Our Team
We are a group of passionate individuals who have come together to try and better the lives of students everywhere.
Meet Our People
Lori Bellan Bio
Lori’s greatest passion is to make a difference in children’s lives, especially the children with behavioral problems who have fallen through the cracks. After earning a double masters in school and mental health counseling from Long Island University, Lori now has over a decade of mental health experience working with children, adolescents, and adults who have been affected by trauma.
When Lori worked at the chemical dependency program of the Melillo Center, she pioneered an adolescent program for kids suffering with trauma and substance use disorders, and led Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Trauma-Informed groups. It was there that she became aware of the huge gaps that exist in the education system for kids with behavioral issues. The children and adolescents that Lori worked with weren’t getting the attention they needed to succeed, and it showed in their learning and life outcomes. Lori felt a duty to explore the current education system that was failing our most vulnerable and overlooked students. In the course of her research, Lori learned that, unfortunately, teachers receive little to no training to understand and address the specific needs of children with behavioral issues. Teachers in America aren’t trained to provide needy children with the resources and child-centered programs that would help them (and their classmates) to develop coping strategies or to become more self-aware and self-regulated learners. These are skill sets that become ever more important in 2020 and the years that follow.
Lori recognized that a paradigm shift for teachers was in order. Each classroom would need to create an environment of compassion, connectedness, curiosity, and care where resiliency could flourish. Lori’s background in mental health and trauma counseling, experience working with adolescents, and strong desire to make a difference in the world helped to sow the seeds for Attentive Teaching.
Lori Bellan
Co-Founder, Executive Director of Social and Emotional Learning
Roxee Lore Bio
Roxee Lore taught at North Side Elementary School in East Williston for 20 years. She has extensive training in both Peace Education and Conflict Resolution, which she leaned on as she initiated and implemented a school-wide Conflict Resolution program. Relying on her background in TV, film, and theater, Roxee culminated each school year with a class play that combined all aspects of the academic curriculum with conflict resolution and peace education. During this process, the students exhibited the ideals of cooperation, tolerance and empathy while writing and producing each aspect of the play.
Prior to joining the East Williston School District, Roxee taught English and Social Studies part time at an alternative high school in the Port Washington School District, and at a private nursery school. Roxee received her BA in Education at Adelphi University and her MA in Gifted and Talented Education at Long Island University at the C. W. Post Campus.
Roxee hopes that her extensive background will inspire educators to help children learn to develop the skills needed to become socially and emotionally healthy human beings that can both understand social justice and work towards creating a more fair and just world.
Roxee Lore
Co-Founder, Executive Director of Elementary Education
Cindy Schwartz Bio
Cindy comes to Attentive Teaching after teaching for almost thirty years. She spent twenty-three of those years teaching Social Studies at The Wheatley School in Old Westbury, New York where she taught Social Studies 8, Global History Regents 9 & 10, AP World History, AP United States History and a number of electives such as World History Through Film. While teaching at Wheatley, Cindy was three times the honored recipient of the Parent Teacher’s Organization’s Teacher of the Year Award. Cindy received her B.A. in History from Adelphi University and her M.A. in History from Hofstra University. She currently writes and hosts the radio show “Rockin’ History” and podcast, “Civics is Dead.”
Cindy is passionate about teaching methodology and finding ways to create safe, peaceful classrooms where students feel capable, loved and successful. She believes that curriculum content cannot be addressed unless classrooms are safe havens. Once classrooms are places where both teachers and
students feel able to express themselves they will become more vulnerable and take chances. Increased vulnerability, openness and mindfulness will help to lessen behavioral problems and ultimately students and teachers will thrive. Cindy strongly believes that if teachers model calmness, compassion and fairness, their classrooms will be both academically and emotionally successful havens for their students.
The onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought an urgent need for educators to help one another create classrooms where students and teachers can find ways to address feelings of insecurity during these challenging times of in-person and remote learning. Cindy’s participation in Attentive Teaching will help to provide that guidance. Cindy’s goal is to provide teachers with real, doable daily essential classroom practices and lessons that help teachers create classrooms where lessons are interesting, experiential and focused on themes of compassion, tolerance, peace and diversity. She hopes to help teachers create classrooms that are communities of compassion.
Cindy Schwartz
Co-Founder, Executive Director of Secondary Education
Lauren Navarra
Director of Psycho-Education and Webinar Production
rEBECCA BELLAN
Director of Growth and Strategic Development
Jacqui Bellan
Director of People and Operations
CARMELLA STONE-KLEIN
Head of Yoga and Mindfulness
Jacob Stone-Klein
Social Media and Community Manager
Christine Quigley
Teacher Mentor
ELZY MUÑOZ
Teacher Mentor
GLORIA GIAMBRONE
Teacher Mentor
RANDI SILVERMAN
Teacher Mentor