Arizona English Teachers Association
Keynote Speakers
Lorena Escoto Germán
Lorena Escoto Germán is a Dominican American educator focused on anti-racist and antibias work in education. She earned her master's degree at Middlebury College's Bread Loaf School of English.
Lorena is a two-time nationally awarded educator whose work has been featured in newspapers and journals including The New York Times, NCTE journals, EdWeek, National Writing Project, and Embracing Equity. She is author of The Anti Racist Teacher: Reading Instruction Workbook.
A cofounder of the groups #DisruptTexts and Multicultural Classroom, Lorena is the director of pedagogy at EduColor and Chair of NCTE's Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English. Of all her work, Lorena is most dedicated to her roles as wife and mami.
Lorena is the author of Textured Teaching: A Framework for Culturally Sustaining Practices.
Dr. Adam Wolfsdorf
Dr. Adam Wolfsdorf is a Founding Member and the Humanities Department Chair at Bay Ridge Preparatory School, a progressive independent school in Brooklyn, NY. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education and as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Wesleyan University’s Graduate Liberal Studies Program. He holds a PhD in English Education from Columbia University, where he previously coordinated the INSTEP Master’s Program.
Wolfsdorf is the author of Navigating Trauma in the English Classroom (NCTE) and Teaching in the Riptide (Routledge). His scholarship appears in Changing English, The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, English Education, English Journal, and The Columbia Literary Journal. He has contributed chapters to Humanizing Grief in Higher Education (Routledge) and Deep Reading, Volume 2 (Peter Lang).
Beyond his academic work, Wolfsdorf has performed professionally for more than twenty-five years. He appeared in the national tours of the Broadway musicals RENT (with Neil Patrick Harris) and Grease, and he is the longtime frontman of the nationally touring rock band The Energy, featured on MTV, NBC, ABC, and ESPN. He holds an MA in Psychology and Education from Columbia University and a BA in English from Harvard University.
Featured Author
Sonido Reyes
Sonido Reyes is the award-winning and bestselling author of The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School, The Luis Ortega Survival Club, The Broposal, and The Golden Boy's Guide to Bipolar. They also have contributed short stories to the anthologies Transmogrify! and For the Rest of Us.
Sonido writes fiction celebrating queer and Mexican stories in a variety of genres and age categories. He serves as the vice-president of My Galvanized Friend, a nonprofit focused on providing access to and amplifying LGBTQ+ writing, art, and creators. Sonido also co-hosts the podcast Bidi Bidi Book Pod, which celebrates queer and trans BIPOC authors and stories.
"Maybe there is something holy about loving every part of someone else, even, and especially, the parts made just like you."
— Sonido Reyes
