2009-10 Board

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Article Index
2009-10 Board
Kendra Morrill
Lynn Fiedler
Kari VandeWalle
Mike Coutre
Debbie Boileve
Rhonda Cohen
Heidi Cooper
Bea Douma
Marissa Elliott
Susan Felts
Maggie Hessler
Bill Hogan
Whiz Iiames-Damutz
Julie Kayaian
Kara Mann
Antonio Mena
Jennifer Moeller
Beth Perez
Julie Rapisarda
Kristi Schlax
Casey Lewis Varela
Steve Zehr
All Pages

The Cherry Preschool Board consists of parent and teacher volunteers who meet on the third Monday of each month to oversee preschool operations, ensure financial stability, and develop policies. These dedicated individuals donate a substantial amount of time, energy, and talent to make Cherry Preschool a special institution for all of the children and families.

2009-10 Cherry Preschool Board

Debbie Boileve, Executive Director
Rhonda Cohen, Inclusion Director
Heidi Cooper, Human Resources
Mike Coutre, Treasurer
Bea Douma, Teacher Representative
Marissa Elliott, Human Resources
Susan Felts, Special Events

Lynn Fiedler, Vice-President
Jolie Fleming, Room Parents
Maggie Hessler, Site Director
Bill Hogan, Treasurer-Elect
Whiz Iiames-Damutz, Donations & Appeal
Julie Kayaian, Fundraising
Kara Mann, Jubilee
Antonio Mena, Latino Outreach
Jenny Moeller, Fundraising
Kendra Morrill, President
Beth Perez, Volunteer Coordinator
Julie Rapisarda, Teacher Representative
Kristi Schlax, Market Money
Kari Van de Walle, Secretary
Casey Varela, Community Outreach
Steve Zehr, Building

Kendra Morrill feels honored to be serving as President this year, after serving as Vice-President last year and Community Outreach chair from 2006-08. She and her husband, Bret Johnson, have two children: Alex, who is a Cherry graduate and will be a first-grader at Washington School; and Trevor, who will be in the five-morning Pre-K Blue Room class this year. In addition to her mom duties, Kendra works part-time as a litigation attorney.

Lynn Fiedler, Vice President, is serving her 3rd year on the board. The first 2 years she served as Market Money Chair. Lynn and her husband Brent have 3 children. Their Cherry grad daughters, Lauren and Lindsay, are in the 3rd and 1st grades at Willard and Matthew is in the 3 AM 3 Yellow Room class this year. Before motherhood, Lynn worked as a Sales Executive for Xerox specializing in the markets of Education and State and Local Government.

Kari VandeWalle is serving her first year on the Board as Secretary. She and her husband, Dave, are the proud parents of three children: Grace, a Cherry graduate who is in third grade at King Lab School, son Henry, who is in the 4 Morning Red Room Class, and Lucy who is in the Yellow Room Young 3's. Prior to staying at home full-time, Kari worked as an insurance broker.

Mike Coutre, Treasurer, is serving his second year on the Board. Mike and his wife Rebecca are the parents of Maggie (Haven), Emmett (Orrington, 2007 Cherry alum), Will (Orrington, 2009 Cherry Alum) and Bridget, who is in the 4 Afternoon Blue Room class. Mike’s focus is corporate credit analysis at Mesirow Financial in their fixed income investment management group.

Debbie Boileve, Executive Director of Cherry Preschool, also taught in the Yellow Room since Cherry Preschool was founded in 1992, and was a member of the original Cherry Preschool Board. Before becoming Director, Debbie was the curriculum coordinator for the preschool. During the 2006-07 school year, she mentored the staff through reaccreditation by the Academy of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Debbie has a degree in early childhood and elementary education and has worked professionally with young children for the past 30 years. She has worked as a day care teacher, teacher/director of a camp program, art resource instructor, curriculum coordinator for a home day care network, and preschool teacher. In 2009, Debbie earned a Level II Illinois Director’s Credential. She will be chairing the Evanston Early Childhood Directors’ Council this year. Debbie is the parent of two adult children, one in college and one in veterinary school.

Rhonda Cohen is beginning her seventeenth year at Cherry and her thirteenth as Child Development/Inclusion Director. In addition to her general administrative duties, Rhonda works with the staff to support the inclusion of children with special needs and children receiving outside support services. Rhonda is also available to consult with parents on issues related to their children’s development. The parent of two adult sons, Rhonda has an education degree as well as a Master’s Degree in special education and Ph.D. coursework in educational psychology, child development and speech and language acquisition. She has worked as a preschool and primary education teacher as well as a teacher of hearing impaired children. Rhonda was the recipient of the 2004 Childcare Network of Evanston early childhood award.

Heidi Cooper is joining the Board this year as Human Resources Co-Chair. She and her husband Stuart are the proud parents of their four year old son, Max, who is in the 5 Morning Pre-K. Blue Room class. Before becoming a mom, Heidi lived and worked in New York City as Director of an Integrated Preschool Program and earned a Masters Degree in Early Childhood and an MSW in Social Work.

Bea Douma is beginning her eighth year on the Cherry staff as a teacher in the 4 Day Morning and 3 Day 3 Afternoon Red Room classes. Prior to joining the Red Room three years ago, Bea taught the M/W Transition Rose Room Class and the Latino Parent/Child Class. A native Spanish speaker, Bea is a certified teacher and has a degree in elementary education. She taught in Evanston/Skokie District 65 for seven years. Bea has three children who are Cherry graduates. Katie attends St. Ignatius High School, and Henry and Jill attend Sacred Heart School. Bea has served on the Board before, both as Room Parent Coordinator and as a Teacher Representative.

Marissa Elliott, Human Resources Chair, is serving her second year on the board. She and her husband, Tim, have two children. Their eldest daughter, Madeleine (5), a Cherry alum, will start kindergarten at Dewey in the fall. Natalie (2), is excited to be at Cherry this year in the M/W Rose Room Transition Class. Prior to becoming a full-time mom, Marissa earned a master’s degree in human resources while working as an HR professional at LaSalle Bank. She is also a certified elementary school teacher and just finished a master’s degree in elementary education.

Susan Felts

Susan Felts, Special Events Chair, is thrilled to be serving her first year on the Board. She's been room parent and on the silent auction committee for the past two years. She and her husband, Rob, are the proud parents of Emily, who is in the 5 Morning Pre-K Purple Room this year and Alex, who’s 2 and not so terrible. Before motherhood, Susan worked in the marketing department for the home care division at Walgreens Co. as well as other marketing jobs with smaller companies. Along with the full-time mom job, she sits currently on the Sign Review and Appeals board for the City of Evanston. She also teaches and consults small business owners how to do marketing cost-effectively.

Maggie Hessler is beginning her eighteenth year as Site Director. A member of Cherry Preschool's founding board, Maggie has a background in business and social work. She is the parent of three adult children, Zachary, Jeremy, and Tess (who was in the first graduating class at Cherry). In addition to managing all aspects of building operations, Maggie helps to organize day to day operations and can be found there every day working with Debbie and Rhonda. Maggie also puts her background in social work and early childhood education to good use as the administrative liaison to the Community Outreach Committee. For the past five years, Maggie has put a great deal of time and energy into establishing and maintaining the Latino Parent/Child class.

Bill Hogan, Treasurer-Elect, is beginning his first year on the Cherry board. Bill and his wife, Emilie, have 4 daughters between the ages of 8 and 1. Lucy, 8, is a Cherry Blue Room alum and a 3rd grader at Dewey. Annie, 5, is a Cherry Green and Blue room alum and a kindergartener at Dewey. Genevieve, 3, is in her second year at Cherry and has graduated from the Green Room and now spends 4 afternoons per week in the Blue Room like her sisters did before her. Eliza, 1, is still at home with mom. When he’s not at home, Bill is a director of marketing at USG Corporation.

Whiz Iiames-Damutz is thrilled to join the Board this year as Grants & Appeals Chair. She and her husband, Ted, have two children. Their eldest son, Henry, will be starting his second year at Cherry Preschool in the 4 Morning Red Room Classroom. Little brother, Miles, is 19 months and loves to visit the halls of Cherry with his big brother. Prior to full-time motherhood, Whiz developed and produced documentary films with a company she co-founded in New York City and more recently at a documentary film production company in Chicago.

Julie Kayaian is serving her second year on the board as Fundraising Co-Chair. In the past years, she has been Co-Chair of the Silent Auction for the Cherry Jubilee, and spent 2 years as Co-Chair of the Justin Roberts concert. She and her husband John are the parents of 2 boys, Noah, a Blue Room alum, and Theo, who is in the 5 Morning Pre-K Blue Room this year. Julie works part time as a blog monitor.

Kara Mann joins the Board this year as Cherry Jubilee's Co-Chair. She and her husband Tom are the proud parents of two daughters, Madison, who just graduated from the 4 Afternoon Blue Room and will start kindergarten at Orrington, and Emersen, who started her first year at Cherry this fall in the 4 Afternoon Blue Room. In addition to being a stay-at-home Mom, Kara is also a Freelance Producer of TV commercials, music videos, and photo shoots for album covers. She earned her bachelor's degree from Hope College.

Antonio Mena joins the board this year as the Latino Community Outreach Chair. He and his wife, Susan, have two children. The older of the two, Lucia, just graduated from Cherry preschool this spring and will be attending Washington this fall. Vincent, fresh out of the Green Room, and Cherry summer camp with his sister, is in the 4 Afternoon Blue Room at Cherry this fall. Antonio is an Architect, contractor, developer, and not to mention a great chef.

Jennifer Moeller joins the Board this year as Fundraising Co-Chair. Prior to serving in this new capacity, Jennifer was the Sally Foster gift wrap co-chair and a member of the Cherry's Jubilee silent auction committee. She and her husband, Steve, are the proud parents of three girls: Abby, a Cherry graduate who is in first grade at Willard School, Sammy, who is in the 5 Morning Pre-K Blue Room Class, and 2 year old Hannah who has yet to make her Cherry debut. Before motherhood, Jennifer was an attorney.

Beth Perez is serving her second year on the Board this as Volunteer Coordinator. Beth and her husband Ted have two Cherry alums now at Washington School (Jeremy in 5th grade and Simon in 1st grade), and their third son, Vincent, will be in the 3 Morning 3 Yellow Room this year. Beth has been a Room Parent in the Green, Yellow and Blue rooms and has been at Cherry for 6 years. Before motherhood, she studied neuroscience in graduate school at Northwestern.

Julie Rapisarda, Teacher Representative, rejoined the Cherry staff last year as Amy May’s co-teacher in the 3 Morning 3’s and 4 PM Multiage Orange Room classes. Julie started at Cherry as a parent during our founding year (1992) and has a degree in special education. She taught in the Transition and Parent/Child classes for nine years, leaving in 2003 to focus on her role as PTA President at Haven Middle School. Julie served on the Cherry Board as Secretary and as a Teacher Representative. She is serving once again as Teacher Representative on the Board this year.

Kristi Schlax joins the Board this year as Market Money Chair. She and her husband Tony have 3 children. Peter, 9, Maggie 6, a former Cherry preschooler, and Anna 4, who will be in the 5 morning Pre-K Purple Room class this year. Prior to motherhood, Kristi was an Administrative Coordinator at Morgan Stanley.

Casey Lewis Varela, Community Outreach Chair, is serving her first year on the Board. Casey and her husband, George, have two daughters – Sofia (class unknown) and Madeline (class unknown). Casey has a master’s degree in social work and prior to staying home full-time worked for an affordable housing provider in Chicago.

Steve Zehr is serving his first year on the Board in the capacity of Building Chair. He and his wife, Jen have two children: Katy, who began her Cherry career in this fall in the T/Th Transition Green Room, and newborn Daniel. Steve is a Professional Engineer specializing in the mechanical design and energy performance of commercial buildings.