Learning through connection.
Our Team
Doug Ammeraal
Doug has spent over twenty years in middle school education. During the first eleven years, he taught Math and English, with the past ten leading as a building administrator. Currently he serves as the principal at Mona Shores Middle School in Muskegon, Michigan. He is committed to understanding strong leadership, modeling a servant’s heart, maintaining relentless optimism, and empowering others to succeed. In addition to educational leadership, Doug has brought his leadership and passion into the coaching and non-profit worlds as well. He spent ten years coaching basketball at Hope College and West Ottawa, along with spending twenty years at Camp Sunshine, as a counselor, volunteer recruiter, and leadership team member.
Mike Domagalski
Mike has had the honor of leading and working in many aspects of education for nearly 20 years. As an elementary and secondary school teacher, coach, principal and administrator, he has thrived by showcasing his high energy, innovative mindset, and ability to adapt and change. His foundation of teaching and learning comes from his passion for building positive relationships and connections through a social and emotional lense, as well as his continued work with positive psychology. Mike has recently held the title as President of the Michigan Elementary & Middle School Principals Association (MEMSPA) and also serves on the Board of Directors of the East China Educational Foundation. Lastly, Mike is the creator and founder of #MEMSPAchat, which is a collaborative platform of principals and leaders in education occurring weekly on Twitter and has presented/spoken on a multitude of educational leadership topics at both the state and national level.
Amanda McKay, Ph.D.
Dr. Amanda Mckay has been an educator for over 20 years. She has held various positions, including secondary teacher, secondary assistant principal and principal, and elementary principal, and is now supervisor of student programs for an intermediate school district in Michigan. Amanda is also an adjunct professor for Central State University in the College of Education.
Amanda centered her dissertation thesis around teacher communities of practice. During her time as a school leader, she has successfully implemented school change around topics of school improvement, diversity equity and inclusion, social-emotional learning, and instructional practices. Amana’s further interests and areas of study are collective teacher efficacy, organizational change, cultivating resiliency and educators, and design thinking. She is also an advocate for designing a variety of learning pathways to meet the needs of students, teachers, and school leaders.
David McKay
David McKay is an experienced middle level leader. He currently serves as the principal of a middle school in the Metro Detroit area. Dave’s areas of passion include collaborating with grade level and subject area teams to build capacity. He has extensive experience in mathematics curriculum instruction and team development. He has developed data analysis processes, using data to drive instruction; and to celebrate educator and student growth. David has a master’s degree in K-12 Education Administration from Michigan State University and secondary teaching certifications in math and social studies.
David Simpson, Ph.D.
With over fifteen years of administrative experience, David has had the privilege of leading at the secondary and elementary levels. David is the principal of a middle school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His passion has been in empathy-based hacking toward Deeper Learning in schools using Project Based Learning. Using a systems-based approach, David has demonstrated an ability to raise student achievement and support students' social and emotional learning. In addition, he has worked with schools to create cultures of thinking based on the work of Dr. Ron Ritchhart from Harvard’s Project Zero. By doing so, he has been able to lead and support innovative learning in schools that is authentic and lasting. David received his Ph.D. in K-12 Educational Administration from Michigan State University with a research focus on teacher learning in informal and formal settings.
Travis Thomsen, Ph.D.
Travis has over 13 years of administrative experience at varying levels and locations. He spent much of his early career as a middle school science teacher and assistant principal in Southern California prior to moving back to Michigan. Travis served as the Director of West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics for four years where he was recognized as a finalist for Michigan Administrator of the Year. He has served as principal at Portage North Middle School for the last seven years. Over that period of time, Travis and his team led the school through a complete overhaul of instructional delivery focused on proven adolescent reading strategies coupled with an intense and robust tier two and three intervention program. Travis was also instrumental in the research and design of two new middle schools within Portage Public Schools. Travis also earned his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Eastern Michigan University with a research focus on adolescent literacy.