College of Education Alumni Chapter
Board of Directors
2006-2007

COLLEGE PARK, MD (2006) – The College of Education Alumni Chapter Board of Directors represents the college’s alumni base of more than 36,000 graduates. The board sponsors many activities and events, and has strengthened efforts to reconnect the alumni base with the college while supporting the college’s strategic goals and initiatives. The chapter’s continuing success is reflective of the engaged and enthusiastic alumni volunteers who serve as board members (an undergraduate student representative is also appointed to the board for a one year term):

Executive Board
President
Toni Ungaretti, Ph.D. '92, Human Development, earned her bachelor’s degree in education at Carnegie Mellon University and her master’s degree in child development at the University of Delaware. She is currently employed by Johns Hopkins University where she serves as an associate dean, co-director of Johns Hopkins Business and director of Undergraduate Studies at the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education.

Vice President
Carl E. Anderson, Ed.D. '69, Counseling and Personnel Services, was vice president for student affairs at Howard University for 32 years. After retiring from Howard, he served four years on the professional staff of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. In February 2006, President George W. Bush presented Carl with the Presidents Award for Volunteer service in recognition of his leadership in raising scholarship funds for deserving graduates of the District of Columbia public high schools.

Treasurer
Robert Ramin, M.A. '92, Secondary Education, earned his undergraduate degree and M.B.A. from Cornell. He earned credits toward his Ph.D. in education and would like to continue his studies at Maryland. A former director of annual programs at the University of Maryland, Bob is currently executive director of the National Aquarium in Washington, D.C.

Secretary
Jennifer Jarosinski, B.S. '01, Elementary Education, is an honors graduate of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She earned National Board certification in early adolescent science and secondary certification in biology. After teaching seventh-grade science for five years, Jennifer now teaches biology at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda. She is pursing a Master of Life Sciences degree at the University of Maryland.

Board Members
Shannon Ambush, B.S. '06, Special Education, is an honors graduate of the Department of Special Education. She received the College of Education's Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award, has been awarded the Goddard Medal for excellence in scholarship and service, and was named a President's Summa Cum Laude Scholar. Shannon took classes at Gallaudet University and is a former president of the campus Sign Language Club. Under her leadership the Club won the Outstanding Student Group Award from the President's Commission on Disability Issues. Shannon is currently a graduate candidate at the University of Maryland.

Mary Batcher, B.A. '72, Ph.D. '86, Measurement and Statistics, is an executive director at Ernst & Young LLP, where she leads the statistics practice. Prior to this, she worked at the National Center for Education Statistics and the IRS Statistics of Income Division. She is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA), a past chair of the ASA Council of Chapters, and a past president of both the Washington Statistical Society and the Caucus for Women in Statistics.

James "Jim" DeGeorge, B.S. '68, Social Studies Education; M.S. '71, Comparative Educational Studies, is a faculty associate at the Johns Hopkins University and the Professional Development School coordinator for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education, University of Maryland. He is president of the Howard County Retired Teachers Association, an educational consultant to the U.S. and Maryland State Department of Education, and a motivational speaker at local, state, and national conferences. Jim retired from the Howard County Public Schools system where he served as a vice principal from 1980 to 1986, and as a principal from 1986 to 1999.

Noah Jampol, B.A. '04, English Education, began his relationship with the College of Education when he entered the Advocates for Children, College Park Scholars program. He graduated in May 2004 after completing an honors thesis in the Department Special Education, and was the nominated undergraduate commencement speaker at the spring ceremony. Noah took a teaching position at a small college in upstate New York. In 2005, he returned to the College of Education to pursue a doctorate in Human Development, focusing on social and moral development. He plans to graduate in spring 2010 with a Ph.D. in developmental science.

Donna Redmond Jones, Ph.D. '04, Curriculum and Instruction with an Administrator I Certification, earned a master’s degree in teaching and a bachelor's degree in English and psychology from the University of Virginia. She taught English and journalism in the Henrico County Public Schools System in Richmond, Va. from 1995 to 1998. While pursuing her graduate degree, she worked as an instructor and research assistant in the College of Education. In 2002, she became a staff development teacher at Seneca Valley High School and was appointed assistant principal in 2004 at Winston Churchill High School in Montgomery County. She has served as secretary of Phi Delta Kappa, as assistant secretary and president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and as chair of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation National Youth Council.

Catherine M. Kern, B.S. '00, Elementary Education, is an honors graduate of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She works for Broad Acres Elementary School in Silver Spring as a reading recovery and reading intervention teacher. She has taught both first and second grade, and served as the first-grade team leader for two years. In 2005, Catherine earned her master’s degree in reading from Johns Hopkins University. She has submitted her portfolio for National Board Certification.

Carla Malozowski-Kieval, B.S. '00, Early Childhood Education, is an honors graduate from the Department of Early Childhood Education. In 2005, she graduated from George Washington University with a M.B.A. and earned a coaching certificate in 2006. Carla is the staff development teacher at Maryvale Elementary School in Rockville.

Jody K. Olsen, Ph.D. '79, Human Development, is deputy director of the Peace Corps, a position she was nominated for by President George W. Bush. Prior to this, she served as a senior vice president at the Academy for Educational Development in Washington, D.C. Jody has significant experience with the U.S. Peace Corps as chief of staff, regional director for Asia and the Pacific. She is the founder of the Center on Aging at Maryland and is also past president of the university’s Alumni Association.

Holly Ponzillo, B.S. '02, Mathematics and Math Education, is pursuing a master’s of liberal arts at Johns Hopkins University while working as a mathematics teacher at Hereford High School in the Baltimore County Public Schools system. While at the University of Maryland she was the founding president of the Honors Program and a member of Kappa Delta Pi , the ODK Honors Society, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key Honor Society, and the Sports Booster Club. Named in Who’s Who Among College Students, Holly was also the recipient of a Kendal Burrows Memorial Fund Scholarship, Deans Scholarship, University Honors Scholarship, and was named a National Merit Scholar.

Thomas M. Saunders, B.A. '86, Secondary Social Studies Education (minor in American History), earned a M.S. in school administration from Johns Hopkins University in 1993. He is principal at Elkridge Landing Middle School in Howard County—a professional development school in partnership with the University of Maryland's College of Education. Prior to this he was assistant principal at Wilde Lake Middle School and Patuxent Valley Middle School. A team leader in several Howard County Schools, Tom helped develop and write the Howard County Middle School Social Studies Curriculum for Geography and World Cultures, and American History. He is a past director of the Leadership Development Program for the Maryland Summer Center for Gifted Youth and a former executive director of Maryland Leadership Workshops, Inc. He has also served as an educational consultant for the Montgomery County Government, Michigan City Public Schools, and the Maryland State Department of Education.

Darla Fishbein Strouse, Ed.D. '04, Education Policy and Leadership,'67; B.A. '67, English Education, is executive director of the Office of Partnerships and Development at the Maryland State Department of Education. She is responsible for the development and creation of state and regional corporate and related partnerships. These include the first statewide workplace literacy program for AFL-CIO members and The Phoenix Project which donates thousands of free computers to Maryland schools and community organizations. Darla also directs Maryland’s education awards programs like the Maryland Teacher of the Year Program, the Milken National Educator Awards, and Maryland’s Blue Ribbon Schools Program. She was regional vice president for the National Association of Partners in Education and a member of the Education Commission of the States Partnerships Advisory Council, the 7-Eleven Read to Achieve Advisory Board, the Associate Board of Directors for the Vietnam Veterans Institute, and the Program Board of Port Discovery. Darla earned a master’s degree in reading and special education from the Johns Hopkins University

Jane West, Ph.D. '88, Special Education, is vice president of Government and External Relations at AACTE. She has over 30 years of education and public policy experience as a former teacher, education administrator, PTA officer, researcher, and university faculty member. She previously provided government relations services to education organizations as a principal in Washington Partners, LLC, which she co-founded in 2002. Her extensive work with government agencies includes shepherding the reauthorization of several laws, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and the Developmental Disabilities Act. Jane chairs the Partnership Development Board of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, serves on the Mitsubishi Electric America Advisory Board, and is a former board member of the Committee for Education Funding—a national coalition of more than 100 education organizations. She received a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara and earned a M.A. from Columbia University.

Irene M. Zoppi, Ph.D. '04, Education Policy and Leadership, graduated with a B.A. in modern languages from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. She received the Distinguished Military Student and the Distinguished Military Graduate Awards from the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, where she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, Military Intelligence Corps, Regular Army. She earned a M.B.A from Johns Hopkins University. A Gulf War veteran and a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, Irene is a professor of Military Science at Bowie State University ROTC and has worked for the Minority Institute for Academic Achievement and Urban Education and the Latino Success Research Project at the University of Maryland, College of Education. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Kappa Delta Pi. She is also a volunteer charity worker in the Delmarva area, a motivational speaker for inner city young boys and girls, and a supporter of the social services sister mentor program.

Michele A. Zurad, M.Ed. '88, Math Education, was Terp Teacher of the Year, Howard County Teacher of the Year, and one of seven finalists for the Maryland State Department of Education Teacher of the Year recognition program in 2002. She was part of the opening staff of two new schools in Howard County—Waverly Elementary and Burleigh Manor Middle schools—serving on the administrative councils at each school. Michele also co-developed a pilot program for the National Board Certification Program.

Student Representative
Christine Angela Mann, B.S. '07, Early Childhood Education

For more information on the College of Education Alumni Chapter and its activities, contact Pat Costantino, director of Alumni Relations: pmc4@umd.edu.