school leaders in the 100 STOP series.
Brad is always excited to go live with incredible difference-makers in education. You can find Brad frequently within Team Livestreams on a weekly basis!
Andrea Kalchbrenner
Andrea Kalchbrenner is a Training & Development Specialist for the Teach Better Team in addition to being a founder the Teach Better Ambassador Program with Meghan Hosey.
Andrea’s teaching background is in Secondary Education, spending the majority of her career teaching 7th grade English Language Arts. She is passionate about making reading and writing come alive for students by immersing them in all things ELA, while managing a mastery learning classroom utilizing The Grid Method framework with a focus on social-emotional learning.
Outside of the education world, Andrea is a professionally-trained dancer, but her greatest role is being Mom to her two young children who she shares with her supportive husband Kyle.
Twitter: @KalchbrennerELA
Instagram: @kalchbrenner_krew
LinkedIn: Andrea Kalchbrenner
BreAnn Fennel
BreAnn is a defender of play, a collector of books, and a loving mom of two boys.
Twitter: @playyay
LinkedIn: BreAnne Fennell
Instagram: @BreAnn
Sara Jessee
Sara Jessee has been a teacher in Illinois for 16 years. For most of that time, she has taught Middle School, specifically 7th grade Lit. & Comp. and Language Arts. The fun, energy, creativity, and learning that comes with teaching middle school makes her love the work she does. Sara works hard to give students opportunities to engage with meaningful and diverse texts and help them become aware, informed, active citizens who add value to the world around them. She has also been a middle school drama director for 10 years, and often writes scripts with the drama students who love bringing their unique, creative ideas from the page to the stage.
Sara is currently an assistant graphic designer with Teach Better, and she greatly enjoys working with a team of people who bring so much conversation, joy, and inspiration to the world of education.
Twitter: @TchrJessee