 |
|---|
Home About Us About Specific Learning DisabilitiesAnswer Series Program Upcoming Community EventsDiagnostic Assessments Student Learning Centre Computer Resource CentreUseful LinksShop Membership SPELD LibraryContact Us Email us
Tel.+61 3 94894344 |
About UsThis page outlines the many people who undertake the important job of supporting and managing SPELD day-in, day-out. Their aim is to increase community awareness of the nature, extent and consequences of the problems of those individuals who, despite average to above-average intellectual ability and adequate educational opportunity, fail to make satisfactory progress in one or more of the following areas: listening, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, calculating, and spatial relations The SPELD Victoria PatronsDame Elisabeth Murdoch A.C.; D.B.E. Committee of managementThe Committee of Management is the legal entity responsible for the governance of SPELD Victoria as outlined in the SPELD Constitution and is accountable for:
The 2008 Committee of Management Members are as follows: SPELD Executive CommitteeCheryl McKenzie – President Cheryl has had more than 20 years experience as a primary teacher in Victoria. She has held various positions including leading Teacher, English coordinator, Junior School Coordinator and classroom Teacher. She was an English Consultant for four years for the Southern Metropolitan Region with the Department of Education “Teaching Teachers”. She has taught English in Germany to adults and Early Years in America. Cheryl has written a number of papers and presented at both the Victorian Early Years Conferences and Learning Difficulties of Australia Conference. Cheryl has been a member of SPELD for 13 years and has served on the Board for the last three years as the Professional Development Coordinator for SPELD, Victoria. Kerrie McMahon - Treasurer Kerrie has been a member of the CoM since 2006, and Treasurer since March 2007. She brings a wealth of experience in finance, as well as personal experience being a parent of a child that is both gifted and has specific learning disabilities, to SPELD. With more than 30 years experience, Kerrie has worked with numerous not-for-profit, government and private organisations in a financial capacity, which include organisations such as the St Kilda Baptist Benevolent Society, Donvale Living and Learning Centre, Learning Difficulties Australia, Trust for Nature (Victoria) a statutory government agency, and the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand. Penny Montgomery – Senior Vice President Penny has been a member of the SPELD CoM since 2002, where she brings a wealth of experience from her long career as secondary teacher. A strong, dedicated community leader, Penny has volunteered for the FKA Children’s Services for 24 years, nine of which she served as President, is a Trustee for The David Syme Charitable Trust as well as a member of The Queen’s Fund – which provides financial assistance to Victorian single women – for 24 years. Chris Davidson – 2nd Vice President and Founder of SPELD Chris, a founder of SPELD, has shared his expertise and knowledge in learning disabilities as well as his passion for supporting all those affected by learning disabilities with SPELD over the past 39 years. A highly respected expert in the field of learning disabilities, Chris has been honoured for the outstanding contributions he has made. These include recipient of The Mona Tobias Award from the Australian Resource Educators’ Association in 1995, as well as inclusion in the International Who’s Who of Professionals in 1999. Chris’ experience includes being Founding Editor of the Australian Journal of Remedial Education 1969–1996; Founding Editor of the Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities 1996; co-editor of the SPELD Bulletin, co-author of Motocross – Race through Reading, Sail Though Spelling, Pony Club Trail Ride (3 board games), Spelling - a Phonic Approach, and Wordswork. He has also written countless articles on education and learning disabilities throughout his career. He began his career at the Victorian Education Department in 1959, then went onto teach at the Dulwich College Preparatory School for many years. In 1967 Chris joined Glamorgan, Geelong Grammar Preparatory School, Toorak where he was Head of the Special Education Department in 1994 prior to going into private practice in 1994. Currently Chris devotes much of his time to supporting those with LD through his numerous hours as a volunteer and CoM member of SPELD. 2008 CoM MembersJennifer Blake – Secretary Jeni has been a SPELD member for the past 14 years, and became a CoM member in 2004. She first became involved after attending a Professional Development session as a parent of a husband and son diagnosed with dyslexia. Later all three of Jeni’s children were diaginosed with dyslexia, as well as other complications. With 30 years experience in the education sector, Jeni began as a primary teacher in the Catholic Education system. She then went on to provide educational consultancy to schools, parents and students in the field of hearing impairment and vision impairment across the Catholic, Independent and Department of Education sectors for many years. Currently Jeni provides educational consultancy and supports students with vision impairment in the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Dr Everarda Cunningham A long-standing member of SPELD’s CoM, Everarda is the Associate Dean of Research at Swinburne University in the Faculty of Higher Education, Lilydale. She is an experienced teacher and an internationally published researcher in Educational Psychology. Her specific research interest is in maximising the potential of students at risk in the school system through whole school approaches. Together with Cathy Brandon, she is co-author of the Bright Ideas program, a program that builds resiliency skills in young people and has been implemented in Australian schools for more than 30,000 students. Currently Everarda manages the Learning Disabilities/Dyslexia Project at Swinburne and is actively involved in professional development for parents, teachers and the community that supports students at risk. She has presented in Australia and internationally on adolescent coping, whole-school approaches to program implementation, statistical modeling and evaluation of school programs over time. Dr John Vincent John brings 40 years of experience in teaching primary and secondary students. His two abiding passions as a primary teacher were literacy — especially children’s writing — as well as the possibilities that technologies offered to assist learning, especially for those who struggle in the conventional classroom system. As a result John completed a doctorate studying the links between learning styles and writing, including with multimedia. John came to assist SPELD because these two passions coincided. Here he is a member of the Computer Committee, and facilitates with many of the courses that examine software and computer applications. He joined the Committee of Management in the latter part of 2007. The SPELD Vic TeamDeborah Zang – General Manager Deborah Zang has a long-term association with SPELD Victoria the mother of two children diagnosed with learning disabilities by SPELD, as a SPELD volunteer, then joining as General Manager in March 2007. Originally from the US, Deborah brings more than 28 years of business experience, which includes working in international advertising agencies in New York City on large corporate accounts such as Sheraton Hotels and IBM, as well as US Federal and State Government Agencies such as Department of Defense (recruitment program), New York City Transit and New Jersey Transit, to name a few. In 1992 Deborah permanently moved to Australia, where she has worked since with such clients as Carers Victoria, NEC, Amcal Chemists, Westpac Bank, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Qantas, Connex Trains (Melbourne), Sydney Light-Rail and Sydney Monorail. Her passion for supporting the community with disabilities led her to develop a program in 2006, on behalf of Connex, that would enable people with specific needs travel easier on public transportation. Anna Black – Finance Anna, who joined the SPELD Victoria team early in 2007, brings a wealth of experience in accounting for the not-for-profit sector. She began her accounting career as Accounts Payable Supervisor with Australian Portland Cement. In 1991 Anna joined Coles Myer Properties as Assistant System Accountant, and later transferred to the Myer buying office where she was Analyst/Planner for the Miss Shop brand. In the mid-2000s Anna moved to the not-for-profit sector when she was appointed to the position of Accountant/Bookkeeper for Victorian Association of Forest Industries, a not-for profit organisation in the forestry industry. After three years in the role Anna joined Aged and Community Care Victoria (formerly Victorian Association of Health and Extended Care), a not-for-profit organisation that dealt with aged care facilities, as Accountant. Patricia Pearson – Psycho-Educational Services Coordinator MAPS MA (Psych) Dip Ed (Early Childhood and Primary); BA Hons (Applied Psych and Sociology); Dip General Studies; AMIT (UK)Trish has been a consultant with SPELD since 1979. Her positions and responsibilities have varied over time and include administrative assistant, telephone counselor, researcher, organizer and presenter at conferences and seminars. Trish continued her studies at the post graduate level and received her registration as a psychologist in 1983. She initiated the development of the psycho-educational assessment service and professional development courses at SPELD and supervised the expansion of these services for many years. Trish is currently the Coordinator of the Psycho-Educational Services at SPELD.
The Specific Learning Difficulties (SPELD) of Victoria ABN: 51 178 974 489 |