Claire has a BA in elementary education and a Masters in special education, specializing in learning and emotional disabilities K-12 from University of New Orleans, Louisiana (UNO). She also attended the University of Innsbruck, Austria in education and continued her studies in administration. She has over 30 years of service in public schools teaching regular and special education. She is an Assyrian-American who grew up in New Orleans after emigrating from Iraq with her parents in 1964. Claire lives in Colorado and has two daughters. Karen has a BS in elementary education from Northwest Missouri State University and a Masters in information and learning technology from University of Colorado, Denver. She has 26 years of service as a regular education teacher in the parochial schools and a teacher librarian in the public schools. Karen earned many awards including the Gold Apple Award for excellence in teaching and Highly Effective School Library Program Award by the Colorado Department of Education. She was born in Missouri, grew up on a dairy farm with two brothers, and currently lives in Colorado with her husband. She has a daughter, a son and four grandchildren.