Laurie Kurnick taught English for 22 years in LAUSD, including all grades from 7 - 12, and many levels, from classes for struggling readers to AP Literature. She coached Classic Slam teams for 10 of those years at Cleveland High School (many of her students can be found in the Get Lit Player rosters). As part of her Creative Writing program at Cleveland, she sponsored the award-winning literary and art magazine The Writer’s Block, which has been displayed at Barnes and Noble bookstore. Laurie is also a proud fellow of the UCLA Writing Project, for which she has facilitated many workshops and PD’s over the last 12 years, most recently  “Changing Up Your Literary Canon” with the Matters of Race Study to Action group. Before her years in education, Laurie worked as a Casting Director and as a singer. She is thrilled to be working with Get Lit and looks forward to sharing Get Lit’s wonderful programs with teachers, parents, students and partners all over the world.