Officers
Chair
Jenny Robinson
Jenny Robinson has three kids in local public schools. A Hoosier transplant, she was drawn into education advocacy after Indiana’s school funding cuts of 2009. She has volunteered on school board campaigns and the 2010 and 2016 referendum campaigns for the Monroe County Community School Corporation as well as in her children’s school libraries.
Vice Chair
Keri Miksza
Keri Miksza has two children in elementary school in Monroe County Community School Corporation. She was drawn into education advocacy back in 2014 when the ISTEP was clocking in at over 12 hours for an 8-year-old (her eldest was 6 at the time).
Treasurer
Pam Bessler
Pam has twins currently attending Bloomington High School South and is a dedicated volunteer for a variety of organizations such as Science Olympiad, Robotics, and Band Boosters. She became involved in public education advocacy during the first MCCSC Referendum campaign in 2010. Prior to moving to Bloomington in 2006, Pam worked as an engineer in the food industry for 19 years in a variety of operations and engineering roles both at plant facilities and corporate headquarters. Her husband Woodie is also an engineer and an active community volunteer in the area of promoting solar energy and sustainability.
Secretary
Charlie Savage
Charlie Savage is a life-long Hoosier, 47-year resident of Monroe County, and 4 year ICPE member. His three children have attended local parochial and public schools and are BHSS graduates. Charlie was also an adult educator at Ivy Tech and Indiana University.
Board of Directors
Tom Duffy
Tom Duffy is a retired professor of Learning Sciences in IU’s School of Education. His two daughters attended MCCSC elementary, middle, and high schools.
Debbie Fish
Debbie Fish is a retired teacher, principal, and staff developer; mother of two 4th generation public school teachers (and so are their spouses), grandmother of children who attend public school.
Deborah Myerson
Deborah Myerson is an advocate for educational equity and the parent of three school-age sons. She believes in inclusive education for students with disabilities. Professionally, Deborah is an urban planner aiming for mixed-income housing that supports socioeconomically and racially integrated schools.
Peg Smith
Peg Smith is a career educator (BS in Elementary Education, Indiana University) who has taught in the Greater Chicago, Cleveland, Ohio, and Ann Arbor, Michigan areas. She completed her Masters in Educational Counseling from Wilmington University while she was teaching/mentoring critically ill children at the AI DuPont Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Peg and her husband moved to Bloomington in 2015. Together they have children Kelly (married to Zach Cunningham), and Kevin.
Janet Stake
Janet Stake is retired from MCCSC. She worked for Bloomington High School South as Guidance Director/School Counselor for twenty years. She was also a social studies teacher in the public schools of Prince George's County, Maryland. All three of her children attended MCCSC schools for K-12. Her granddaughter currently attends MCCSC. Janet is also a board member on the MCCSC Foundation, and a member of Network for Public Education.
Byron Turner
Byron Turner is an individual that cares deeply for the well-being of those around him. His path through life has been unorthodox, taking him from business to public education, from working for the State of Indiana Department of Corrections to working for the State of Indiana Department of Child Services as a Family Case Manager.
With a passion for servant leadership, Byron serves his community as a City of Bloomington Commissioner on the Status of Black Males, President of the Monroe County Black Democratic Caucus, as a member on a number of local non-profit boards, and on various community task forces. Byron’s dedication derives from his belief in the common good.
State-Level ICPE Board Representative
Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer
Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer is a public education advocate, MCCSC school board member, former chair of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education of Monroe County and now sits on the board of the state-level Indiana Coalition for Public Education. She is also the mother of four children, three of whom have graduated from public schools and one who is in middle school. Cathy has advocated at the local and state level for adequate funding from the state; for keeping public money in public schools; for local, democratically elected oversight; and against high-stakes testing, which punishes schools and teachers that serve low-income populations, special education students, and English language learners. Her editorials about how state education policy is affecting our classrooms have appeared in newspapers across Indiana. She has given public testimony at State Board of Education and Joint State House/Senate Education Committees. Cathy has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan as well as a Master's in the Social Foundations of Education from Eastern Michigan University.
Chair
Jenny Robinson
Jenny Robinson has three kids in local public schools. A Hoosier transplant, she was drawn into education advocacy after Indiana’s school funding cuts of 2009. She has volunteered on school board campaigns and the 2010 and 2016 referendum campaigns for the Monroe County Community School Corporation as well as in her children’s school libraries.
Vice Chair
Keri Miksza
Keri Miksza has two children in elementary school in Monroe County Community School Corporation. She was drawn into education advocacy back in 2014 when the ISTEP was clocking in at over 12 hours for an 8-year-old (her eldest was 6 at the time).
Treasurer
Pam Bessler
Pam has twins currently attending Bloomington High School South and is a dedicated volunteer for a variety of organizations such as Science Olympiad, Robotics, and Band Boosters. She became involved in public education advocacy during the first MCCSC Referendum campaign in 2010. Prior to moving to Bloomington in 2006, Pam worked as an engineer in the food industry for 19 years in a variety of operations and engineering roles both at plant facilities and corporate headquarters. Her husband Woodie is also an engineer and an active community volunteer in the area of promoting solar energy and sustainability.
Secretary
Charlie Savage
Charlie Savage is a life-long Hoosier, 47-year resident of Monroe County, and 4 year ICPE member. His three children have attended local parochial and public schools and are BHSS graduates. Charlie was also an adult educator at Ivy Tech and Indiana University.
Board of Directors
Tom Duffy
Tom Duffy is a retired professor of Learning Sciences in IU’s School of Education. His two daughters attended MCCSC elementary, middle, and high schools.
Debbie Fish
Debbie Fish is a retired teacher, principal, and staff developer; mother of two 4th generation public school teachers (and so are their spouses), grandmother of children who attend public school.
Deborah Myerson
Deborah Myerson is an advocate for educational equity and the parent of three school-age sons. She believes in inclusive education for students with disabilities. Professionally, Deborah is an urban planner aiming for mixed-income housing that supports socioeconomically and racially integrated schools.
Peg Smith
Peg Smith is a career educator (BS in Elementary Education, Indiana University) who has taught in the Greater Chicago, Cleveland, Ohio, and Ann Arbor, Michigan areas. She completed her Masters in Educational Counseling from Wilmington University while she was teaching/mentoring critically ill children at the AI DuPont Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Peg and her husband moved to Bloomington in 2015. Together they have children Kelly (married to Zach Cunningham), and Kevin.
Janet Stake
Janet Stake is retired from MCCSC. She worked for Bloomington High School South as Guidance Director/School Counselor for twenty years. She was also a social studies teacher in the public schools of Prince George's County, Maryland. All three of her children attended MCCSC schools for K-12. Her granddaughter currently attends MCCSC. Janet is also a board member on the MCCSC Foundation, and a member of Network for Public Education.
Byron Turner
Byron Turner is an individual that cares deeply for the well-being of those around him. His path through life has been unorthodox, taking him from business to public education, from working for the State of Indiana Department of Corrections to working for the State of Indiana Department of Child Services as a Family Case Manager.
With a passion for servant leadership, Byron serves his community as a City of Bloomington Commissioner on the Status of Black Males, President of the Monroe County Black Democratic Caucus, as a member on a number of local non-profit boards, and on various community task forces. Byron’s dedication derives from his belief in the common good.
State-Level ICPE Board Representative
Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer
Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer is a public education advocate, MCCSC school board member, former chair of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education of Monroe County and now sits on the board of the state-level Indiana Coalition for Public Education. She is also the mother of four children, three of whom have graduated from public schools and one who is in middle school. Cathy has advocated at the local and state level for adequate funding from the state; for keeping public money in public schools; for local, democratically elected oversight; and against high-stakes testing, which punishes schools and teachers that serve low-income populations, special education students, and English language learners. Her editorials about how state education policy is affecting our classrooms have appeared in newspapers across Indiana. She has given public testimony at State Board of Education and Joint State House/Senate Education Committees. Cathy has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan as well as a Master's in the Social Foundations of Education from Eastern Michigan University.