Gary and Marilyn Burns share over 50 years of teaching experience in inner-city public schools. Gary holds dual biology and English secondary certification with a K-12 license in instructional technology and has a Master’s in Instructional Systems and Technology. He completed doctorial work in instructional technology. Marilyn holds middle level certification in language arts and K-12 licenses in reading, computer science and special education, has a Master’s in special education and a Ph.D. in secondary literacy. Both currently hold teaching certificates in Ohio and Colorado.

The Burns’ expertise includes all the things that came their way multiple times in their years of teaching in the fields of instruction, curriculum and assessment. Their work includes, curriculum design and development, standards, rubrics, content reading strategies, teaming, trends in instructional strategies, interdisciplinary units, literacy, integrated instruction and technology, cooperative learning and relevant formative & summative assessment. They have worked as consultants for Ohio, Minnesota, and Colorado school systems and have both taught graduate courses for the University of Minnesota and the University of Cincinnati. Their most recent project involved working with the Eagle County School District (Colorado) as Master Teachers in collaborative staff development specializing in Teacher Learning Communities (TLC). Gary also served as the district's Secondary Instructional Coach.

They call their team effort, The SnooBear Consortium (pronounced “Snoo” as in

Snoopy – a collection that has banners older than the parents of the students Gary

taught and “Bear” – a collection of bears from around the world that Marilyn uses to

line the steps of their 1885 Minneapolis home).