Leadership
Who We Are
Kami Thordarson, Principal and School Designer at Campbell School of Innovation. She is the District’s in-house expert in Design Thinking and the co-author of Design Thinking for School Leaders: 5 Roles & Mindsets That Ignite Positive Change (ASCD, 2018) as well as Design Thinking in Play: An Action Guide for Educators, (ASCD, 2020).
She believes Campbell School of Innovation offers an opportunity to create changes to education that can better meet the needs of today’s students. CSI educators will model the Design Thinking process as they work to collaborate and create learning experiences that encourage questioning, empathy, and deeper exploration of content.
Thordarson is leading the Campbell School of Innovation Design Team working to implement Design Thinking strategies in the TK-8th grade curriculum. “We want to tap into students’ natural curiosity so they can move from being engaged learners to empowered learners,” she says.
Kami Thordarson has worked in education for over 20 years with experience as a teacher, curriculum coach, professional development designer, and administrator. She joined Campbell Union School District in 2016, working to support and lead instructional technology and innovative programs. She enjoys exploring her creativity and is always engaged in learning. She envisions schools in which teachers are empowered to transform education through intentional design and innovative practices and students are collaborative, problem-solving communities who have impact on their world.
A self-described risk taker, CSI Teacher Matthew Carney likes trying new ways to solve issues in the educational system. He is a member of the CSI Design Team, enthusiastic about creating a new school where learning State Standards will happen through Growth Mindset and the Design Thinking process.
“I want to help students maintain their sense of wonder,” he says.
As a founding teacher at Downtown College Prep Middle School, Carney is no stranger to developing a new school culture. In 2015, he came to Campbell Union School District where he teaches science at Campbell Middle School.
Carney holds a Master of Science in Environmental Education from Southern Oregon University and a teaching credential from Fitchburg State University.
Kimiyo Cordero, visual arts and digital media teacher is excited to be a part of the Campbell School of Innovation team and on the forefront of education. Cordero has a passion for education and the arts and feels student learning is best supported by a strong sense of safety, community and creativity. Having taught art for over 14 years, in various forms, Cordero is excited to blend creativity and innovation together using the design thinking process to advance students ingenuity to the next level. Cordero’s vision for education is to provide students a place to be heard, supported and the opportunity to let their imaginations flourish.
Cordero’s love for curriculum design has enabled her to explore several different areas of artistic design. Cordero background is teaching and designing curriculum for grades TK-12th grade in several Bay Area schools. In addition to her 14 years in the schools, Cordero has designed curriculum and taught for the San Jose Museum of Art and the Triton museum of art.
Cordero earned a Bachelors of Fine Art from San Jose State University with a double emphasis in pictorial and spatial art. She obtained her art credential from National University.
When Cordero is not creating with her students she enjoys spending time with her son and husband laughing and enjoying life.
Teacher, Learning Designer, Life Long Learner
Hailey Hamilton is thrilled to begin her second year on the 1st grade team at Campbell School of Innovation. Together with her colleagues she plans to provide opportunities for students to collaborate, create, grow, and become empowered through learning and design.
“I am so excited to be a part of what CSI is doing for the future of education. Teaching students to think critically, empathize, identify problems, and communicate is guiding them to be future leaders and innovators.”
Ms. Hamilton earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies, a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, and a Master of Arts degree in Curriculum and Instruction from San Jose State University.
When she isn’t teaching Ms. Hamilton enjoys hiking, reading, and spending time with her family and pets.
Teacher Alicia Hamilton jumped at the chance to reinvent what schooling looks like by being part of creating the new TK-8 Campbell School of Innovation.
“I’m excited about building a place where kids can develop skills that will help them thrive in a 21st century world,” she says. “This is a huge opportunity to grow and learn together as we apply the Design Thinking process to TK-8 academics and build strong connections between the students, the school and the community.”
Design Thinking is a way of thinking about problems where students can design solutions, try them out, and learn from their mistakes. CSI will be a catalyst for bringing this new approach to all schools in the District.
Hamilton holds a teaching credential and Master’s degree from San Jose State University. In her 21-year career, Hamilton has taught many different grade levels and was a District Equity Coach who supported her peers in applying new teaching strategies. She currently teaches 7th grade, and will teach one of the elementary grades when CSI opens in August 2018.
Campbell School of Innovation Teacher Amanda Haughs is known for “thinking outside the box”. As a Digital Innovation ToSA (teacher on special assignment) for Campbell Union School District, she has supported teachers seeking new ways to engage all students in meaningful and authentic cross-curricular learning.
Haughs is passionate about developing students’ creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving skills. She is a leader in integrating digital tools and computer science education into elementary classrooms and using technology to personalize and enhance learning. Prior to her ToSA role, she was a teacher in the Campbell Union School District.
She is a 2015 PBS LearningMedia Lead Digital Innovator, 2016 Silicon Valley CUE Outstanding Educator, Google Certified Educator, Raspberry Pi Certified Educator and Leading Edge Certified Professional Learning Leader. She holds a Masters of Education in Learning Design and Technology from San Diego State University and a multiple subject credential and BCLAD from California State University Dominguez Hills.
Terri Hughes is elated to be a part of Campbell Union School District’s new preschool-eighth-grade school. She has been a passionate educator for over 25 years—all at Campbell Middle School—striving to ignite students’ passions for learning and curiosity about the world in which they live.
The challenge of working with younger students as they begin their educational journeys excites her. “This is an opportunity to change the way we educate our future leaders,” she says. “It is a chance to prepare our students to be critical and creative thinkers who will be prepared to compete in a quickly changing environment.”
Her own children attended a K-8 school, so she also understands the benefits of community that develop in this special setting.
Hughes has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Humboldt State University, a multiple subjects teaching credential from San Jose State University, and will be earning her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Santa Clara University prior to the opening of CSI. She was Campbell Middle School’s Teacher of the Year in 2016, a finalist for District 5, California League of Middle School Educator of the Year, Google Certified Educator, and Leading Edge Digital Educator.
She enjoys spending time hiking all over the Bay Area’s trails with her husband.
Collaborize Classroom: http://cmshughes.collaborizeclassroom.com
Google Classroom: http://classroom.google.com
Weebly Site: http://mrshughes6.weebly.com
Megan Noriega, Teacher, Campbell School of Innovation
Megan Noriega is elated to bring her 10 years of experience in special education to CSI students. Her passion is to create a learning environment, where all learners are given the opportunity to experience an inclusive, collaborative classroom setting.
“All students deserve the chance to participate with their peers, learn and grow together as equals,” Noriega says.
Before joining CSI, Noriega spent 10 years in the Special Education field at Forest Hill Elementary. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Art from San Jose State University, and special education credential and Master of Science in Special Education from National University.
She lives in Campbell with her husband and two children. She is especially excited to work at the school where her daughter will be attending.
Megan Read is passionate about students learning through discovery and taking ownership of their own education. She is excited to be part of the founding faculty at Campbell School of Innovation and its focus on applying design thinking to TK-8 education.
Read cultivates a classroom environment where students feel safe and cared for. That environment helps her students become more willing to try new approaches, risk making mistakes, and further their learning as they apply it to real-world problems.
“I see myself as more of a facilitator than a teacher. I am there to guide and support students, and bring out the author, the mathematician, the scientist, and the engineer that is already inside them.”
Read holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Biology from UC Davis, as well as a multiple subject teaching credential and Master of Education degree from UC Santa Barbara.
Ms. Semon is a recent graduate of Santa Clara University, earning both her Bachelors Degree in Liberal Studies: Pre-teaching and her Masters Degree in Teaching and Teaching Credential. She was born and raised in Sacramento, and has been living in the Bay Area for the past six years. She has found Campbell to be her home, and was absolutely ecstatic when she was offered a position at the Campbell School of Innovation. She is consistently impressed with the close-knit community of CSI and the surrounding Campbell neighborhood, and is very much looking forward to starting her teaching career at a school that shares many of her same core values in education, particularly social emotional learning and forward-thinking instruction.
When she is not teaching, Ms. Semon can be found running/hiking nearby trails, reading away in a coffee shop, spending time with family and friends, and saving up to travel during her summer vacations!
As a passionate, positive, community focused educator of young minds, Sandy Tolbert has an authentic desire for the Campbell School of Innovation to launch successfully and flourish.
She believes that teaching young students to develop a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset is integral to helping them develop skills for success in their future careers.
“Students are capable of so much,” she says. “They are valuable assets to their community, despite their young age. My goal is to nurture that quality in our students and help make a positive impact on those around us.”
Tolbert brings 16 years of teaching experience to CSI. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Child Development from San Jose State University and a Master of Science degree in Education from Walden University. She was the 2015 Marshall Lane Teacher of the Year, she was a 2015 Goldin Foundation for Excellence in Education award recipient, and she was a 2016 ArtsEdGrant recipient.
She lives in Campbell with her husband and children.
Educator, Learning Designer, Facilitator, Lifelong Learner
Loretta Toy is ecstatic to be a part of Campbell School of Innovation. When she learned about CSI, she felt that it was a place that closely aligns with her beliefs and teaching practice. She considers herself very fortunate to be a part of the CSI community.
She started her career as an educator teaching kindergarten. Over the past decade, she has taught kindergarten,1st, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd/3rd combo, 4th grade and was most recently the 7th/8th grade Maker Science teacher at a Project-Based Learning middle school.
Loretta is a Google for Education and Raspberry Pi Certified Educator. She holds a Master of Arts in Education from UC Santa Cruz and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from UC Davis. She has her multiple subject teaching credential with Introductory Science Subject Matter Authorization and Specific Subject Matter Authorization in Biology.
When Loretta isn’t in the classroom, she is teaching Zumba and LaBlast at local gyms. She also volunteers her time helping train a team of dancers to represent the United States at the 2021 Special Olympics Winter Games in Sweden.
Michele von Richter is excited about teaching kindergarten at Campbell School of Innovation.
“Helping each student discover his or her potential is so rewarding!” she says. “I’m looking forward to using the design thinking process to empower my students and engage them in their own learning.”
Ms. von Richter started teaching in Southern California 30 years ago, the past 27 of them in Campbell Union School District. She has taught kindergarten through second grade in addition to being a reading intervention teacher.
She believes her job as an educator is to fully invest in children so that they gain their highest levels of success academically, socially, and emotionally.
“Even at a very young age, children can begin to take responsibility for their learning and use their resources to make a difference in their families and the communities around them,” von Richter says.
She holds a Clear Credential, is certified in Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development (CLAD), and has a Masters in Elementary Education with an emphasis in reading from San Jose State University.
Corinna Zamudio, Teacher, Campbell School of Innovation
Corinna Zamudio is thrilled about being part of the Campbell School of Innovation community. She looks forward to thriving with passionate and innovative educators who share the same goal of transforming the traditional classroom into a creative, communicative, compassionate and collaborative environment.
Zamudio believes educators and students learn from each other during the creation and application process of collaborative initiatives. Through her teachings, Zamudio plans to provide students with a multitude of opportunities to communicate and work together.
“I believe that with the right tools, our students will be able to have the necessary innovative experiences so they can become our next generation of leaders,” she says.
Zamudio has a Master of Arts in Teaching and a Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Sciences. She holds a teaching credential and a bilingual authorization from Santa Clara University. Prior to joining CSI, Zamudio taught at a Spanish immersion school.