Missouri State Senator, Republican, District 33

Senator Karla Eslinger is a lifelong educator with more than 30 years of experience in a variety of educational settings. She most recently served as a senior analyst for education services with the AEM Corporation and provided technical assistance to the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. Previously, she served as an assistant commissioner of education for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She began her career as an elementary school teacher and went on to work as a building principal and a superintendent of schools in Ava and West Plains.

A graduate of Gainesville High School, Sen. Eslinger holds a bachelor degree in elementary education from The College of the Ozarks. She also earned a master’s degree in education administration and a specialist degree in superintendency and educational system administration from Missouri State University. Senator Eslinger received her doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Prior to her election to the Missouri Senate in 2020, Sen. Eslinger represented District 155 in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2019 through 2020.

Senator Eslinger is a long-term resident of Wasola, where she and her husband David reside on the family farm. They have also owned and operated a small business for over 35 years. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.

Public Education Lobbyist for the Missouri Association of School Administrators
Public Sector Consultant, Trane Technologies
Founding Member of GOCSD

Dr. Jason Dial served students of Missouri for 28 years as a teacher/coach, building administrator, assistant superintendent and Superintendent of Schools in small rural schools to large urban districts across the state. Dr. Dial has represented public schools in the Capitol since 2009 working with legislators on behalf of the students and teachers in Missouri. Those efforts have resulted in passing legislation that benefit schools across the state as well as preventing legislation that would have been harmful to our public schools. Dr. Dial is retired but continues his passion for Missouri Students by serving as an assistant lobbyist for the Missouri Association of School Administrators in Southwest Missouri.

Director of the Missouri Superintendents Academy and facilitator of the Women in Leadership Initiative for MASA

Dr. Sarah Booth Riss is the Director of the Missouri Superintendents Academy and facilitator of the Women in Leadership Initiative for MASA. She is also a senior associate with Educational Equity Consultants providing diversity, equity, and inclusion learning experiences for school districts and other organizations. Dr. Riss has extensive experience as a classroom teacher, principal, central office administrator, superintendent, adjunct college professor, educational consultant and member of statewide committees focused on improving educational policy. She is retired as the superintendent for the Webster Groves School District. Sarah is committed to fostering a learning community that assists educators in their professional growth and their success as school leaders.

Executive Director, GOCSD

Dr. Pam Hedgpeth has a passion for education and has focused on training and supporting school leaders since her retirement from PK-12 public education. She loved her work as a twenty-eight-year public school educator and sees her current work as Executive Director of GOCSD a way to “give back” to a profession she loves.

She is a former superintendent of the Republic R-III Schools and prior to this position she held the titles of assistant superintendent, elementary principal and elementary teacher. Dr. Hedgpeth serves on staff at the National Center for Education and the Economy and engages in international research that focuses on a system approach for designing high performing education entities. Through this role she works with and supports school leaders across the nation in designing world class educational systems.

She was an integral part in developing the educational leadership doctorate program at Southwest Baptist University. She has served on several statewide committees for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She was also a former President of the Southwest Missouri Superintendent’s Association, founding member of the Republic Community Foundation, former member of Springfield’s Mayor’s Commission on Children, Greene County Library Foundation Board, Missouri Methodist Foundation Board and Ozark Empire Fair Foundation Board. Pam lives in Clever, Missouri on a farm with her husband Kent (a coach and former teacher). They have two daughters Josey McPhail and Molly Eulinger, both who are Missouri educators.

Our GOLearn PL Framework provides an overview of the learning experiences we offer. This systems approach supports continuous improvement and allows members to identify the offerings that meet their needs, providing a personalized experience. It includes three strands: Systems Thinking, Safe and Collaborative Culture, and Highly Effective Teaching and Leading.

We use the Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning when designing our experiences to ensure that we provide professional learning that leads to high-quality leading, teaching, and learning for students and educators.

Review our GOLearn Framework to identify sessions that meet your needs, see what sessions are currently open for registration on our PL Events webpage, and access the content in our on-demand catalog to start learning now.