Meet Our USATestprep Ambassadors Part IV

USATestprep Brand Ambassadors are true avid users of the USATestprep platform and seriously can't help but rave about its capabilities! From assessments to homework, bell ringers to remediation, these power users know what it means to take teaching to the next level! You've already met some of our brand ambassadors in Part I, Part II, and Part III Let's meet some new ambassadors below.

Join us! If you're interested in being a Brand Ambassador with us, visit our Brand Ambassador page and fill out an application.

November's Elite Ambassador of the Month, Matt Bracewell

I was raised on a farm in south Georgia where my dad grew many different crops and raised livestock. Three years ago, my wife and I moved our family to western North Carolina where we now live with our four kiddos: Watson, 7; Ridge, 6, Griffin, 3, and Merritt, 2. I enjoy hunting and spending time admiring God's creation. I teach high school chemistry and physical science and also serve as online instructors for two different college institutions. I love learning and encouraging others in their own journey as well. I am a bit of a retro video game enthusiast (nerd), but also LOVE anything related to baseball (Go Braves!) I pull for the Georgia Bulldogs, love old westerns, and watch many YouTube channels related to self-sustainability and off-grid living. I have a WIDE variety of interests and just love each day that I know I do not deserve!

I have been using USATestprep for around 10 years in both middle and high school classrooms in both GA and NC. My students have benefited greatly from the wide variety of resources that USATestprep offers in addition to the ability to better communicate about their progress in my class. I have encouraged many other educators in various districts across state lines to embrace this program as it has single-handedly changed the way I lead and facilitate instruction in my classroom.

Ambassador Danae Acker

I am Danae Acker and I grew up in the Upstate of South Carolina. I am married and we have three boys. Our house is always loud but we have a lot of fun. As a family, we enjoy playing sports, going to the indoor trampoline park, being on the beach, and watching movies. One of my favorite movies of all time would be Love and Basketball. I love basketball and I'm a huge UNC Tarheels fan! I use to play in middle school and high school. You might catch me on the court shooting around sometimes. I have the opportunity to serve teachers in Anderson School District 5 as a Digital Integration Specialist. In this role, I am able to assist teachers in integrating technology into their curriculum and classrooms. Previously, I taught middle school technology and yearbook & journalism. I am a relationship builder which helps me reach my learners in the classroom and beyond. I use a learner-centered teaching style because I believe when the learner is the focus of what you're doing, it creates for more engaged learning and better retention. I am an innovator and "no box" type thinker. I constantly search for ways to become a better educator. Being a self-starter and wanting to perfect my craft, I read, find my own professional development opportunities, and seek assistance from my mentors to guide me on my educational journey.

Our teachers enjoy using USATestprep to assess our students' academic progress. Our teachers love the fact that this program is user-friendly, students can go through modules at their own pace, and the activities are aligned with our state standards. USATestprep has proved to help with our students with EOCs and we now have more teachers wanting to use this program in their classes. Teachers see the value and students get to play and learn all in one. USATestprep works and that's why we love it!”

Ambassador Krystal Zeigler

I am a country girl who grew up on a farm and live on one now in South Carolina! I have two daughters and a son. My husband is a farmer. I am a Harry Potter fan! When not at school you can find me at my son's Boy Scout Meetings, my daughter's dance competition, or my other daughter's softball games. I love to decorate and take care of my chickens and ducks on my farm. My favorite classroom experience is seeing my students in their light bulb moment!! My second favorite is watching my staff learn a new piece of technology and use it in their classrooms with our students.

While using USATestprep I have had a great experience to see how it help my students greatly improve in my class. I have also had the awesome task of helping our EOC teachers use it in their classrooms and seeing their students as well improve from the beginning of the year to the end. I love that students can hone in on those skills they are struggling with and keep working towards mastery.

Ambassador Cutinia Barrineau

I celebrated my 25th “first day of school” this year. I’ve taught every grade between 5k-8th except 3rd grade. I love to read all the time and travel to the mountains as much as I can. My quote: "It is much more important to learn and understand HOW a student learns than simply knowing the fact that a student can learn!"

USATestprep is the easiest and simplest educational program that provides many different avenues in one place for instructional use and student use.

Ambassador Stacey Sawyer

I grew up in Mt. Zion, Illinois and attended Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, IL. There I received a Bachelor's in Elementary Education K-9 with Language Arts and Social Sciences 5-9. I began my first teaching job in Decatur, IL in 1993 in a fourth-grade classroom. I went back to school and received my Masters in Educational Leadership at Eastern Illinois University in 2005. I love the beach and currently live in FL. It literally feels like I am on vacation every weekend. I picked up a hobby doing acrylic art. It calms me down after a hard day at work. My favorite saying is: What defines us is how well we get up after falling.

I use USATestprep in a couple of different ways for my 8th-grade language arts class. Our school has a program called Triton Time. At the beginning of each school day, thirty minutes are put aside to help students who may be struggling in a specific state standard. I use USATestprep to test my students on this standard. I focus on a specific standard and let USATestprep create the questions for me. I let my students have 2 attempts at a better grade, and USATestprep will give me a better score. USATestprep is a great way to discover individual weaknesses and create an extra practice that will help you bring up those state test scores. I am a true testament to increasing student achievement with this program. Since I started using USATestprep three years ago, I am considered a Highly Effective Teacher in my state. My students are more confident, and their true abilities shine through.”

Ambassador Emily Harrison

I earned a BS in Early Childhood Education from Ashland University in Ohio and a Masters in Educational Technology. I was a former first-grade teacher and am currently an Educational Technology Coach with Beaufort Schools for the past 7 years. I love running and spending time at the beach with my family.

As an Ed Tech Coach for our district, I love training all our teachers on different ways to drive instruction with a user-friendly website like USATestprep. Teachers are always thrilled to see the resources available with a few simple clicks.

Ambassador Katie Hall

I grew up in North Georgia and went to college at Young Harris College and the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!) I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and was so excited when my dream became a reality! My husband and I have two children, a daughter who is 5 and a son who is 9 months. My family and I enjoy cheering on our Dawgs and Braves, Disney vacations, family movie nights, and spending time with family and friends. I was a middle school teacher- and LOVED it! Not only that- I was a Middle School math teacher! I loved to make math fun and accessible to my students! From using programs like USATestprep to support their learning to throwing paper-wad square roots around the room and estimate them! My favorite movie of all time is Mary Poppins, and my favorite quote is “Math may not teach me how to add love or subtract hate but it gives me hope that every problem has a solution.” – Unknown

USATestprep was a great resource to me and my students in my classroom. We used it to monitor students learning on concepts and standards and push them to expand! I loved using it to help lead conversations with other teachers by using common assessments to gauge student understanding and prepare for remediation and extensions moving forward. We saw great student growth and success!

Ambassador Tevi Reed

This is my 15th year as a teacher -- all at West Hall High in Oakwood, GA! I am the Lead ESOL teacher at my school, and also enjoy teaching Economics. My husband is a Welding Instructor at a rival high school, and we have four children. I attended Johnson High, then earned my Journalism degree from UGA. I worked for Atlanta Magazine after graduation; then served as Communications Director for the Georgia Historic Preservation Division, while earning a master's degree in History/Heritage Preservation from GA State University. I later served as a Director at the Historic Oakland Foundation in Atlanta, then managed a family business. I also completed my Education Specialist degree (Ed.S). from Piedmont College. Odd fact: I have published two books.

USATestprep is a fabulous resource for all students! I have used this USATestprep for at least 8 years! We have a significant number of Spanish-speaking students, so the options for reading and listening in Spanish are extremely helpful for our students. USATestprep is also useful for remediation and for days that you have a substitute. This is my favorite learning platform for all of our students -- especially because of the data-driven learning!

Ambassador Renate Davis

I grew up in Kennesaw, Ga. I am a mother of 2 daughters and have been married to the love of my life for over 25 years. I have many animals in my home as well as 2 horses. I love to trail ride, and I have been bringing my horses to school for a math activity for over 8 years. The kids love it and are excited to meet my big babies. There is nothing like the look on the kid's face when they see a big horse at school.

I have used USATestprep for over 5 years and I love how easy it is for me and my students to use. It has many great features that I can use to help my students learn the standards. I have seen how the integration of the program has helped me be a better teacher and how it allows me to differentiate the learning to meet the needs of my students. I use it for remediation, previewing new material, and formative assessment.

Ambassador Kerri Hirsch

I was born in Orlando, Florida. I attended college at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. I moved to Georgia in 1994. I started teaching at Daniell Middle School in 1996 and I have been teaching there ever since. I’ve taught Social Studies and Reading throughout my career. I have two children. My daughter is a junior at UGA studying English Education and my son is a freshman at Georgia Southern. Knowing my daughter has the same love of learning and teaching as I do warms my heart. One of the neatest things about continuing to teach at Daniell is now I am at the point in my career where I am teaching the children of former students.

USATestprep has been instrumental in helping me reach the needs of all my students. In one classroom you can have so many different levels of learning that finding activities to benefit all of them is tough. USATestprep has helped solve this problem for me. I like to give assessments on USATestprep and then based on their scores differentiate their activities. Some students will need to be retaught activities and I will use USATestprep to assign them videos and performance tasks. For my students that need enrichment, USATestprep is good for that too. I can have them preview upcoming units or do a crossword puzzle with vocab words. And they love the games- they don’t even know they are learning! There are so many great things about USATestprep that these are just a few- I could go on and on