Pirates Game 2015
Susan Cataldi
FOUNDER
Your interest, help, and support will be managed well due to the decorated credentials and leadership of Susan Cataldi. Her reputation and experience serving the ID population began at the age of fifteen working summers as a camp counselor for the Easter Seals Society, and she continued to do so throughout her years in high school. From those experiences, she knew her life’s calling. For her post graduate education, she attended Slippery Rock University and received a dual major bachelor’s degree in Special Education and Elementary Education, with specialized concentration in physical disabilities. Everything accomplished at one of the leading schools at the time in the United States offering this unique dual major.
She went on to serve thirty years in the private and public school setting with her last twenty as the Life Skills teacher at Fox Chapel Area High School. It would take pages to fully describe the impact she had on the students she served, their parents, and the community at large. These four awards will help bring to light the excellence in which she conducted herself to achieve… the Teacher Excellence Award as one of top one-hundred teachers in Pennsylvania, nominated for the Disney Teacher of the Year Award, won both the Walmart Teacher of the Year, Gibsonia Branch and Scott Folmer Award for Teacher Excellence in Inclusion.
Hotel Indigo
Her vision for meeting those with intellectual disabilities in the classroom is well documented, but her impact on the lives of those students didn’t stop there. While at Fox Chapel High School she developed the,” Peer Helper Program”, designed to include typically developing peers with her students with disabilities. Both the students with disabilities and their typical peers benefited from this program, through learning activities, such as prompting hierarchy, data collection, adapted home economics, biographic studies, and community based learning skills in their natural environment. Social activities were also part of the Peer Helper Program. Peers and students with intellectual disabilities spent time together during non-school sponsored activities, such as, bowling nights, movies nights, nights at each other’s homes, and for the girls, getting their nails done together! For school sponsored functions, together they attended activities such as, homecoming dances, football games, basketball games and one of the most special activity in any high schoolers experience, Prom!
Susan’s vision now is to see Team Friends® chapters using the Team Friends® IMPACT model to begin in cities throughout the United States, but really, why not the world. It is estimated there are 200 million individuals with an intellectual disabilities worldwide.
Big vision, certainly can’t be done alone, come be a part a Team Friends® in any way your heart is leading.
Jamie Walker, Head Coach
Team Friends® Westmoreland County
The Westmoreland County Chapter of Team Friends® began in 2017 and through their dedication solidified the “proof of concept” that has carried Team Friends® forward. During the past five years, under the leadership of Head Coach Jamie Walker and her dedicated group of Coaches, Team Friends® is well known throughout Westmoreland County. Jamie brings Team Friends® vision, passion, integrity, creativeness and a vast background of 17 years of experience in the field of Human Services.
During this time, she has been the Regional Director at Merakey which is a provider of supports to individuals with Autism and IDD. In her years of supporting those with disabilities Jamie has shown advocacy in action with regard to helping individuals find jobs, community connections and ways to make their goals come to life. Jamie lives and breathes disability supports so it is no wonder the Team Friends® mission is very close to her heart.
All future Chapters are grateful to the inspirational teamwork of all those who are a part of Team Friends® Westmoreland County as you have shown the vision is replicable and makes an impact on all who choose to be a part of the Caring and Sharing Life Together adventure of Team Friends®.
Kayla S. Head Coach
Team Friends® Armstrong County
It is with much joy and enthusiasm, Team Friends® is proud to introduce beginning in June of 2024…Team Friends Armstrong County. We are so proud to have you join Allegheny County and Westmoreland County to build a sense of belonging to disabled adults and their families through dynamic team events featuring social, educational and philanthropic components.
Head Coach of Team Friends® Armstrong County is Kayla S. and she brings enthusiasm and passion that will wonderfully lead this Chapter. Here is some of her broad and varied background.
Kayla graduated with a bachelor’s degree in rehab science with a concentration in developmental disabilities. She is a LifeCourse Ambassador and works with individuals and their families to create a vision for their life using LifeCourse tools, building a portfolio, and making sure their voice and opinions are heard. Over the years she also has enjoyed volunteering and doing nonprofit work. For many years she stayed home with her children full time, but as they grew, she was looking forward to the timing and joy of getting back into the field of human services, to make new friends at work, and feel as though she was making a positive contribution to the community.
Kayla is a busy mom and enjoys watching sports, going to camp, and traveling with her family. She also is an advocate for suicide prevention and taking care of individuals mental health. In her experience she wants people to know that we can all make mistakes in life, but we can also learn and grow from them. Having a great support system is also important to her, as well as having the desire to make sure everyone has the opportunity to make friends and build healthy relationships in their communities.
Team Friends® Armstrong County, come on board, as under the leadership of Kayla S. she has already begun to think outside the box and bring creative elements, ideas and leadership that will only make the nine-year vision of Team Friends that much stronger!