Welcome to the Central MA Professional Development Center!
About Us
Connected Beginnings Training Institute (CBTI) was launched by the United Way of Massachusetts Bay/Merrimack Valley, Inc. (UWMB) in 2006 to build the capacity of infant and early childhood practitioners to engage in nurturing relationships with the very young children in their care. As research has revealed, positive, supportive, enriching and nurturing relationships with adults and other children are critical to young children’s social and emotional well-being, mental health, evolving brain architecture and capacity to learn.
The Central MA PDC serves educators in the Central Region of Massachusetts (formerly called Region 2). The map below shows the towns and cities within this region.
Our Staff
Mary Watson Avery | Central MA PDC Coordinator
Mary Watson Avery is the Director of Connected Beginnings Training Institute, a program of the UMass Donahue Institute. Mary’s career has focused on work with children birth to 8 years, building nurturing environments in family services and early childhood practitioner professional development. Her special interests include the support of very young children at risk; the development of trauma-sensitive learning environments; effective parent engagement; best practice in coaching across settings; and the mentoring of early childhood trainers.
With substantial experience in developing curriculum, planning professional development, as well as coaching and mentoring groups and individuals, Mary is a well-respected educator across the Commonwealth and the region. In addition to training on a wide variety of topics related to the social emotional well-being on very young children and their families, Mary is a master trainer in all aspects of Pyramid Model implementation, including Train-the-Trainer, Train-the-Coach, Program-Wide Implementation and the Pyramid Model Family Modules.
In addition to her many years as an early childhood educator, Mary has taught at Harvard University Graduate School of Education and Wheelock College. She also served as the Director of Family Connections, a community mental health outreach program targeting parental depression, based at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Mary earned a MS in Infant & Toddler Studies from Wheelock College with additional training in trauma-informed practices at Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Mary also earned a BFA in Studio Art from Manhattanville College.
Mary can be reached at [email protected]
Jody Figuerido | Central MA PDC Training Specialist
Jody Figuerido, Ph.D. is the Training Specialist for the Central MA PDC and she is President of The Institute for Education and Professional Development, Inc. Jody Figuerido has over 30 years of experience supporting the early childhood field. The intent of her work is to help programs and educators increase their knowledge and competency, thereby improving the outcomes for the children and families they work with. Dr. Figuerido has experience in the field as an elementary education teacher, a Center Director for 12 years, serving as the statewide training coordinator for the Department of Early Education and Care, and supporting students as a college professor and supervisor of student teachers. She now runs The Institute for Education and Professional Development, Inc. which offers
nationally accredited professional development for the field of early childhood education as well as coaching and consultation services for agencies. She is also a Trainers of Trainers for CLASS by Teachstone, a certified observer on the TPOT and TPITOS Assessment Instruments, and she is certified as a Practice Based Coach. Dr. Figuerido is President of The Institute for Education and Professional Development Inc. (IEPD), Training Specialist for the EEC StrongStart Central MA Professional Development, and consultant on several projects in MA and RI.
Jody can be reached at [email protected]
Kara Lehane | Central MA PDC Lead Coach
Kara Lehane is the Lead Coach for Central MA PDC. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education and Social Service. Kara has worked in the field of Early Childhood as a director since 1999, is an Early Childhood trainer and was a curriculum coordinator for 2 years. Educators enjoy Kara’s style of teaching – bringing knowledge and joy to her training presentations.
Kara can be reached at [email protected]
Shakesha Thompson | Central MA PDC Coach and Trainer
Shakesha Thompson has a passion for education and has worked in the early childhood field for over 15 years. In that time, she worked as a center director, school-age program administrator, coach, trainer and much more. Ms. Thompson is fluent in Portuguese. She received her bachelors degree in early education from Fitchburg State University. She earned her master’s in educational leadership and management, also from Fitchburg State University.
Shakesha can be reached at [email protected]
Catherine Wakely | Central MA PDC Program Manager
Catherine Wakely is the Data and Instructional Technologies Manager for Connected Beginnings. Her expertise includes Salesforce, website administration, and data management.
Catherine earned a B.S. in Animal Science from The University of Maine where she also worked for several years as an IT support consultant. She has also worked as an operations coordinator at Sun Life Financial.
Catherine can be reached at [email protected]
Trainings and Events
Professional development opportunities offered through EEC’s Professional Development Centers (PDCs) are listed through the Learning Management System (LMS) on StrongStart, EEC’s Online Professional Development System. Educators will use the LMS to browse available courses, register for courses, manage course enrollments, and receive course certificates.
To find information on upcoming trainings as they are scheduled, please visit the StrongStart Course Catalog
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FAQ
What is the attendance policy for StrongStart trainings?
According to EEC requirements, participants are expected to attend all sessions of an event in order to receive credit for attending.
Participants will be marked as “completed” if they attend no less than 85% of the total sessions for the event and complete all necessary coursework.
EEC cannot provide partial credit. EEC does not allow for any exceptions to this rule.
How do I get my StrongStart training certificate?
Your certificate will be available after 5 business days in the EEC’s StrongStart online system. To access it go to https://strongstart.eoe.mass.gov/ets/home
Log into your account and you will see the course in your dashboard.
Click on the course title, take a short survey, and then your certificate will be available.
Completing this brief survey is a requirement to completing the course and receiving your certificate.
When you exit the course, it will be automatically removed from your Dashboard.
Follow the instructions below to access and print the certificate in the future:
Go to Learning History (link on left)
See list of completed courses
Link to view certificate is on the right
Click “View Certificate”
Click button at top of screen to view as PDF
Click to View, Print or Save the PDF
Coaching
The Central MA Professional Development Center provides coaching and technical assistance to program administrators/directors and early childhood professionals, free of charge. Our services are designed to support continuous program quality improvement efforts in alignment with EEC domains of quality, licensing requirements, and program’s continuous quality improvement plans (CQIP).
We support program leaders across all licensed setting types including family child care (FCC), group child care (GCC), and out-of-school time (OST) programs with continuous quality improvement (CQI) efforts. Our coaching model is a relationship-based model that supports collaboration and builds relationships with program leaders.
We are so glad that you are here! Coaching is available in English, Spanish and Portuguese for all program types. Please complete this form to get started today!