NSU Horizons Fall 2011

faculty profile Wilma Robles de Melendez , Ph.D., is a confident, committed teacher who lives by her mother’s advice. “She told me that ‘You can do anything you want to do. The only thing stopping you is the limits set by you’,” said Robles de Melendez in her office at NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler School of Education in North Miami Beach. Her career has had few limits—as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal, state and regional supervisor, and director for a child development center, all in her native Puerto Rico. Robles de Melendez was an assistant professor of humanities at the University of Puerto Rico when NSU offered her the position of program professor of early childhood education. She still retains that position 20 years later. Her first office at NSU was in a trailer on the main campus that used to house the GEM program (now called the Graduate Teacher Education Program). Robles de Melendez’s affection for NSU was instant and continues to grow. “It’s a family here at NSU,” said Robles de Melendez, who also is director of academic and faculty support at the Fischler School. “It has been like a home to me. They have an open- ness of ideas and acceptance of diversity. You are a person, not just a number. NSU allows me to use all of my resources to help a student.” At NSU, her early childhood education duties have included coordinating the bachelor’s and graduate degree programs and overseeing compliance with state program approval requirements for the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in prekindergarten/primary education in Florida and Nevada. She has taught classes in early childhood and multicultural education at the undergraduate and graduate levels and worked to develop a doctoral minor and other program specializations. Additionally, Robles de Melendez has taught in Greece, France, Jamaica, and Panama as part of NSU’s international program. She also served as a member of the advisory group for the Lee Y Serás (Read and You Will Be) initiative, which was spearheaded by Scholastic in 2003. She authored an initiative curriculum that was launched nationally in 2005. The initiative’s goal was to empower Latino families to support their children’s literacy development. In recognition of her contributions to education and the community, Robles de Melendez was named one of Broward County’s 12 Hispanic Women of Distinction in 2008. “Wilma is not just an impressive scholar and teacher; she also embodies the initiative, caring, and global mindset that are essential for today’s instructors to have,” said Nelson Diaz, Ed.D., executive associate dean and program professor of NSU’s Fischler School. “She leads by example, both in the classroom and in the community.” Robles de Melendez also has written 16 publications, including co-authoring Teaching Young Children in Multicultural Classrooms with Vesna Beck, Ed.D., Fischler School director of academic and faculty support. The book is considered a comprehensive resource for practicing professionals who work with young children. Robles de Melendez is particularly proud of this book because it focuses on working with diverse groups of children. “My conviction is that diversity best describes the human experience,” said Robles de Melendez. “In each of us we actually find a wonderful example of diversity in action. In a socially and culturally diverse world, which strives for peace and equality, learning about each other’s unique and common ways can lead us to value, appreciate, and respect our differences. Beyond any differences, we are one.” It’s All About the Children By Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub 26 horizons Wilma Robles de Melendez’s work focuses on helping children.