Education

Coming soon!

Janet Frank Armstrong (“Mrs. A”) was a classroom teacher for 35 years prior to joining the education team in Potomac Conference in 2019. Throughout her 35 years, she’s taught grades K-8, which has included the full spectrum—from a one-teacher school to a single grade classroom as well as being a teaching principal.

After graduating from La Sierra College (Calif.), Armstrong taught in the Southern California Conference for 13 years. The next 22 years were in the Potomac Conference, with the last 15 as a teaching principal. In July of 2019 she was invited to become an Associate Superintendent of Education, serving the southern district of the conference.

In 2022,  Janet became a Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor. She has had the opportunity to train educators in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. She will tell you this has been one of the most rewarding experiences.

Armstrong says what she most enjoyed about teaching in the primary grades was being at the starting gate of learning and seeing the newness of each day through the eyes of excited children. She stays in contact with several of her former students. Seeing the adults “her kids” have become makes her proud.

Gabriel Madrid is a seasoned educational leader with more than 16 years of experience. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences and Theology from Southwestern Adventist University (Keene, Texas), Madrid spent 10 years teaching history, economics and government in schools across Texas, California and Pennsylvania.

In 2013, Madrid graduated from Temple University (Philadelphia, Penn.) with a Master’s in Educational Leadership. Since then he has led as a principal, director of innovation and, in 2020, accepted the call to serve as an associate superintendent of education for Potomac. Madrid has presented on topics such as effective organizational leadership, developing school culture and data driven instruction. His mission is to develop leaders that will inspire young people to change the world. He is in love with his wife, Kailisha, and the proud father of their three beautiful children.

Juwel Watson developed a passion for working with special needs and developmentally challenged young adults during her college years in New York City. There she worked in day habilitation settings, overseeing travel training trips, and teaching basic employment skills. In 1995, Watson graduated from Long Island University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. Though she intended to pursue a career in the field of psychology, Watson was drawn back to her love for teaching and later accepted a position in the New York City Public School System. She taught as a special educator in self-contained and inclusion classrooms for grades one through five. Returning to her calling she honed her skills and deepened her love for special education.

In 2002, Watson completed a graduate degree program at Adelphi University where she earned a Master of Science dual degree in Literacy and Special Education. She relocated to Florida and began working in the private sector with nonverbal autistic children. Deciding to take on a new challenge in education, Watson became an adjunct professor, teaching Student Success and English, at Broward College. In addition to her adjunct professorial responsibilities, Watson was asked to serve as an academic advisor in a program developed by Broward College for at-risk students.

Watson moved to Maryland in 2012. In 2015, she joined the teaching staff at Sligo Adventist School, now Takoma Academy Preparatory School (TA Prep). She served at TA Prep as a middle school and 5^th grade English teacher and Academic Specialist. As an Academic Specialist she worked with students who had Individual Educational Plans and Individual Service Plans from the public school.

Watson brings more than 20-years of teaching experience to Potomac Conference. A product of SDA education during her formative years, Watson believes God has led her to utilize her talents and gifts in Christian education. Mrs. Watson is married and has two adult children.