Sage Solutions - Instructors

We tend to work with multiple instructors to maximze the expertise and resources provided to program participants. The mix of instructors depends on the geographic location and general type of audience.

Janet E. Wall

Janet E. Wall, EdD, MCDP, NCDA Career Development Facilitator Instructor received the 2012 Carl Perkins Government Relations Award from the American Counseling Association, the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Career Counselors Associaton Professional Contributions Award, and is the 2011 National Career Development Association Merit Award recipient. She has worked at the federal, state, and school district levels in the areas of assessment, evaluation, and career development. Her work has spanned the public and pirvate sectors from the Pre-K level through executive development. She is president and founder of Sage Solutions and CEUonestop.com, an NBCC-approved online continuing education provider.

She is Past President of the Association for Assessment in Counseling and Education (AACE) and has been an officer in the Association for Counselors and Educators in Government. As the appointed representative of the American Counseling Association to the Joint Committee on Testing Practices (JCTP), she has been chair and a member of that group. She chaired or was a working member of several JCTP working groups to include those that produced the Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education, the ABC’s of School Testing video and leaders guide, Rights and Responsibilities of Test Takers: Guidelines and Expectations, and a book on assessment of individuals with disabilities. She represented AACE and NCDA as co-chair of the committee that developed the Career Counselor Assessment and Evaluation Competencies, now endorsed by both associations. She is an active member of the NCDA Professional Development Committee.

She co-edited a book on educational and career assessment, and is author of four McGraw-Hill test preparation books for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), a book on vocational interests, and one on interactive web tools for the job seeker. She is a trainer, distance educator, conference presenter, conference keynoter, and writer of articles, reports, and monographs. She has been instrumental in the development of the ASVAB Career Exploration Program and ACT’s DISCOVER, as well as three online courses used for counselor and facilitator certification.

At the current time she is President of Sage Solutions, her consulting firm with clients having needs in career development and assessment. She serves on the advisory board for Syracuse University’s National Security Studies Program, and Americorps*National Civilian Community Corps.

Susan L. Biggs, M.Ed., NCC, GCDF, CDF-I

I have been a counselor and a teacher for almost 40 years. Like most people I have held a lot of jobs in my life – camp counselor, lifeguard, elementary school teacher, advertising sales rep, middle school counselor, restaurant carryout counter clerk, runaway youth program counselor and director, coordinator of guidance services, high school counseling director, adjunct graduate school professor, and now CDF Instructor. I have always enjoyed working with people of all ages to help them find their paths in life, their next best opportunities.

I am looking forward to sharing this opportunity with you. I enjoyed my CDF training very much, and found that the depth that it gave me in career counseling, information technology, and assessment not only increased my skills but also renewed my enthusiasm for the field of careers. I am hoping you find the same joy that I do in helping clients find the career paths that best match the persons they want to become.

Celeste Hall

Celeste Hall, NCDA Career Development Facilitator Instructor, has worked as a teacher, school counselor and career counselor in Hanover County Public Schools for a total of 31 years. She was a member of the curriculum development team that created a career guidance curriculum in Hanover County and established career counseling programs in two high schools. She has a depth of experience using career development and planning tools including ACT’s DISCOVER program, the Kuder Career Planning Program, the O*NET, Virginia Career VIEW, and The Virginia Wizard programs.

While working at Hanover High School, Celeste initiated the event that has become the annual Hanover County Curriculum/Career Fair. An important community outreach activity to which she has contributed is Hanover Career Student Resource, Inc. (HCSR), a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting secondary students to workplace learning opportunities offered by community businesses. She has served in a variety of leadership positions on the Board of Directors of HCSR which provides this local career information to students through the web site, www.hanovercaeers.org.

In 2001 she was named Secondary School Counselor of the Year by the Virginia School Counselor Association, achieved national Board Certification in the school counseling area in 2006, was named Division Member of the Year by the Virginia Career Development Association (VCDA) in 2008 and currently serves as president of the VCDA. Other professional experience includes teaching the Career Information & Exploration course as an adjunct professor in the Virginia Commonwealth University counselor education program since. 2003. Technology is incorporated into the course through the use of Blackboard to post assignments and engage students in discussion of career development topics through the Discussion Board.

She is currently a Career Coach Specialist for the Virginia Community College System.