Closing Mainstage

Michelle King is a veteran middle school teacher in the Mt. Lebanon School District in Pennsylvania. Through partnerships with the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project, Center for Urban Education, UrbanKind Institute, Theater of the Oppressed Pittsburgh, Green Building Alliance, SocialVR, Carnegie Science Center FAB Lab, Girl Up, CREATE Lab, Carnegie Museum of Art, the Remake Learning ecosystem, ThinkZone Games and others, she helps co-create equitable, empathetic learning experiences for all Pittburghers.

King says she learned and honed her craft in Mt. Lebanon with a fantastic crew of educators and students for over 16 years. In her quest to instigate courageous conversations about learning and children, she ventured to The Environmental Charter School and their principles – Catalyst. Character. Collaboration. Commitment. She co-taught “Cultural Literacy,” an integrated social sciences and English/language arts course.

Currently, she’s seeking to create dynamic learning experiences and opportunities that inspire wonder, discovery, contradictions, frustrations and joy. In making connections locally and globally, King pushes the envelope and boundaries of where learning should occur for all students. Her current interests are in game-based learning, design, restorative justice, equity, social justice, the environment and teacher empowerment.

Merritt Moore, Ph.D., is a world-class professional ballet dancer and quantum physicist who is leading a movement to integrate quantum physics and dance into virtual reality (VR) films, dance installations with robots, and online content.

In 2018, Moore was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and her work has been covered by the BBC, The Telegraph and the New York Post. She previously performed with the Zurich Ballet, Boston Ballet, English National Ballet and Norwegian National Ballet. As an artist-in-residence at Harvard ArtLab, Moore is creating a duet between a human dancer and an industrial robotic arm. She continues to explore the future of AI and machine learning in dance, and welcomes collaborations that fuse dance, physics and technology.

Dr. Jeremy S. Owoh began his career in 2003 as an English teacher at Parkview Magnet High School in the Little Rock School District. In 2017, Dr. Owoh was named the Assistant Commissioner of Educator Effectiveness and Licensure and was later appointed as the Superintendent of Schools for the Pine Bluff School District. Currently, Dr. Owoh serves as the Superintendent for the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District. Dr. Owoh serves on the ASCD/ISTE Board of Directors as President-elect.