Daemen names Island resident to head Reynolds Center

Grand Island Dispatch, February 17, 2006

Daemen College has named Island resident Elizabeth R. Wright as executive director of the Thomas Reynolds Center for Special Education and After-School Programs.

Wright, an attorney, was most recently a partner with Goldstein, Ackerhalt & Pletcher, LLP. She assumed her new position on Feb. 6.

“I am extremely pleased that Elizabeth has accepted the position of executive director of the Thomas Reynolds Center,” said Daemen Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Edwin Clausen. “The goal of the Center is to provide a rich learning and teaching environment, to enable students with special educational needs to learn essential academic skills in a wide range of areas. Elizabeth brings direct experience in assisting parents of students with special needs to obtain appropriate educational programs.”

In her new position, Wright will work closely with the Center’s Associate Director, Lisa Drewniak, and Daemen’s education department faculty in such areas as curriculum development; fundraising, including grant writing and procuring other forms of extra-mural funding; management of training for teachers in best practices and learning strategies for children with special needs; and promoting successful research in the field of special education. A central goal is promoting Reynolds Center programming and curriculum into diverse neighborhoods and neighborhoods of high need, to improve education, with an emphasis on special education.

Created through the efforts of U.S. Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-Clarence, who secured $1.3 million in federal funding to Daemen College, the Reynolds Center, through its high-quality and high-level after-school programs, works to improve the quality of life for students with developmental disabilities, while also providing applied training opportunities for education majors and teachers of special education.

Through the Reynolds Center, Daemen College graduate students, work cooperatively with Western New York public schools in Buffalo, Lackawanna, and Amherst. The Center involves a wide range of Daemen academic expertise, including faculty in the departments of education, social work, physical therapy, physician assistant, and nursing.