PEOPLE SERVED

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Student Population

We evaluate and teach more than 900 children and adults annually in all areas of learning, including reading, writing, spelling, math, oral language, study skills and social skills. Individuals come to the Stern Center with learning differences that range from mild learning style problems to those who have complex learning differences, including:

Specific Learning Disabilities (including dyslexia, language learning disabilities and nonverbal learning disabilities)

Attention difficulties (including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)

Neurological Impairments

Developmental and Childhood Language Disorders

Communication and Social Skills

Motivationaland Behavioral Problems

Giftedness

"You have given me the greatest gift of all - the ability to read." Janet, age 32

Educators and Other Professionals

Stern Center staff design and instruct professional development programs for over 1,500 educators each year to share information about the latest in educational research and how this research can be implemented to evaluate and instruct learners of all ages.

 

Community Resources

The Wallman Library, a parent and professional resource library

Presentations to parents and community groups through schools and support organizations

Informational Web Site

Partnerships and collaboratives with schools

History

The Stern Center was founded 1983 by Dr. Blanche Podhajski as a nonprofit literacy center dedicated to helping children and adults reach their full potential. Through direct service, professional development and research programs, we are the only literacy resource of this kind in northern New England and upstate New York. A staff of thirty-three professionals work in our main facility in Williston, VT, and in our satellite office located in White River Junction, VT. Established thanks to the generosity of the Bernice and Milton Stern Foundation, the Center is now sustained by the growing generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations. Thanks to our scholarship fund, we are committed to serving individuals from all income levels. The Center has developed literacy programs in affiliation with the following organizations:

Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts & New York State Public School Systems

Vermont Department of Education

St. Michael's College, Colchester,Vermont

University of Vermont, College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont

Union Institute, Vermont

Vermont Council on the Humanities

Vermont Center for the Book

Vermont Adult Basic Education

Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation

Vermont Information and Training Network

Vermont Department of Health

Vermont Correctional Facilities

Lund Family Center, Burlington, Vermont

University of Arizona

Staff Biographies
The Stern Center has a professional staff of educational diagnosticians and clinical instructors. We work as partners with parents, teachers and medical professionals to build bridges for learning.

Blanche Podhajski, Ph.D., President
As Founder and President, Dr. Blanche Podhajski opened the Stern Center in 1983 with a clear mission: she envisioned a literacy center that combined direct services for individuals, training for educators and research on learning differences. Thanks to her vision, the Stern Center has become this literacy resource for our region.

Dr. Podhajski has over thirty years experience working with individuals with learning differences. She teaches and consults with educators throughout New England and is a frequent presenter at regional and national conferences. Dr. Podhajski has published and presented numerous papers in the areas of language and learning disabilities. She is the co-author of Sounds Abound, Teaching Phonological Awareness in the Classroom and has recently written a chapter on adult literacy, "Professional Development in Learning Disabilities for Adult Literacy Providers," in S. Vogel and S. Reders text, Bridging the Gap: Learning Disabilities, Adult Education and Literacy. Dr. Podhajski also serves as a resource to numerous professional and parent organizations. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Dr. Podhajski received her doctoral degree in communication disorders, specializing in learning disabilities, from Northwestern University and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence in speech pathology from the American Speech and Hearing Association.Check out Dr. Podhajski's chapter on adult literacy, "Professional Development in Learning Disabilities for Adult Literacy Providers", published in S. Vogel and S. Reder's (1998, Brookes Publishing Company, Inc.) Bridging the Gap: Learning Disabilities, Adult Education and Literacy. Check out "What Preservice and Inservice Teachers Believe and Know About Early Reading Instruction," coauthored by Dr. Podhajski and published in the Annals of Dyslexia.

Sally Conant, M.S., SLP, Director of Programs
Sally Conant brings significant classroom, special education, and leadership experience to the Stern Center. She has held positions in the public schools, at the University of Vermont - Communication Science and Disorders Department, and was most recently a Case Manager and Speech and Language Pathologist in the Williston School District, Williston, VT.

 

 

John Connell, M.B.A., Chief Financial Officer
John Connell has more than 30 years of experience, including 16 years in senior financial & business management in nonprofit, education-related organizations. In his sixth year with the Stern Center, John was also Business Manager for Pine Ridge School, a residential high school for adolescents with Learning Differences and Fiscal Director for Burlington College, an alternative 4-year college dealing primarily with adult learners. He has held similar positions in the for-profit world as well as owning/operating his own businesses.

 

 

Edward R. Wilkens, Ed.D, Development Director
Ed Wilkens comes to the Stern Center having spent 19 years as a public school principal in VT serving populations from preK-12. Ed also worked for the US Department of Education for six years providing technical assistance and policy consultation relating special education and general education. After a year as the Stern Center’s Community and Education Liaison, Ed was named Development Director in September 2007.

 

Funding
The Stern Center is not a United Way Agency, and we do not receive state or federal funding. Our fiscal year 2005 $2.5 million dollar budget was funded as follows: Thanks to the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations, we provide literacy services as well as professional development to education professionals. Support for Stern Center programs helps keep the cost of our services down and provides for a scholarship program for families who would be unable to receive these vital services without your help. Click here to help support the Stern Center's Literacy programs.

Special Events & Stern Center News
Jeff Stone Memorial Tennis Tournament
The Jeff Stone Foundation and the Stern Center for Language and Learning presented the 23rd Annual Jeff Stone Memorial Tennis Tournament at the Burlington Tennis Club on August 17-19, 2007. With the help of the community, we witnessed three fabulous days of tennis and camaraderie and raised scholarship funds for students and athletes. If you or your organization have any questions about this event, please contact Ed Wilkens Development Director

Friends of the Stern Center
The Stern Center's Annual Scholarship Program continues to benefit from the dedication of our volunteer Friends Group, with its fall Dessert Card Party. The Dessert Card Party this past September was a huge success! This year, the Friends have replaced their annual "Everything Sale" with an online auction through Global Garage Sale. This will feature an easy drop-off location for donated items. For more information on this exciting new sale, or to join the Friends group, please call Robin Bertrand at the Stern Center, or e-mail Robin Bertrand at rbertrand@sterncenter.org.