Catherine Ring is Director and Co-Founder of the New England Institute for Teacher Education. She has served on the Core Leadership Team with the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative since 2010. Catherine has presented at the Maine Principals’ Association Conference as well as nationally at the National Art Education Conventions. Catherine is a former K-8 Principal and has taught visual art for 20 years in public schools. She has also attained her Assistant Superintendent certification. Catherine completed her Education Leadership studies at the University of Vermont and received her Master of Arts from Vermont College of Norwich University. For her thesis, entitled “Education and the Arts, Toward Creative Intelligences,” she researched the role of the arts in learning and has worked closely with classroom teachers, helping them to integrate the arts into their regular curricula. As Principal, Catherine helped to bring to her school district the Kennedy Center’s National Partnership program. She assists school districts throughout Maine with differentiated instruction, arts integration, and gifted and talented programs. Catherine has been named the 2014 Advocate of the Year by the Maine Art Education Association.