Meet Our Co-Owners!
Meet Jessica Liakonis
Jessica is beginning her 23rd year as an elementary educator and currently teaches 5th grade in an ICT classroom at Willets Road School in the East Williston School District. Before East Williston, she taught in the William Floyd and Levittown districts. Over the past decade she has co-taught across multiple grade levels using parallel, station, alternative, and teaming models, which has given her a deep understanding of how to reach every learner in the room.
Literacy has always been central to Jessica's work. She holds a Master's in Literacy and an undergraduate degree in elementary education and psychology, and she brings that expertise to the courses she leads at CORE. She has completed advanced training in designing and delivering professional development, took part in Stony Brook University's Educational Leadership Program, and has earned 125 post-graduate credits. Her areas of expertise include guided reading and writing, reading workshops, classroom management, and using mentor texts to teach writing.
Jessica believes strongly that educators should shape the direction of their own profession. She serves on her district's Professional Development Steering Group and co-chairs its Teacher Center committee, working to build professional learning that is practical, engaging, and useful to the teachers who take part.
Before becoming co-owner, Jessica taught for CORE for seven years, helping build the foundation the company is growing from. She is passionate about helping teachers draw on their own strengths and passions to create dynamic, engaging classrooms, a philosophy that still guides CORE's courses today.
She is honored to take on this next chapter as co-owner alongside her colleague and friend, Loni, growing CORE and expanding its reach.
Outside of education, Jessica loves staying active and spending time with her husband, Billy, and their two sons, Niko and Luke, especially cheering them on at soccer. Family time and traveling together are what she looks forward to most.
Meet Loni Panos-Stein
Loni is entering her 10th year as a special education teacher in the East Williston School District. Before joining East Williston, she worked as a Behavior Consultation Teacher with the Nassau Suffolk Services for Autism and completed extensive coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis through the Florida Institute of Technology. She has also worked directly with families as a parent trainer, which strengthened her passion for bridging the gap between home and school.
Loni believes strongly in educators shaping the direction of their own profession. She serves on her district's Teacher Center Board and Professional Development Steering Group, and she regularly develops and teaches professional development courses for educators..
Her commitment to inclusion goes beyond the classroom. She is the coordinator of her district's 7th grade Outdoor Education Program and founded the Sunflower Café, a student-run coffee cart that brings students with disabilities and their neurotypical peers together through meaningful, inclusive experiences.
Loni has been a CORE instructor since 2020 and knows the company's courses and community well. She is excited to begin this next chapter alongside her fellow colleague and most importantly, friend, Jessica, building on CORE's strong foundation while creating practical, engaging professional learning that educators can genuinely use.
Outside of education, Loni enjoys gardening, pickleball, beach volleyball, and helping run her family's longtime children's theater program. Most of all, she loves spending time with her wife, Jessica, their children, Sutton and Liv, and their dog, Jetson.
Jessica is beginning her 23rd year as an elementary educator and currently teaches 5th grade in an ICT classroom at Willets Road School in the East Williston School District. Before East Williston, she taught in the William Floyd and Levittown districts. Over the past decade she has co-taught across multiple grade levels using parallel, station, alternative, and teaming models, which has given her a deep understanding of how to reach every learner in the room.
Literacy has always been central to Jessica's work. She holds a Master's in Literacy and an undergraduate degree in elementary education and psychology, and she brings that expertise to the courses she leads at CORE. She has completed advanced training in designing and delivering professional development, took part in Stony Brook University's Educational Leadership Program, and has earned 125 post-graduate credits. Her areas of expertise include guided reading and writing, reading workshops, classroom management, and using mentor texts to teach writing.
Jessica believes strongly that educators should shape the direction of their own profession. She serves on her district's Professional Development Steering Group and co-chairs its Teacher Center committee, working to build professional learning that is practical, engaging, and useful to the teachers who take part.
Before becoming co-owner, Jessica taught for CORE for seven years, helping build the foundation the company is growing from. She is passionate about helping teachers draw on their own strengths and passions to create dynamic, engaging classrooms, a philosophy that still guides CORE's courses today.
She is honored to take on this next chapter as co-owner alongside her colleague and friend, Loni, growing CORE and expanding its reach.
Outside of education, Jessica loves staying active and spending time with her husband, Billy, and their two sons, Niko and Luke, especially cheering them on at soccer. Family time and traveling together are what she looks forward to most.
Meet Loni Panos-Stein
Loni is entering her 10th year as a special education teacher in the East Williston School District. Before joining East Williston, she worked as a Behavior Consultation Teacher with the Nassau Suffolk Services for Autism and completed extensive coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis through the Florida Institute of Technology. She has also worked directly with families as a parent trainer, which strengthened her passion for bridging the gap between home and school.
Loni believes strongly in educators shaping the direction of their own profession. She serves on her district's Teacher Center Board and Professional Development Steering Group, and she regularly develops and teaches professional development courses for educators..
Her commitment to inclusion goes beyond the classroom. She is the coordinator of her district's 7th grade Outdoor Education Program and founded the Sunflower Café, a student-run coffee cart that brings students with disabilities and their neurotypical peers together through meaningful, inclusive experiences.
Loni has been a CORE instructor since 2020 and knows the company's courses and community well. She is excited to begin this next chapter alongside her fellow colleague and most importantly, friend, Jessica, building on CORE's strong foundation while creating practical, engaging professional learning that educators can genuinely use.
Outside of education, Loni enjoys gardening, pickleball, beach volleyball, and helping run her family's longtime children's theater program. Most of all, she loves spending time with her wife, Jessica, their children, Sutton and Liv, and their dog, Jetson.
Meet Our Amazing Staff of Educators!
We are college professors, award-winning educators, published authors and district leaders..
See why we are so proud of our wonderful staff of instructors!
See why we are so proud of our wonderful staff of instructors!
Cindy Combs [email protected]
Cindy has been a Social Worker in the Brentwood School District for over twenty years. Cindy has provided individual and group counseling as well as drug and alcohol prevention services. She has done assessments, interventions and referrals for youth at risk and special education students and collaborated with parents and faculty to ensure that students received appropriate services. Cindy is also responsible for training staff about child abuse identification and reporting. She has been a Career Counselor and Field Placement Coordinator for the Urban League of Long Island and worked for the Town of Islip as a drug and alcohol counselor. Cindy also served as a facilitator and counselor for the Structured Educational Support Program at Wyandanch Memorial High School. She was on the Board of Directors for the Suffolk Network for Adolescent Pregnancy/E.O.C. of Suffolk. Cindy received the Award for Distinguished Service from the Town of Islip for Women’s History Month, a Service Appreciation Award from S.N.A.P. and a Brookhaven Town Unsung Hero Award for Black History Month. Cindy Does a great deal of public speaking and has been a presenter at numerous educational forums. Cindy has taught professional development courses on topics related to student issues and is looking forward to her work at CORE and the opportunity to share her knowledge with educators.
Kara Cosolito [email protected]
Kara brings over a decade of experience in education, with a deep-rooted passion for teaching and learning. Born and raised in East Meadow, she now has the unique opportunity to give back to her hometown by teaching in the very community that shaped her. Throughout her career, Kara has taught a wide range of grade levels, from energetic Kindergarteners to insightful 5th graders. She is known for her dedication to student engagement and has been an active contributor to school life, serving on numerous committees. Notably, she was a key member of the 5th Grade Writing and Reading Committees and played an essential role in curriculum development for both subjects over the summer. Kara holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Southern Connecticut State University and a Master's degree in Early Childhood and Childhood Education from Hofstra University. In 2019, Kara married a fellow educator who teaches in a New York City elementary school. Together, they are raising three wonderful daughters who keep them inspired every day. Currently, Kara teaches 5th grade English Language Arts, where her students experience a departmentalized setting that helps prepare them for the transition to middle school. She is committed to supporting the academic, social, emotional and developmental growth of every child. Creating a classroom that is inclusive, engaging and full of positivity is at the heart of Kara’s teaching philosophy.
Caryn Drezner [email protected]
Caryn teaches middle school and high school Spanish in West Islip and has also taught ENL at the secondary level and to adult learners. Caryn recently completed her Educational Leadership studies through Stony Brook University, with a focus on School District and School Building Leadership. As an administrative intern, Caryn led a new peer mentor program and collaborated with department chairs to run a collegial circle about cultural inclusivity in the classroom. She has also worked with students in environments outside of the classroom; she has coached golf and softball and served as a co-advisor for student council. Recently, Caryn has begun providing professional development within her district to help teachers understand the technological tools the district provides with the goal of helping educators tailor formative and summative assessments. Caryn looks forward to working with the educators taking CORE classes and giving them a meaningful and relevant professional development experience.
Dana Driscoll [email protected]
Dana is a teacher in the Hauppauge School District and has taught grades K-4. For the past ten years Dana has also been a district-wide Intermediate Literacy Collaborative Coordinator for Hauppauge Schools. She has received extensive professional training enabling her to teach and coordinate staff development workshops and presentations in literacy. Dana is responsible for the creation of a leveled library in her district for grades K-5 for use with Guided Reading, Read Alouds and Shared Readings. As a CORE instructor, Dana wants to provide rigorous and quality courses to help educators strengthen the skills needed to teach to the Common Core Learning Standards.
Andrew Frisch [email protected]
Andrew is a Mathematics and Computer Science teacher in the Northport-East Northport School District and is the lead teacher of Mathematics at Northport High School. He also spent two years as an adjunct professor at Adelphi University and, from the same university, earned an Advanced Certificate in School District Leadership. His academic success at Adelphi led to receiving their “Dean’s Award.” Andrew previously worked as an adjunct professor in the Computer Science Department at Farmingdale State College. At Northport, Andrew has accomplished his goal of increasing enrollment in computer science courses and has used his technology skills to help teachers as well as students. He is very involved in promoting the use of technology in instruction and that is something Andrew intends to share with the participants in his CORE classes.
Gail Leibert [email protected]
Gail is in her 20th year of teaching with certifications in TESOL, Literacy, English 7-12, Special Education and Elementary Education. She is a teacher at The Wheatley School in the East WIlliston School District where she has taught ENL to 8th-12th graders. Gail currently coteaches English/ENL in grades 10, 11 and 12 and has a specific interest in newcomers and SLIFE students. In addition to her Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education, with a minor in Linguistics, she earned her Masters of Science in Literacy from the University of Delaware. Gail holds many other positions within the East Williston School District. She is the Chairperson of the Professional Development Steering Group, Director of the East Williston Teacher Center and has served on the Seal of Biliteracy Committee, among many others. She has taught a number of English as a New Language Professional Development Courses for colleagues with the goal of supporting their work in the classroom and in the end, all students. Gail’s main goal as a CORE PD instructor is to encourage reflection and collaboration among educators.
Rosa Malley [email protected]
Rosa was born and raised in Puerto Rico to parents who taught her the importance of hard work, education and respect. As a native speaker of Spanish she is proud to teach her language to students and seeks as many opportunities as possible to share her culture with them as well. Rosa recognizes that the ability to communicate in multiple languages is becoming more important in the increasingly integrated global business community. Because of this, her main objective is to develop cultural awareness and to help learners become cross-culturally competent in a society where Spanish speakers are the fastest growing minority group. Rosa graduated from Queens College and is certified to teach Secondary Spanish. She works in the Glen Cove School District for the past eleven years, teaching Spanish at the Robert M. Finley Middle School. Prior to that she taught at Deer Park High School. She is also a language translator and Spanish tutor and is a member of Long Island Language Teachers (LILT). Rosa strongly believes in the benefits of professional development and continues her own learning in order to provide her students with the newest and most exciting ways to learn languages. Rosa helps her students to understand that when we speak another language, we can perceive a different world.
Mario Nardiello [email protected]
Mario has been a secondary math teacher in the Glen Cove School District for 17 years, serving as the AP Calculus teacher for 16 of them. Upon entering the district, he spearheaded the initiative to integrate SmartBoard technology into the classroom, and became the entire district’s trainer for its wider release. As a direct result, he was asked to be a trainer for the Inter County Teacher Resource Center, where he continued to train teachers from districts spanning all of Long Island. In addition to his Masters in Education, Mario holds a degree in Architectural Engineering, and has taught several college courses as adjunct faculty at both NYIT and Adelphi colleges. These past courses included titles such as “Exploring Math through the Arts and Architecture,” “Introduction to Space Planning and Interior Design,” and “3-Dimensional Computer Aided Drafting.” Mario enjoys bringing his unique background into the math classroom, weaving in his past professional experiences to bring life into what can typically be mundane math instruction. He looks forward to sharing his perspective on learning and collaborating with others, and genuinely believes that in life, we all have something to teach one another.
Danielle Roccisano [email protected]
Danielle is a New York State certified educational technology specialist, social studies teacher and school district leader. Currently she is the Director of Technology for the Island Trees School District. Prior to this role she was an instructional technology resource teacher at Northport High School for over a decade. In 2014 Danielle was recognized as a "Bright Light" by the Association of Suffolk County Supervisors for Educational Technologies and presented a project involving professional development in blended learning environments including online webinars. As a result, her project was awarded a generous grant and she was able to purchase software for her district to present online PDs. Danielle has also served as an instructor at the LYC/PATCH summer institute at Touro Law School in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Over the past ten years, she has presented over 500 hours of technology related professional development. Danielle is passionate about blended learning, social media integration and digital citizenship and hopes to share her enthusiasm for educational technology in her CORE courses. She has also created CORE's first class on Artificial Intelligence.
Thomas Sheehan [email protected]
Tom is the principal of Glen Head Elementary School in the North Shore School District where his leadership style is to connect with, encourage and support teachers and students. Prior to that, he was a teacher in the Floral Park-Bellerose School District where he was the 4th grade general education teacher in an inclusion class and the department’s grade chairperson. He also taught in the Locust Valley and Rockville Centre School Districts. With his degree in administration, Tom continues to lead and to utilize the knowledge and experience he gained in the classroom. Through his years of teaching, Tom taught Kindergarten through 4th grade. His teaching style is to create engaging lessons where his students are constantly moving, active and involved and as a school principal, he motivates students in the same way. Tom encourages students to follow their dreams and, fun fact, Tom competed in and won “Survivor, Season 39” which was his own personal dream. Of course, his fourth graders were quite impressed with this very exciting accomplishment! He is grateful for the opportunity to be a role model to his students. Tom believes students should be excited to come to school and he wants to help teachers develop lessons that excite and build relationships with their students. He looks forward to working with educators in his CORE Professional Development course!
Christopher Smith [email protected]
Christopher is a technology education teacher in the Northport-East Northport School District. His skills in all areas of technology enable him to work with both students and teachers in his district. Christopher has taught both middle and high school technology class at Northport and worked in a Computer Program for three summers teaching K-8 students how to use technology safely and responsibly. At Northport Middle School, Christopher revised and rewrote curriculum for a technology elective; since his revisions were implemented, there was a measurable and dramatic increase in student enrollment and interest. Before becoming a teacher, Christopher worked as a software engineer for a small company. While there he designed and developed a program that was picked up by Siemens and eventually distributed worldwide. Christopher’s software enabled companies to more efficiently manage employee communication. As a CORE instructor, Christopher’s main goal is to improve educator proficiencies in instructional technology in ways that are in line with Common Core and NYS Education Department initiatives.
Cindy has been a Social Worker in the Brentwood School District for over twenty years. Cindy has provided individual and group counseling as well as drug and alcohol prevention services. She has done assessments, interventions and referrals for youth at risk and special education students and collaborated with parents and faculty to ensure that students received appropriate services. Cindy is also responsible for training staff about child abuse identification and reporting. She has been a Career Counselor and Field Placement Coordinator for the Urban League of Long Island and worked for the Town of Islip as a drug and alcohol counselor. Cindy also served as a facilitator and counselor for the Structured Educational Support Program at Wyandanch Memorial High School. She was on the Board of Directors for the Suffolk Network for Adolescent Pregnancy/E.O.C. of Suffolk. Cindy received the Award for Distinguished Service from the Town of Islip for Women’s History Month, a Service Appreciation Award from S.N.A.P. and a Brookhaven Town Unsung Hero Award for Black History Month. Cindy Does a great deal of public speaking and has been a presenter at numerous educational forums. Cindy has taught professional development courses on topics related to student issues and is looking forward to her work at CORE and the opportunity to share her knowledge with educators.
Kara Cosolito [email protected]
Kara brings over a decade of experience in education, with a deep-rooted passion for teaching and learning. Born and raised in East Meadow, she now has the unique opportunity to give back to her hometown by teaching in the very community that shaped her. Throughout her career, Kara has taught a wide range of grade levels, from energetic Kindergarteners to insightful 5th graders. She is known for her dedication to student engagement and has been an active contributor to school life, serving on numerous committees. Notably, she was a key member of the 5th Grade Writing and Reading Committees and played an essential role in curriculum development for both subjects over the summer. Kara holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Southern Connecticut State University and a Master's degree in Early Childhood and Childhood Education from Hofstra University. In 2019, Kara married a fellow educator who teaches in a New York City elementary school. Together, they are raising three wonderful daughters who keep them inspired every day. Currently, Kara teaches 5th grade English Language Arts, where her students experience a departmentalized setting that helps prepare them for the transition to middle school. She is committed to supporting the academic, social, emotional and developmental growth of every child. Creating a classroom that is inclusive, engaging and full of positivity is at the heart of Kara’s teaching philosophy.
Caryn Drezner [email protected]
Caryn teaches middle school and high school Spanish in West Islip and has also taught ENL at the secondary level and to adult learners. Caryn recently completed her Educational Leadership studies through Stony Brook University, with a focus on School District and School Building Leadership. As an administrative intern, Caryn led a new peer mentor program and collaborated with department chairs to run a collegial circle about cultural inclusivity in the classroom. She has also worked with students in environments outside of the classroom; she has coached golf and softball and served as a co-advisor for student council. Recently, Caryn has begun providing professional development within her district to help teachers understand the technological tools the district provides with the goal of helping educators tailor formative and summative assessments. Caryn looks forward to working with the educators taking CORE classes and giving them a meaningful and relevant professional development experience.
Dana Driscoll [email protected]
Dana is a teacher in the Hauppauge School District and has taught grades K-4. For the past ten years Dana has also been a district-wide Intermediate Literacy Collaborative Coordinator for Hauppauge Schools. She has received extensive professional training enabling her to teach and coordinate staff development workshops and presentations in literacy. Dana is responsible for the creation of a leveled library in her district for grades K-5 for use with Guided Reading, Read Alouds and Shared Readings. As a CORE instructor, Dana wants to provide rigorous and quality courses to help educators strengthen the skills needed to teach to the Common Core Learning Standards.
Andrew Frisch [email protected]
Andrew is a Mathematics and Computer Science teacher in the Northport-East Northport School District and is the lead teacher of Mathematics at Northport High School. He also spent two years as an adjunct professor at Adelphi University and, from the same university, earned an Advanced Certificate in School District Leadership. His academic success at Adelphi led to receiving their “Dean’s Award.” Andrew previously worked as an adjunct professor in the Computer Science Department at Farmingdale State College. At Northport, Andrew has accomplished his goal of increasing enrollment in computer science courses and has used his technology skills to help teachers as well as students. He is very involved in promoting the use of technology in instruction and that is something Andrew intends to share with the participants in his CORE classes.
Gail Leibert [email protected]
Gail is in her 20th year of teaching with certifications in TESOL, Literacy, English 7-12, Special Education and Elementary Education. She is a teacher at The Wheatley School in the East WIlliston School District where she has taught ENL to 8th-12th graders. Gail currently coteaches English/ENL in grades 10, 11 and 12 and has a specific interest in newcomers and SLIFE students. In addition to her Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education, with a minor in Linguistics, she earned her Masters of Science in Literacy from the University of Delaware. Gail holds many other positions within the East Williston School District. She is the Chairperson of the Professional Development Steering Group, Director of the East Williston Teacher Center and has served on the Seal of Biliteracy Committee, among many others. She has taught a number of English as a New Language Professional Development Courses for colleagues with the goal of supporting their work in the classroom and in the end, all students. Gail’s main goal as a CORE PD instructor is to encourage reflection and collaboration among educators.
Rosa Malley [email protected]
Rosa was born and raised in Puerto Rico to parents who taught her the importance of hard work, education and respect. As a native speaker of Spanish she is proud to teach her language to students and seeks as many opportunities as possible to share her culture with them as well. Rosa recognizes that the ability to communicate in multiple languages is becoming more important in the increasingly integrated global business community. Because of this, her main objective is to develop cultural awareness and to help learners become cross-culturally competent in a society where Spanish speakers are the fastest growing minority group. Rosa graduated from Queens College and is certified to teach Secondary Spanish. She works in the Glen Cove School District for the past eleven years, teaching Spanish at the Robert M. Finley Middle School. Prior to that she taught at Deer Park High School. She is also a language translator and Spanish tutor and is a member of Long Island Language Teachers (LILT). Rosa strongly believes in the benefits of professional development and continues her own learning in order to provide her students with the newest and most exciting ways to learn languages. Rosa helps her students to understand that when we speak another language, we can perceive a different world.
Mario Nardiello [email protected]
Mario has been a secondary math teacher in the Glen Cove School District for 17 years, serving as the AP Calculus teacher for 16 of them. Upon entering the district, he spearheaded the initiative to integrate SmartBoard technology into the classroom, and became the entire district’s trainer for its wider release. As a direct result, he was asked to be a trainer for the Inter County Teacher Resource Center, where he continued to train teachers from districts spanning all of Long Island. In addition to his Masters in Education, Mario holds a degree in Architectural Engineering, and has taught several college courses as adjunct faculty at both NYIT and Adelphi colleges. These past courses included titles such as “Exploring Math through the Arts and Architecture,” “Introduction to Space Planning and Interior Design,” and “3-Dimensional Computer Aided Drafting.” Mario enjoys bringing his unique background into the math classroom, weaving in his past professional experiences to bring life into what can typically be mundane math instruction. He looks forward to sharing his perspective on learning and collaborating with others, and genuinely believes that in life, we all have something to teach one another.
Danielle Roccisano [email protected]
Danielle is a New York State certified educational technology specialist, social studies teacher and school district leader. Currently she is the Director of Technology for the Island Trees School District. Prior to this role she was an instructional technology resource teacher at Northport High School for over a decade. In 2014 Danielle was recognized as a "Bright Light" by the Association of Suffolk County Supervisors for Educational Technologies and presented a project involving professional development in blended learning environments including online webinars. As a result, her project was awarded a generous grant and she was able to purchase software for her district to present online PDs. Danielle has also served as an instructor at the LYC/PATCH summer institute at Touro Law School in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Over the past ten years, she has presented over 500 hours of technology related professional development. Danielle is passionate about blended learning, social media integration and digital citizenship and hopes to share her enthusiasm for educational technology in her CORE courses. She has also created CORE's first class on Artificial Intelligence.
Thomas Sheehan [email protected]
Tom is the principal of Glen Head Elementary School in the North Shore School District where his leadership style is to connect with, encourage and support teachers and students. Prior to that, he was a teacher in the Floral Park-Bellerose School District where he was the 4th grade general education teacher in an inclusion class and the department’s grade chairperson. He also taught in the Locust Valley and Rockville Centre School Districts. With his degree in administration, Tom continues to lead and to utilize the knowledge and experience he gained in the classroom. Through his years of teaching, Tom taught Kindergarten through 4th grade. His teaching style is to create engaging lessons where his students are constantly moving, active and involved and as a school principal, he motivates students in the same way. Tom encourages students to follow their dreams and, fun fact, Tom competed in and won “Survivor, Season 39” which was his own personal dream. Of course, his fourth graders were quite impressed with this very exciting accomplishment! He is grateful for the opportunity to be a role model to his students. Tom believes students should be excited to come to school and he wants to help teachers develop lessons that excite and build relationships with their students. He looks forward to working with educators in his CORE Professional Development course!
Christopher Smith [email protected]
Christopher is a technology education teacher in the Northport-East Northport School District. His skills in all areas of technology enable him to work with both students and teachers in his district. Christopher has taught both middle and high school technology class at Northport and worked in a Computer Program for three summers teaching K-8 students how to use technology safely and responsibly. At Northport Middle School, Christopher revised and rewrote curriculum for a technology elective; since his revisions were implemented, there was a measurable and dramatic increase in student enrollment and interest. Before becoming a teacher, Christopher worked as a software engineer for a small company. While there he designed and developed a program that was picked up by Siemens and eventually distributed worldwide. Christopher’s software enabled companies to more efficiently manage employee communication. As a CORE instructor, Christopher’s main goal is to improve educator proficiencies in instructional technology in ways that are in line with Common Core and NYS Education Department initiatives.