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SEPTA Board of Directors

 

 

 

 

Robert (Bob) Bourbon, President
My name is Bob Bourbon. I am 40 years old, a native of Maryland, and after living in many locations throughout the country, settled down in Cherry Hill, NJ, with my wife, Michelle, our son Joshua, two dogs, two frogs, and an ever-changing menagerie of fish with no names. 

Though I wear many hats in life and juggle a lot of responsibilities, I know my most important responsibility is to be a Dad to Joshua. Joshua has Autism, and the journey that that simple statement has launched our family on, has changed us and has softened my heart to the needs and interests of special needs families. 

My position as President of CHSEPTA affords me the opportunity to serve in some productive capacity, where I may provide benefit to local families and children with special needs. I have energy, ideas, and a lifetime of experience addressing problems and fashioning a means of overcoming them. 

I am a career civil servant and am involved on a daily basis with governmental and public policy issues/problems. I have experience in obtaining positive results, and I am committed to applying myself to the interests of the special needs community. 

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Naomi Weiss, Vice President
As a Charter member of CHSEPTA (Cherry Hill Special Education PTA) and current member of the CHSEPTA Board, I am in a position to reflect on the goals and the gains that CHSEPTA has made since it’s inception in this school district. PTA organizations are poised to educate members and help prepare children for their tomorrow. As board Vice President, I can help CHSEPTA do more and be more to our community.

My vision is for CHSEPTA to become an integral component, an essential thread in the overall culture of the Cherry Hill School District.  We can share a common goal and be an organization where all parents, staff and community members are welcomed with respect; treated with the utmost dignity.

Special needs children, parents and professionals deserve services, training and support to promote appropriate IEP’s. Transitioning our students to healthy, quality, and meaningful futures equals happiness. Isn’t that what we all want for our children?

My knowledge, experience and integrity will aid the special needs community in creating a fundamental design useful to parents, students and educators as they navigate the Special Education maze. This educational blueprint would allow the students to attain appropriate rigorous high school courses, solid IEP transition planning, goals and services, while, staff receive training and support.  The purposes of these essential preparations, the goals of the IEP are the gateway to college admission with accommodations or vocational training. New Jersey expects school districts to ensure progress beyond high school for special needs students.   

Continuing to serve CHSEPTA members in a greater capacity as board Vice President will allow me to share all that I have learned through many years of advocating for my own children. Networking with experts and professionals in varied fields of disability, Special Education and Transition has given me much to contribute to the special needs community.    

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Nancy Muldowney, Treasurer
I am honored to serve as the Treasurer for Cherry Hill SEPTA because special education in our district is my passion.

There are several reasons that I am excited to be on the SEPTA Board in the position of Treasurer.  I am thrilled to be a part of the team that works on behalf of our children to give them the quality education and social development they deserve.  It is my goal to make SEPTA a more visible organization in the Cherry Hill educational system and to create a high level of communication and collaboration between the administration, parents of classified students and the teachers and therapists.  Also, I am very interested in finding ways to educate our typical students about children with disabilities and bring the typical student into the educational and social development of our classified students.  The typical child would receive the invaluable gifts of empathy, character development and unique friendships.  Finally, special education is feeling the financial crunch as much if not more than any other aspect of the Cherry Hill Public School system.  I want to make sure that we keep the needs of our students and teachers in the forefront of the Board of Education’s minds. 

My husband, Brian, and I have been married for 9 years.  We moved to Cherry Hill from Manayunk in 2000.  We have two children currently receiving the benefit of an education in Cherry Hill.  My daughter, Jillian, is in the Severe Learning Disabilities Kindergarten class at Cooper.  She has many developmental problems and has received wonderful support and services from her teachers and therapists at Cooper and previously at Barclay.  My son, Matthew, is 4 years old and a typical student at Barclay.

I have a degree in Business Administration from Millersville University with concentrations in marketing and management and an MBA in finance from St. Joseph University.  Most recently I have worked in customer support and internal sales for a software company in Mt. Laurel, NJ.  Presently, I am a homemaker.  I am an active member of the Barclay and Cooper PTAs and a room mother for both of my children. 

Finally, and most importantly I am the parent of a child with special needs.  My vote as a member of the SEPTA board will reflect the interest of all children with special needs.

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Roberta Tanenbaum, Recording Secretary

CHSEPTA is an organization that has always motivated me for the collaboration between district staff and special needs families. As a longtime member of CHSEPTA and an Occupational Therapist employed by the Cherry Hill School District as well as owning a private practice, I will strive to support the CHSEPTA board, its members and the school community.

Overall, I have been an OT for over 20 years. I presently receive ongoing training in Sensory Integration and DIR/Floortime, as well as having been trained in positive behavioral strategies, social skills and Handwriting without Tears. My roots in Occupational Therapy started in a local Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Center where I was the Clinical and Technology Specialist.

I have devoted the last fifteen years to working with children, with an emphasis on children on the Spectrum (Autism & PDD/NOS) using my specialized training for improving regulation, relatedness, social, play and motor planning skills. Gratification comes in collaborating with teachers, while facilitating improved relatedness as well as functional and educational performance. 

I am proud and look forward to serving as a member of the SEPTA Board. My intent is to help to continue to collaborate, with the membership to improve our understanding of special needs children to ensure an appropriate education.

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Linda Lance, Corresponding Secretary

It is with great pleasure to serve on the Executive Board of CHSEPTA as the Corresponding Secretary. I have been employed in the field of Special Education for the last 23 years. I worked one year in Pennsylvania educating students who had severe emotional needs. The last 22 years I have worked as a teacher of the Handicapped, Supervisor/Director of Special Services in a Comprehensive High School District in South Jersey.

Having been employed as a teacher and administrator in Special Education, I believe it is very important to establish positive interactions with parents, teachers, administrators, and support staff in order to provide the best education for special needs students in the Cherry Hill School District. If everyone works together towards a common goal, educating students, then many great strides can be achieved for these students.

I now have a daughter who attends Cherry Hill West High School. In the early elementary grades, we learned that she had a hearing problem and needed to access services. The Cherry Hill School District was most accommodating to her needs and she performed very well academically through her elementary/middle school years.

It is my goal to work with the Executive Board of CHSEPTA, teachers, administrators, and parents to enhance the collaborative efforts in providing services that all special needs students in the Cherry Hill community deserve.  

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Sheri Klein, Membership Chairperson

I am excited to be a member of the Cherry Hill Special Education PTA (CHSEPTA) and to serve on the CHSEPTA Board as the Membership Chairperson.  CHSEPTA is an important organization that has and will continue to have very positive impacts on the education of special needs children in Cherry Hill , as well as continue to provide support for parents, guardians and educators of special needs children in our community.

Although we have lived in Cherry Hill for the past 10 years, my husband, Scott, and I have only been involved with Cherry Hill ’s special education system for the past 4 years.  Our son, Harrison, is now 6 years old and will be entering first grade in the fall at J.F. Cooper School .  Harrison started out his education experience with a generic classification in pre-school which was changed to ADHD before he started kindergarten.  A few months back his diagnosis was changed to Asperger’s Syndrome.  I have quickly learned that, regardless of the diagnosis, it is a team effort between the parents, teachers, therapists, administrators and even other students that all contribute to the successful academic, emotional and social development of special needs children.  As part of CHSEPTA I can help make that happen for other children, as well as my own child.

After meeting the bright, talented and passionate members of the CHSEPTA Board and hearing about their energetic and aggressive plans with regard to the upcoming year, I look forward to being a part of this team and helping to bring these ideas to fruition.  In my roll as Membership Chairperson I will actively look to enlist others in the community to be a part of our PTA.  It is true that there is strength in numbers and we need that strength to ensure that the needs of Cherry Hill ’s children are met by our special education system.

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Robert Williams, Social Chairperson  

Some say I am an extrovert; others view me as someone who is always available to listen, and there are those who would say I am so out there with my honest feelings that if he is real what is left of him that I cannot see.  Here’s what I view myself as:

Woo!

I like to see people communicate and enjoy themselves.  I get pleasure out of bringing Joy to others.  That starts with the children, mostly due to the fact that children are less inhibited by the world! Special Needs Children especially are open to the laughter and playfulness of life, when a space is created that is safe and comfortable for them to express these wonderful traits.  That is basis for my decision to be Social Chair of CHSEPTA.  As I grow in my role the ideal would be to get the parents and educators into the same mental framework; allowing the open safety and friendship to expand our creative minds and collaborate effortlessly, benefiting the ones we so cherish!

Professionally I’m an advisor by trade.  Working with families, non-profits and financial management firms in Legacy Planning and Philanthropic Guidance. 

A lifetime resident in Southern NJ (Cherry Hill since 1992). I graduated from Haddonfield Memorial High School and West Virginia Wesleyan College where I was a member and officer of Theta Chi Fraternity. Theta Chi’s motto is to provide the “Helping Hand”.  We were involved in community outreach and social interaction.  My wife the three children and I live in the Barclay section.  We have a 4th grader and Kindergartner attending Russell Knight Elementary, in addition to our older Son who attends a special program out of district.

Some other affiliations I am presently involved in are: Serving as executive board member to the “Challenger Baseball League” ( Cherry Hill , NJ ) a non-profit organized in 2006, which gives Special Needs Children an opportunity to enjoy fun and friendship on the diamond.  We strive to create an atmosphere of relaxation and social equality.

Recently I have become a Regional Associate with SPAN of NJ in the parent to parent program.  We are a resource for parents and caregivers to attain information and we offer support personal to listen and guide those in need, in dealing with the emotional aspects of parenting/caretaking of a special needs children.

Call anytime and my Starbucks couch is always available for us to sit and share a cup of coffee! 609-828-6767

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