Trauma Cadre Presentations

Amy Castro Braun has worked in Moore Public Schools for over 15 years both as an early childhood teacher and elementary school administrator. She just earned her doctorate in Educational Administration and renewed as a National Board Certified Teacher. She is a former district teacher of the year and state teacher of the year finalist.  She is a former member of OEA’s TLE and Project Based Learning cadres and honored to serve on the current Trauma Cadre.

Cheryl Card graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before earning her Masters degree from East Carolina University in 2007 and her Masters of Education from Southwestern State University in 2017. She has worked as an educator for the last twenty years in Oklahoma and North Carolina at both the elementary and secondary level. While there, she has focused on building relationships and assisting students of all ages with coping strategies as a school counselor. Cheryl became a National Board Certified Teacher in school counseling in 2012 and just recently completed her maintenance of certification. She is an American School Counselor Association Trauma Crisis Specialist and uses her training and experiences to work with educators and students impacted by trauma. Currently, Cheryl Card is a school counselor at Nicoma Park Intermediate School in the Choctaw-Nicoma Park School District. Cheryl has been happily married for twelve years to her husband, Jason, and has a beautiful daughter named Sadie. Each summer her family enjoys visiting the beautiful beaches of North Carolina.

Lori Freymuth is a hardworking, passionate, and dedicated educator, counselor, and mom. Her accomplishments include site and district teacher of the year, TPS Distinguished Service Award, Masonic Teacher of Today, as well as being recognized as one of six Rising Star Teachers by the Oklahoma State Department of Education. She is a trusted and proven leader as evidenced in her work as site coordinator for PBIS/MTSS, CareTeam Facilitator, Junior Class Sponsor, and Assistant POM coach. Through her personal and professional life, Lori has experience working with children in trauma and, especially, through the Oklahoma foster system. These experiences have fueled a passion for helping students and teachers navigate the challenges trauma presents and a personal commitment to helping provide practical strategies to make learning successful for each and every student.

Francisca Martinez Jensen is a wife, mother, and exemplary National Board Certified teacher in an Oklahoma suburban school district, where she teaches English Language Learners. She holds two masters degrees from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Central Oklahoma in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum with an emphasis in Diversity in Education and one in Early Childhood Education. She is currently working on her Doctoral Degree in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum with an emphasis on Early Childhood Education. Her focus lies in working with children, families, and professionals who have experienced trauma and work with others through their traumatic experiences and in understanding more about the Latino families in our communities.

Polly Maxwell is a retired educator from Enid Public Schools where she began her career teaching grades K-8 for eleven years. She served as an elementary and junior high school counselor for 17 years, helping to establish an alternative program for students in grades 6-8. Polly moved into administration, continuing for twelve years as an elementary principal. After retiring, she returned to be a district administrator serving in various roles including District Test Coordinator, Coordinator for School Counselors, Co-coordinator for Threat Assessment Team, Coordinator for Gifted and Talented Testing, and Coordinator for The Trauma Informed-Hope Centered Schools Initiative. Polly led a partnership between EPS and Enid Police Department to establish the “Handle with Care” program. She represented the district on community boards, seminars and forums. Since her second retirement in 2021, Polly continued to enjoy serving as interim school counselor. Recent training includes Reaching & Teaching Children Exposed to Trauma, Dr. Barbara Sorrels, Elementary & Secondary levels; Star Commonwealth: Trauma-Informed Resilient Schools; TBRI 101 & Trauma Informed Classrooms, Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development 4 Part Seminar; ASCD Seminars: Trauma, the Science of Brain Development, Conscious Discipline, Connection Activities and Classroom Application; Learning and the Brain: Educating Anxious Minds Conference.

Trena Rogers graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science, studied abroad in Spain and then attended the University of Oklahoma Health and Science Center for two years working on her Masters in Occupational Therapy. After college, Ms. Rogers worked for the fortune 500 company Southwest Airlines for almost six years. Her next career move was with the Department of Corrections in Oklahoma as a Case Manager. After her career in the criminal justice system, Ms. Rogers became a teacher to pursue her passion of helping improve the educational experience for students in her community. Ms. Rogers is passionate about serving the community and encouraging her students to join extracurricular activities to expand their horizons, such as being the sponsor to the Mustang High School Key Club. Ms. Rogers is currently teaching and serves as the Physical Science Team Leader at Mustang High School. She has also taught Botany, Zoology and Chemistry. Ms. Rogers is attending the University of Central Oklahoma pursuing her Masters in Education in Educational Leadership and Public Administration and plans to graduate in December of 2023. Ms. Rogers works closely with the Oklahoma Education Association and Mustang Education Association, holding multiple positions at the local and state level and continues to advocate for public education, students and teachers’ rights. When Ms. Rogers is not teaching, studying, volunteering, presenting or advocating, she enjoys spending time with her large family and her Pomeranian named Rumble.

Chrissy Waldhoer is a Learning Design and Innovation Coach for the Office of Innovation for Education at the University of Arkansas and a former 5th grade ELA teacher for Tahlequah Public Schools in Tahlequah, OK. During her tenure in Tahlequah, she had the opportunity to work with students from diverse life experiences, including trauma. She utilized trauma-based programs such as Cognitive Coaching and understanding children’s behavior with a multi-tiered behavioral system.  She holds a master’s degree from Northeastern State University and is currently working towards her doctoral degree in educational leadership at the University of Arkansas. At the beginning of the pandemic, she joined the OEA’s The Bridge Cadre, which worked to provide virtual materials to educators and parents, and taught webinars through the NEA as a Distance Learning Expert Educator providing webinars to educators across the country. She is passionate about culturally responsive teaching and career readiness in schools as a tool to end the cycle of poverty.

Sonya Waldrip is a Special Education Teacher with Enid Public Schools. She has taught with Enid Public Schools for 23 years. After graduating high school from Stillwater Public Schools, she earned a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education from Phillips University and went back to earn her master’s in Library Media Specialist from East Central Oklahoma State University. Sonya has taught with Enid Public Schools in the upper elementary classrooms, primarily fourth and fifth grades, the library media center as the library media specialist, and was recently certified in and is currently teaching Special Education students in the learning lab. Sonya and her husband Chuck have 2 daughters, Paige and Brooke, who are students in Enid Public Schools.