Good evening. I’m Roger Stenerson, Communication Director for Rising to Learn.
Board members, on July 31, 2025 an email was sent to you from Rising To Learn. That email was a request made in good faith calling for Board action. Rising To Learn thanks Dr. Zentmeyer for her acknowledgement of receipt of that email on August 4th. Rising To Learn would appreciate knowing of the action taken thus far by the Board in response to the request made, as well as any future action that will be taken.
On behalf of Rising To Learn in response to erroneous information about Rising To Learn shared publicly by Board Vice President Guessford at the BOE’s July 15th Business Meeting, I offer the following information to you, board members, and to the public.
Rising To Learn is a non-profit organization created in January of this year. Its mission is to serve as a transparent and accessible communication hub, offering detailed information through a website, newsletters, and ongoing dialogue on social media. Rising To Learn provides concise reports about school board meetings and work sessions, commentary on and explanations of board processes and actions, and links to resources, while also maintaining open channels for discussion and feedback.
With the goal of raising community awareness and understanding of the work of the Washington County Board of Education and Washington County Public Schools, Rising To Learn envisions a future where every student in Washington County Public Schools has access to the educational services they need to be successful.
Members of the Executive Board of Rising To Learn include:
Dottie Gruhler, founder and the Board’s chairperson – Mrs. Gruhler conceptualized and founded not only Rising To Learn, but also the WC Parents Facebook page, the largest online parent community in Washington County with 17,000 followers. She’s a registered Behavior Technician with WCPS.
The Vice Chairperson is Melissa Williams. Mrs. Williams served 3 four-year terms as a member of the Washington County Board of Education, 8 of those years as the unanimously elected Board President. Prior to her Board of Education service, Mrs. Williams was a WCPS teacher
and central office administrator for 35 years.
Secretary Brittany Boothe is a passionate community advocate and creative organizer and has two children attending Washington County Public Schools. She has served in PTA and PTO roles.
Kathy O’Reilly is the organization’s Treasurer. Mrs. O’Reilly, is a Title I School Family Liaison for WCPS with over a decade of service as a WCPS employee. She is the parent of a South High graduate and has a child currently enrolled in WCPS.
And then, there’s me, Roger Stenerson, Communication Director, a former employee of WCPS with 26 years of school-based school administration experience at the middle school level. I taught Educational Leadership for five years at Towson University and for six years I was
Director of Educational Leadership at Hood College.
Currently, Rising To Learn’s Advisory Board is comprised of twelve members: Jenny Belliotti, Carol Corwell Martin, Denise Kuhna, Pieter Bickford, Angela Yamshita, Taj Smith, Torin Mellott, Carol Mowen, Tiara Burnett, Ann Rotz, Stan Stouffer, and April Crohare.
The individual biographies of all Rising To Learn board members are available for public viewing on the Rising to Learn website – risingtolearn.com
Our busy lives can make it difficult to monitor the decisions that are made about our children’s education. Rising To Learn is here to help. Community involvement is key to our organization, and we invite WCPS stakeholders to embrace our vision and join us in our mission. Rising To Learn invites all WCPS stakeholders and interested community members to stay up-to-date, informed, and involved by visiting risingtolearn.com, subscribing to the RTL newsletter, and by following the Rising To Learn page on Facebook.