BEACON

Educational Consulting Services, Inc. --- Millers Creek, North Carolina

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About Karen 
 
Karen is the education consultant for school library/media and grant writing for the NWRESA in Wilkesboro, NC. She has over 20 years experience in providing staff development and consultative services to media specialists and teachers. Although she retired from full-time work in 2002, Karen continues to be as busy as ever.  After her retirement from full time work, she formed her own consulting firm, Beacon Consulting, through which she travels and does workshops throughout the U.S. She also teaches graduate classes in library science at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. 
 

Karen is very active in professional organizations at the state and national level. She is past President of the North Carolina School Library Media Association (2005-2006) and has served as a member of the Board in several capacities. She also served a two-year term as Secretary of the Affiliate Assembly of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and four years on the Publications Committee. She is the author of three books: Resource Alignment: Providing Curriculum Support in the School Library Media Center, Writing Grant Proposals: Tips for Educators and Others, and Backward Glances: A Journal of Endings and Beginnings.

 

Karen was recently elected Director-Elect for Region IV, American Association of School Librarians for 2009-2011; and will serve as Director, 2011-2013.

 

She is listed as one of 103 "outstanding school library media specialists" in the United States in Loertscher & Woolls book.

 

She has published articles on Resource Alignment in Knowledge Quest, the journal of AASL (Nov./Dec. 2001; Sept./Oct. 2003), as well as articles in North Carolina Libraries and Leading and Learning with Technology. She has presented at ALA and AASL national conferences and is a frequent presenter at workshops and state conferences around the country. 

 

Karen has helped many school districts write successful grants, ranging in amounts from $1,000 to $1.9 million. She also conducts workshops for school districts in the northwest region of NC (as well as in other states) in how to write effective grant proposals. Karen is also an experienced grant evaluator.

 

She is a former school library media specialist and classroom teacher with a strong background in elementary education, social studies and reading. She previously taught in Asheville City, Madison County, Unicoi County (TN), and Ashe County Schools. She lives in Millers Creek, NC, with her husband, Ray and a Siamese cat named Jasmine. Together, they have five children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. 



Company history
Beacon Educational Consulting Services was formed in 2001 when Karen retired from full-time work from the Northwest Regional Education Service Alliance in Wilkesboro, NC. She took early retirement in order to fulfill her desire to travel and share her passion for building effective school library programs and collections. Teaching graduate students and conducting workshops never feels like work to her. Karen says, "It's the best job in the world!"
Customer testimonials
Participants frequently give very positive feedback after attending one of Karen's workshops or taking one of her classes:
 
- "This is the best workshop I have ever attended! She is such a knowledgeable presenter!" (Georgia participant)
 
- "I wish I had known a long time ago what a valuable resource you [Karen] are!" (A.W., NC middle school teacher, on grant workshop)
 
- "I appreciated the calm, confident manner of the presenter; the training was great!" (NC administrator)
 
- "The best part of the workshop was the facilitator's expertise of subject matter; it made information very interesting and relevant." (NC teacher)
 
- "The presenter walked individuals through the material at a very basic, non-insulting level." (NC administrator)