2024 GCSS Conference Keynote Speakers

Carl Azuz 

A veteran of presenting news to students, Carl Azuz is the host and executive producer of The World from A to Z, a non-partisan news show that appears daily at WorldAtoZ.org and at YouTube.com/@TheWorldAtoZ . The fast-paced program covers current and historic events from across the globe, and it’s ‘pun’ctuated by Carl’s signature wordplay and personable delivery. 

Prior to The World from A to Z, Carl served 15 years as the anchor of CNN Student News/CNN 10, and he’s worked as a media literacy ambassador for the Poynter Institute and a reporter for Sonlight homeschool curriculum. When he’s not writing and producing news and puns, Carl can be found at the gym, in church, on the mountain bike trail, or watching Classical Hollywood Cinema.

Carmen Agra Deedy

Carmen Agra Deedy is an award-winning author of fifteen books for young readers, including The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet!, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, Rita and Ralph’s Rotten Day, and 14 Cows for America, a New York Times Bestseller. Her latest books are Wombat Said Come In, released in October 2022, and Carina Felina, released in August 2023.

Her personal stories first appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered. Funny, insightful, and frequently irreverent, Deedy’s narratives are culled from her childhood as a Cuban refugee in Decatur, Georgia. She is the host of the four-time Emmy-winning children’s program, Love That Book!

Deedy is also an accomplished lecturer, having been a guest speaker for the Library of Congress, Columbia University, both the TED and TEDx Conference, and the Kennedy Center, among other distinguished venues. An editor, and lifelong advocate for libraries, she previously served on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.