About Us
- The Issues
- The Smart Start Model
The Smart Start Model
The Smart Start-Centre County model proposes a new approach, by forming a network of concerned citizens, child care professionals, academics and teachers, medical professionals, parents, and businesses. By pulling together the experts in the fields most important to the development of young children, Smart Start is able to act as a clearinghouse for sharing information, an advocate for early childhood, a support vehicle for existing and new projects, and a search engine for resources. By working together, we can affect change.
Leadership
Eileen Wise, Executive Director
Eileen Wise's education is impressive. She earned a B.A. in Biological Sciences from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Rutgers University Medical School. And then there are two Elementary Education Teaching Certificates. That says it all. Eileen is obviously someone who brings a strong intellectual focus to understanding and promoting the healthy development of children and families. Smart Start has chosen its new Executive Director "wise"–ly.
Eileen's key accomplishments are impressive. She led a fundraising campaign for a preschool that resulted in the highest fundraising income in one year in the school’s history. As director of the school, she succeeded in doubling enrollment and enhanced the visibility and prestige of the school through parent education seminars and by improving the parent/alumni newsletter.
At Purdue University, she co-founded a women’s discussion group that led to the creation of a new Vice Presidency to address equity issues for women and minorities in faculty and staff positions.
Her teaching career has included ten years of elementary teaching in all subject areas. During this time, she created and unified curricula for teaching mathematics; designed and tested new "Introduction to Microbiology" curriculum among others. Eileen was nominated for Disney’s Best American Teacher Award in 2000 and awarded Best Teacher in Manatee County (Florida) for two consecutive years, in 2000 and 2001.
Eileen has incorporated counseling training and experience into her professional repertoire, using specific techniques to help parents address their children's learning and behavior challenges. She used these techniques as a classroom teacher to help the children develop self-control, planning, and problem-solving skills. She was also a popular undergraduate counselor at the University of Delaware.
| Chair | Charlene Friedman, Friedman Real Estate Group |
| Secretary | Rebecca Ardoline, MidPenn Legal Services |
| Treasurer | Doug Erickson, Patton Township |
| Members | Patricia Best, State College Area School District |
| Roxie Nestlerode, Early Development & Education Institute, Penn State University | |
| Robin Oliver, M.D., Centre Medical and Surgical Associates | |
| Jack Raykovitz, Second Mile | |
| Mark Righter, McQuaide Blasko | |
| Robert Sunday, Kish Bank | |
| Anthony D’Augelli, College of Health and Human Development, Penn State University | |
| Joe Webber, Merrill Lynch |
| Chair | Eileen Wise, Smart Start-Centre County Executive Director |
| Members | Sudha Babu, College of Education, Penn State University |
| Ellie Beaver, Centre County United Way | |
| Marcia Bruce, Strawberry Fields | |
| Pamela Cole, Psychology Department, Child Study Center, Penn State University | |
| Anita Ditz, Children’s Department, Schlow Centre Region Library | |
| Susan Drenning, Kids First/Strawberry Fields | |
| Linda Duerr, Child Development Laboratory, Penn State University | |
| Charlene Friedman, Friedman Real Estate Group | |
| Roxie Nestlerode, Early Development and Education, Penn State University | |
| Margaret Droddy, Central Regional Key, STEP, Inc. | |
| Cynthia Pollich, Family Child Care, Penn State Extension | |
| Connie Schultz, Family Outreach, State College Area School District | |
| Shirl Smith, Early Head Start, Cen-Clear Child Services, Inc. | |
| Nichol Sheridan, Child Care Information Services of Centre County | |
| Liz Toukonen, Bellefonte YMCA | |
| Ann Walker, Child Development and Family Council of Centre County, Inc. | |
| Wendy Whitesell, Bennett Family Center, Penn State University | |
| Amy Wible, Child Care Division, Cen-Clear Child Services, Inc. | |
| Beth Van Horn, Family Life, Penn State Extension |
Committee Structure
Visit a complete listing of Committees and their Action Goals for 2006-2007.
- Parenting and Literacy (Co-Chairs Connie Schultz and Anita Ditz)
- Health and Nutrition (Co-Chairs Beth Van Horn and Chutney Arrington)
- Early Care and Education (Co-Chairs Amy Wible and Linda Duerr)
- Early Childhood Mental Health (Co-Chairs Shirl Smith and Wendy Whitesell)
- Communications & Public Advocacy (Co-Chairs Nichol Sheridan and Ann Walker)
