CivicStory 2017 Annual Meeting

Mini-Forum - Engaging Minds: Teaching Journalism & Civics

Irina Itriyeva, Summit High School Teacher of English and Journalism

Irina Itriyeva is an English and journalism teacher at Summit High School and has advised the student newspaper for the last three years. She moved to New York and later New Jersey after emigrating with her family from St. Petersburg, Russia. As an undergraduate student at Wesleyan University, Ms. Itriyeva studied political science and Russian language and literature. She wrote a thesis on Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and remains an avid reader of nineteenth century Russian novelists. She worked for several years in public policy and law before attending Tufts University to receive her Masters of Arts in Education. This is her sixth year teaching at Summit High School. Outside of teaching and reading, her favorite past-times include running and cooking. 

David Wheeler, Executive Director, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ

David Wheeler has served as the executive director of the nonprofit Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey since 2012. He also teaches Environmental Communications at Rutgers University's School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Mr. Wheeler wrote the 2011 book Wild New Jersey: Nature Adventures in the Garden State, and has written for the Star-Ledger, E–The Environmental Magazine, Gotham Gazette, and other media. He earned his M.B.A. from New York University's Stern School of Business and his B.A. from American University in Washington, DC.