Janna Paes joined the RCU in 2022 as a project manager with the assessment team. She assists with state assessment procedures in career and technical education, including national certifications, embedded work-based learning and program quality evaluations. Paes joins the RCU after spending 11 years teaching middle and high school in the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District (SOCSD). She was named Mississippi’s 2021 Congressional District 3 Teacher of the Year in 2021 and SOCSD Teacher of the Year in 2020. Prior to moving to Starkville, Paes taught middle school for three years in the Simpson County School District. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education from Mississippi State University and a Master of Education degree in Secondary Education from William Carey University.