Trainers
Martha Maxwell Wood, Ph.D., Director
Dr.
Martha Wood is founder of the Southeastern Center for the Enhancement of Learning (SCEL). She is a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Clayton State University, having taught mathematics, critical thinking and logic.
Dr. Wood earned her Master's in Mathematics from Emory University under a National Science Foundation Fellowship, and her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Georgia State University. She has also completed post-doctoral studies at San Francisco State University and Brown University.
The creation of the Southeastern Center for the Enhancement of Learning is a direct result of Dr. Wood's studies under Professor Reuven Feuerstein, director of the International Center for the Enhancement of Learning in Jerusalem, Israel. In 1998, she completed study at Brown University for certification as a trainer for Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment (IE).
She has made numerous presentations and conducted numerous workshops at national and international conferences, and she has co-authored eight college mathematics textbooks. The latest, Developmental Mathematics, 5th edition, contains "Expanding Your Thinking" sections based on her work with Feuerstein.
She has served as a consultant and staff developer for K-12 teachers, most recently for St. Louis City (Missouri), Escambia County (Pensacola, Florida) and Duval County (Jacksonville, Florida) School Systems, as well as individual schools in Houston, Texas and Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is dedicated to helping children and adults "build mind power," devoting much time and energy to this mission of incorporating focused instruction in critical thinking into both the college and pre-college curriculum.
Email:mwood@scel.org
Phone: 404-366-9335
Joyce Swofford, Ed.D., Training Coordinator for IE Standard
Dr.
Joyce Swofford is an experienced Trainer for the FIE Standard courses and for
the FastTrack Program. She has conducted workshops for the Southeastern Center
for the Enhancement of Learning in IE Standard Levels I, II, and III, and she
and Dr. Martha Wood conducted the first “FastTrack” Cognitive Enrichment
workshop (in the United States) for high functioning adults with twenty
managerial employees at a metro-Atlanta government agency. She has also been
trained in IE Basic as well as LPAD, and was officially certified as an IE
Trainer at the ICELP Conference in Paris in 2006.
Dr. Swafford is a recently retired Professor Emeritus of English from Clayton
State University in Morrow, Georgia, where she taught for 28½ years in the
College of Arts & Sciences. Prior to her faculty position at Clayton, she taught
two years in the English Department at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, and
four years in the Humanities Program at Virginia Highlands Community College in
Abingdon, Virginia. She holds an M.A. in English from the University of
Minnesota, an Ed.S. in Developmental Education from Appalachian State University
in Boone, North Carolina, and an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership from
Auburn University in Alabama. Her teaching expertise at Clayton was in language
arts communication courses—primarily writing and speaking, some of which were
online courses.
Joyce continues to teach online freshman writing courses for the University of
Utah and she has presented at several education conferences across the nation on
subjects related to cognitive enrichment. Her email is
jswofford@scel.org.
Email: jswofford@scel.org
Phone: 770-474-7809
Elles Taddeo, Ed.D., Training Coordinator for IE Basic
Dr.
Elles Taddeo has taken training in all five levels of Instrumental Enrichment (both Standard and Basic) through SCEL, and has also had both level of LPAD, beginning her LPAD training in Israel with Professor Feuerstein. Most recently, at ICELP Training in Amsterdam and in London, she completed both levels of training required to become a Certified Trainer for Instrumental Enrichment.
Dr. Taddeo is an Education Specialist with the Marcus Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. She also works as a private practitioner with the Instrumental Enrichment program, and administers the LPAD assessment.
Dr. Taddeo’s dissertation research focused on her work with children who were brain damaged due to prenatal exposure to alcohol. She is the coordinator of a training program for parents and teachers to utilize mediated learning experience (MLE) and meta-cognitive techniques at home and school.
Dr. Taddeo brings much diversity to the SCEL training team, having begun her career in the corporate culture of the Hague, The Netherlands. She is fluent in Dutch, German and French, and holds a B.A. in Psychology, an M.Ed. in Counseling, an Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction, and an Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership.
Email: etaddeo@scel.org
Phone: 770-455-8420
Jan Scott, Ph.D., Research Coordinator
Dr
Jan Scott has been trained in IE--both Standard and Basic--and in LPAD.
Following ICELP training in Amsterdam, she became a certified IE Trainer,
and has assisted in all levels of training for IE Standard.
Dr. Scott has a B.S. in mathematics, an M.S. in statistics, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology, all from the University of Georgia. In her doctoral program, Dr. Scott's emphasis was in research, evaluation, measurement and statistics. Her doctoral study was supported by a grant from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
Dr, Scott recently retired as the Director of Testing for the Atlanta Public School System. Before joining the Atlanta School System, she served as an assistant professor of mathematics at East Georgia College, as well as assistant professor of mathematics for Clayton College & State University (CCSU).
Dr. Scott specializes in the teaching of statistics and has participated in National Science Foundation workshops in this area. She has also conducted Eisenhower-funded workshops on teaching statistical concepts for middle and high school teachers. She has made numerous presentations at local, national and international conferences on the teaching of statistics.
Email: jscott@scel.org
Phone: 770-478-5153
Staff
Chris Wood, Ph.D., Marketing Communications Coordinator
Dr. Wood, youngest son of SCEL Director Dr. Martha Wood, is the marketing communications coordinator, handling marketing, public relations and public information requests and responsibilities for
SCEL. Dr. Wood is the President of JWA, a Public Communications agency in metro Atlanta, Georgia. JWA
has been a professional services consultant to SCEL since day one.
Dr. Wood received his bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia and his master's degree in Mass Communication from the University of Alabama. In between degree programs, he served as managing editor of the Airport Newspaper in Houston, Texas. Following the completion of his master’s degree, he joined JWA in 1991, as an Executive Vice President, prior to becoming President of the agency in 1999.
As he continues to manage JWA, he also teaches as a part-time instructor in the department of advertising and public relations at the University of Georgia's Grady College, which has been ranked fourth in the nation (U.S. News & World Report) among graduate school programs in public relations. While in the Ph.D. program at UGA, Dr. Wood was selected as a William Ray Scholar, based on merit and academic performance, and was named one of the University's most "outstanding graduate teaching assistants."
Dr. Wood has also completed Levels I, II, and III of IE Standard, as well as Level I of IE Basic, while training at SCEL.
Email: cwood@scel.org
Phone: 770-757-1681
Jan Burnett, SCEL Faculty
Jan Burnett has completed her training in all five levels of IE Standard and IE Basic, and is certified to administer the LPAD. She served as the director of the first SCEL after-school program at Morrow Elementary School in Clayton County, Georgia.
Jan Burnett is a middle school teacher with Henry County Schools. She has taught Language Arts and Social Studies in grades 6, 7, and 8, and has served as a Student Teacher Supervisor. Burnett has also served as Academic Team Coach for students competing in the Griffin RESA Academic Bowl.
Email: jburnett@scel.org
Phone: 678-897-7914
Kay Shelnutt, SCEL Faculty
Kay Shelnutt has been trained in all three levels of IE Standard, obtained through the SCEL cognitive enrichment training programs. She has used the programs with 4th and 5th grade students in small group settings within her classroom.
Shelnutt has 33 years of teaching experience with Clayton County Public Schools in Georgia, and is currently an Early Intervention Program (EIP) teacher for reading and math in elementary school.
Shelnutt holds an ED.S. degree in Curriculum and Instruction, with Middle Grade certification. She has conducted Staff Development classes for Clayton County Public Schools, served on Southeastern Accreditation of Colleges and Schools (SACS) peer review committees, and is a supervising teacher for education students during practicum and student teaching experiences. On three diferent occasions, she has been selected Teacher of the Year at her school.
Email: kshelnutt@scel.org
Phone: 770-603-9800
Lois Collins, SCEL Office Manager
Lois Collins has taken training in Feuerstein’s Cognitive Enrichment Programs –both Standard and Basic-- and serves as Conference Coordinator for our SCEL Summer Workshops.
Lois Collins is a recently retired Director of Prevention PLUS, the Clayton County Georgia Drug Prevention Agency for Clayton County Board of Education and Clayton Commissioners, and “Just Say No” International’s Georgia Division. She taught in both public and private school for ten years prior to establishing Prevention PLUS and ran the Insider’s Teen Center for At-Risk Youth and Gang Members in Forest Park, Georgia.
Lois holds a BS degree in Elementary Education from Barton College in Wilson, NC and has experience developing demonstration projects for the State of Georgia as well as the Federal Government. She wrote and taught the Drug Prevention Curriculum for the Georgia Public Safety Training Center (Georgia Highway Patrol) as well as developing and co chairing the Demand Reduction Project for the FBI in the state of Georgia where she was given the FBI Director’s Community Service Award for the state of Georgia. She hosted the “Youth to Youth” Television Program for 14 years and was guest speaker at the Teenex Conference in London. England and the Cities Against Drugs Conference in Burge, Belgium. For 11 years she taught yearly workshops at the Pride International Conference and the Youth to Youth International Conference.
Mrs. Collins has been honored with the M.A.D.D. Certificate of Merit for Metro Atlanta, The National Crime Prevention Council Award for Georgia, as well as the Governor’s Commission on Drug Awareness and Prevention Award of Excellence in Prevention. She was given the PRIDE World Drug Conference’s National Parenting Award for the U.S. and is a Hixon Fellow with Kiwanis International. She has worked with the US Department of Justice through their Project P.A.C.T. by serving as their Committee Chairman for the Communities That Care Model Area Survey of Metro Atlanta Counties. She has also served on the Steering Committees of the Atlanta Project (President Jimmy Carter), Selection Committee for the Georgia Department of Human Resources, and several Youth Focused Task Forces in Clayton County.
Lois specializes in the support and development of programs that address the special needs of youth.
Email: lcollins@scel.org
Associate Trainers
Dr. Lou Falik
Dr. James Kinard
Shannon Almquist
Dr. Cynthia Brilliant
Esteban Morales
