Child Care Training, Resources and Networking
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Meet the People Behind the Scenes at Child Care Lounge!

You can contact any of us at Child Care Lounge through the Contact Child Care Lounge page.

Joni Levine

Joni is the founder and main content author of this site. She has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education and an M.Ed in Instruction and Learning with a minor in Curriculum Design and Development

Some of her professional experiences include:

Ellen Small

Ellen is the Marketing Manager at Child Care Lounge. She is a former Pre-k/Kindergarten teacher who worked in a child care setting. She now specializes in marketing and graphic design. In her spare time, she performs in local community theater. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband Chris, stepson Ryan, as well as their 5 cats and a dog!

Leeane Hamilton

Leeane is the Student Services Manager for Child Care Lounge. Currently, she has an A.S. in Social Work. Leeane has nearly ten years of experience working in child care, ages ranging from Infants to School-Age, primarily in the preschool classroom. She also volunteers with children through her church and her work with the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh Young Professionals (ULYP).

Janine Diller

Janine is a Consultant for Child Care Lounge. She has also helped to create some of the course materials. Janine has her B.S. in Secondary Education Social Studies with minors in History, Anthropology and Music and her M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction. Some of her professional experiences include: Middle and High School Social Studies Teacher, Clinical Instructor for students with mental, emotional and behavioral health issues, Therapeutic Staff Support for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Preschool teacher, and Nanny. Janine currently resides in Freeport, Pennsylvania with her husband Jim and her daughter Brianna.

Lisa Zappa

Lisa is a Consultant for Child Care Lounge. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development and Family Studies from West Virginia University, as well as a Master’s degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from the University of Phoenix. Currently, Lisa is finishing her last class for E.C.E. certification through Carlow University. She is the Director of a non-profit childcare center located just minutes from the city of Pittsburgh. She has a one-year-old daughter who attends the same center. Lisa enjoys learning new things when in comes to Child Development and loves teaching staff and helping them with their college education in Early Childhood. In the past, Lisa has worked as a lead toddler teacher in Herndon Virginia, a therapeutic preschool teacher in Centerville Virginia, and the lead Preschool teacher/Education Coordinator.

Genna Kicinski

Genna is a Consultant for Child Care Lounge. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with an emphasis on Child Development. Upon graduation from Duquesne University, she became a Director of a Child Care Center for over 5 years until the birth of her first child. Also, she worked as Youth Director for a local Church with children 5th grade through High School, which was very rewarding. Since then she has worked part time providing Developmental Therapy in homes for children birth thru 5 years. Also working within the Foster Care System doing weekly visitations with young children that are in foster care and their biological parents. She attends classes and seminars regularly on Child Development to learn new methods of therapy and interaction to help children strive in areas that they might not have if not for early intervention. Genna currently resides in the South Hills of Pittsburgh with her husband and 4 children.

Kathy Wolfe

Kathy is a Special Projects Coordinator with Child Care Lounge. She currently works as a Pre-Kindergarten teacher, with a National Child Care Chain. Kathy has a M.ED in Elementary Education, B.S. in Psychology and an A.S. in Child Development Child Care. Some of her professional experiences include: Program Specialist, Live-in Nanny, Middle School teacher and Elementary School teacher. She also volunteers with the local Cub Scout Pack. She resides in Pittsburgh with her son, Chris and their dog Martin.

Barrie Sperski

Barrie is the Administrative Assistant for Child Care Lounge. She has a BS in Elementary Education with a Reading Specialization. Barrie has been in the child care field for over 16 years with experience teaching Preschool, Pre-K, Kindergarten, and School Age as well as 12 years of experience as a Director. Barrie currently resides in Sarver, PA with her husband and two children.

Joe Finucan

Joe designed and built the Child Care Lounge website. Through search engine optimization techniques Joe helps to drive search traffic to the ChildCareLounge.com and optimizes the website to help visitors find the information they are looking for. Joe also works as the Director of Internet Traffic and Conversion at a large Pittsburgh based company.

You can contact Joe at joe@joefinucan.com for website services, search engine optimization and social network marketing advice.

Cathy Abraham

Cathy has contributed some articles and resources to this site. She has also written the Learning Foundations Curriculum. She has a CDA, A.A. Early Childhood, A.S. Pre-Education, Bachelor of Arts in Applied Behavioral Sciences, and a Masters of Education.

Some of her professional experiences include:

Programs or individuals wishing to utilize Cathy's training or consulting services may reach her at childcarediva@aol.com.

Mattie M. Kendrick

Mattie M. Kendrick has a Bachelor's degree in Child Development from the University of Pittsburgh. Her 18 years of teaching in a NAEYC Accredited toddler and preschool and 6 years as a community and technical consultant in Pittsburgh area programs and agencies gives her a wealth of information and practical experiences. Ms. Kendrick has also had the experience of directing a non-profit child care program.

Programs wanting to contact Mattie regarding consulting services may reach her at m_kendrick@comcast.net.