About Me
Hello! I am Sharon Dunlevy
Foster Care Educational Advocate and Trainer
As an educational advocate, I work with students and their schools to ensure that the students have the best chance of succeeding in their school career. This includes helping them receive special education services as needed and learning the skills they need to transition to a college or career after leaving care.
In the course of my work, I found that family members (bio and foster) had need of my services as much as the students. Plus, foster families always need training hours to maintain their foster care licenses. With my MA and Doctorate, I am qualified to provide these training hours! So I decided to train foster parents in the best practices for caring for children in foster care. As I am able to bridge the gap between the world of education and the world of social work, I can offer unique courses that can help foster parents advocate for their students in schools and provide trauma-informed care in their homes, without burning out!
I am a lifelong learner.
I graduated from Syracuse University with a dual degree in religion and inclusive education. I also have a Master of Arts in Theological Studies and a Doctor of Ministry in Family Ministry from United Theological Seminary. After leaving the ministry, I completed the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) fellowship at the Riley Child Development Center. Finally, to better advocate for my students, I recently completed a graduate level Education Law Certificate through Indiana University.
Family is the most important thing in my life!
I am a true Army brat. I even lived overseas in Belgium when I was in 4th through 8th grade. My parents took advantage of every move to introduce my sister and I to new cultures and experiences.
Now, I am married with one adult child and two dogs. We followed my parents' example and created experiences for our child when we could, including hosting foreign exchange students. We have hosted 5 students over the last 5 years!!!
I have worked with children and families my entire adult career.
I started my career as a Children's Minister, but after almost 20 years of serving in churches, I decided I wanted to serve more children and families. I directed preschool and after school programs but when I had the opportunity to work with children in foster care, I jumped at it.
In addition to working with children in foster care and their families professionally, I also support youth serving organizations by providing time and money when I can. Currently, I am the treasurer for the Plainfield Youth Assistance Program (PYAP).
Whether I am working in the church or in the secular world, I love to teach others best practices when working with children and families. I have presented workshops nationwide. The latest two were at the Education Law Association 2020 and 2021 annual conferences. AND my very first article was published in the March 2021 edition of Principal Leadership. You can read the article here!
I am a very unique person!
- I am an identical twin.
- I am a half-Japanese, third generation American.
- I have run for (and lost) two local elected offices!
- I am a trained singer, though I haven't had a chance to sing much recently. Recently, I participated in a karaoke fundraiser hosted by the United Way of Central Indiana.
- I love to read and read every night before bed.
- My self-care routine includes setting time aside to do crafts. I always have one or two projects going at a time.
- My family and I enjoy going to local festivals. Our favorites are the Indiana State Fair and the Ohio Renaissance Festival in Marion, OH. We enjoy dressing up and eating all day long.
- I love traveling with my family. In fact, we have a Mediterranean cruise scheduled for the Fall of 2022!!!
© 2022 Copyrights by Foster Care Training Today. All Rights Reserved.