Learning Opportunities

Dan is a national educational consultant who provides staff development and consultative services to educators K-12.
Dan is passionate about helping individuals shift their perspective on behavior, understanding the best ways to provide support given the challenges posed in today’s society. He regularly presents on topics impacting school climate, brain-based instruction, developmentally appropriate educational practices and presentation skills.
Dan’s overwhelming strength is his skill as a presenter. Although his sessions are exceedingly interactive and engaging, his greatest asset lies in his ability to offer participants rich insight into the connectedness between educational practices and student behavior.
After receiving his master’s degree in education, Dan worked in both private residential and public school settings. His work as a self-contained behavior unit teacher, Educational Diagnostician, and Director of a Learning Resource Center afforded him experience at all levels, in both general and special education settings. Dan’s consultative experience comes from his work as an Educational Specialist for the Education Service Center in San Antonio, Texas. While there, he designed a three-year program certifying individuals to serve as behavior specialists throughout the region. He also regularly provided technical assistance in the areas of behavior, special education, dropout prevention, school climate and developmentally appropriate practices.
After working at the Education Service Center, Dan sought out a job returning to the school setting allowing him to work directly with children. For seventeen years, Dan was a behavior consultant for the Alamo Heights Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas. Though he provided support for all schools, his primary responsibilities were at the Howard Early Childhood Center working with the district’s youngest learners. While there, he provided in class lessons, small group and individual support, as well as presentations to staff and parents.
Dan retired from the school system in May of 2020 after thirty years of work in education. Though he is now slowing down, working to have a better balance between his work and home life, he still provides presentation and consultative support as an independent consultant.

Sandra Woitas As part of the City of Edmonton’s 100^th birthday celebrations, Sandra was honored as one of the 100 Edmontonians of the Century.  As a long time educator and tireless advocate for the needs of Edmonton’s most disadvantaged children and families, she continues to spread the word that poverty cannot be an excuse and by only working together, we, as an entire community, can raise the bar for all children and youth.  Sandra believes we can no longer make excuses for not meeting the needs of our marginalized children and youth and can only be part of the solution.

As a former Director of the City Centre Education Project with Edmonton Public Schools, she worked collaboratively with seven inner city schools to make sure the students had the resources and supports they needed to realize their full potential, academically and in life.  The City Centre Education Project was recognized by Today’s Parent magazine as one of the Top Forty Schools in Canada and by the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development for its collaborative practices.  The project also received the Alberta Premier’s Award for Excellence.

From November 2004 to August 2009, Sandra was on secondment to Alberta Education/Children and Youth Services as part of the cross ministry Family Violence and Anti-Bullying Initiative.  She travelled the province working with parents, communities and schools providing them with the skills, resources, and supports required to reduce the frequency and severity of bullying behaviours.  She spoke to thousands of educators, parents, youth and community members on the issue of bullying.  In collaboration with the Alberta Mental Health Board, Sandra was the co-lead on assisting 18 school jurisdictions in piloting site-based, integrated mental health services for children and youth. 

In September 2009, she returned to Edmonton Public Schools as the Executive Director of the Edmonton Public Schools Foundation.  The role of the Foundation was to raise the profile of Edmonton Public Schools in the community, advocate for public education, build strong partnerships with all stakeholders, and raise funds and/or in-kind resources to enrich and enhance the teaching and learning going on in our early learning and full-day Kindergarten classrooms in socially vulnerable communities.