Caroline Wacker has been an educator in Michigan since 1985. She taught special education for 5 years. She became an elementary principal in 1990. In 2014 and 2015 her school earned Rewards School Status from the State of Michigan for High Progress and Closing the Achievement Gap. In 2015 she wore a second hat of English Language Arts Leader for her district. That same year her elementary building was recognized as a National Title 1 Distinguished School for closing the achievement gap. In 2016 her district responsibilities shifted to focus only on K-12 English Language Arts. She successfully guided her district through a pilot study for K-12 ELA programs. Bachelors Degree in Special Education, Masters Degree in Administration, teacher of special education for 5 years, elementary principal for 27 years, ELA leader for two years. Caroline has worked closely with the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District Itinerant Team to implement a structured student problem-solving and data review process to close the achievement gap within her elementary school. Documented student progress ranked in the lower third within the district as the process began five years ago, and was recognized as a Title One Distinguished School in 2015-16. Caroline has worked relentlessly to bring systems changes to Traverse City Public Schools and is currently the ELA Curriculum Leader.