| Staff | Graduate Assistants |Teaching Assistants |
Staff
Candace Jaruszewicz is the Director of ECDC. Dr. Jaruszewicz came to the College from Pennsylvania in 2001, serving as a full-time faculty member and the program director for the M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education before assuming the director's position at ECDC in August, 2005. She has a B.S. in Art Education, and an M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. She earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at Kent State University in 2000. Her research and publications focus on the role of critical reflection in teacher development. She also has several recent publications focused on appropriate uses of technology with young children. Candace serves as a governing board member for the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE), and the South Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children (SCAEYC). She has two grown sons and enjoys travel, reading, and living history. View Dr. Jaruszewicz's Vita (pdf).
Mary J. White, is Master Teacher in the four and five year olds class (Butterflies). After teaching English at the High School level she returned to school and earned her M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education from the College of Charleston. Her professional interests include: curriculum development, project/Reggio Emilia approach, documentation and assessment. She has done collaborative research with Dr. Ann Wallace on the way that children's mathematical thinking is expressed in their play with sand and water, and Dr. Mary Blake on the influence of personal teacher storytelling in the writing process of kindergarten children. Mary is an amateur historian with a particular interest in the African contribution to the history and culture of the South Carolina low country.
Deanna Ramey Satzger is Master Teacher in the four and five year old class (Butterflies). Deanna began her teaching career in New York City in a preschool serving a large number of United Nations employee families. It was there that she first experimented with emergent curriculum and developed a deep interest in extending the classroom into the community. Deanna received her Masters of Arts in Teaching from the College of Charleston and is certified in elementary and early childhood education. While she is not in school, Deanna enjoys going on adventures with her children.
Phyllis Gates is the Master Teacher of the three year olds class (Sunflowers). She received her M.A.T. in Early Childhood Education from the College of Charleston. Phyllis taught kindergarten in Charleston County for two years prior to coming to ECDC. Her professional interests include: pre-school mathematics, literacy education, and studying animal habitats with her students. Phyllis is very active in her church and enjoys spending time with her family, cooking and beading in her spare time.
Stephanie T. Johnston is the Master Teacher of the two year olds class (Seashells). She received her B.A. in Fine Arts and her M.A.T. in Early Childhood Education from the College of Charleston. She is a former Graduate Assistant at ECDC and taught kindergarten at Memminger Elementary School before assuming her present position. Her professional interests include: language development, special needs and inclusion. In her spare time she collects pottery shards, bottles, and other historical artifacts. Many of these items are included in her mosaic projects.
Catherine Merrow is the administrative assistant at ECDC. She graduated from the University of Maine Farmington in December of 2005 with a dual major in English and Art. Catherine was recently married and as a new resident of Charleston, enjoys exploring the area. Other hobbies include reading, traveling, painting and writing in her spare time.
Graduate Assistants
ECDC has a group of five graduate assistants from the masters programs in the EHHP, who work twenty-one hours per week in the mornings. Our Fall 2009 GAs are Lindsay Johnson and Debbie Patterson (Seashells), Sally van de Erve (Sunflowers), Reid Phillips and Keith Johnston (Butterflies).
Teaching Assistants
Working during the mornings our GAs are out in the public schools on field assignments and in the afternoons are our wonderful core of hourly undergraduate and graduate students. This fall we have sixteen teaching assistants; four are new this fall and the others have been with us anywhere from one semester to two years.
