Trainer Profiles
Deb Berman, Inclusion Trainer
Sheri Klugmann, Autism Training Specialist; Teacher / Parent Trainer
Melissa Sornik, L.M.S.W., Parent Trainer
Lisa Tazartes, Executive Director/Teacher Trainer
Deb Berman, Inclusion Trainer
Deb is a graduate from Colgate University and holds an MBA in Public and Non-Profit Management from Boston University, and a Master of Education from Harvard University. After becoming a City Year Corps Member in Boston, Deb served as a Psycho-Educational Counselor at Judge Baker Children's Center, MA, supervising several classrooms of children with severe behavioral disorders and designing and implementing school-wide behavior policies. She has worked as a head counselor at Ramapo for Children's residential summer camp and is the founder and first Executive Director of Camp Starfish, Inc. in Boston, serving children with emotional, learning, behavioral, and social problems. Deb is now an Independent Consultant, engaging non-profit organizations to conduct strategic planning, marketing research, fundraising, coaching and executive recruiting projects. In this capacity, she also facilitates workshops designed to develop committees on inclusion in community-based organizations, followed by supportive coaching.
Sheri Klugmann, Autism Training Specialist; Teacher / Parent Trainer
Sheri is a Queens College graduate and earned both a Masters degree in Elementary Education from Hunter College and a Masters degree in Early Childhood and Special Education from Touro College. Sheri was trained at the YAI/New York League for Early Learning, where she studied and gained skills on Applied Behavior Analysis. After working as a general and a special education teacher in various public schools throughout New York City, she joined the YAI full-time as a Special Education Itinerant Teacher, working both at home and in school settings as a 1:1 shadow for children with PDD, Asperger's Syndrome, severe speech and language delays, social delays, and behavior challenges.
Melissa Sornik, L.M.S.W., Parent Trainer
Melissa Sornik has been working with students with disabilities and their families for nearly ten years. She is the cofounder and president of Long Island Twice Exceptional Children's Advocacy, Inc. (LI-TECA), an organization supporting individuals who are gifted with learning differences and disabilities and their families. She is also the founder and director of the Talent Development Cooperative (TDC), TECA's talent development mentor program for children and adolescents with disabilities. She has lectured widely on the subjects of twice exceptionality, talent development, giftedness, and divergent learning styles, as well as coauthoring an article on the identification of twice exceptional students. In addition to her work with Ramapo Training, Melissa counsels children and adolescents with disabilities as both a school social worker and through private practice. She earned her BSW from Molloy College and her MSW from Fordham University.
Lisa Tazartes, Executive Director/Teacher Trainer
Lisa holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Swarthmore College. She has taught special education and is an experiential education specialist. Lisa is also certified in adventure-based counseling and life space crisis intervention. A member of the Ramapo staff for more than 15 years, she is a graduate of the Executive Level Program of the Institute for Non-Profit Management at Columbia University. Lisa is a founding director of both Ramapo's Challenge and Adventure Retreats and Ramapo Training. Her career has been devoted to building the skills and capacity of educators and youth service professionals. Lisa is also the 2007 recipient of the prestigious Zella Bronfman Award, in recognition of her role as a change agent who is helping to transform the delivery of services to people with disabilities.
