Cymbal Press is an imprint of Constructing Modern Knowledge Press. CMK Press is an independent publisher of influential books by creative educators for creative educators with more than a dozen titles published in eight languages.
About the Management Team
Gary Stager, Ph.D. – Publisher & CEO
The self-proclaimed “world’s biggest jazz fan” typically spends 80-100 nights per year in the world’s concert halls and jazz clubs listening to live music. A great public school music education led to his love of jazz and classical music. In fact, the first jazz musician he met was Thad Jones who performed at his high school, as did Roy Haynes. Gary aspired to be a jazz musician until his conspicuous lack of talent caught up with him. Along the way, he studied with Frank Foster, Barry Harris, Chico Mendoza, Andy Jaffe, Paul Jeffrey, John Stubblefield, William Fielder, Louis Mucci, and Larry Ridley. His formal music education included stops at Berklee College of Music, Rutgers, and William Paterson University. Gary has been blessed by the friendship of jazz legends and young lions alike. Cymbal Press is a way of honoring their generosity and contributions to make life worth living.
Gary’s day job is as an award-winning teacher educator. In addition to being a popular keynote speaker at some of the world’s most prestigious education conferences, Gary Stager is a journalist, teacher educator, consultant, professor, software developer, publisher, and school administrator. An elementary teacher by training, he has taught students from preschool through doctoral studies. In 1990, Dr. Stager led professional development in the world’s first laptop schools and played a major role in the early days of online education. Gary is the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute for educators and publisher at Constructing Modern Knowledge Press.
When the great Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget wanted to better understand how children learn mathematics, he hired Seymour Papert. When Dr. Papert wanted to create a high-tech alternative learning environment for incarcerated at-risk teens, he hired Gary Stager. This work was the basis for Gary’s doctoral dissertation and documented Papert’s last institutional research project. Dr. Stager’s work earned a Ph.D. in Science and Mathematics Education from The University of Melbourne. Learn more about Gary here.
Sylvia Martinez – President
Sylvia Martinez was an aerospace engineer before becoming an educational software producer and vice president of a video game company. She spent a decade as the President of Generation YES, the groundbreaking non-profit that provides educators with the tools necessary to place students in leadership roles in their schools and communities. In addition to leading workshops, Sylvia delights and challenges audiences as a keynote speaker at major conferences around the world. She brings her real-world experience in highly innovative work environments to learning organizations that wish to change STEM education to be more inclusive, effective, and engaging.
Sylvia leads the book publishing arm of Constructing Modern Knowledge Press and Cymbal Press.
Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager are the co-authors of one of the most influential education books of the past decade, Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom.
Dr. Stager is available for interviews and media
** To request a review copy of the book or arrange an interview, please email press@cymbalpress.com **
**To discuss a book publishing idea, email gary@cymbalpress.com
** Media assets (cover, price, reviews, etc.) available at cymbalpress.com **