Staff Bios

THE OWNERS

Pat DePan - Patricia DePan is the Owner and Administrative Director of Care-A-Lot. She founded Care-A-Lot, which was originally located at Rt. 5 and Beach Roads, in 1985. She designed and contracted construction of the current building built for the specific needs of young children in 1987. She has a BS in Child Psychology and Certification in Early Childhood Development. She is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and has attended national conventions of the NAEYC in Chicago, Washington, Toronto and New York City as well as most local conferences. Her business education was accomplished at Bryant and Stratton Business Institute. She has also completed the Red Cross Infant- Child CPR Course. Mrs. DePan has four children and five grandchildren. She lives in Angola with her husband of 37 years! In her spare time she can be found with her grandchildren doing art activities, singing and reading children's books

Mr. Bill - Bill DePan joined our staff as Assistant Administrative Director on June 1, 2002. He has a degree in Business Management from Empire State College, which he earned during his 20 years with Ford Motor Company. He retired from Ford to run our office full time. He successfully completed our recent Red Cross Infant/Child First Aid Course. Bill is Pat DePan's husband and father of four children and four grandchildren. He brings us not only his talents in the office, but a variety of handyman skills!! You will often find him on an errand with a young 'handyman assistant'. Welcome Mr. Bill!

THE DIRECTOR
Miss Renee- Renee Johnson studied social work at Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, MI. She began working with children as a preschool teacher in 1993. Renee came to Grand Island in 1995 and became the toddler teacher at this center. In 1998 she became the Asst. Director and when Care-A-Lot came in 2005 she started as Director. Renee is a Brownie Girl Scout leader, teaches 4th and 5th grade Sunday School and is a member of Sidway's PTA. She enjoys reading, scrapbooking and spending time with her husband, Mike and their two children, Olivia and Mitchell.

THE TEACHERS

Miss Debbie - Debbie Miller has spent her 32 year career of teaching preschoolers right here in this center! She loves to read, enjoys arts and crafts, word search puzzles and listening to oldies. When Miss Debbie is not at Care-A-Lot you can find her spending time with her son, Neil, going to dinner with her family, or seeing plays with friends. She says one of her favorite things is her four's class!

Miss Lisa -

Miss Jill - Jill Zeh holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Fredonia State and a Masters in Exceptional Education from Buffalo State. Miss Jill likes reading, going for walks and sailing. Her favorite color is red and her favorite books to read to her Universal Pre-Kindergarten class are 'The Berenstain Bears' series and 'Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom'.

Miss Becky - Becky Howell holds a BS in Elementary Education and a MA in Elementary Education. She taught Elementary school for 3 years in North Carolina and taught High School Spanish for 6 years in Buffalo. Miss Becky lives in Tonawanda with her husband and daughter, Julia. She enjoys reading, scrapbooking, using the computer, playing Wii and most of all spending time with Julia. She has a cat and a dog.

Miss Lori - Lori Burns grew up in Grand Island but is now living in Sanborn, NY. Miss Lori is currently enrolled in CDA classes and will complete the credential in November 2008. Her hobbies include skiing, reading and snowboarding. Her favorite way to spend her free time is shopping!

Miss Tammy- Miss Tammy is the mother of five children, two of whom she adopted. She ran an in home childcare for four years.

Miss Jenn-- Jennifer Griggs holds her Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. She taught 6th grade for two years before joining our team over 5 years ago. Miss Jenn loves reading, doing puzzles and building dollhouses. She also loves bowling. Miss Jenn lives in Buffalo with her husband and their daughter, Alyssa. Her favorite things are taking Alyssa to the playground, playing with her cats and spending time with her husband.

Miss Kim - Kim Domagala has worked for the Ken-Ton School District for the past 10 years. Before joining our staff in spring 2007 she provided home care and also worked in an school age program for four years. Miss Tammy has been at our center since 2000 and has worked in the infant and toddler rooms. She enjoys going to musicals and rock concerts with her husband, Randy. She also likes to try new restaurants. Her favorite things are spending time with her family and friends. She reads in her spare time and loves to play with her 4 cats, Katie, Katie, Lila, Tyler and Jesse and her dog, Pinocchio. She loves spending time with her husband, Rob and her two sons, David and Robbie. Kim comes from a very large family that she spends lots of time with. No matter what they are doing Kim always has fun spending time with her family.

Miss Chrissy - Chrissy Ray has lived on Grand Island her entire life. She is a graduate of Grand Island High School and is currently a student at Buffalo State College where she is majoring in Elementary and Special Education. Prior to working in our school age program Chrissy completed an internship at Buffalo Charter School. Chrissy enjoys bowling, traveling, camping, movies, shopping and children. She likes to spend time with her family and friends.



THE TEACHER AIDS

Miss Amanda - Amanda Kennedy joined our team in winter 2007. She has spent time in all the classrooms. Amanda enjoys interacting with children and hopes to own a center some day. She is currently a senior at Grand Island High School. Prior to working at Care-A-Lot she completed an internship at a childcare center and was a leader in training with the YMCA. Some of Amanda's favorite things are the color baby blue, criminal law and her family and friends.

Miss Karen - Karen Stenberg has moved to Western New York from Olympia, Washington this past summer with her husband and two dogs. She is enjoying the area and the adventure of moving across the country! Karen likes reading and listening to music. Her husband is in a band and she enjoys going to his concerts. She also loves going to the movies and playing with her two dogs, Belle (a Scottish terrier) and Kaiser (a rat terrier). Miss Karen is enjoying working with the preschoolers at Care-A-Lot. Miss Cathy- Cathy Tomasula holds a business degree but has found working with children is a passion. She taught gymnastics for four years and loved every minute of it! She enjoys scrapbooking and crafting of all kinds. She lives on Grand Island with her husband and children, Andrew and Marie. Miss Cathy's favorite things include chocolate and anything well organized!

Miss Jarilyn- Jarilyn Stoorza successfully completed her Associates Degree in Humanities and Social Sciences from NCCC in May of 2008. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, especially her daughter, Haley. Miss Jarilyn likes spending her time reading, traveling, working or watching movies. She also has fun spending time with the preschoolers and her favorite part of the day is circle time.

Miss Reine- Reine Akers is originally from Pittsburgh, PA. She now lives in Grand Island with her husband and son, Mason. She has previously coached gymnastics, worked at the Boys and Girls club and was an Assistant Director at a day camp. Miss Reine is currently involved with the Huth Road PTA and is the secretary of the GI Junior Vikings. She enjoys bowling, snowmobiling and traveling with her family. Her favorite things include watching both professional sports (especially Pittsburgh teams) and her son's football, basketball and baseball games.

Miss Dawn - Dawn Violino lives in Grand Island with her husband and two children, Samantha and Nathan. She enjoys reading and her favorite activity is riding 4-wheelers with her family. She also likes to travel to Pennsylvania and visit with her parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. Miss Dawn also likes playing with her two dogs, Graci and Kassi. Her favorite activity in the nursery is reading stories to the children.

Miss Tammy - Tammy Surace lives in Grand Island with her husband, Tony and two children, Jessica and Anthony. She has a Bachelor's from Buffalo State and a Master's in Educational Counseling from Canisius College. She has recently returned to the working world after spending 9 years as a stay at home mom. Miss Tammy enjoys dancing, reading, cooking and doing crafts with her children. Her favorite things include spending quality time with her family, hot summer days, campfires and family vacations.

Miss Keri- Keri Fox lives in Grand Island with her husband and two sons, Aiden and Sean. Miss Keri enjoys being with children and knows she will always get a laugh from things they say and do. She likes scrapbooking, spending time with her family, shopping, and relaxing at the beach.

Miss -