[View ALL News Press Releases] Linda Wheeler-Wood, Adjunct Faculty in the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education Department of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and Director of Youth Education Support Services for Ft Knox DFMWR, was presented with the Ruth Lerman Fitzpatrick Life Time Achievement Award at the 20th Annual Kentucky Coalition for School Age Child Care (KYCSACC) Institute at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Louisville, KY on March 13, 2009. Over 500 School Age and Youth Professionals participated in this year's KYCSACC Training Institute. Among Wood's achievements are her service to Army families at Ft Knox, KY and being the first Army and Kentucky program to earn national accreditation for quality school age children's programs, teaching as an adjunct faculty member in the Early Childhood Education Department at ECTC for the last seven years, on-line classes with Concordia University, St Paul, MN and Campbellsville University. She has worked to provide high quality training to early childhood and after school staff across Kentucky, she has worked with state wide work groups to improve services to children in Kentucky and has served on the KYCSACC Board of Directors for several years. Wood is a Level 5 Kentucky Credentialed Early Childhood Trainer and has written six training modules to help improve child care quality. She has provided these modules to her county of residence, Meade County, free of charge as a mission through her church, Brandenburg United Methodist. It is the tradition of KYCSACC to keep the award secret until the night of the presentation and to make all the arrangements to surprise recipients with the presence of out of town family members. One of Wood's three children, Kimberley Lee, her husband Terry, and 10-year-old twin granddaughters, Melody and Grace Lee, arrived from Tennessee and surprised Wood during the award ceremony. Wood said, "Educating and mentoring young children is my passion, it is demanding, complicated and immensely rewarding. What could be more important than guiding children as they construct this country's future?"

Diane Owsley, ECTC Division Chair for Social and Behavioral Science, said, "Our students and the Social and Behavioral Science Division are fortunate to have Linda Wood as an adjunct member of our division. Linda's students often comment on the high quality of teaching Linda provides in the early childhood area. Her genuine concern for children is a real asset for our students as they enter or continue in their professions in early childhood. Members of our division congratulate her on the award she has earned and so richly deserves."