Technology Integration

TCALL Staff Update

Harriet Vardiman Smith is Director of the Adult Literacy Clearinghouse project funded by TEA and supported by Texas LEARNS. The Clearinghouse is housed at TCALL (Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning) in the College of Education at Texas A&M University.

Harriet received her B.S. in elementary education from Texas A&M, with specializations in early childhood education and art. For several years, she was director of a church-based preschool and day care program, and obtained NAEYC accreditation for the full time program. In that setting, Harriet became interested in parenting education and teacher training, so she returned to A&M in 1997 for a master's in educational human resource development, focusing on adult learning and professional ethics. As a graduate student, she worked with Dr. Don Seaman on Even Start program evaluations. In 1998, she joined TCALL's staff as Clearinghouse Librarian. In that position, she facilitated development of TCALL's statewide email discussion lists to become important means of communication on trends, issues, and resources related to adult and family literacy in Texas. In October 2003, Harriet became Clearinghouse director, adding project administration to her duties.

Harriet's other interests are reading, playing with her three cats, playing and singing Medieval and Renaissance music with two local early music ensembles, and playing piano quite badly for Sunday services at her church. Harriet's husband Phil is a doctoral student in history (all but dissertation), and they have a blended family of five children ranging in age from 17 to 24.

Ken Appelt joined the TCALL staff as Professional Development Specialist in January. He has nine years of professional development experience as a trainer for the New Jersey Writing Project in Texas, a National Diffusion Network Project since 1979. NJWPT focuses on teaching reading and writing theory and methods with emphasis on research-based teaching practices. Teachers are encouraged to develop a "teacher as researcher" attitude. Ken has 13 years of classroom teaching experience in the Bryan ISD's alternative education program working with students who are at risk of dropping out before graduation. He received his M.A. in Communication Research from the University of Iowa and completed his teacher's certification work at Texas A & M University.

On the personal side, Ken is married to children's author Kathi Appelt and spends most of his free time studying and playing music. He likes to learn about almost everything and has worked professionally as a photographer, musician, and theatrical sound technician. Ken and Kathi have two sons away at college studying music. Ken says, "I hope I've shown them that playing music requires dedicated, life-long learning."

Jacqueline Gramann is the Family Literacy Specialist at the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning. Before coming to TCALL, Jacqueline taught early childhood education courses at Texas A&M University. She has also developed publications and workshops in child care provider training, child development, and parenting for the Texas Cooperative Extension. Additional background includes being a validator for the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, in preschool administration and teaching, and a Specialist for the Center for the Study of Reading at the University of Illinois. While at Illinois, she earned a masters degree in early childhood education with emphasis in children's literature and research experience in metacognition.

At TCALL, Jacqueline will be adding to the family literacy materials in the Clearinghouse Library, and serving as a reference person for family literacy information and resources. Besides promoting the use of the family literacy collection, she will be writing articles for the Literacy Links newsletter.

On her own time, Jacqueline is always writing poetry and stories. Photographing excursions to national parks has been her passion since meeting her husband, Jim, while both were working in Yellowstone National Park. Jim is now the Visiting Chief Social Scientist for the National Park Service. Their family includes a daughter attending Texas A&M, and a son graduating soon from high school. Jacqueline also enjoys biking, walking, gardening, and reading.

Deyanira Ely was born in Cd Juarez Chihuahua Mexico in 1975. At age 1 her family moved to Madisonville, Texas. As a small child Deyanira and her family spent their hot summers and cold falls working out in the fields of Colorado as migrant workers.

Deyanira married at the age of 18 to Bart Ely and had a child, Sam, her senior year in high school. Although she did not finish high school, she then moved to Bryan, Texas where she attended the Bryan ISD's Alternative Center. She later received her GED in September 1995 from Texas A&M University.

Deyanira and her new family moved to Colorado once again to work as migrant workers. She then realized that she did not want to do labor work as an adult so she started her new clerical career as a payroll clerk for a potato growing company in Alamosa, CO. Deyanira and her family decided to move back to Texas which they call home. Deyanira immediately began working for an armored transport company. She worked there for nearly 7 years as a payroll clerk, accounts receivable clerk and as an administrative assistant. Within her time at this job her family expanded. She gave birth to Christian and 18 months later to Emily.

In December 2002, Deyanira became a U.S. Citizen, a major goal that she wanted to accomplish. This was a proud moment for her! In February 2004, her career at the armored transport company came to a stopping point. She felt like she needed something more challenging. She has always wanted to help out others by using her bilingual skills other than just at home. TCALL was the perfect spot for her! We are so happy to have her on board. Deyanira is a Lead Office Assistant for TCALL, and her duties will include answering the phone, fielding callers' questions, and a variety of administrative support duties.