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Consultants |
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Peggy Amidon, Executive Director
Peggy Amidon is a group
dynamics specialist who has reached thousands of educators, students,
counselors, psychologists, parents, and business leaders through her workshops, presentations, and materials on Interaction Analysis. Graduating
with a B.A. in Education from Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA, Peggy began
her career as a certified elementary classroom teacher and has taught in
Pennsylvania and Virginia. She trained in the Graduate Program in Psychoeducational Processes (Group Dynamics) at Temple University,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she received her M.Ed. in Counseling
Psychology and completed 30 hours toward her doctorate. She is currently
working toward certification in Drug and Alcohol Counseling.
Peggy began to develop the
R.I.Sk
program in 1991 as a response to the skyrocketing incidence of violence,
drug and alcohol abuse, sexual irresponsibility, and other antisocial
behaviors devastating our society. Deeply concerned by these frightening
trends, she became convinced that group process techniques available only to
graduate students in educational psychology could and should be demystified
and used to teach people of all ages the vital intra- and interpersonal
skills needed to live peacefully and productively with themselves and others
in a diverse society.
Amanda Amidon,
Facilitator
Amanda Amidon graduated from Temple University with a B.S. in Psychology and
an
M.Ed. in Elementary Education and is currently working toward her doctorate
in School Psychology. Her current studies are providing Amanda with
extensive training in the areas of assessment and remediation and classroom
management. In recent years she has worked extensively with children and
teachers of diverse ethnic and social backgrounds in the inner-city schools
of Philadelphia. Amanda has earned her certification in both Pennsylvania
(Instructional I, K-6 certificate) and Delaware (Primary K-4 certificate)
and has taken courses in Special Education.
Experienced as a kindergarten teacher, Amanda also has given one-to-one
instruction to elementary-aged students, often following a written IEP
focusing on "areas of need" and collaborating with teachers and parents to
guarantee that the goals and objectives of each individual student are
addressed. Amanda feels that interaction between parents and teachers is a
very important "piece of the puzzle" in education.
Brenda Bortz, Writer / Program Development
Brenda Bortz graduated with a B.A. with Honors in English from Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York, and with an M.A. in English from the University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A writer and editor specializing in the
development of educational materials, she is the co-author with Peggy Amidon
of Relationship Improvement SKills: An
Interactive Manual (1994) and of the multi-volume curriculum, Relationship
Improvement SKills: A.Dynamic Approach to Improving
Relationships in Peer, Family, and Social Groups, (1992-1994), which
includes Key Concepts , Scripted Lesson Plans, More Related
Activities, Workbook 1, and Workbook 2.
Daniel Kraycik, Facilitator
/ Market Development
A R.I.Sk facilitator, motivational coach, and author, Daniel
Kraycik is also the Director and Program Facilitator of Eagle Shout
Productions, a business consulting and professional development group
specializing in "soft skills" training designed to enhance personal
excellence and professional effectiveness. He is also a marketing and
capital development consultant for FOCUS International, a nonprofit
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania organization that broadly supports the physical,
social, and spiritual health and wellbeing of children living in the
Chernobyl region and in other areas in crisis throughout the world. Daniel
is a self-directed, lifelong learner with a strong spiritual and intuitive
bent. A long-time student of the arts, philosophy, psychology, and world
religions, he is committed to integrating those disciplines and using them
to inform his work as a teacher of life skills.
Richard J. Lane II,
Facilitator / Community Affairs
Graduating from Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania
with a B.S. in Psychology, and from Temple University in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania with an M.A. in Psychology, Dick Lane served as an Operations
Department Officer in the U.S. Navy aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid and as a
Personnel Specialist in the Navy Department in Washington, D.C. Dick's
subsequent career has been in county government in eastern Pennsylvania,
where he has provided social services as Administrator/Director of Lehigh
County Long Term Care Facilities; Director of the Lehigh County Office of
Adult and Residential Services; and Director of the County Bureau of Adult
and Residential Services and Deputy Director of the Area Agency of Aging,
Lehigh County.
Very active in community affairs and in the cause of social justice, he has
served as Past Chairperson of the Lehigh Valley Children's Coalition, as
Development Coordinator of Cedar Village Moderate Income Continuing Care
Community, as a Past Officer of the Pennsylvania Association of County Home
Administrators and as a member of the Lehigh Valley Coalition on Affordable
Housing, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Homeless Advisory
Committee, and the Advisory Committee of the Sixth Street Shelter and Turner
Street Apartments in Allentown , Pennsylvania.
Carla Messinger, Diversity and I.T. Consultant
A cultural educator who takes pride in her Native American (Pennsylvania
Lenape) ancestry, Carla Messinger earned a B.A. in Elementary Education from
Kutztown University in Kutztown, Pennsylvania and an M.A. in
Elementary/Special Education from Lehigh University in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania and is a Pennsylvania-certified elementary and special needs
teacher. Carla founded the Lenni Lenape Historical Society and Museum of
Indian Culture in Allentown, Pennsylvania and served as its Executive Director for 25 years, receiving
many awards and honors (including numerous scholarships from the Department
of the Interior and the Smithsonian).
Nationally and internationally recognized for presenting, preserving, and
perpetuating the history, culture, and contributions of the Lenape and other
Native American groups. Carla has served on conference panels, authored
articles for newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and the U.K, and been
interviewed by USA Today, National Public Radio, and the BBC.
Now director of Native American Heritage Programs in Allentown, Pennsylvania she also
consults with various organizations in the U.S. and Europe. Carla regularly
offers workshops and presentations in England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany,
Sweden, and Norway, and she serves as a Cultural Advisor for the
International North American Indian Association in the United Kingdom.
John Robbins, Fundraising
A graduate of Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania and the retired Vice
President of Robbins Motor Transportation Company, John is an avid fisherman
and the father of three daughters and one son. As a parent, grandparent,
businessman, and citizen, he is deeply concerned about the dramatic increase
in violence and other antisocial behaviors in our society.
One of our most active volunteers,
John feels strongly that "we owe it to ourselves and to our country's future
to teach today's young people the behavioral skills needed to think and act
more positively and more responsibly." He and his daughter, Barbara,
are especially committed to
implementing the R.I.Sk program in schools. |
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