Child Life Council : Distinguished Service Award Winners

Distinguished Service Award Winners

Since 1988, Child Life Council has honored the child life profession’s outstanding leaders and pioneers with the annual Distinguished Service Award. The Distinguished Service Award is the highest award presented by Child Life Council Executive Board, recognizing exceptional members for outstanding contributions to the field of child life. The following is a list of award winners from the past 21 years.

2008

LeeAnn Derbyshire Fenn, M.Sc., CCLS

LeeAnne Derbyshire Fenn, longtime instructor for McMaster University’s Child Life Studies Programme in Hamilton, Ontario, received her bachelor’s degree from Ryerson University in 1976, and a master’s degree in Family Studies from the University of Guelph in 1989. From 1976 to 1981, she worked as a child life specialist at McMaster University Medical Centre, and then spent four years as the supervisor of Red Hill Children’s Centre in the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth. After her master’s studies at the University of Guelph, she became a research associate and lecturer for the Department of Family Studies from 1988 until 1995. In 1992, LeeAnn began work for McMaster University’s Child Life Studies Diploma Programme, and held a series of positions there including Director, Co-Director, Online Distance Learning Coordinator, and Associate Clinical Professor. During her time at McMaster, she was instrumental in pioneering the development of a series of online courses in child life, still in use today. LeeAnn has developed publications and presentations on topics including research, child life internships and education, and international child life issues. She was actively involved with both the Child Life Council (CLC) and the Canadian Association of Child Life Leaders (CACLL). For CLC, LeeAnn served as chair of the Mission, Vision, Values Committee in 1996, and lead the group to develop the Mission, Vision, Values statements, published in 1997. Later, she chaired the committee that revised the Official Documents of the Child Life Council from 2000 until 2001. LeeAnn co-chaired the Education Committee, and served for two years as a Member-at-Large for the CLC Executive Board (1999-2001). After 31 years in the field, LeeAnn retired from McMaster University in 2007.

2007

Christina Brown, MS, CCLS

Chris Brown, the Director of Child Life and Family-Centered Care at Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin, Texas, received a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University in 1978 and a master’s degree from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1987. From 1978 to 1981, she worked in early childhood education positions in Helsinki, Finland and then Indiana. After her child life internship at Johns Hopkins in 1982, she went on to direct child life departments at James L. Kernan Hospital (Baltimore), MetroHealth Medical Center (Cleveland), Cook-Ft.-Worth Children’s Medical Center (Fort Worth, Texas), and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She also served as Bereavement Coordinator for the HEARTLIGHT program at Children’s Memorial Medical Center (Chicago) and has served as a faculty member at Howard County Community College and the University of Akron. In 2007, she joined the staff of Dell Children’s Medical Center. Chris has developed numerous publications and presentations on subjects including coping with loss, child life administrative issues, psychological preparation, play, creative arts, communication, and the training of child life specialists. She held various leadership positions in the Association for the Care of Children’s Health (ACCH), including President from 1997 to 1999. Chris served as President of the Child Life Council (CLC) from 1990 to 1992, in addition to chairing the Child Life Certifying Commission, serving as a CLC Program Reviewer, and working on various committees. She has represented CLC as a liaison member to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Hospital Care, from 2005 to the present.

2006

Ellen Carr Hollon, MS, CCLS

Ellen Carr Hollon, formerly the Director of Child Life/Child Development for the Children’s Medical Center Dallas, graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of Georgia in 1977, and a master’s degree in Child Development and Family Studies from Purdue University in 1986. Ellen was employed in 1977 as a recreational therapist at Eugene Talmadge Memorial Hospitals of the Medical College of Georgia, before accepting a child life position at James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children of Indiana University Medical Center in 1980. Ellen became Child Life Manager at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago in 1986, Child Life Director (later Family and Child Life Services) at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland in 1988, and Director in Dallas from 1994 to 2008. She served as a faculty member at Kent State University and the University of Akron. Ellen is a co-author of two recent research papers and has made numerous presentations on subjects including child life administrative topics, family-centered care, pain management, and professional boundary issues. She has had leadership roles in the Association for the Care of Children’s Health (ACCH) and the Indiana Affiliate, and has been extremely active in Child Life Council (CLC) as President, Treasurer, Member-at-Large, Bulletin Editor and on committees including Conference Planning, Exam Development, Nominating, and Executive Director Search. Ellen was also an active participant in local activities representing her department and hospital.

2005

Laura L. Gaynard, PhD, CCLS

Laura Gaynard, Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Utah, received a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University in 1976, a master’s degree from Utah State University in 1980, a second master’s degree from Wheelock College in Boston in 1984, and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1985. Previously, she was the Child Life Director at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Arizona and Coordinator of Child Life Services at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center in Salt Lake City. Laura also served as Director of Child Life, Language Services and Children’s Education at Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City for 12 years. She served on the Executive Board of the Child Life Council as well as on various committees. Laura was chosen as one of three child life specialists in the two year Child Life Research Project sponsored by the Association for the Care of Children’s Health (ACCH) from 1985 to 1987. The purpose of the project was to assess the effects of preparation, education, and psychosocial support on hospitalized children and their families. This provided the foundation for the CLC publication Psychosocial Care of Children in Hospitals: A Clinical Practice Manual (available through the CLC Bookstore). Laura has been an instructor at Utah State University, Wheelock College, and the University of Pennsylvania, and has worked on a variety of different research projects. She is the author of numerous articles and training/educational materials on child life and play, and has presented on topics including research, psychological preparation, and many other child life subjects. Among other awards, Laura was the recipient of Wheelock’s College’s Centennial Award in 1989 for outstanding contributions to her profession.

2004

Ruth Kettner, CCLS

Ruth Kettner, Director of the Child Life Program at Winnipeg Children’s Hospital from 1970 to 1987, earned her Diploma of Applied Arts in Early Education from the Manitoba Institute for Technology and a certificate in Special Education from the University of Manitoba. As part of her vision for child life, Ruth lectured to medical, respiratory therapy, and nursing students and mentored local and international child life students. She was appointed as Assistant Professor with the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Manitoba School of Medicine. In 1977, she received the Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Medal, and she went on to win the YWCA Woman of the Year Award in 1978. Ruth was actively involved in child life beyond her Winnipeg borders, liaising with other child life specialists and leaders in the Canadian Association of Child Life Leaders (CACLL), the Association for the Care of Children’s Health (ACCH), and the Child Life Council to further the practice of child life. She held leadership roles in ACCH as both President of the Manitoba Affiliate and National Chairperson of the Affiliate Development and Coordination Committee. She served on the Executive Board of the Child Life Council as Secretary, and was a member of the Children’s Health Care Journal editorial board.

Sally Francis

2003

Kathleen A. Moffat, CCLS (Awarded Posthumously)

2002

All Child Life Specialists

2001

Kathleen McCue, MA, LSW, CCLS

Kathleen McCue, the Children’s Program Director at the Gathering Place in Beachwood, Ohio, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas (Austin) in 1970 and a master’s degree from the University of Southern California in 1973. She also met all class requirements for a doctorate. Her early child life positions were at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and Cardinal Glennon Memorial Hospital in St. Louis. Beginning in 1982, she was employed as a supervisor in the Child Life Program and Social Work Department at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she earned her social work licensure. In addition to supervising the Child Life Program, she served as a social worker in the Emergency Department and a psychotherapist in Pediatric Psychology. Kathleen joined the Critical Incident Stress Management Team of Cuyahoga County, Ohio where she served as Clinical Director and worked as a CLS in the Emergency Department at University Hospitals of Cleveland. She then joined the Gathering Place, where she and her staff provide support to empower and educate those touched by cancer. Kathleen is the author of How To Help Children Through a Parent’s Serious Illness (available through the CLC Bookstore) and has developed numerous publications and presentations on topics including psychological preparation, therapeutic relationships, children with cancer, impact of trauma, and other various child life subjects. In addition to serving as Affiliate President for two Association for the Care of Children’s Health (ACCH) affiliate groups, and serving on several ACCH committees, Kathleen held leadership roles in the Child Life Council (CLC) as Secretary and then as President from 1994 to 1996.

2000

Pat Azarnoff, MEd, CCLS

Pat Azarnoff was the Founding Director of Pediatric Projects Inc., a 20-year nonprofit corporation that developed medical toys and books, conducted psychosocial research under federal grants, provided consultation and in-service training and support to staff and counseling to families, and published Pediatric Mental Health, a newsletter summarizing research and describing programs. Pat received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri (Columbia) in 1955 and a master’s degree in child development and special education from Boston University in 1964. She taught children from preschool through high school age in the United States and Germany, and was a hospital teacher. Pat was the Director of the Child Life Program at UCLA Hospital and Clinics. She served on the faculties of Boston University Graduate School of Nursing, California State University (Northridge), Los Angeles Valley College, and the University of California School of Nursing (Los Angeles). She was also a guest lecturer at several other universities in the United States and, with fellowships from the World Health Organization, in Great Britain, Sweden, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Pat is the author of several books and numerous publications and presentations on therapeutic play, preparation, and parenting. She served as President of the Association for the Care of Children’s Health (ACCH) from 1975 to 1977, where she established study sections, one of which led to the creation of the Child Life Council. She continues to update an extensive bibliography series on pediatric psychosocial issues and methods, distributed through the CLC Bookstore. She remains active in child advocacy work with a variety of organizations.

1999

Marsha Herman, CCLS

Marsha Herman, a former Executive Director of the Child Life Council (CLC), received a bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University. Intending to become an early childhood teacher, she discovered the field of child life while still in college and participated in an internship at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She was employed as a child life specialist working with infants and toddlers in the Child Life Program at the Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital (then called Happy Hills). Next, she worked at the Children’s National Medical Center (Washington, DC) on several units including burn, cardiology, school age medical, oncology, outpatients, and infants. There she also served as a tour guide for preoperative patients. While working part-time at Children’s Hospital, Marsha pursued her interest in nonprofit administration by taking several graduate level courses. She also assisted the Child Life Certifying Committee and subsequently was employed part-time as Administrative Coordinator for CLC in 1987. During Marsha’s 11.5 years tenure with CLC, many milestones were reached for the organization, including: membership growth from 500 to 1400; elevation of the coordinator position to a full-time Executive Director with a staff; establishing a logo design for CLC; moving into larger office space; enhancement of computer capabilities; CLC planning its own conference for more than 500 attendees; and attainment of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, which allowed CLC to become a freestanding organization.

1998

Susan Pond Wojtasik, MA, CCLS

1997

Linda E. Skinner, BEd, CCLS

Linda Skinner is the Professional Chief of the Child Life and School Services and the Coordinator of Child Life Centre Wide for the IWK Health Centre in Halifax. She received a bachelor’s degree from University of Kings College in 1972, a bachelor’s degree in Education from Acadia University 1977, and is completing a master’s degree in Education from Acadia University. Linda was employed in 1977 as a child life specialist/ teacher/ assistant director at the IWK Children’s Hospital and promoted in 1981 to the position of Director of the program. Her title changed in 1998 with the hospital-wide changes. Linda has served as a faculty member at Mount Saint Vincent University and McMaster University. She has been a consultant to several Canadian hospitals and has held leadership positions at the IWK in addition to being honored with several staff awards. Linda is the author and co-author of several papers and book chapters and has made numerous presentations on subjects including child life administrative topics, ethics, pain management, psychological preparation, play and communication, and classification systems for child life. She has held leadership roles in the Association for the Care of Children’s Health (ACCH) Atlantic Affiliate, and has been extremely active in the Child Life Council (CLC), serving on the Executive Board and on committees including Exam Development, Nominating, and Strategic Planning. Linda has also served with the Canadian Association of Child Life Leaders (CACLL) and was President from 1991 to 1995.

1996

Richard H. Thompson, PhD, CCLS

Richard (Dick) Thompson, the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at The College of New Rochelle in New York, received a bachelor’s degree from Carlton College in 1972, a M.A.T. degree from the University of Louisville in 1974, and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1983. He was employed as a teacher before accepting a position in the Child Life Department at the Minneapolis Children’s Health Center in 1975. Dick was chosen as a Research Associate for the Association for the Care of Children’s Health’s (ACCH) Child Life Research Project. This provided the foundation for the CLC publication Psychosocial Care of Children in Hospitals: A Clinical Practice Manual. In 1984, he became the Director of the Child Life and Family Education Department at the Wyler Children’s Hospital (now Comer Children’s Hospital) of the University of Chicago, where he also held the position of Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics. He joined the Wheelock College faculty in 1986, where he eventually became Chair of the Professional Studies department and then Dean of Child and Family Studies until his departure for The College of New Rochelle. Dick is the author or co-author of four books on child life and research issues, including Child Life in Hospitals: Theory and Practice (co-authored with Gene Stanford) and Psychosocial Research on Pediatric Hospitalization and Health Care, both of which are available through the CLC Bookstore, and the forthcoming Handbook of Child Life. In addition, he has authored numerous publications and presented on topics including research, play, and other child life subjects. He held leadership roles in ACCH as a co-editor of Children’s Health Care, and in the Child Life Council (CLC) as President from 1988 to 1990.

1995

Joy S. Goldberger, CCLS

Joy Goldberger, the Child Life Education Coordinator at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, graduated cum laude with an AB degree from Vassar College in 1975, and a master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins University in 1984. She worked as a teacher before beginning in the University of Maryland Hospital’s Child Life Program as an infant specialist. After joining the Johns Hopkins Child Life Department in 1978, she initially specialized with infants and toddlers, but also shared her clinical expertise with a wide age range in a variety of specialty clinics, the pediatric intensive care unit, and the hospital-wide Palliative Care Committee. Eventually, Joy held the positions of Senior Child Life Specialist and then Child Life Intern Training Coordinator. Joy was chosen as one of three child life specialists in the Child Life Research Project sponsored by the Association for the Care of Children’s Health (ACCH) from 1985 to 1987. The goal was to assess the effects of preparation, education, and psychosocial support on hospitalized children and their families. This provided the foundation for the Child Life Council publication Psychosocial Care of Children in Hospitals: A Clinical Practice Manual, of which she is a co-author. She has served as a university instructor and consultant, and in 1985 was selected as an Outstanding Young Woman in America. Joy has written several book chapters and has developed numerous publications and presentations on subjects including infant/toddler issues, psychological preparation, play and communication, and training of child life specialists. She has held leadership positions in ACCH on the Publications Committee for preparation, infants, and research, and in CLC on the Education Committee.

1994

Myrtha Perez (deceased)

1993

Evelyn B. Hausslein

1992

Jerriann M. Wilson, CCLS

Jerriann Wilson, the longtime Child Life Department Director at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, received an AB degree from Goucher College in 1962 and a master’s degree in Education from Loyola College in Baltimore in 1972. She was employed in 1962 as a Child Life Teacher in the Child Life Department at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she worked with children ages two to twelve years, and also instructed student nurses in child development. In 1965, she began and directed the Child Life Program at the Baltimore City Hospitals (now Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center). Returning to Johns Hopkins in 1970 as the Associate Director of Child Life, she became Director in 1972. Jerriann, the author of several articles and book chapters, has given numerous presentations on subjects including administrative issues, working with volunteers, play and communication, and training of child life specialists. She had various leadership roles in the Association for the Care of Children’s Health (ACCH), including President from 1987 to 1989. Jerriann served as the first President of the Child Life Council (CLC) from 1982 to 1984, and later was a CLC Program Reviewer. She acted as a liaison member to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Hospital Care from 1995-2005, first representing ACCH and then CLC. After 43 years of child life work, she retired from Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2005 and continues to participate in CLC professional activities.