Karen MacDonald - Regions 1 and 2 - karenm.arcqe@telus.net
Christine Toth - Regions 2 and 3 - christinet.arcqe@telus.net
Jessica Popp - Region 3 - jessicap.arcqe@telus.net
Heather Howard - Regions 3 and 4 - heatherh.arcqe@telus.net
Dorothy Commandeur - Regions 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 - dorothyc.arcqe@telus.net
Karen Baretta - Region 6 - karenb.arcqe@telus.net
Laura Mihailides - Region 6 - lauram.arcqe@telus.net
Dawn Eagles - Region 6 - dawne.arcqe@telus.net
Karen was born and raised in P.E.I. where she remained until a move to Alberta following the birth of her first child. Her career in Early Childhood as a family day home provider began after relocating and making her home in Lethbridge. She worked in this role for a period of just over nine years at which point she then became the Day Home Visitor for the same child care agency. Cumulatively her work in Family Child Care has span a twenty-two year career working with children and families. In addition to her role in the Family Child Care sector she also operated the Toy and Equipment Lending Library, was trained and then involved in the Parent’s As Teachers’ home visitation program, and acted as an emergency back-up day home provider when needed. A particular passion was creating activity kits for providers to use with children in day homes, which was often the highlight of monthly day home visits.
On a formal level, Karen received a diploma in Early Childhood Education from Lethbridge Community College and continues to enjoy attending workshops or training sessions that inspire new ideas or insights into early childhood matters. Karen’s adventure with ARCQE began as a Child Care Mentor, and is excited for the opportunity to challenge herself further as a Child Care Coach supporting programs in both Regions 1 and 2.
Karen and her husband have three grown children, two boys and a girl, and are grandparents to six children, ranging in age from nine months to seven and a half years. She enjoys spending time with family, camping and boating with the grandchildren, flying with my husband in his recreational plane, stamping and making cards, and flower gardening when time permits.
Christine has recently joined the ARCQE team as Coach having previously being a Mentor. She is passionate about children, and excited to play a part in assisting others to enhance the quality of childcare they provide. Firmly believing that children are our future, she feels this will be a rewarding experience.
Christine was born in Regina Saskatchewan, but like many others, was transplanted to Calgary at an early age. Over the years, she has had over 15 years of experience, starting with her Rehabilitation certificate in 1986. On the way to her Early Childhood and School Age Certification, she has taken some business courses, suicide intervention and has received her certification in Montessori. She is currently working on her Undergraduate Degree in Child and Youth Studies at the University of Victoria.
Her career includes several years working with children with special needs, including Autism, developmental delays, educational programming and palliative care. Her skills were developed further working with a Family Day home Agency, then into Childcare Management, School age care and Administration. These gave her a well rounded view and much experience in a variety of Childcare settings and Administrative duties.
Christine believes in family and hers is no exception. She has a wonderful husband and a 16 year old daughter that keep her grounded and support her in all she does. Her parents play a key role in her life to this day, and without this dynamic “team” she would not have gotten to where she is today. When she is not spending time with her family, she likes to travel, read or do crafts to unwind.
Jessica joined the ARCQE team 5 years ago as a Mentor and is now a Child Care Coach. Jessica is inspired by what ARCQE stands for and looks forward to building relationships by providing assistance and supports to early learning and care centres/agencies.
Jessica has been in the childcare industry for over 13 years. Completing her level 1 when she was still in High School. Over the years she has taken on many different roles from front line caregiver to Director in both the private and for profit sector. She has experience working with infants to school age. Jessica has also had experience working with special needs children coordinating IPP programs.
Jessica grew up in Lethbridge and attended the Lethbridge Community College before heading to Calgary to complete her education at Mount Royal College. Jessica completed her Bachelor of Applied Child Studies Degree and received a Certificate in Children’s Mental Health.
Jessica and her husband have two children - a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl. Jessica and her husband take every opportunity to spend time with the family and enjoy the local hot spots- Heritage Park, and the Zoo. We also enjoy camping.
Jessica lives by the quote of “Life is about the journey not the destination.”
Heather was born in Edmonton, grew up in Calgary and moved to Cochrane in 1990 which is where she currently resides. She has 26 yrs of Early Childhood experience. She received her Early Childhood Certificate through Mount Royal College in 1988. It was her move to Cochrane that opened a few more doors for her. For 12 years, she operated Three Bears Child Care in Cochrane. During this time, she obtained her Diploma in Early Childhood from Mount Royal College. Heather wanted to branch out and expand her knowledge of the early childhood field and decided to leave her Director’s position.
In 2003, Heather was offered the Child Care Support Program Manager position at Davar Child Care Society working on an ECD funded project called Supports to Early Childhood. The program is intended to support young children in child care settings who may be at risk or exhibiting difficulties in social-emotional development or behaviour. The program also offers support to child care providers and families to understand and more appropriately address these children’s special needs and that of their families within child care settings. Complementing this new role, Heather obtained her Children’s Mental Health Certificate through Mount Royal College in 2005.
In addition to working full time, Heather completed her training as a Peer Validator for the Alberta Association for the Accreditation of Early Learning and Care Services (AELCS) and has since completed numerous Accreditation site visits within Alberta. Coupled with recent training and the many years of experience has effectively positioned Heather to embark on this exciting position as Child Care Coach. Heather is very eager to be a part of ARCQE and is looking forward to supporting and working with the child care programs in the Calgary area. Heather believes this is a very important time for the Child Care sector and is very proud to be able to provide assistance while programs are working towards Accreditation.
Dorothy has been with the ARCQE team since September 2006, first as a Parent Link Coach, the following year as a half-time Childcare Coach and Mentor. Since April 2008 Dorothy has been a full time Childcare Coach working in Regions 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Having grown up in rural Alberta, Dorothy enjoys traveling across the province working with programs on their accreditation journey. She is proud to be a part of the accreditation process and excited to see the quality of care for children advancing throughout Alberta!
Dorothy’s career includes several years of work with children with autism, hearing impairments and developmental delays providing inclusive programming to facilitate the children’s development and to support families and staff in various child care settings. She has extensive experience in management which she gained in her 16 years managing a childcare program that grew under her direction from a small two-room school-age program to large multiple site day care and school-age program.
Dorothy holds an Early Childhood Development Diploma and a Level II American Sign Language Certificate from MacEwan College and an Essential Skills for Supervisors certificate from Northern Lakes College. She also completed some courses towards the Human Resource Administration Degree Program at MacEwan. Dorothy has worked passionately for excellence in child care for more more than 25 years. As well as serving on various boards and advisory committees for programs her children and grandchildren were involved in, she served on the MacEwan College Early Childhood Development Program Advisory Committee for six years and she was a school age representative on the Alberta Child Care Association.
Dorothy has four grown daughters, three grandsons and one granddaughter. She loves to spend time by the water, boating, soaking up the sun and catching frogs and minnows and playing in the sand with her grandkids. In the summer, Dorothy’s passion is gardening. She says, “It’s my artistic expression - my living canvas!” She loves to travel and wants to see the world - not just rural Alberta! “Life has so much to offer!”
Karen Baretta has been part of the Provincial Team of the Alberta Resource Centre for Quality Enhancement since 2006. She looks forward to meeting and working with everyone as a Coach in Region 6.
Karen was born and raised in rural Alberta. She was a member of the 4-H club during her youth and believes children and people “learn by doing.” When she graduated with her Early Childhood Development Diploma in 1985 – her philosophy of offering children different experiences to learn and play remain to this day, her premise of practice. During her career she worked as a playschool teacher, as an assistant in a northern Alberta kindergarten, a childcare professional for a centre-based program in Edmonton and spent 8 years with the GRIT program. She provided educational programming for children with special needs as well as inclusive life experiences for children in different preschool settings and Kindergarten programs. On a personal note, Karen enjoys spending time on soccer pitches watching her girls play.
Karen is currently completing her final course and field study towards her Degree in Human Services Administration at MacEwan College in Edmonton.
She is also the mother of two children; 12 and 14. Her oldest will be attending high school and Karen will again continue to be part of the School Council.
Laura Mihailides has joined the Alberta Resource Centre for Quality Enhancement as a part time childcare coach for region six. Laura is excited about her new position and has an extensive background in working with families and children. She graduated from the Early Childhood Development Program in 1992 and then worked as a frontline staff at the Fulton Child Care Centre for seven years.
In 1998, Laura became a mother and chose to go part time to help balance her work and family life. For the next four years Laura worked part time with the University of Alberta, doing research for the Faculty of Nursing. She was then hired as a research coordinator which involved heading up a low birth study and a subsequent study on “Keys to care giving” for first time mothers.
Her next venture was working as a day home provider which enabled her to stay home with her three children. In 2006 Laura became a mentor for ARCQE and supported centres through a variety of services. Laura is excited about her new position and is looking forward to connecting with centres and assisting them more formally now as a Child Care Coach in their journey towards Accreditation.
Dawn Eagles is excited to take on the position of School Age Care Resource Coordinator/Coach for the Alberta Resource Centre for Quality Enhancement (ARCQE). Dawn has worked in School Age Care for most of her career after graduating from Early Childhood Development and has a passion for working with children 6-12 years of age. Dawn was a tutor for many years for MacEwan’s Introduction to School Age Care distance delivery course and has led many workshops at MacEwan’s Child Care Conference in the area of School Age Care.
Throughout the years Dawn has been compelled to learn new theories and practices pertaining to children and their development. Dawn has enjoyed the privilege of working with many ages of children and their families finding new learning relating to each age group fascinating. She believes strongly in supporting caregivers, as their work, in her eyes, is vital. She looks forward to working actively with the School Age Care community developing and delivering technical assistance support to providers and their Centres moving towards Accreditation.
Dawn and her husband and their two children enjoy camping and biking together. In her spare time she enjoys reading, quilting, knitting and cross-country skiing. Please ask her who the WOMBATS are.
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