O.C. CHILDREN’S THERAPEUTIC ARTS CENTER 9 - 2007

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seminars and many are involved in receiving parent education classes. The County of Orange Social Services provides family counseling: the Santa Ana College to help support our parenting programs: and our college partners (University of California in Irvine. Chapman Cniversity. and Cal State Fullerton) to support our tutoring and mentoring programs that assist our families with homework support and literacy needs. In the recent year. the number of volunteer student tutors from the community and four-year-college has risen to fifty and is still growing. Last year many of the WlB students gained experience with some of these progranls. Our staff participates in on-going training during the year. Currently. key staff members at the Center are participating in the collaborative training with Orange County's United Way and the Orange County Department of Education's Developmental Assets Building Program. Additionally, a variety of specialists in the Social Services Field. and local business sector are invited to speak at the Center. All related OCCTAC Academy staffreceive ten to twelve hours of training which covers. but is not limited to. implementing the HOSTS Learning program. documenting student gro~ih. teaching strategies specific to English Language Arts. lesson planning. working as a team and operational issues relevant to a successful after-school program. Each month. staff will receive approximately two to three hours of ongoing staff development in the needed areas identified by the administrative staff. Regular site visits from the OCCT AC administrative staff provide ongoing feedback on effective teaching, academic support and mentoring strategies as well as classroom management techniques. Executive Director-Dr. Ana Jimenez-Rami is the Founder and Executive Director of OCCT AC, and earned a doctoral degree in the fields of Educational Psychology and Special Education. She is also a part-time faculty in Chapman University. During the past 20 years. Dr. Jimenez has prioritized on researching and implementing educational methods that empower the Latino community of limited resources to succeed in the academic world and reach for higher educational goals. Director of Operations-Dr. Gail Arriola-Nickel/holds a Ph.D. in Psychology. During the last six and a half years, she has worked at the Center with the goal of providing disability and cultural awareness, focusing on high quality educational programs for children. youth and families. WIB-Case Manager-Maria (Meche) Avirad has worked part-time at the Center for 5- years and holds a BA is Psychology from California State University, Fullerton. Last year she stepped into the position as Case Manager for the WlB program and is proficient at working with the computer reporting system and student documentation. Additionally, she has experience in working with disadvantaged youth, ages 5 to 17 teaching bi-lingual education and skills for academic improvement while living in Peru. Literacy Coach-Rebecca Nelson is a Bi-lingual credentialed teacher who has worked in the OCCTAC After-School Learning Academy Program. She is trained in administering the HOSTS Learning System. HOSTS Learner Link and STAR Reading. In addition, Rebecca is a fOIDler business owner. who returned to her vocation. educating children and youth in her community.