Who We Are
Facilitators & Presenters
Katy Botta
Facilitator & Social Media Coordinator
Katy Botta started working with Seedlings as an administrative assistant in charge of organizing the food for the week, and then became a participant before moving on to being a facilitator. Katy taught Kindergarten at the Foote School for 7 years and prior to that, spent a year as a first grade assistant teacher at Bank Street School for Children. Her graduate work from Bank Street strongly shaped her approach to teaching and learning: children (and adults/teachers) learn best through authentic experiences with the social and physical world around them. With Katy’s guidance and support, teachers experience first-hand the rich natural resources of New Haven and develop tools that to bring back to their classrooms.
Judy Cuthbertson
Workshop Director
Judy has been with the workshop since its inception in 2005. She has been working in early childhood education for the last 50 years, in public and independent schools settings. Judy began her teaching career as a special education teacher and moved on to teaching a Mixed Age Group at the Foote School in New Haven. After leaving the classroom in 2009, she became a consultant for Early Childhood in a variety of New Haven Public Schools where she continues to support teachers in the creation of age-appropriate curriculum along with directing the Seedlings Educators Collaborative workshop.
Donna DaCosta
Facilitator
Donna DaCosta has been an early childhood educator for 37 years, and for the past 10, the Preschool Master Teacher at Cold Spring School. Donna has been a Seedlings fan since the workshop's inception in 2005, when her former school director introduced her to it. She participated in the 2010 workshop and became a facilitator in 2016. For Donna, "the best thing about being a facilitator is meeting fellow early childhood educators who are eager learn new strategies to incorporate STEAM into their classrooms in an age appropriate manner."
Eva Kibby
Facilitator
Eva Kibby joined Seedlings as a facilitator in 2018, but has been involved with SEC in other roles for the last few years. Eva attended the workshop twice, and for the 2017-18 school year, she was one of three inaugural Seedlings Fellows. Eva comes to us with a wealth of experience; she has taught preschool as well as grades 2, 3, and 5, and is currently the Science Coordinator for Six-to-Six Magnet School in Bridgeport. In 2011, Cooperative Educational Services (CES) named her Teacher of the Year, and she was also nominated for a Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Eva shares with us that, "Seedlings has brought me back to the foundational ideas of developmental appropriateness, as well as learning through play and inquiry.” She looks forward to sharing her passion for teaching and learning with others this summer.
Sue Matican
Facilitator
Sue Matican has been a New Haven Public School (NHPS) teacher for 30 years, the last 20 at Edgewood School in Westville. She has gained positive recognition as a dedicated teacher and life-long learner who continually thinks about ways to improve the education for all her students. H.O.T (Higher Order Thinking) School workshops, the visual literacy consortium at the Yale Center for British Art and participation in the Seedlings week, all have had a strong impact on her classroom practices. After attending the workshop for two years, Sue joined us to facilitate the 2/3 grade group. Throughout her career in NHPS, Sue has successfully merged District curricula with teaching strategies such as project and place-based learning. Sue encourages small group collaboration on real-world projects that stem from students questions. Sue is passionate about integrating subjects to help children make meaningful connections to the world around them.
Winnie Naclerio
Facilitator
Winnie Naclerio is a well-known and highly respected early childhood educator who has been Calvin Hill’s kindergarten teacher for the last 38 years. Winnie has been with us since we began in 2005, first as a participant and since then as a facilitator. Beyond her classroom, Winnie has mentored many area teachers through workshops, and in her long-standing role on the Board of NHAEYC. Her educational philosophy has been greatly influenced by educators from Reggio Emilia, Italy, a site she visited in 2000 in recognition of her 20 years of teaching. As a master teacher and a facilitator, Winnie brings with her both experience and wisdom. Her classroom is a model where emergent curriculum is encouraged and respected, and where teachers are nurtured. She brings these same strengths and beliefs with her to the Seedlings week where she skillfully listens and learns from others, guides and supports their questions and makes all participants feel welcomed and valued.
Joshua Sloat
Facilitator
Joshua Sloat joined us as a facilitator in 2016, after his experience as a workshop attendee left him wanting to be more involved with Seedlings. As a 4/5 facilitator, he shares his unique perspective as a classroom teacher working with an integrated project- and place-based curriculum. Josh has been an educator at Cold Spring School for thirteen years, and taught for five years at Amistad Academy before then. He is an astute listener who encourages each teacher to share their classroom stories and pinpoint what they want to gain from the week at the Seedlings summer workshop. He is as interested in literature as he is in science and technology, and is a wonderful resource.
Karen Zwick
Facilitator
Karen Zwick, our amazing director of technology and science facilitator, has been with Seedlings since its start in 2005. She has been teaching for more than three decades and is a celebrated Master Teacher for grades 4/5 at the Cold Spring School in New Haven. Karen has a knack for working with community experts and resources to bring hands-on fun and exploration into her students' learning experiences. She is also a go-to expert for technology and incorporating project-based learning in line with curriculum standards. At our workshops and whenever we need her expertise for the website, Karen is a master of multi-tasking and an irreplaceable member of the Seedlings team!
Seedlings Fellows, Past & Present
Diane Huot is a master teacher with 34 years of experience teaching 1st through 3rd grades in public and parochial schools. She is currently teaching first grade at Conte West Hills School in New Haven, where she has been for 17 years. Enter her classroom and you will be struck by how much knowledge her first graders have to offer about food chains and organisms in their local environment. It is the kind of depth of knowledge that at that age can only have been acquired through personal experience.
Eva Kibby is our Seedlings Fellow at Six to Six Interdistrict Magnet School in Bridgeport. She has been collaborating with the schools’ preschool team, two of whom attended the Seedlings summer workshop in 2017, to apply their Seedlings thinking in their classroom practice. Below is Eva’s first blog entry about the beginning stages of this collaboration.
Shandra Patton is our Seedlings Fellow at Augusta Lewis Troup School in New Haven. She teaches preK and is collaborating with kindergarten teacher Gyna Grant and art teacher Rebecca Looney, both two-time participants at the SEC summer workshop, to integrate curriculum and explore process art at various age levels. Here are some of her thoughts on emergent curriculum.
Julie Peterman is our SEC Fellow at Conte West Hills Magnet School in New Haven. She teaches with the wisdom that comes with 34 years of teaching experience, but with the curiosity and drive to seize opportunities for growth of a person new to the field. Her students and their developmental needs are at the center of what she does.
Lauren Wiggins is our Fellow from Six-to-Six Magnet School in Bridgeport. She is in her 13th year of teaching, now as a 3rd Grade teacher. In the classroom, she is a risk-taker, a motivator, and full of passion. Her greatest joy as a teacher comes from creating integrated curriculum that nurtures students to become lifelong learners by asking questions, seeking knowledge, and becoming intrinsically motivated. Outside of school the energy and passion continue! She is a Crossfit enthusiast, skier, ice hockey player, triathlete, surfer, and travel nut.
Jenn Wilson is our Fellow from Cook Hill Elementary School in Wallingford. She is in her 21st year of teaching kindergarten. Patient, caring, and creative, she is most passionate about extending her teaching outside the four walls of the classroom. She’s also a mother of two who loves running and spending time outdoors with her family, especially at the beach.
Partners, Supporters & Friends
Nancy Close: Psychologist, Assistant Professor in the Yale Child Study Center; Associate Director of the Yale Program in Early Childhood Education
Sequella Coleman: Principal, John S. Martinez Magnet School, New Haven, Conn.
Carla Horwitz: Director of Yale University’s Calvin Hill Day Care Center and Kitty Lustman-Findling Kindergarten; joint appointment in the Teacher Preparation Program, the Psychology Department and the Yale Child Study Center at Yale University
Jean Lamont: Former Seedlings Educators Collaborative Director, Jean has been a life-long educator, from teaching biology in Kenya as a Peace Corps volunteer to serving for 12 years as Head of School for The Foote School.
Joya Marks: Educational consultant; Docent, Yale Center for British Art; Board of Directors, Edith B. Jackson Child Care Center; Former Lecturer, Yale College
Alan Organschi: Design principal at Gray Organschi Architecture, New Haven, Conn.
Alan Plattus: Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at Yale University School of Architecture.
Mary Schwab-Stone: Associate Professor, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, Conn.
Deb Vilas is an educator, child life specialist, social worker, writer, public speaker, and consultant whose passion is anything that supports children’s development and healing in the face of everyday life or trauma.
