Education Keynote Speakers
Meet Your Host, Alan November
ALAN NOVEMBER
Founder, November Learning, Marblehead, MA
An international leader in education technology, Alan November began his career as an oceanography teacher and dorm counselor at a reform school for boys. Today, he thrives on challenging educators’ thoughts about what is possible in teaching and learning. Recognized as one of the nation’s most influential thinkers, Alan has delivered keynotes and workshops in all 50 states, across Canada and throughout the UK, Europe, Asia and Central America.
Meet Our Esteemed Keynote Presenters
Alan November selects each keynote speaker and featured presenter based on a personal connection with the ground-breaking qualities of his or her work. There is no request for proposals to find these innovative minds. Varied and valuable, the topics covered by our esteemed guests draw an array of participants for a truly global experience. Get to know more about these powerful practitioners of transformative education – including Alan November himself, BLC’s host.
DR. KAREN BRENNAN
Associate Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Harvard University
Karen Brennan is an Associate Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she directs the Creative Computing Lab. Her research is primarily concerned with the ways in which learning environments can be designed to cultivate young people’s creativity and agency as learners and designers. Before joining HGSE, Brennan completed her PhD in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, where she was a member of the team that developed the Scratch programming environment. For more information, please visit: http://scholar.harvard.edu/kbrennan/
SCOTT WOMACK
French, English, and Journalism Instructor, Cross Country Coach
James Monroe High School
Scott E. Womack, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, retired from the U.S. Army in 2011 and now teaches English, French, and Journalism at James Monroe High School in Lindside, West Virginia. He also coaches the Cross-Country and Debate Teams and serves as the faculty advisor for the Student Government Association, Youth Leadership Association, and Model United Nations. Presence, persistence, and precision – keeping students at the center of any policy or activity that occurs in the school – define his approach to education both inside the classroom and as a citizen activist in the community.
Scott’s thirty-year military career included diverse assignments as a paratrooper, Armor Officer, Civil Affairs Officer, and Sub-Saharan Africa Foreign Area Officer. Highlights of this service include assignments as an accredited diplomat to eight African countries and a tour teaching French and African Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. During the latter assignment he also established West Point’s Center for Languages, Cultures, and Regional Studies and served as its first Deputy Director. Scott’s military service informs his teaching in sometimes surprising and always enlightening ways.
Scott earned a Doctorate of Educational Leadership, Management, and Policy from Seton Hall University, an M.A. in National Security Affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a B.S. in History from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is proficient in French and German. He is married to Rebecca Crispin and has two children: Josiah and Samuel. He enjoys travel, reading, listening to and making music, equestrian activities, living history, working on his homestead farm, and sundry traditional crafts. Scott is active in the local community and is Vice President of the Indian Creek Watershed Association and a member of the Greenbrier Valley Worship Group, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
