Beryl Katz – Founder and Executive Director
Beryl Katz brings over 20 years experience in community service to Senior Adults for Greater Education. Beryl has a B.S. in Secondary Education and draws on her expertise as a teacher to enhance her effectiveness as spokesperson for Senior Adults for Greater Education. She has incorporated as a non-profit 501 (c) 3 and trade and service marked this volunteer organization so it may expand into multiple school districts. Her effort has positively impacted the student-to-teacher ratios providing services to schools previously unavailable due to budget constraints. In collaboration with the schools and the community, Beryl has created an organization of over 900 senior members that is growing every year.
As a parent volunteer, Beryl expanded the school library, headed the membership drive for the junior high PTA, and served as purchasing agent for one of Council Rock’s elementary schools.
Beryl is an advocate for volunteerism and is affiliated with:
- Temple University Coming of Age Commission
- The Bucks County Area Agency on Aging
- AARP
- The Pennsylvania Association of Volunteerism
- Generations United
- PANO
- Delaware Valley Volunteer Association
- Older Women’s League
- Network Connections, Bucks County
Beryl has been recognized as:
- Citizen of the Month of Northampton Township
- Hometown Hero by the Philadelphia 76ers
- Woman of Worth by OWL – the Older Women’s League
Beryl has a unique ability to engage stakeholders utilizing multimedia and a wide variety of communication channels. She has appeared on Comcast Newsmakers CN8 and has raised awareness of Senior Adults for Greater Education and the benefits of volunteerism through community events, television appearances, a talk show, published articles and monthly newsletters. Beryl has created a powerful image for the program with a recognizable logo, frequent events and an internet site for ease of access.
Recognizing the value of partnerships, Beryl utilizes school district resources for administrative support, access to programs, teacher time, and student time. She has built an effective team through engagement of teacher liaisons in each partner school.
With funding assistance and the continued support of communities interested in Senior Adults for Greater Education, Beryl has taken the effort to a regional audience. Beryl’s vision and passion holds limitless possibilities for the community and the relationship between students and seniors.
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Christine Moran, Ph.D.
Christine Ellis Moran, Ph.D., is currently employed as a full-time Assistant Professor of Education at Immaculata University, where she teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses. Dr. Moran’s course load has included, but is not limited to the following courses: Orientation to Teaching, Reading and Writing Connections, Children’s Literature, Research Methods, and Human Development. Dr. Moran is also a part-time adjunct faculty member at Temple University and teaches a Measurement and Assessment course each semester to prospective teachers. As an instructor at these institutions of higher education, she stays current on educational topics (including national and state educational standards) and the various developments in pedagogical theories and psychological research.
Moran began her teaching career at Abington Senior High School in September 1997, where she taught World Civilizations, American Studies, Psychology and Sociology to 10th, 11th and 12th grade students. There she was a member of various task force teams, including curriculum development, technology infusion, service-learning, PSSA preparation, and the Student Assistance Program (SAP).
Moran recently finished her doctoral work at Temple University (a fully accredited Carnegie Research I University) and obtained a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. Her doctoral research examined the impact and effects of service-learning on high school students. Moran also earned both a Master of Arts in Education and a B.A. in Secondary Education/Comprehensive Social Studies from La Salle University. Her years of formal education along with her successful experiences at both the high school and college levels, have allowed her to cultivate a strong theoretical background and research orientation characterized by a continuous interplay between theory and practice. When Dr. Moran is not in the classroom, she enjoys spending quality time with her husband and three young children.
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Colleen Novielli – Board Co-Vice President
Colleen graduated from Loyola College in Maryland with a degree in Marketing, and then accepted a position in MBNA’s Management Development Program. Following the MBNA/Bank of America merger, Colleen held several positions in New Product Development, including Competitive Analysis Consultant, Ideation Lead, and Project Manager for several high profile projects. In 2009, Colleen was recruited for the Merrill Lynch/Bank of America Transition Team on the Risk Portfolio, where she had the opportunity to lead several projects critical to meeting direct regulatory obligations from the Federal Reserve.
Most recently, Colleen obtained her Project Management Professional certification, and now serves as a Vice President of Product Strategy in Bank of America’s Credit Card Services division.
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Jill Carr – Board Member
Jill Carr is currently President of The Give Something Foundation. The foundation, started by Jill and her husband, Robert Carr, funds scholarships for students of need and select community organizations.
She is also on several community boards, including The Putney School and Heartland Cares Foundation. Jill and her husband have been in the payments business for many years and in 1997 their company, Heartland Payments Systems was founded. The Company went public in 2005.
Jill and her husband purchased the home built by Woodrow and Ellen Wilson. The home was built in 1896 and Jill has been leading the four year renovation which is just being completed.
Jill attended the University of South Florida earning a B.A. in Psychology and further graduate work in counseling. She lives in Princeton, NJ and has three children.
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Stephanie Cayne-Meiskin, Ed.D. – Board Member
Stephanie has a B.A. in Speech, Language and Hearing from Douglass College, an M.A. in Reading from Montclair University, teaching certifications from Kean University, and a doctorate from Rutgers Graduate School of Education. Her experiences both in and out of the classroom have been invaluable to all aspects of her life, from her commitment to family, devotion to her students, and quest for knowledge, to her passion for creating intergenerational partnerships that capture the essence of community and caring.
Stephanie wears many hats. As a parent of four children, educator, and community volunteer, Stephanie realized the value of intergenerational connections, and subsequently established an intergenerational program in her local school district in 2001. While nurturing the program, she pursued her doctorate degree in education, which proved helpful in promoting, implementing, and sustaining the intergenerational programming initiatives in her local public school. Her research examined the impact of school-based intergenerational programs on the seniors’ attitudes toward education and public schools. As a program director and future school administrator, Stephanie is a source of ideas and information regarding intergenerational programming initiatives that are school-based. Stephanie brings to Senior Adults for Greater Education both compassion and understanding of the elder and youth generations, as well as knowledge of business policies and procedures, programming for students, education, and public relations.
She currently teaches special education in a 4-6th grade public elementary school in NJ. In addition to serving as a Board member for Senior Adults for Greater Education, she also is the secretary for the Manalapan Mayor’s Special Needs Council, the Community Liaison for the NJ Council for Exceptional Children, an emergency medical technician (EMT) for Marlboro First Aid Squad, a Board member for The Associate Alumnae of Douglass College, to name a few.
Stephanie is delighted to be a part of the Senior Adults for Greater Education family and truly embraces their mission. As a promoter of intergenerational experiences, Stephanie has seen first hand the benefits such programming has for all the participants. Senior Adults for Greater Education is a gift to all who embrace it.
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Kathia Monard-Weissman, Ph.D – Board Member
Kathia Monard-Weissman, Ph.D. is an evaluation consultant for service-learning programs. She holds a Ph.D. in Social and Comparative Analysis of Education from the School of Education, University of Pittsburgh. Through a Fulbright fellowship she also completed a Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration at the University of Pittsburgh. For five years, she served as an evaluation consultant for the Institute for Global Education and Service-Learning, examining the impact of the Youth Organized for Disaster Action program (Y.O.D.A.) on students’ academic and civic engagement. During her doctoral studies, she worked at Generations Together, researching the impact that intergenerational programs have on senior adults and youth. Prior to her graduate studies she directed international service-learning exchanges in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Her research focuses on ways service-learning fosters social and academic skills in students as well as reciprocal relationships between schools and communities. Her research appears in the Michigan Journal of Community Service-Learning, the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, the UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, Academic Exchange Quarterly, Educational Gerontology, and Information for Action: A Journal of Service-Learning Research with Children and Youth.
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