About the AuthorBonnie Crowe was born in the steel mill town of Aliquippa in Western Pennsylvania. Her father was in the home furnishings business and her mother was a kindergarten teacher for the Aliquippa School System. She attended Kent State University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from Point Park College.After moving to Atlanta, Bonnie received her master's degree in Early Childhood Education from Mercer University. Her teaching experience with children includes Pittsburgh City Schools, Head Start, Pittsburgh Area School for the Blind, Western Psychiatric Institute (internship with Fred Rogers, which was instrumental in developing her appreciation of children's artwork), and Atlanta City Schools. All these teaching experiences were at the preschool or early elementary education level.After having her first child, Bonnie began teaching evening adult education courses for childcare instructors at Dekalb Technical Institute and was a lead instructor for all evening classes for 14 years.In 1985, her students-who consisted of teachers, directors, and owners of childcare centers-talked her into coming onsite to their facility to train and educate their staff. Eventually, building through word of mouth, Bonnie was able to schedule sufficient classes to make this a full-time profession. She developed an onsite training company, working throughout metro Atlanta and her home state of Georgia. She also has trained staff in Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina.Bonnie is currently president of a childcare consulting company with the goal of training childcare teachers and keeping them informed of all laws and research in the industry. She is a member of NAEYC and serves on various committees to improve the level of training in Georgia.On a personal note, Bonnie has a loving and supportive husband along with two sons and three grandchildren. She loves her immediate and extended family, Her interests are music (from classical to soul, especially Motown), golf, exercising, and meeting and forming lasting friendships with diverse groups of people. This is her trademark and her heritage. Note the multi-cultural theme in the drawings created by her granddaughter. Acceptance of religious, racial, and ethnic backgrounds has been natural since childhood. Her parents raised her in a diverse community and she has successfully passed this on to her own sons and grandchildren.
