Cynthia is Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Education. She teaches in the Humane Education program. Courses taught include Creative Activism: Art and Artists for Social Change, Just, Good Food, and Capstone Projects. Cynthia is an experienced educator in elementary and higher education settings. Research, expertise, and special interests include responsive classroom teaching, transformational learning, creativity in practice, grief and loss, and curriculum design.
Cynthia has TK-6 Multiple Subject Teaching Certifications in California and Georgia. In addition to her work as adjunct faculty, she is a classroom teacher in a public charter in San Francisco. She provides professional development about how grief and loss impacts children to schools and networks nation-wide.
Cynthia completed her classroom teaching certification in the UACM program at Georgia State University’s College of Education, and earned her M.Ed. at Valparaiso University’s College of Education. Her experiences in theater, sailing, and chaplaincy inform her transformative approach to teaching and learning.
DCSD Gifted Endorsement Program
Gifted Endorsed/Certification add-on (PreK-12) May 2018
College of Education and Human Development
Georgia State University
PhD Coursework Spring 2017
Urban Accelerated Certification
College of Education and Human Development
Georgia State University
GaPSC Elementary Certification (PreK-5), ESOL Endorsed (PreK-12) May 15 – May 2016
Valparaiso University/ Institute for Humane Education
M.Ed. June 2012 – May 2014
Institute for Human-Animal Connection,
University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work
Certificate in Animals and Human Health Sept 2010 – May 2011
Westchester Medical Center Valhalla, New York
Clinical Pastoral Education
Specialty in Pediatric Oncology Sept 2000 – May 2002
School of the Universal Worship Albany, NY
World Religions 1994-1997
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Undergraduate Major: Creative Writing 1980-1984
Southall, A.B., and Trapanese, C. 2018. Culturally relevant classroom libraries: Including all students in powerful social studies. In L. Wilcox (Ed.), It’s being done in social studies: Race, class, gender and sexuality in the Pre/K-12 Curriculum. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
YES! for Teachers “I Say Yes to Respect!” 2018
Elephant Journal “Children’s Literature in Times of Resistance” 2017
YES! Magazine Online “Shutdown EPA Workers Clean Up River Anyway” 2013 (picked up by Nation of Change, and Christian Science Monitor)
“3 Elephants Head from Zoo to 80-acre Sanctuary” 2013
Greater Good Science Center Education Newsletter, “Sonnet for a New Educational Paradigm” 2013
Supporting Students and Families Through Loss and Grief- Zoom-based Professional Development Sessions, Bay Area Schools 2020-present
Ethical Schools Podcast- Grief and Loss: Supporting students, families and teachers in a pandemic 2020
Teachers for Social Justice-San Francisco- Creative Activism Workshop 2019
Dekalb Educators Annual Conference -Arts Integration in the Classroom 2018
Association of Professional Humane Educators National Conference- Creative Activism 2018
Atlanta Humane Society Speaker Series- Humane Education Through a Child’s Eyes 2018
Alternative Education Resource Organization- Creative Activism in the Classroom 2015
National Alliance for Grieving Children-The Kindness Tree poster presentation 2012
Association of Professional Chaplains
National Conferences
The Kaleidoscope: Awakening in Times of Crisis 2010
Workshop on Love and Service 2006
Workshop on Sufism/Sufi poets 2005
Workshop on Bereavement in World Religions 2003
Workshop on Children and Grief 2002
Georgia Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
Annual Conference
Toward a Greater Understanding 2007, 2008
MEPI (Montessori Educational Programs International)
National Conference
Children’s Perspectives on Grief and Loss 2005
Creative Activism: Art and Artists for Social Change.
Just, Good Food.
Humane Education Capstone