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New York State Association for the Education of Young Children
230 Washington Avenue Extension, Albany, New York 12203
518-867-3517/ Fax 518-867-3520
contactus@nysaeyc.org / www.nysaeyc.org
Candidate Statements 2015
Stephanie Dockweiler (Nominated for President-Elect)
Please describe your efforts on behalf of children and families.
I have worked as an advocate for children and families of New York State for the past 31 years. My
undergraduate and graduate work is in child development and early childhood education. I started my
career as an Early Childhood Teacher, became a Director of an Early Care and Education-Head Start
program, headed an organization whose charge was to facilitate NAEYC Accreditation in center based
programs, was the Director of Training for a group of early childhood programs, and 6 years ago
co-founded an Early Childhood training and consulting firm of which I am the President. I have been a
member of my local affiliate board for over 15 years serving as the NAEYC Accreditation Chair and now
serving as the President. I currently serve on the NYSAEYC Board as the Accreditation Chairperson.
What specific strengths and skills would you bring to this position on the Board?
I believe that I hold many strengths that I can bring to the NYSAEYC Board. I believe that I have
demonstrated my expertise in leading and growing organization by bringing together diverse groups of
people and helping them to find common ground for moving an organization forward. I have the
ability to work collectively to achieve powerful results while also respecting individual strengths and
approaches to doing the task at hand. I believe that one of my greatest strengths is my passion for the
field of early childhood education and I am willing to share my knowledge, experience and passion with
others.
What do you see as the greatest issues facing the early childhood field today and what role does
NYSAEYC play in addressing them?
NAEYC took a powerful stand with its position when it published Developmentally Appropriate Practice
in 1986. DAP’s focus was to bring attention on respectful, child centered ways of working with young
children and also helped to unify the early care and education field. Since that time, a growing concern
with standards and accountability has moved education in the United States in another direction. The
national push for standards has led to the development of academic curriculums that are inappropriate
for young children. I believe that there is a window of opportunity for NAEYC, NYSAEYC and local
affiliates to publically take a stand on what is happening to early childhood education and push back to
offer their expertise on how young children develop and learn.
Elizabeth Starks (Nominated for President-Elect)
Please describe your efforts on behalf of children and families.
I am a third generation early childhood educator. My mother (Ella Ames) and grandmother (Ella
Renckert) have both devoted their lives to early childhood education and care. Early Childhood
Education has been a part of my life since I was born. It is not simply a career, but it is my life and my
passion.
I have served in various roles in early care and education including: Teacher, Family Care Provider,
Founder and Executive Director of a Child Care Center, Trainer, and College Faculty Member. I have a
strong knowledge base of early care and education principles and practices. I have experience in
working directly with children, families, providers, and students.
What specific strengths and skills would you bring to this position on the Board?
I continue to use my knowledge and skills, leading others to improve the lives of young children
across our state. I empower and inspire my staff and students to share their strengths as they work
with young children and their families. I strive to ensure all teachers have the education and tools they
need to form a loving, secure relationship to enhance the development of the whole child in a
safe, healthy, positive, and nurturing learning environment that facilitates children to grow, discover,
and learn through a variety of age and developmentally appropriate experiences.
I have been an active member of our local affiliate (CCAEYC), serving on many committees and
leading our Early Childhood community as president (for 4 years). I have served on the board of
NYSAEYC for over 4 years, most recently elected as a representative of the affiliate council.
What do you see as the greatest issues facing the early childhood field today and what role does
NYSAEYC play in addressing them?
I feel that one of the greatest issues facing the early childhood field today is ensuring our voice is
heard representing young children and their families. I pride myself in being one of our community’s
leaders in early childhood advocacy, serving on both the CCAEYC and NYSAEYC Public Policy
Committees. I feel NYSAEYC can support the professionals we represent as they struggle with current
shifts, demands, and pressures and increase advocacy efforts (locally, statewide and nationally).
I want to lead NYSAEYC to make a difference in the lives of young children, their families, and
Early Childhood professionals.
Deborah Fitzgerald (Nominated for President-Elect)
Please describe your efforts on behalf of children and families.
I entered the Child Care field in 1995 an Executive Director of a School Age program, in 1998
expanded to Early Childhood Education, in 2008 added Universal Pre-K. I believe innovation stems
from relationships with families and colleagues in our community. I joined our local NAEYC affiliate,
and other groups focused on improving the quality of children’s experiences and supporting providers.
Committed to improvement by piloting Intergenerational technology projects, involvement in the early
days of STEM called “hands-on science”, and many other quality programming initiatives including
Quality Stars NY. Recently I assisted our Directors group in creating and obtaining funding for a pilot
project designed to provide a variety of targeted supports to Teachers, bridging the time between initial
identification of a high needs student and receipt of support services. Creating stronger collaborations
with families, reducing the potential for expulsion and building each organizations capacity to meet
future needs.
What specific strengths and skills would you bring to this position on the Board?
Our State Affiliate Office is preparing for changes in their relationship with the National Office
and with Local Affiliates. I can support the work necessary with over 30 years of experience in
administrative operations. I also bring the perspective of a provider of children’s programs for 19 years.
As a 3 term Local Affiliate President I bring awareness of the challenges we face in leadership
development and membership retention. As a NYSAEYC Board Member I participated in the
restructuring of the Board and the NYS Affiliate Council.
What do you see as the greatest issues facing the early childhood field today and what role does
NYSAEYC play in addressing them?
Early Childhood Education is receiving a great deal of attention within NY State and the Nation,
something NYSAEYC and NAEYC have worked for over many years.
Our challenge now,
-to continue to educate our government representatives to ensure that the outcome does not
lose sight of what is in “Children’s” best interests.
-to continue to promote high quality models and to work toward providing the training and
supports necessary to achieve those models.
-to ensure that the implementation plans for expanded Universal Pre-K do not destabilize
Early Care and Education options for children birth to age 3.
-to improve compensation for Early Care and Education providers, keeping talented individuals
in the profession.
Joyce Guimaraes (Nominated for Recording Secretary)
Please describe your efforts on behalf of children and families.
It has been my life’s work of almost 50 years to advocate for young children and their families.
I have done this by teaching, by directing a program for 40 years, by being an active member of WAEYC
for over 25 years and by becoming a quality improvement specialist with QUALITYstarsNY, New York’s
quality rating and improvement system (QRIS).
What specific strengths and skills would you bring to this position on the Board?
Years of direct work with families and children has strengthened my commitment to them and
has broadened my knowledge and understanding of young children and their development. It is time for
me to give back to the profession that I love and that has been so good to me. I earned the credentialed
trainer certificate and am beginning to be able to do that by helping share what I have learned and
know.
With the introduction of Common Core comes the issue of pushing down learning in order for
our 4 year olds to be ready for Kindergarten. NYSAEYC’s mission statement defines the organization as
one that “promotes excellence in early care and education for the New York State children and families
through education, advocacy and the support of the profession”. Holding true to this statement,
NYSAEYC must take the responsibility for continued support of DAP and programs as they work to
provide the children of New York with learning experiences based on best practice.
What do you see as the greatest issues facing the early childhood field today and what role does
NYSAEYC play in addressing them?
NYSAEYC’s challenge is to support and educate both administrators and staff by providing
resources for PD opportunities which will bring an understanding of what quality care is and how to
provide it for the children in their programs.
Shareefah Pereira (Nominated for Recording Secretary)
Please describe your efforts on behalf of children and families.
I am currently a student at SUNY Cortland and I'm dual majoring in Early Childhood/Childhood
Education and Spanish. I recently graduated from SUNY Broome Community College where I had the
pleasure of meeting inspirational professors and mentors in the Early Childhood/Childhood field. Every
day I was inspired by their love and enthusiasm for everything that they do.
What specific strengths and skills would you bring to this position on the Board?
It is because of their passion and fervor that I became inspired to expand my horizons in this
field. At SUNY Broome I was the recording Secretary of the Broome Educator's of
Children Association (BECA) during which time I became an objective observer and developed
documentation skills I was able to but into practice. Also, I recently began my position as Hospitality
Chairperson at my local NAEYC affiliate's board, in Binghamton New York. I also have a couple years’
experience volunteering for various organizations in Binghamton, New York as well as countries abroad.
These opportunities have given me a different outlook on the early childhood field and have allowed me
to utilize my documentation skills.
What do you see as the greatest issues facing the early childhood field today and what role does
NYSAEYC play in addressing them?
Ever since I started working professionally with children I have loved every second of it.
Although the work hasn't been easy I cherish every moment I am able to learn from and be inspired by
the children I work with. For me being a teacher is much more than blindly following a
curriculum or preparing students for test taking, it's about loving what you do and inspiring others to
find their passion. Unfortunately, for many children this passion is extinguished because of simple
things adults take for granted. I am honored to be a part of something such as NYSAEYC that dedicates
valuable resources and time that focus on bringing children the things that they inherently need.