Meet The Parenting Educators
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Betsy Kane-Hartnett, oversees all aspects of Forty Carrots Family Center. Betsy, B.S. in Human Development & Family Studies and a M.A. in Curriculum Design, is an early childhood specialist.
Parenting Program Director: Christina Rodrigues, M.S. in Education with specialization in Early Literacy, has been part of Forty Carrots since 1998. She initially worked with the agency as an Early Childhood Educator in the NAEYC accredited Preschool, and as a Parenting Educator working at Cyesis in Sarasota. After a couple years, her primary focus became working with at-risk families. She helped initiate parenting classes at Janie Poe Sarasota Housing Project, Children First, and Cyesis at North Port High School. Today, as a Parenting Program Director, she continues showing her passion for her work, supporting families and a talented group of Parenting Educators. The Parent Program offers various classes in eight Sarasota County Libraries, three community agencies and several discussion and play based classes at the Forty Carrots location.
Alison Butler, B.A., in Humanities, with a major in Literature and History of Art. She joined us in 1998 as a Parenting Educator and currently leads Studio 40 classes, Welcome to Our World classes, and Partners in Play groups in various locations. Alison has a post graduate certificate in education and has taught elementary school in the U.K. Her first encounter with Forty Carrots was when she participated in our play groups as a mother with her children. She is married and has two children.
Natalia Cava, M.S., in Mother-Infant Nutrition, has been at Forty Carrots since 2008. Introduced to Forty Carrots by a friend, she first came as a mother taking parenting classes with ther daughter in 2004. Natalia has a background in Biological Sciences, and also teaches Breastfeeding classes at the Sarasota County Health Department and Prepared Childbirth classes at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, in Spanish. Natalia joins us as a Parenting Educator in 2010 and will facilitate Partners in Play classes at the Sarasota County libraries. Natalia is married and has two fully bilingual children.
Elizabeth Finch began in 2002 as a parenting educator and she is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Education. Elizabeth came to Forty Carrots with a Degree in Fine Arts and a background in elementary and middle school education. Elizabeth is a parenting educator at First Step, Cyesis and North Port High School. She is blessed to be a hometown girl and raise her family in Sarasota.
Nikki Kochis, B.S. in Special Education & B.S. in Occupational Therapy. She worked at
HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital as an Occupational Therapist. Her initial experience with
Forty Carrots started as a mother attending classes with her children in 2002. She became a Certified Car Seat Technician through National Highway Transportation Safety Association and in 2004 initiated as a volunteer, the car seat check program at Forty Carrots. She join us as a Parenting Educator in 2010, leading Partners in Play classes.
Rebecca Lockwood, M.A., in Psychology has been a parenting educator since 2006. Rebecca is completing her PhD in Clinical Psychology with a child/family concentration. Rebecca launched our parenting blog in December 2008, and most recently she completed an 8 month Infant Mental Health Training based out of New York City and intiated the Infant Mental Health program at Cyesis with mothees and their babies.
Wendy Norman, M.S. PreK/Primary Education; B.S. Communication began working as a Parenting Educator in 2008. She joined the Forty Carrots family with her two boys as they attended Partners In Pay classes and The Preschool. Wendy co-facilitate at-risk classes at First Step and North Port High School with the Cyesis program for teen parents and their children. In addition, she leads On-Wheels groups at libraries and in-house parenting classes. Her first role in the education world was teaching preschool. Prior to starting a family, she also taught kindergarten in Sarasota County for two years. In 2010, Wendy renewed her teaching certificate with 120 hours of reading courses. She is working to obtain a Reading Endorsement for her certificate. Wendy has been married to Scott for 13 years.
