Instruction Team
Judy Finkle, Instruction Intake Scheduler
Sandra B. Boyer, M.Ed., Instructor, provides one-on-one literacy instruction to students, kindergarten through adult. She received her Masters degree in Education from Saint Michael’s College with additional graduate work in language and literacy. Sandy has completed the Wilson Reading System, Level I, Multisensory Language Training Program. She has provided instruction for students at various schools in the Burlington area. Sandy has enjoyed working with a variety of students and collaborating with parents and teachers within the Stern Center community for 15 years.
Alicia Burris, B.S., Mathematics Instructor, provides instruction to students of all ages. She received her bachelors degree in Secondary Education, Mathematics from the University of Vermont in 1995. Alicia specializes in working with students with mathematics learning difficulties. Her expertise lies in mathematics assessment and providing explicit, systematic conceptual and procedural instruction. She has thoroughly enjoyed her work here at the Stern Center for Language and Learning since 2003.
Nancy Clements, M.A., CCC-SLP, Social Thinking® and Communications Program Manager joined the Stern Center in 2004. Nancy has pioneered the development of an in-depth social thinking program based on the ILAUGH model of Social Thinking® and Social Thinking Vocabulary (Winner), including developmentally based groups, coaching and consultations off-site, and a 3-credit graduate course in partnership with Saint Michaels College. She created Camp Compass, a unique total immersion social thinking summer experience, that continues to be offered through the Stern Center during the summer. After completing the Clinical Mentorship at the Center for Social Thinking in 2008, the Advanced Clinical Internship through Michelle Winner in 2009, Nancy was invited to and is now part of the Social Thinking Training Collaborative for the Northeast. Nancy provides consultation and presentations across the United States.
Mary Cotton, M.A., CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist provides speech/language evaluations and instruction for preschoolers, school age children and adolescents. She received her Bachelor's degree from the College of Wooster and her Master's degree from Case Western Reserve, both in Communication Science Disorders. Mary's professional interests include early childhood language and literacy development, speech and oral language disorders in school age children, and social thinking.
Julie Erdelyi, M.A., Autism Specialist, Social Communication, Language, and Early Literacy Curriculum Coordinator provides evaluations, consultation and instruction. She has a Bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Vermont and a Master's degree in special education - developmental disabilities from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has extensive experience as a Special Educator and Autism Specialist designing and implementing academic instruction, proactive behavior intervention plans, and social thinking instruction for elementary school students who have Autism Spectrum Disorders. She has presented at local and national conferences and recently was published in the Autism Asperger's Digest Magazine.
Patricia Greene, B.A., Instructor,provides literacy instruction to students of all ages and mathematics instruction to elementary school students. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and her Diploma in Education from McGill University. She recently completed the Wilson Reading System, Level 1, Multisensory Language Training Program. Pat has taught elementary school as a classroom teacher and especially enjoys working with children in this age group. She is interested in promoting and developing the gift of reading. She has been providing individualized and small group instruction at the Stern Center for five years.
Mary Guarino, B.A.,Instructor, provides reading, spelling and written language instruction to students of all ages. She earned BA degrees in Elementary Education and Liberal Studies from Johnson State College. Mary is a Vermont Certified Educator, K-6, and she is trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach to literacy instruction. Mary worked for ten years in the public school setting, and she has enjoyed teaching individualized lessons at the Stern Center since 2001.
Vicki C. Hayes, M.S.Ed, Instructor, provides math and language arts instruction to students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. She received her Bachelors degree in Music History from Barnard College, and her Masters degree in Early Childhood Education from the Bank Street College of Education in 1977. She has over twenty years experience teaching and working with children from age four through eighth grade. She has taught all subjects and worked with children exhibiting a variety of multiple intelligences and learning styles. She is finishing up her first year at the Stern Center for Language and Learning where she has found the work to be immensely rewarding.
Sandy Murphy, B.A., provides literacy instruction to students of all ages. Sandy received her Bachelors from Johnson State College in 1982. She is certified as a Special Educator. Sandy’s work experience includes working in the private & public school sector. Her positions include work as a Remedial Language Specialist, Tutorial Coordinator, Standards & Curriculum Coordinator and Special Educator. In addition, Sandy is a Fellow of the Orton-Gillingham Academy and has presented at local as well as national conferences on topics related to the Orton-Gillingham approach & Study Skills.
Janella Pennington, M.A., CCC-SLP, is a Speech Language Pathologist certified by the American Speech Language Hearing Association and the Vermont Department of Education, with an Educational Speech Language Pathology Endorsement. Janella received a bachelor's degree in Speech and Hearing with minor degree in Education at the University of Tennessee- Knoxville followed by a master's degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 1973 at the University of Memphis. She provides evaluation and instruction services for school age children and adolescents. Janella's professional interests include early childhood language and literacy development, oral speech and language disorders in school age children, and social cognition. Janella enjoys gardening, travel and spending time with her family.
Ellen Rogers, M.Ed., Upper Valley Liaison of the Stern Center for Language and Learning’s White River office holds a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Assessment from Norwich University and earned dual BS degrees in Elementary Education and Early Education from Plymouth State University. She was named as one of Vermont’s Outstanding Teachers and was nominated for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching. She is recognized as a Cambridge Who’s Who as an honored lifetime member. Ms. Rogers has served as a mentor for the Stern Center for Language and Learning Building Blocks Program. She has also been traveling the state the past four years as a Lab School Mentor, a 90 minute middle to high school structured language program, for the Stern Center. She is an educator with over a decade of classroom teaching experience in early elementary and has served as mentors for both public and private school teachers. She worked as a preschool teacher, classroom teacher, reading specialist, a speech and language assistant, and a one-on-one instructor at the Stern Center beginning in 2000. She has training in both Orton-Gillingham and is a Wilson Reading Program Trainer.
Colleen Schuster, M. Ed., Instructor,provides instruction in the areas of reading (structured language), written expression, and executive function skills to students in grades 4 - 12. She received her Bachelors degree in psychology/elementary education/biology from Mt. Holyoke College in 1988, and her Masters degree in Special Education from Westfield State College in 1993. In 1990, Colleen was part of a team of educators led by David Drake and Dr. Charles Drake (founders of Landmark School and Landmark College) that founded the White Oak School in Westfield, MA. White Oak is the only state-approved, publicly funded school west of Boston that provides a full-day instructional program for students with moderate to severe language-based learning disabilities. She taught at White Oak for 15 years before moving to Vermont in 2005. Colleen has been doing one-to-one instruction at the Stern Center for Language and Learning since June of 2007.
Chris Shaw, M.Ed.,provides reading, writing, math and study skills instruction to students of all ages. With a Bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature from Harvard College, and a Master’s degree in Education from University of Vermont, Chris has taught in the public schools at Burlington High School, Essex High School, The Center for Technology, Essex, and A.D.Lawton Middle School. He is a certified Wilson Reading System instructor and a certified Vermont English instructor. He has taught at The Stern Center for Language and Learning since 2007. All three of his children have benefited from instruction and evaluation here.
Jeanne H. Smith, M.S., Instructor, provides literacy instruction to students of all ages. She received her Masters degree in Reading/Language Arts Education from the University of Pennsylvania and endorsements as a Special Educator and Reading/English Language Arts Specialist from the State of Vermont. She is a Wilson Reading System Level 1 tutor in multisensory language instruction. Before working with children and adolescents, Jeanne gained extensive experience in adult literacy and has always enjoyed working with students from diverse social and cultural backgrounds. She has been teaching in Vermont for almost 10 years including public school teaching and special education case managing, and over 5 years as an instructional professional for The Stern Center. Specific interests and practice includes a structured language approach for literacy acquisition, literature for children and adolescents, and a team approach for providing robust language instruction.
Michelle L. Szabo, M.S.Ed, Instruction Program Manager, coordinates the Instruction program, supervising instructors and programs for students, as well as serving as a collaborative consultant working with families and schools. She also provides direct instruction to students of all ages, focusing on developing reading skills, executive functioning and study skills, and written language. She received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology/Human Services from Lyndon State College, and her Masters of Science in Education, specializing in Special Education from Simmons College in 1998. Michelle taught as a Language Arts and Reading teacher at a private high school, and as a Title I Reading Specialist in a public school prior to joining the Stern Center for Language and Learning in 2002 as an Instructor.
Elizabeth Towle, M.Div., Special Educator/Orton-Gillingham Associate, provides instruction through diagnostic teaching for students of all ages. She earned a Master's degree in Divinity from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Science from the University of California, Berkeley. She is also a Vermont Certified Special Educator, K-12. For over ten years she taught in New Hampshire and Vermont Public Schools. Elizabeth loves teaching a diversity of students and individualizing instruction for their wide-ranging literacy needs.
Katie Willard, M.S., CCC-SLP, Instructor completed her B.S. in Elementary Education and her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Vermont. She was a trainee in the Vermont Rural Autism Project as a graduate student. Katie worked in the public school setting with students pre-K thru high school until 2007, and has been exploring the Social Thinking® theory and practice since 2000. In 2006, she completed the mentorship program at The Center for Social Thinking founded by Michelle Garcia Winner in San Jose, CA. In 2007, Katie began a private practice to focus on servicing those with social-cognitive challenges, implementing assessments, social thinking groups and individual treatment for persons of all ages, materials development, and trainings for families, educational and vocational staff. In 2010, she completed the Advanced Certified Clinical Internship at the Social Thinking Clinics in San Jose, California. Katie joined the Stern Center in 2010 as a member of the Social Thinking® and Communication Services team.
Coreen Woodbury is a Speech Language Pathologistcertified by the American Speech Language Hearing Association and the Vermont Department of Education, with an Educational Speech Language Pathology Endorsement. Coreen received a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders with minor degrees in Psychology and Education at the University of New Hampshire, followed by a Master's degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2004. Coreen completed her Clinical Fellowship Year under the supervision of Dr. Ellen Jacob’s, Ph. D, CCC-SLP in Bend, Oregon at The Reading and Speech Clinic where she provided speech, language and literacy evaluations and intervention services. Coreen joined the Stern Center staff upon returning to New England in 2007. She provides evaluation and instruction services for preschool and school age children and adolescents. Coreen’s professional interests include early childhood language and literacy development, oral speech and language disorders in school age children, and language learning disabilities. Coreen enjoys cross country skiing, running, gardening, and playing the guitar.