Meet Tim Yetzina

Tim Yetzina is the Senior Supervising Editor for STEM at Westchester Education Services. Read on to learn more about how Tim’s wealth of knowledge and experience are beneficial to our clients as well as their end customers, the students who learn important math and science principles from the material that is created.

The majority of your career to date prior to joining Westchester Education Services has involved roles at several educational publishers. Could you give us an overview of the positions you have held?
In the educational publishing industry, I have had many different roles and meaningful experiences prior to my position as Senior Supervising Editor of STEM Content at Westchester Education Services.

My career began as an editor working on a major basal science program at Pearson Education. I began as an editor working on G3-5 teacher support and professional development while also contributing to student content. As a beginning editor, the opportunity to work with many talented editors provided a solid foundation for developing print and digital content. At Pearson, I was an editor in both science and humanities.

After Pearson, I moved to National Geographic Learning/Cengage Education to begin development of a digital-first science program targeting the Next Generation Science Standards. I also had the occasion to work briefly on college calculus material. Working together with authors, explorers, and a creative team reaffirmed my commitment to student engagement and developing high-quality science content.

I then moved on to a supervisory editorial position at McGraw Hill Education. I spent almost 5 years developing various science programs. In this position, I worked with many cross-functional teams, which allowed me to appreciate different needs and working efficiently to build successful programs. I also learned the value of working closely with partners and vendors to ensure on-time product delivery without sacrificing quality. My experiences at McGraw, Cengage, and Pearson, have helped me understand and deliver on my goal of helping students and teachers learn in the STEM space.

How does the experience you have with educational publishers help inform the work you currently do?
Having worked most of my career at educational publishers, I try to determine their needs, communicate those needs, and then deliver on what has been communicated. My role is to work with the publisher as a partner and deliver excellent content.

How has technology impacted the way curriculum is created? Has it opened up new areas of subject learning that were not previously possible in a classroom setting?
When I first started as an editor, content was almost exclusively provided by print materials. In today’s classrooms, many students are learning the STEM concepts in a digital environment, i.e., in a virtual or online lab or even by augmented reality. Students are adept at navigating the new technologies, and, hence, have a desire to learn about technology as well. Coding or computer programming has increased dramatically, especially as it relates to robotics and engineering.

What interested you about working for a product development company, and specifically, Westchester Education Services?
The product development team at Westchester Education Services is a passionate and hard-working team led by industry veterans Kevin J. Gray and David Bailis. Westchester Education Services is passionate about developing outstanding content, whether print or digital, with the quality assurance that publishers are looking for. I have not worked with a development house as focused as Westchester is.

Based on your previous roles with educational publishers, what is different about Westchester compared to other development companies?
The academic and creative passion is remarkable. Westchester staff are truly committed to education and love working with publishers on their products. I have worked with many development companies, and employees here really care about getting the job done well.

What aspect of your role at Westchester Education Services is particularly satisfying?
In previous roles, I was in a science or STEM department but was really focused on developing a standards-based science program. In my current role, I have the opportunity to work on subject areas that relate to STEM but may extend beyond the traditional course.

Is there anything else you would like readers to know about you, your experience and/or your role at Westchester?
Please reach out to me or Dave Bailis if you would like to work on a STEM project with Westchester Education Services. We would love to hear from you and what project you have in mind.