ButterCup

Marisa Macy
  • 4.3 (6)
  • EDUCATION

Here we interview experts in the field of education and play

  1. JAN 21

    Ep 76 Alisha Rone

    Alisha was born and raised in Wyoming and graduated from the University of Wyoming with a BA in Psychology and Communications. Alisha then moved to Boise, Idaho where she spent most of her career as Development and Marketing Director for Saint Alphonsus Hospital. After 10 years in Boise, she returned to Wyoming to be the Executive Director of the Wyoming Medical Center Foundation.  Alisha focused on capital projects such as building a new tower for the hospital and wellness center as well as specific programs such as providing support for cancer patients and a hospitality house for out of town patients. In 2017, Alisha became the Executive Director of the Child Development Center. The CDC serves over 700 children with early intervention therapies, preschool services, and free development screenings for the community. In 2024, Alisha received her Master's in Curriculum and Instruction as well as her Early Childhood Special Education Endorsement from the University of Wyoming. Alisha has sat on Wyoming's Early Intervention Council, the Wyoming State Bar Board of Professional Responsibility, Wyoming's Charter for Plans of Safe Care, and Wyoming's Department of Family Services Steering Committee. She leads a staff of 120 and through her leadership has a 90% staff satisfaction rating. The CDC has excelled under her leadership by opening an outpatient clinic for children birth to twenty-one years of age, a pediatric audiology clinic, and a quick care clinic. The CDC has received number one preschool and development center from Oil City News and the Casper Star Tribune, the State of Wyoming's Model Program for Inclusion, and won the Daniels Fund Salute to Excellence Award. In her spare time Alisha enjoys spending time with her husband Mike and two boys, Max, and Micky, in Wyoming's great outdoors.

    36 min

  2. 12/21/2025

    Ep 75 Heather Bernt-Santy & Amy Reyes

    Heather Bernt-Santy, author of "Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood" has been living her commitment to children, their families and their teachers for over 30 years. You may know Heather from her work as the host of the popular early care and education podcast "That Early Childhood Nerd," but she also loves her work as a speaker, consultant, writer and professor. She has held just about every position possible in the field of early care and education: teacher, director, family child care provider, education director—you name it, she's probably tried it! Heather is an enthusiastic believer in children's right to play and of the research that tells us play IS right.  Amy Reyes has been serving in the Early Childhood space in Wyoming for many years and plays an important role in bridging gaps in ECE across the United States. She is an expert in Early Learning, with specializations in Social Emotional Learning specifically digital tech wellness, Outdoor Learning and Early Literacy. She has over 26 years of combined experience in child development and early childhood education, with expertise in leadership, strategic planning, inclusion models and transformational change. Amy spent her career as a Head Start Director also spending a good portion of her career as a kindergarten teacher. Amy holds degrees in Elementary Education with an endorsement in Early Childhood Education, Outdoor Learning and Education, Child Development, and Organizational Leadership with a minor in law. Amy currently works as the State of Wyoming's State Early Learning and Literacy Specialist with the Wyoming Department of Education.  Amy is an advocate for outdoor learning and emotional intelligence regarding digital tech addiction. She has integrated outdoor learning into over 200 classrooms across her home state of Wyoming with the Get Wild Wyoming Initiative. Amy is an early childhood speaker and motivator who firmly believes children learn best in outdoor learning settings where they are able to self regulate through natural colors, shapes, sounds, feelings and most importantly disconnected from devices.

    50 min

  3. 10/05/2025

    EP 74 Barbara Bocedi

    Barbara Bocedi is a professional language interpreter. Her training is in classical studies with a secondary school certificate in Italian, Latin, and Greek. Ms. Bocedi has a higher-education diploma in English-German to Italian translation. She has over 25 years as a translator, interpreter and teacher of English, German and Italian to foreigners, instructor of private classes and business courses. In addition to being a translator with Italian agency, Ms. Bocedi worked at IBM and then as a translator/localizer in the software industry in Dublin. She started a freelance business in 2001 and moved back to Italy. Currently, Ms. Bocedi passionately manages her language business, carrying out translation and proofreading from English to Italian and vice-versa, and from German into Italian, in various fields; Ms. Bocedi is also a business and consecutive interpreter and teaches English and German, as well as Italian.

    41 min

  4. 09/05/2025

    EP 73 Dr. Tracy Spies

    Dr. Tracy Spies is the Fisher Family Professor in Literacy Education at the University of Wyoming. Prior to her appointment at the University of Wyoming she was a Professor of Multilingual Education at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the Co-Director of the Gayle A. Zeiter Literacy Development Center. Before beginning her journey in academia, she worked as a bilingual teacher in kindergarten, second and fourth grades. She served in administrative roles as a literacy coordinator, assistant principal, and principal. She centers her work in teacher preparation and research around the question, What does meaningful access really mean? This question keeps her inquiries and educator preparation focused on creating high quality language environments for multilingual learners with a concentrated focus on multilingual learners with disabilities. She recently designed and implemented a 50/50 dual language STEAM curriculum for 4- and 5-year-olds focused on building children's language and literacy skills in science across English and Spanish

    34 min

  5. 08/21/2025

    Ep 72 Rosalba Bortolotti

    Rosalba is a highly experienced pedagogist with over 29 years dedicated to early childhood education and pedagogical research. Holding a degree in Early Childhood Education with a specialization in Psychology, she began her career as an educator in 1994. Her deep interest led her to explore and research the innovative Reggio Emilia approach, including direct visits to its renowned schools. As the former owner of a private nursery school that also served as a learning lab, Rosalba pioneered a new approach to early learning in her community, advocating for the rights of both children and educators. She has shared her expertise as an Early Childhood Education professor at a college and has served as a pedagogical consultant for over two decades, guiding various educational institutions. In this capacity, she also develops comprehensive modules, offering educators structured series for deeper knowledge development and access to valuable resources. Rosalba embraces modern professional learning, developing online workshops, webinars, and contributing to podcasts for various agencies and organizations. These virtual spaces offer a wide community of educators, artists, chefs, families, and researchers opportunities for professional development and collaboration. She continues to present at workshops and conferences, both in person and virtually. Passionate about intentional material use, Rosalba advocates for thoughtful engagement with resources, drawing inspiration from the Reggio Emilia approach to foster deeper connections with the environment. She emphasizes shifting from a culture of consumption to one of creative resourcefulness, promoting resilience and sustainability in early learning. Viewing children as future citizens, Rosalba champions educational practices that empower them to explore and grow, fostering their development as responsible contributors to society. Her expertise also extends to food pedagogies, collaborating with chefs to develop workshops for educators, families, and children, and contributing a chapter to "Beautiful Stuff in Nature" on the journey of a tomato. Currently, Rosalba continues her work as a consultant, speaker, and pedagogical companion, actively writing blogs and contributing to the Pedagogist Network Ontario. She is also a certified Play Worker and volunteers as chair of the York Region Nature Collaborative, connecting educators with outdoor learning experiences. Her extensive background and innovative methods consistently contribute to the advancement of early childhood education. For updates and current events, visit www.acorncollaborative.com or connect on social media: @acorncollaborative (IG) and Rosalba Bortolotti (FB, LinkedIn).

    51 min

  6. 06/18/2025

    Ep 71 Dr Demet Gulaldi

    Dr. Demet Gulaldi is a child development specialist with over 33 years of experience, particularly in working with children with special needs and their families. She graduated from Hacettepe University in Ankara. Turkiye and began her professional journey in Istanbul after growing up and studying in Ankara. Midway through her career, she received the prestigious Humphrey Fellowship and completed postgraduate studies in the United States in the field of early intervention. Her areas of focus include early childhood development, early intervention, developmental assessments, and family guidance. She has conducted research in attachment theory, especially on mother-child interaction and positive parenting. She also works with families individually using the evidence-based VIPP (Video-feedback Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting) method.  Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at Üsküdar University, Department of Child Development in Istanbul. She teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses in early intervention, child development, and developmental theories, while continuing her research in the areas of attachment and parent-child relationships. She leads the Child Development and Early Childhood Studies Center at Uskudar university. She is recently studying on investigation fatherhood and child development perspective form fathers. Her recent research explores fatherhood and child development from the perspective of fathers.  In addition to her academic work, Dr. Gülaldi is actively involved with non-governmental organizations and currently serves as a consultant to UNICEF Türkiye, where she contributes to the development of national strategies on early childhood and early intervention programs. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Council of International Fellowship (CIF) and a member of the Humphrey Fellowship Association Türkiye.

    51 min

  7. 05/20/2025

    Ep 70 Denise Luscombe

    Denise is a paediatric physiotherapist who works as a Early Childhood Intervention Consultant and Director of Postural Care Australia. She is Chair of Professionals and Researchers in Early Childhood Intervention (PRECI). Denise has worked in the field of paediatrics,disability and ECI for over 35 years. In the early 2000's Denise led a project changing the WA State Government Disability Services Commission ECI model to a key worker (Team around the Child) model. Denise was a Consultant on the Commission's Statewide Consultancy Team supporting the implementation of recommended practices in ECI and paediatric physiotherapy throughout WA including remote / very remote regions. Denise is a founding member and current chair of PRECI and the PRECI Project lead for the development of the National Best Practice Framework in Early Childhood Intervention in Australia.  This Framework is cross-sector, cross-discipline, cross-diagnosis and cross-service delivery model. To support families with their journey in ECI, Denise was involved in a video series titled 'Your child, your family and early childhood intervention: Family Perspectives (https://youtu.be/DbuV4isNLDI) translated into 5 different languages, and guides supporting understanding of the national guidelines titled 'Working Together, therapy in the early years', (2019). Denise is passionate about supporting families and therapists to understand the importance of 24 hour postural care, with a particular focus on supported lying.

    31 min

  8. 04/08/2025

    Ep 69 Dr. Anna Maria Serrano

    Dr. ANA MARIA SERRANO - Associate Professor - Institute of Education (IE), researcher at the Center for Research in Child Studies (CIEC), University of Minho, Portugal.  Has a degree in Psychology from the University of Coimbra. Holds a master's degree in Early Intervention from the University of Cincinnati, USA, as a Fulbright Scholar, and a PhD in Child Studies, a Special Education specialty from the Institute for Child Studies at the University of Minho. She is a professor in the field of Special Education and developed and coordinates one of the first master's programs in Early Childhood Intervention in Portugal (1996). She is member of the National Association for Early Intervention (ANIP), President of the European Association for Early Intervention –EURLYAID, and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Early Childhood Intervention. And she is part of the National System of Early Childhood Intervention (SNIPI), North Subcommittee's Supervision Nucleus. Lives in a city in the North of Portugal – Braga. https://www.eurlyaid.eu/ https://www.eurlyaid.eu/eciguidebook/ https://www.eurlyaid.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/resources-in-ECI.pdf

    35 min
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4.3
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Here we interview experts in the field of education and play

Information

  • Creator
    Marisa Macy
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    74
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    ButterCup