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September 11, 2003 |
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Contact: |
Mike
Andrei
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Daemen College Names Director of New Center for Special Education & After School Programs
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Kristin C. Myers has been named director of The Thomas Reynolds Center for Special Education & After School Programs at Daemen College. Myers, a resident of Lancaster, holds a masters degree in special education from West Virginia University, and a bachelor of science degree in special and elementary education from Daemen College. She is currently finishing her School District Administrator's Degree at Canisius College. Myers and her family are residents of Lancaster.
Daemen College has received $1.3 million in federal funding to create the Center - a unique after-school program to address the academic, social, and physical requirements of public school special education students. The funding, obtained through the efforts of Representative Tom Reynolds (R-26th District), is part of the Omnibus Budget Bill approved by the House of Representatives earlier this year. The goal of the Center is to improve the quality of life for students with developmental disabilities, through high-quality and high-level after school programs, while also providing applied training opportunities for education majors and teachers of special education. "The goal of the Center is to provide a rich learning and teaching environment, where scientifically-based research methods are used to assist students with disabilities to learn essential academic skills in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and the use of learning strategies," said Dr. Patrick J. Hartwick, Chair of the Daemen College Department of Education. Daemen College education faculty will work with Western New York public schools in Buffalo, Lackawanna, Amherst, and Niagara Falls to establish the Center; no programs of this type currently exist in Erie and Niagara Counties. The College expects to involve a wide range of academic expertise, including faculty in the Daemen departments of education, social work, physical therapy, physician assistant, and nursing. The opening of the center is planned for 2004.
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