欧美视频

Karrie Snider, Ph.D., associate professor of Early Childhood Education, left, accepts the
2025 Missouri Head Start Children鈥檚 Champion Award from Tina Bernskoetter,
Director-Executive Services of the Missouri Head Start Association. 

 

Karrie Snider, Ph.D., associate professor of Early Childhood Education at the 欧美视频 (UCM), has been named the 2025 Missouri Head Start Children鈥檚 Champion by the Missouri Head Start Association (MHSA).

The State Children鈥檚 Champion Award is presented to individuals who make valuable contributions to the lives of Head Start and Early Head Start children and families across Missouri. The award recognizes individuals with outstanding leadership, commitment and service who ultimately make a difference. 

Snider was nominated by the (MARC), an organization she has collaborated with for more than a decade. She was recognized in May during the MHSA conference and again in June when she received the Region VII Head Start Association鈥檚 2025 Missouri Children鈥檚 Champion award during the Region VII conference, which included attendees from Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.

鈥淣one of these things can ever be accomplished in isolation. It represents so many more people than myself,鈥� Snider said of receiving the award. 鈥淚t represents, in some ways, the culmination of things, but in many, many ways, we have just scratched the surface. It really means we have more work to do, but it does reinvigorate you and opens up conversations that can lead to even more opportunities.鈥�

From her first job in a kindergarten classroom to training the next generation of teachers at UCM, Snider has been a Missouri educator and leader for more than 30 years. As of July 1, Snider is the associate dean of the College of Education.

Snider has served on numerous committees and task forces through UCM, Head Start and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), earning a reputation as someone who can turn talk into action.

After many MARC committee discussions about workforce development, Snider recognized the need for a new program. She collaborated with Ann McCoy, Ph.D., former dean of the College of Education and current vice provost for Academic Programs, and Natalie Tye, Ph.D., associate professor of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, to develop the model for UCM鈥檚 Early Childhood Education certificate program. It has since become one of the options within the Grow Your Own program.

鈥淭his initiative includes stackable certificates that encourage students who work full-time, are non-traditional or face barriers to education,鈥� Tye said. 鈥淒r. Snider provides instruction through evening Zoom meetings to accommodate working students and supports them with motivation, course design and partnerships that secure scholarships and reduced tuition. She collaborates with faculty across campus with varying backgrounds to support students with diverse challenges in obtaining their education.鈥�

Snider has helped lead multiple research projects and program evaluations with that demonstrated the effectiveness of the Project Approach, a fundamental curriculum component for MARC Head Start. She teaches the Project Approach at UCM and co-created the Project Approach Interest Forum through the National Association for the Education of Young Children. 

鈥淚 have a lot of passions in early childhood and teacher education, and strive to support children to get the most out of learning and teachers to get the most out of teaching,鈥� Snider said. 

Snider鈥檚 nomination highlights numerous other contributions to early childhood education, such as:

• Created a research and practice website for MARC Head Start featuring its history with the Project Approach, which has served as a coaching and teaching resource. 

• Co-edited a book, 鈥淕rowing Child Intellect: The Manifesto for Engaged Learning in the Early Years,鈥� which features research conducted at MARC Head Start sites.

• Served on MARC鈥檚 Partners in Quality committee, working to address issues such as career and education development and compensation parity in the Kansas City region.

• Participated in projects with the DESE Office of Childhood. Most recently, she was the principal investigator for the Missouri Child Care Licensing Alignment Study.

• Provided research and technical support for MARC Head Start projects related to Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and Project Approach implementation. She also incorporates those tools into UCM鈥檚 curriculum.

• Shared research findings at various state, national and international conferences.

The award application required nominators to describe three traits that stand out about the candidate. MARC Head Start Program Director Kasey Lawson chose passionate, innovative and collaborative when writing about Snider.

鈥淜arrie is dedicated to promoting developmentally appropriate and effective practices with young children,鈥� Lawson wrote. 鈥淚n her career, she has served as a teacher, administrator, practicum student supervisor, professor, researcher, consultant, presenter, author, editor, as well as president of the Missouri Association for the Education of Young Children. In each of these roles, she has worked tremendously hard to promote meaningful teaching and learning. She is accountable, thorough, and consistent in developing high-quality products and initiatives.鈥�

McCoy said that Snider is focused on removing barriers to education for both children and adults. Through her work with Head Start and UCM鈥檚 certificate program, Snider has made education more accessible and opened doors to new opportunities.

鈥淜arrie is inspiring. She works tirelessly and is passionate about early childhood education and improving educational outcomes for children,鈥� McCoy said. 鈥淪he encourages others around her to think deeply, remain open to new ideas, and to consistently keep our students 鈥� and their future students 鈥� at the forefront of all we do.鈥�