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Questions? Contact us, the UBI Core Planning Team.

Utah State Office of Education (USOE)
250 East 500 South
P.O. Box 144200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4200

Karen T. Kowalski (kkowalsk@usoe.k12.ut.us) Karen has been at the USOE since 2001, after working in an urban California district and a rural Utah district as a teacher, science coordinator, principal, school psychologist, specialeducation director, and assistant superintendent. Her experience with integrating and coordinating various at risk programs in the schools and with other agencies gives her a broadview of the special needs of students. The effectiveness of positive behavioral supports is a current mantra, which she believes can improve educational outcomes for most of the childrenand youth in the state. Phone: (801) 538-7568 Fax: (801) 538-7991

Cheralyn Creer   (ccreer@usoe.k12.ut.us)  Cheralyn Creer taught for 5 years in Davis District in a functional skills classroom for students with severe intellectual disabilities. She also served as a district inclusion consultant. Her special interests are peer involvement and inclusion (both in general education as well as social situations). Because of her own blindness, Cheralyn has become involved with the National Federation of the Blind. This provides her with opportunities to visit with state and national senators and congressmen about legislation that impacts the education of blind children, as well as those with other disabilities. It also provides opportunities to educate individuals as well as families about what living with a disability can really mean. She is very excited about the opportunities she will encounter in working at USOE. The only draw back, in her mind, is not having daily interaction with students. Phone: (801) 538-7576

Utah Personnel Development Center (UPDC)
Utah SIGNAL Project
2290 East 4500 South Suite 220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84117
(801) 272-3431
fax (801) 274-5289

Hollie Pettersson (holliep@updc.org) Prior to joining the UPDC in 2001, Hollie was a special education teacher with experience in Jordan, Granite, and Meridian (Idaho) school districts. She has taught elementary, middle, and high school with responsibilities ranging from self-contained cluster units and youth-in-custody settings to resource and co-teaching classrooms. Hollie earned a degree in Psychology and a master in Special Education, both from the University of Utah; she certified to teach through Utah State University and is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah. Behavior interventions, empirically proven practices, transition, and mental health issues are her main areas of interest and experience.

Julie Mootz (juliemoo@updc.org) Julie joined the UPDC in 2003. She previously worked in the Park City School District as a math teacher. Julie has been an educator for the past 16 years, teaching in Utah, Florida and Ohio. She is a Track XIII Mentor, and is excited about the collaboration between general education and special education. Her special interests are inclusion and differentiation to provide academic access for all students.

Terri Mitchell (terrim@updc.org) Terri joined the UPDC in October 2001. She started her special education teaching career (graduated BYU) in Ontario, Oregon in 1992, where she taught children with a variety of disabilities in a fully inclusive elementary school. Terri began teaching preschool in 1996 while getting her Early Childhood Special Education Endorsement from USU. During her time teaching preschool, Terri created an inclusive classroom that fulfilled the needs of children with disabilities as well as at-risk Title I and tuition paying students. She has extensive experience in training other teachers about appropriate practices with young children with disabilities. She has authored and co-authored articles regarding young children with disabilities. In addition, Terri is a certified trainer and field consultant for the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation for preschool and infant/toddler curriculums.

Dan Morgan (SIGNAL) (danm@provo.edu) Dan is a life-long special educator. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Western MichiganUniversity in 1968, with a major in special education/emotional disturbance. Since 1976, he has been on the faculty in the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation at Utah StateUniversity. From 1980-1990, he was Department Head. He has directed numerous personnel preparation projects, including preservice and inservice level training programs. He has alsodirected a number of field-initiated research and model demonstration projects. His research and publication activities include best practices for students with behavioral disorders, substance useprevention programs, and student self-management programs. In recent years, he has become more involved in special education legal issues by teaching courses and by serving as a dueprocess hearing officer.