Carolene Thornton, Ed.D. serves as the Co-Director of the Arkansas State PIRC (Parental Information & Resource Center) / Center for Effective Parenting. She is active in providing technical assistance to schools, the Arkansas Department of Education and various other agencies. She took a lead role in the development of the Handbook for school-based Title I parent coordinators and parent center facilitators in Arkansas. She holds Elementary and Secondary Principal’s Certification in Arkansas. Her experience includes working as a classroom teacher and supervisor for elementary teachers and staff, K-12 Special Education, Gifted and Talented, Migrant Education, and Title I Program. Currently, she holds an adjunct faculty appointment at UAMS. Dr. Thornton developed the Northwest Arkansas Child Care Resource and Referral Center, (NWACCR&RC) and served as Executive Director for 13 years. cthornto@jtlshop.jonesnet.org
Dee Austin, Ed. S., LPC is the Parent Educator for the Arkansas State PIRC / Center for Effective Parenting in Springdale. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and has been the parenting specialist/educator for the Arkansas State PIRC/Center for Effective Parenting for the past ten years. She focuses most of her work in the area of early childhood parent education but also provides various workshops and trainings for parents and educators in Arkansas. She is extremely knowledgeable in regard to research-based parenting curriculums. Additionally, Dee has been active in working with the Arkansas Department of Education and other agencies in developing parental involvement materials for both parents and educators. daustin@jtlshop.jonesnet.org
Suzann Hernandez serves as an outreach specialist for the Arkansas State PIRC / Center for Effective Parenting in Springdale. She has been a professional educator for 30 years with her degree in Family and Consumer Science. Her current work is training educators in Beyond the Building created by SEDL, and training parents in Strengthening the Partnership Between Home and School created by AR State PIRC/Center for Effective Parenting. She also helped develop a Parent Leadership Development Institute and trains parents to be active participants in their child’s education. She has directed a nursery school, taught junior and senior high school, college and adults. In 1995 she received Teacher of the Year award from her school district and in 2002 the Community Service Award was given to her from the Family and Consumer Science State Department. shernand@jtlshop.jonesnet.org
Margarita Solorzano is a part-time Spanish parent educator and outreach specialist for the Arkansas State PIRC / Center for Effective Parenting in Springdale. Margarita received certification as a parent educator from Parents as Teachers National Center in 1998. She holds an Associate of Arts in Social Work and is pursuing her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas, a non- profit organization which aims to further the educational opportunities for Hispanic women and their families.
Lisa Townsend provides part-time project support for the Arkansas State PIRC / Center for Effective Parenting in Springdale. She has over 20 years of office experience. She handles the day to day office operations and assists scheduling of conferences, workshops and parenting classes. ltownsend@jtlshop.jonesnet.org |
