About

Lucila A. Garza

Lucila A. Garza has been an educator for 37 years. She is a certified teacher in Texas in elementary education with a Master's Degree in gifted education. Her teaching experience ranges from kindergarten to eighth grade. She is certified in the areas of special education, regular education, and gifted education and has worked in the specialized field of alternative education. She was involved in creating a school within a school at the middle school level for over-aged, at-risk youths where she worked as lead teacher for the three teachers involved in the program. She was the English/Language Arts teacher for this special population. This spectrum of experience has given her first hand knowledge of children and the relationships that must be built in order to motivate them to learn and be successful.

Founder of her own company, Mentoring Innovations, LLC, she is currently a training associate for the Center for Cognitive CoachingSM and a state trainer for the Texas Beginning Educator Support System (TxBESS), an initiative of the State Board for Educator Certification and the Texas Workforce Commission. Luci trains mentors who offer support to their districts in an effort to retain and recruit beginning teachers. She consults with districts to formalize mentoring or induction programs. Additionally, she trains Habits of Mind and Adaptive Schools.

Lucila lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband of 39 years, Richard. They have four children and 6 grandchildren.

Michele W. De Bellis

Michele's professional work for the last ten years has focused on educational reform prioritizing the understanding of both content and leadership development within all levels of a PK–16 system. At the El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence, Michele was the Director of K–12 Math and Science Partnership and previously served as the Director for Leadership Development and Director for Literacy. During these ten years she provided leadership for school administrators and over 75 school-based coaches in standards-based teaching and learning. Also, her previous experience as a special education teacher and district level administrator adds to her knowledge and understanding of systems. Central to all of her work is a commitment to building collaborative infrastructures within systems that support self-directedness within any group. As a trainer and practitioner of Adaptive Schools, Cognitive CoachingSM, and Habits of Mind, Michele has the skills, knowledge and understanding to support and assist in developing collaborative schools and systems committed to excellence for all learners.