Elissa Raffa has a B.S. in Secondary Science Education and an M.F.A. in Creative and Professional Writing, both from the University of Minnesota, and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Bemidji State University.  She is licensed in Minnesota as a district superintendent and as a teacher of high school physics, chemistry and earth/space science. She has also been active in arts education and has published a novel and several short stories, essays and performance pieces.  A founding director and current executive director of Minnesota Online High School (MNOHS), Ms. Raffa served for three years on the Minnesota Online Learning Advisory Council and has been active state-wide in preparing pre-service and in-service teachers for the rigors of online education.  Before starting MNOHS in 2005, she worked as a teacher and program developer for seven years with the Mindquest Learning Network in Bloomington and for twelve years at Loring Nicollet Alternative School in Minneapolis.  She lives part of each year in Greece where she has served as a consulting expert in faculty development, technology integration, and science education for the American Community Schools of Athens, the American College of Greece, and most recently the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Science with and for Society funding program.  Scientist/Educator      Athens, Greece