The Team That Helps You Teach

Jim Schultz

Founder & President

Jim is the founder and President of Applied Educational Systems, Inc. (AES). He earned his BS in Marketing from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He lives in Lancaster, PA with his wife, Tracy. They have five kids and enjoy traveling together.  He has actively served with numerous non-profit organizations in the community.

Tracy Schultz

HR & Operations Manager

Tracy began at AES in 1989 as a part-time bookkeeper. Over the next 27 years, she grew into other back-office functions, including accounting, human resources, and operations. She enjoys traveling, and she lives in Lancaster with her husband Jim, daugther Sophia (the youngest and only of their five children still at home), cavapoo Carter, and rescue cat Ella.

Ken Richard

Product Manager

Ken leads the product and support teams and loves providing services to help teachers in the classroom. Ken loves learning new things to help him grow professionally and personally. When he's not at AES, Ken is spending time with his amazing wife and loves visiting his new grandbabies!

Chris Zook

Content Marketing Manager

Chris Zook started at AES in 2017 with the goal of promoting the company to teachers who need help in their classrooms. He spends most of his free time with his fiance (or wife, depending on when you're reading this), writing fantasy novels, playing music, and enjoying Lancaster City. He originally wanted to be an architect after reading Yertle the Turtle as a child, but that dream was shattered after a series of misunderstandings that resulted in a lifetime ban from the San Diego Zoo's reptile exhibit.

Bri Stauffer

Content Marketer

Bri has been part of the AES family for as long as she can remember — though she's been on the marketing team since 2013. Bri loves working at AES and tries to add as much personality to the office as possible. When she's not working, Bri can be found re-reading Harry Potter, playing board games with her husband, and living the mom life with her twin babies Ezra and Estelle.

Jackie Shedd

Primary Account Executive

Jackie started with AES as a Business Development Representative in January 2017. In her free time, she enjoys discovering new breweries, outdoor adventures with her Great Dane pup, and exercising.

Dakota Diem

Primary Account Executive

Dakota joins the AES sales team as a primary account executive with 4 years of combined sales experience. Customer success is a focus as my journey begins at AES. In my free time, I love to read, enjoy some sushi with a nice glass of red wine and head to the dog park with my goldendoodle, Blitz.

Alex Schultz

Strategic Account Executive

Alex joined AES in 2016 as a member of the Business Development Team. At work Alex is focused on building the AES community of teachers and forging partnerships with new schools. Outside of the office he enjoys sports, especially soccer and skiing, and is an avid Philadelphia sports fan – not an easy thing these days.

Anne Kuser

Strategic Account Executive

Anne joined the team in 1998 as the customer success manager for teachers in the eastern US. She is the token “Brit” of AES, as she was born and educated in England where she earned degrees in French, English, and Education from Cambridge University. She currently resides near Reading, PA with her rather large lapdog, Nana (a St. Bernard), and her cat, Milo.

Chris Gorham

Strategic Account Executive

Chris joined AES in Q2 of 2017. As a customer success manager, it's his job to see that teachers get the most value out of AES resources so they see more success with their students. A local of Lancaster, Chris enjoys doing anything outdoors and traveling as much as possible to find new adventures.

Jeanette Sweeney

Sales Administrator

Jeanette joined AES as Sales Adminstrator in April 2016. She loves working out with Jillian Michaels, riding her bicycle on the rail trail, spending time with family and friends, traveling, volunteering, reading, and cooking. Her guilty pleasure is reality TV.

Natalie Pugh

Business Development Representative

Natalie is a Business Development Representative for the AES team responsible for coordinating all conferences and shows, serving as a liaison between the sales and marketing teams, and providing assistance to teachers signing up for free trials. Prior to AES, Natalie spent 8 years in affiliate marketing by working for digital marketing agencies Acceleration Partners and Pepperjam, as well as 3 years in the paid search space with Pepperjam and Razorfish. She enjoys spending her time with her husband and daughter, traveling to Disney World, learning everything there is to know about tiny houses, and cooking and baking anything she can!

Sarah Layton

Customer Support Specialist

Sarah joined AES in 1998 as a curriculum developer before becoming a customer support analyst. She's committed to helping teachers confidently use AES products with excellent customer care. Sarah has a BA in English and Technical Writing from the University of Delaware, and she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children.

Laura Posey

Customer Support Specialist

Laura joined AES in 2016 as a member of the product support and development team after moving to downtown Lancaster City. During the day, Laura provides solutions and answers to all AES customer needs and creates resources to guide teachers through the AES learning management system with ease. Out of the office, she enjoys cooking, photography, hiking, reading a good book, a nice glass of wine, and night life with a spring in her step and a bubbling laugh.

Joe Schultz

Instructional Designer

Joe has been with AES since 1992, during which time he has been involved in many aspects of product development, including quality assurance and customer support. He graduated from St. Joseph’s University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and holds a master’s degree in Engineering from Syracuse University. He's found that he smiles a lot more now that all of his kids are out of college.

Celestial Holmes

Instructional Designer

Celestial started at AES in late 2012. She's worked in learning and development for more than 15 years, 11 of which she spent as an instructional designer. If you've read the text in HealthCenter21 or Business&ITCenter21, there's a good chance it came from her.

Greg Pugh

Instructional Graphic Designer

Greg joined AES 2017 as an instructional graphic designer to develop interactive content. Prior to AES, Greg worked as a technical project manager, eLearning developer, mobile application developer, animator, and software instructor. In his free time, Greg loves spending time with his wife and daughter; writing and illustrating children’s books; blogging about board games; and watching the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Kristin Savko

Instructional Graphic Designer

Kristin has worked at AES since 2008 specializing in crafting multimedia for lessons. In her free time, she volunteers at her son's elementary school and as a Cub Scout Den Leader. She enjoys good food, shiny objects, comfy hoodies, time with family and friends, photography, gardening, outdoor adventures, and exercising — not necessarily in that order.

Tristan Shelton

Front End Developer

Tristan has been a front end developer at AES since March of 2017. He helps make the learning management system interface as effective and easy to use as possible. Some of his main hobbies include video game design & development, writing, and cycling.

Lon Farenwald

Back End Developer

Carter

Good Boy

Carter has been the company's mascot for several years. His huge eyebrows and curly-haired fluffiness make him the resident good boy. He's paid in Milk Bones and naps.