My name is Karen Goulandris. I live in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
I have worked in the field of early childhood education for forty-years. My work has spanned across all ages and developmental stages. I taught preschool for ages 3-5 for 22 years, facilitated caregiver/infant/toddler music classes, designed and developed after school programs and summer camps to include robotics, wood-working, cooking, gardening, worked in a parent/toddler program, served as a leader for a youth leadership program, developed and implemented training for other early childhood educators, and currently I work as an assistant professor of early childhood education at a community college.
I am pursuing an Education Specialist (Ed. S.) degree in Early Childhood Education at Walden University. I’m taking classes to widen my scope of knowledge in the field of early childhood education. I have already used much of what I’ve learned through the program to enhance the courses I teach. I teach a variety of courses at the community college; it is very satisfying to help shape the early childhood careers of individuals that will work in a field that I have thoroughly enjoyed for so many years. I am an active member of my state affiliate of NAEYC and I serve on the board of directors. Someday, I hope to publish an article in NAEYC’s Young Children (YC) publication.
A few interesting facts about me: 1) As an adult, I learned to dance on roller skates. I loved the sport so much that I used that knowledge to implement roller skating classes and summer camps at the school where I worked many years ago. I wrote grants to raise money for the equipment and held the classes in the school gymnasium. The children that attended the classes were between the ages of 2 ½ -12 and the summer camps were for kindergarten through third grade. 2) I developed a community garden program for parents and children enrolled in the school, which grew rapidly. The program was very well received and when our school moved, we planned space for community gardening. To this day, even though I am no longer teaching at the school, the garden continues, and the school cook uses food from the garden for the children’s lunches. It was always my dream to give families and children access to good, nutritious food while teaching about healthy eating practices. The program was a lot of work and I loved every minute of it. It was a labor of love.