FOR IMMEDIATE MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday, October 15, 2009

WVIZ/PBS and 90.3 WCPN ideastream announces that Linda J. Williams Ph.D. will join the staff as Senior Director of Educational Services. In that capacity, she will be responsible for all ideastream educational programs and services from Pre K through K-12 and Post Secondary, beginning on November 2.

A career educator, Dr. Williams has a wealth of leadership and communication skills, training and expertise in the areas of special education, strategic planning, and continuous improvement planning. She has worked in several school districts in Northeast Ohio. Since 2005, Dr. Williams has served the Lake County Educational Service Center (formerly the county board of education) as County Superintendent. Previously, she was Superintendent of schools in Richmond Heights City School district and an Assistant Superintendent in Mentor School District. In addition, she has been a teacher and served as Chair of the Department of Education and Head of Teacher Education at Hiram College.

Dr. Williams is a graduate of the American Association of School Administrators Strategic Planning training program and has facilitated over 70 strategic plans for school districts and agencies. Dr. Williams is a graduate of Kent State University and holds a B.S. in Elementary and Special Education, a M.Ed. in Teaching Exceptional Children from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in Administration and Special Education from Kent State University. She is a graduate of the Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management Professional Fellows Leadership Program. Dr. Williams also participated in Leadership Training Seminars, “National Security Strategy Seminar” at the United States Army War College in Carlyle, Pennsylvania. Dr. Williams was recently appointed to the Lakeland Community College Board of Trustees by Ohio Governor Strickland.

The educational programs and services of ideastream include: WVIZ/PBS KIDS, twelve hours each weekday of award-winning educational programs for young children and associated professional development for caregivers of young children; the development and distribution of instructional media used by teachers and students in K-12 schools; professional development for teachers in the use of technology in the classroom; SMART (Science and Mathematics Achievement Required for Tomorrow); PROM/SE (Promoting Rigorous Outcomes in Mathematics and Science Education); OMSC (Ohio Mathematics and Science Coalition); RAISE (Regional Alliance for Informal Science Education); and NOTA (North Ohio Technology Association) providing interactive distance learning.