Who We Are

Josephine is an elementary level English as a New Language teacher. She has dedicated her career to teaching English Language Arts to students whose first language is not English. She has worked on Long Island for over 18 years. Josephine is a graduate of Hofstra University with a M.S. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and The Pennsylvania State University with a B.A. in Psychology. She is the mother of 3 beautiful children, Peyton, Dylan and Brian. She is also a Co-Founder of We are Just Write.

Josephine is a facilitator of the Youth Justice Leadership Team for the Women’s Diversity Network. We Are Just Write worked as curriculum developers and educators, designing and implementing a transformative 7-month program aimed at empowering teenagers to develop civic agency through history, literacy, and service while focusing on diversity through a justice lens. 

Currently, Josephine serves as the 2nd Vice-President of The Mother's Club of Wheatley Heights Inc.  In this role, she plans superior programming for the children of the members and ensures communication between members and the local school district. 

Josephine is also a member of Jack and Jill of America Inc., Suffolk County chapter. She held numerous positions including Gavel Club Chair, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Technology Chair and Fundraising Chair. All of these positions were instrumental in developing her skills to organize and plan activities that benefit children.

 It is through this work and teaching, that Josephine understands the asset students are to their own development. She loves those moments when students grasp difficult concepts or learn something new. Their curiosity drives her instruction whether they are learning in person or virtually. She believes we must actively engage our youth by listening to and learning from them. Through her life’s work as a teacher and a member of various organizations, Josie hopes to continue her work in guiding our youth to connect to their individual selves thereby increasing their self-worth. When students are empowered with self-worth, they know where they came from and where they are going. 

“Our greatest national resource is the minds of our children.”
-Walt Disney

Andrea Campbell-Wayne is the mother of a teenage boy, an elementary school special education teacher, and the co-founder of We Are Just Write. Her passion for teaching dates back to the 3rd grade, when she answered the writing prompt, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Intuitively, Andrea picked up her pencil and wrote the words that would shape her career. I want to be a teacher.

From there, she took her 3rd grade dream and made it into a reality. She earned both a B.S. and an M.A. in Elementary Education, from St. Joseph’s University and Brooklyn College, respectively. Andrea graduated with dual certification in Early Childhood and Special Education in New York State. Since then, she has put her dream, her degrees, and her certifications to work in many roles. In her 8 years with the Department of Education, Andrea has taught in self-contained and inclusion classrooms in every grade from K to 5. Additionally, she gained experience in early childhood settings as a teacher for autistic and emotionally disturbed preschool students. Currently, she works as a special education teacher on Long Island.

Andrea's dedication to children has culminated in her becoming an esteemed author.  With a deep passion for teaching, she drew inspiration from her students and their vibrant community, weaving their experiences into a heartwarming tale called The Day the Alphabet Went Missing.

Andrea is also a facilitator of the Youth Justice Leadership Team for the Women’s Diversity Network. We Are Just Write worked as curriculum developers and educators, designing and implementing a transformative 7-month program aimed at empowering teenagers to develop civic agency through history, literacy, and service while focusing on diversity through a justice lens. 

Andrea’s educational philosophy is two fold. First, children need to become creative thinkers and problem solvers. Second, educators can help them to reach this goal by providing the opportunities and tools to examine and investigate the world around them. To the depth of her being, she believes that it is education that allows children to be powerful contributors and legacy-builders in their communities.

Her experiences as a mother, educator, author, and  business owner have been transformational, but through it all her ‘Why” has remained the same: empower children to become lifelong learners who will be the change they wish to see in the world. Her vision for We Are Just Write is to give young people the power to tell their stories in their own words, to shift the narrative, and to shape their own destinies.

“Be the change you you want to see in the world”
-Gandhi