A Word about Angela Nance (Co-Founder/Big Buddies Director)

          Angela Nance first became interested in working with children with disabilities at the age of 18.  She began working with a child with autism doing applied behavior analysis therapy in a home based program.  She went on to work with several other families involved in ABA therapy.  Angela has also worked with her students in the community working to help generalize and maintain learned skills in a natural setting.  She has also worked with her students as a one-to-one shadow in several schools in Montgomery County.  With her background as a swimming instructor at the Silver Spring YMCA she has also taught many of her students to swim combining general skills with her background in ABA.  
            In 2005 Angela completed her Bachelors of Science in Special Education with an emphasis on severe disabilities.  During that time she had been working with children with and with out disabilities as a temporary Nanny for White House Nannies.  She has also had the honor of participating as lead teacher Friendship Club, a weekly children’s play club started by the parent of one of her former students.  She planned for and facilitated a small group of children with severe disabilities working towards building long lasting and meaningful friendships.  
            From 2005-2010 Angela has taught kindergarten through third grade students in the in the Learning for Independence (LFI) program in Montgomery County Public Schools.  Along with teaching and co-founding Summer Buddies with Sarah Lubin, in 2007 Angela was able to complete her Masters of Education in Elementary Special Education with an emphasis on severe disabilities.  Currently Angela teaches 3  and 4 year olds in the Pre-school Education Program (PEP) in MCPS. 
            Angela is interested in eventually becoming an advocate for students and their families and hopes to incorporate that skill in the future of Summer Buddies.  Angela has many ideas and only hopes to be able to use them in ways that will further the progress made in special education today. 
                                                                   

A Word about Sarah Lubin    (Co-Founder/Little Buddies Director)


            Sarah Lubin also became interested in working with children with special needs as a teenager, after traveling to Grenada to volunteer at an orphanage for abused children. After she returned, she began tutoring children with autism, and then spent her summers as a teaching assistant at The Children’s Institute in New Jersey, a school for children with developmental disabilities. She has volunteer and work experience in alternative therapy clinics and environments, including Auditory Integration Training, a sound therapy, and hippotherapy, which utilizes the horse as a therapy tool and motivator. Since coming to the University of Maryland, Sarah spent three years as a volunteer tutor for Project Northstar, a tutoring program in D.C. that works with children in homeless shelters and public housing. 
          Sarah has received Bachelors degrees in Early Childhood Special Education and Hearing and Speech Sciences, and won the award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to the Department of Special Education at the University of Maryland. She completed her Masters degree in 2006 in Early Childhood Special Education, with citations in Advocates for Children and Severe Disabilities. She is currently continuing her education at the University of Maryland by pursuing an Advanced Graduate Specialist degree in Early Childhood Special Education.  
        For the past three years, Sarah has worked at DIR Support Services, running a social group for preschoolers with developmental and learning challenges, and providing home based therapy and consultation using a Floortime approach. She also works as a research assistant for Dr. Paula Beckman, developing and studying international service learning programs for teens and college students. She is very excited for the fourth year of Summer Buddies, and getting to know you and your child!

A word about Vicky Dean (Co-teacher)
  
Vicky began her career with a wide range of experience working with children in various settings as a babysitter and nanny. During her senior year of high school (2005), Vicky worked as an intern at the Montgomery Knolls Preschool Education Program (PEP).          
         From 2006 until 2011 Vicky has worked as a therapeutic play nanny for two families with children with special needs and their siblings and parents.  Victoria uses many techniques when working with children including multiple floortime therapy strategies as well as general individualization of child and parent/sibling needs in all areas of home and social life.            
         In 2008 Victoria began working as a teacher for a currently running social skills group “Groovy Girls”, for girls with a range of special needs ages 7-14.            
        Vicky graduated May of 2011 with her Masters Degree, and a dual certification in Early Childhood Special Education and Severe Disabilities from the University of Maryland, College Park.  She has had a range of experiences in working with children with and without special needs in various settings including an inclusive pre-k classroom in Prince Georges County, Infant Toddler groups and home visits at the East Montgomery County Infant/Toddler Center, and a yearlong placement in Howard County with the Regional Early Childhood Program (RECC) in a Multiple Intensive Needs Classroom for Early Learners (MINC-EL) classroom, which used a verbal behavior, errorless learning strategy with children ages 3-6 with autism spectrum disorders.  In the fall of 2011 Vicky will begin teaching in the PEP-Comprehensive program at Jackson Road Elementary School.
          
        Victoria Started working with Summer Buddies in its inception in 2004.  She started out as a volunteer and quickly progressed the next summer to the volunteer coordinator, finding and organizing volunteers and scheduling with all of the volunteers for three summers.  For our 2008 summer session Victoria took on the role of Volunteer Director/Program Assistant in which she trained and assisted a volunteer coordinator with working with the high school volunteers but also began to use her experience and skills to teach and plan more within our sessions.                 Vicky is now one of the summer buddies co-teachers.  Her responsibilities include planning for each session and implementing the activities and lessons in the schedule.  She leads each session with our co-teacher Amanda Love while providing the children with as much natural and facilitated play and social skills practice as possible.  Vicky also continues to provide learning opportunities for our volunteers in the way of coaching them to help facilitate the play and social skills we learn in the program.  Vicky is excited to be co-teaching for the first time this summer and looks forward to more summers to come!
 

Amanda Love (Co-Teacher)

     Amanda has a wide range of experience working with children with disabilities and their families. She recently graduated from the University of Maryland with her Masters in Early Childhood special education with a citation in severe disabilities.  She will begin working in Montgomery County Public schools as a PEP-INC teacher at Brookhaven Elementary School in the fall. 
        This is Amanda's first summer teaching with Summer Buddies, but she has been a welcome addition to the staff.  Amanda hopes to continue to work with Summer Buddies in the future.