About UsOur team is comprised of consultants who at heart are skilled interventionists and early childhood educators; we believe young children learn in the context of relationships and that children learn through play. We are committed to a parallel process when working with adults by developing strong professional relationships with adults and making learning enjoyable and meaningful for them. We provide support using a coaching-style, characterized by partnership and collaboration. Through coaching, teachers and staff engage in collaborative and reflective practice reflecting on their work with both students and fellow educators. This embedded professional learning effectively promotes positive cultural change of a school or system as well as accountability between colleagues and the implementation of improved learning methods. We value the importance of environments. We believe high quality early education requires intentionally designed physical, instructional and social-emotional environments to meet the needs of all young learners. We believe intentional practice leads to the best outcomes. We meet in person with families, teachers and program leaders, in the Washington DC Metro Area and also use a tele-practice or virtual approach to support families, teachers, and programs with distance or scheduling differences. |
Karin H. Spencer, Ed.D., NCPT
Dr. Spencer has 25 years of experience in the field of early childhood education and care as a teacher, teacher coach, administrator and teacher educator. She is dedicated to promoting high quality environments and interactions for all young children and their families including those with or at-risk for disabilities or special needs. Dr. Spencer has pursued her passion for promoting infant and early childhood mental health by translating research into practice to lead program development and provide professional development. She has organized and facilitated playgroups for vulnerable populations of young children and their families, mentoring student teachers and leaders throughout the process. Dr. Spencer has created innovative program evaluation and professional development tools to support reflection and implementation of culturally responsive, physically active play, and mentally healthy practices. She is a frequent local, regional and national presenter on early intervention and early childhood education and care topics including resilience, mentally healthy environments, challenging behavior, physical activity, inclusion, culturally responsive practice, and universal design for learning. She is committed to supporting teacher and parent well-being through strengths-based multidimensional approaches.
Reach out to Karin at kspencer@educationandwellnessconsulting.com |
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Project Collaborators
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Annie Horikawa
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Heather Walter
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Project Collaborators
Education and Wellness Consulting, LLC partners with key project specific consultants as needed to provide supports to ensure each project gets the time, attention, and expertise it requires in a timely fashion. When you work with us, you can trust to work collaboratively and ensure your goals are met. Meet our talented associates by exploring the tabs above.
Annie Horikawa, M.A., M.S., NCPT
Reach out to Annie at info@educationandwellnessconsulting.com and
anniehorikawa@hotmail.com |
Ms. Horikawa is a seasoned educator and teacher coach. After many years as classroom teacher dedicated to fostering curiosity, collaboration, interdisciplinarity and Critical Literacy, Ms. Horikawa brought her dedication to social justice to her work as a literacy coach, reading specialist, and adjunct professor. She was the recipient of the Klingenstein Fellowship in Elementary Education at Columbia University and engaged in numerous advanced trainings including the Milton Diversity Training for Independent Schools, and the National SEED Project Leadership Training, and Responsive Classroom Training I & II. Currently, she serves as a consultant supporting teacher well-being and has turned her teaching skills to her passion for Pilates. She draws upon her advance teacher training thought the internationally renowned The Pilates Center in Boulder, Co. to bring each client closer to uniform development through the Method to heal and provide life-changing possibilities that Pilates so powerfully offers. Annie partners with Karin and Heather on the Uplift Wellness Collective supporting teacher well-being.
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Heather Walter, Ed.D.Reach out to Heather at info@educationandwellnessconsulting.com and
heather@heatherwalterconsulting.com |
Dr. Walter earned her Ed.D in Special Education and Disability Studies at the George Washington University, and holds an Ed.S and M.A. degrees with foci on inclusive education and leadership. Dr. Walter was trained in early and elementary general and special education, special education administration, as well as teacher coaching and mentoring, most recently in mental health coaching. She has taught in general, special education, and early intervention settings with both children, families and educators. Dr. Walter’s research and practice interests include prosocial interactions, self-regulation, and overall healthy social emotional development for children with and at risk for disabilities. Her most recent research is in school-based wellbeing and the identification of non-academic variables that contribute to both student social emotional and academic success, and teacher retention and she was involved in the GSEHD Wellbeing Initiative at GW for graduate students. Dr. Walter has both mentored and supervised preservice teachers at multiple universities. Additionally she has consulted with local school districts, charter schools, and universities. Heather partners with Karin on the Uplift Wellness Collective supporting teacher and parent well-being.
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