Thank you to Gary Bilezikian, Lauren Karwoski Magee, and Sandra Duncan for such a wonderful and informative experience!
Sandra Duncan, with almost 50 years of experience in the Early Care and Education field and a doctorate in Early Childhood Education, Sandra has extensive experience in working with young children and parents, teaching at university level (doctorate students and early childhood students), PDA specialist for CDA candidates, designing and writing professional development programs for practitioners, and authoring several teacher resource books. She is the co-author of Inspiring Spaces for Young Children, which encourages teachers to look at their classroom environments from a nature-based perspective.
www.SandraDuncan.com | [email protected] | 219-743-2923
Lauren Karwoski Magee is a licensed architect and is the Director of Architecture and Environmental Design for Guidecraft. She specializes in interdisciplinary design and leads an international team on the design of environments for young children, toddlers and infants. Lauren is a former educator and elected school board Vice-President with direct experience working with curriculum, facilities and operations in public schools. She has done extensive research into the psychology of places and spaces, specifically in the ways people of all ages engage with the built environment and natural surroundings. With Guidecraft, Lauren applies that experience, along with her expertise in the philosophies of Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Nature-Based education, and other teaching methods, to the holistic design of places for young children.
[email protected] | Skype: [email protected] | Instagram: @LaurensLearningLab | WeChat: LKMagee | 845.772.3048
Gary Bilezikian is the president of Guidecraft, a company focused on design for early childhood education. He is a graduate of Pratt Institute with his BFA in fine arts and arts in education. He worked for the New York City Board of Education developing arts in education programs and teaching design on the high school level, and is the author/illustrator of the children’s picture book “While I Slept” which was published by Orchard Books. He worked for many years in the consumer children’s furniture market, primarily in design, marketing, supply chain and compliance. As president of Guidecraft his work centers on creating universal, open systems that integrate design, education, business and social policy to advance the goals of early childhood education. He is married to the artist Heidi Lanino, and together they have two wonderful sons, Andrew and Daniel. Gary lives and works in the Hudson Valley, in New York State, and splits his time between the US and Asia, working with Guidecraft staff, customers and related affiliates of the Guidecraft family. As part of his role for Guidecraft, he has the great fortune of visiting many wonderful preschools globally, to help share and form best practice around creative educational formats in early childhood education.
