Say "Hello" to the Team
Our staff members are committed to building strong relationships with parents of young children with disabilities and the professionals who serve them. STAR NET Region II has been providing high-quality training and resources to the early childhood special education community for over 25 years. We work together to give professionals and parents information they can trust.
Kathy Slattery, Project Director
Kathy Slattery is the Project Director and a Resource Specialist for STAR NET Region II. She has been involved in the field of Special Education, Early Childhood Special Education and Early Intervention for over 25 years as a classroom teacher, Early Intervention Provider, Parent Support Coordinator and as a technical assistance provider at STAR NET. Kathy has presented at the local, state and national level on topics related to supporting young children with disabilities and their families. In addition, Kathy has been a volunteer State Coordinator for the Selective Mutism Group for nine years. Kathy participates on several state level committees including Early Childhood LRE Stakeholders and the Stakeholders Committee for Early Childhood Outcomes.
Email: kslattery@cntrmail.org
Call: 224-366-8574
Jac McBride, Resource Specialist
Jac McBride is an Early Childhood Resource Specialist for STAR NET Region II. She has a master’s degree in Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and served as a special education educator for 25 years as a preschool teacher and Early Intervention provider. For the past 15 years, Jac has held various special education administrator roles from supervising preschool programs to Director of Special Education in the suburbs of Chicago.
Email: jmcbride@cntrmail.org
Call: 224-366-8570
Gina Musielski, Family Resource Specialist
Gina Musielski is the Family Resource Specialist for STAR NET Region II, and has worked as a parent and family resource and support specialist since 1999. As the parent of a child with a developmental disability, Gina draws on both her personal and professional experience in all of her training presentations. She has presented at state and local conferences, for parent groups, early intervention, childcare, and education professionals on a variety of topics relating to special education and parent rights. Active on state level committees such as ISBE/DHS Transition Guidance Committee and Early Childhood LRE Stakeholders committee, Gina is involved in training and resource development for parents of young children with special needs on topics such as transition, IEPs, LRE, parent rights and advocacy.
Email: gmusielski@cntrmail.org
Call: 224-366-8571
Katie Suchy, Resource Specialist
Katie Suchy is an Early Childhood Resource Specialist for STAR NET Region II. Katie holds a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University where she double majored in child, adult, and family services, and linguistics with an emphasis on communication disorders and a minor in psychology. Katie has worked in the field of Early Childhood in a variety of roles in the classroom and as an Administrator for Head Start where she partnered with the local school districts to support students and families in the community. In addition to training for STAR NET, Katie is a certified CLASS observer, and CDA Professional Development Specialist.
Email: ksuchy@cntrmail.org
Call: 224-366-8575
Seana Thomas, Administrative Assistant/Secretary
Seana joined the STAR NET Region II staff in 2007 as an Administrative Assistant and Data Entry Specialist. Seana coordinates the STAR NET registration process for workshops and works with the team in the development of the Region II Training Calendar.
Email: sthomas@cntrmail.org
Call: 224-366-8573
Julie Koffend, Administrative Assistant/Secretary
Julie has provided secretarial support to the administrative and training staff at The Center since 1998. She is Microsoft certified in word processing; creating, formatting, and manipulating graphics; and desktop publishing. Julie uses her skills to support STAR NET Region II and the Adult Learning Resource Center.
Email: jkoffend@cntrmail.org
Call: 224-366-8572