Click to schedule a PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE with Academy teachers on October 16, 2023.
Scheduled conferences can be by phone or in-person between 12:00 and 3:30 PM and are 5 minutes in duration.
Drop in conferences (no appointment necessary) are from 4 – 8 PM.
Email the teacher directly for questions and concerns about your child’s progress in class if you cannot attend conferences on October 16.
Jason Danielson has taught history and the social sciences for sixteen years in the Des Moines Public Schools. He previously worked at Brody Middle School and Hoover High School, and is entering his seventh year at Central Academy. Jason has BAs in Humanities and History Education from the University of Northern Iowa and an MA in History from Iowa State University, where he focused on civil rights history and wrote his thesis on Stax Records and its relation to the Civil Rights Movement in Memphis, Tennessee. Jason was the state of Iowa’s 2011 recipient of the James Madison Fellowship for intensive study of the U.S. Constitution and participated in the 2011 James Madison Summer Institute at Georgetown University. He also earned his Gifted Education Endorsement from Viterbo University in 2016. He has presented on civil rights music and using music as a primary source at the National Council for History Educators annual conference and on World History: People and Places and gifted social science education with colleague Shawn Voshell at the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference. Jason is also the proud spouse of Walnut Street School music teacher Sara Danielson and parent of Carter (16), Max (11), and Isaac (11). He enjoys playing music professionally around Des Moines, reading history, camping, and cooking.
Current Issues/Government
World History: People and Places
AP European History
Canada Snyder teaches College AP US history, College Middle East history & Islam, College history of Latin America, AP Seminar and advises Model UN. Canada was the State of Iowa’s secondary history team leader for the new state standards. She has worked for the Iowa Secretary of State Office in creating the official Caucus curriculum for the state. She also created the secondary US history online curriculum for the State of Iowa in 2021-22. Ms. Snyder was selected as 1 of 6 teachers nationwide by the World Affairs Council-Dallas/Ft. Worth to participate in an education study tour to the United Arab Emirates in Spring 2019. She has traveled extensively both with students and backpacking on her own. She is an active member of several professional organizations including the National Council of History Education, the National and Iowa Council of Social Studies, and the National and Iowa Geographic Alliance as well at the Organization of American Historians. She has presented at several national, state and local conferences. Ms. Snyder was selected as the Rotary Club’s Teacher of the Year in 2020. Canada Snyder is also the recipient of the Belin Blank Award for Excellence in Teaching. Ms. Snyder is an Advanced Placement exam reader and previously taught IB history courses. She received her Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Iowa and a Master’s degree in education, with an emphasis in curriculum writing from Drake University. She has been teaching for 24 years.
College AP US history,
College History of the Middle East & Islam
College History of Latin America
AP Seminar
Model UN
Shawn Voshell teaches College AP World History: Modern, AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP Macroeconomics, Accelerated Early U.S. History, and Government. He is a reader for the AP World History: Modern exam and has presented twice at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference. He received a B.A. in History from the University of Northern Iowa and an M.A. in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Shawn has taught at Central Academy for six years and with Des Moines Public Schools for 14 years.
Accelerated Early U.S. History, Government
AP World History: Modern
AP Comparative Government and Politics
AP Macroeconomics
