Eric Fontanez, Principal of Marvine Elementary School, a car enthusiast with a fun loving daughter. He was born and raised in Bethlehem by his mother, an elementary school teacher and his father, a Bethlehem Steel worker. In the Fontanez household education came before everything else. After high school Eric knew he wanted to teach so he attended Kutztown University where he received a degree in Elementary Education. He was fortunate enough to find a teaching position in the Bethlehem Area School District where he spent the next nine years.
Working with a classroom of students wasn’t enough; Eric wanted to be able to make a bigger difference. Eric became the Assistant Principal of Fountain Hill Elementary School at the age of 31. He then went on to become the Principle of William Penn Elementary School before moving to his current position at Marvine Elementary.
Eric is very involved with the community. He has been an Executive Board Member at the Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley since 2013. He’s also an active member of the Mayor’s Latino Advisory Committee and the Northside Citizen’s Committee. Eric’s involvement with these committees allows him to give back and strengthen the community he was raised in.
Eric is proud to be working in the district where he grew up. Being a bilingual Hispanic, he values diversity and believes all students have the potential to learn when given the right tools. His main priority is helping his students become productive citizens in the wonderful city of Bethlehem.
Jeff Frank
Jeff Frank is the farmer and owner (with his wife Kristin Illick) of Liberty Gardens in Coopersburg, PA. Since 2000 they have been producing vegetables for the Lehigh Valley and New York City markets. They specialize in intensive growing practices on their small acreage.
Jeff serves on the board of the Lehigh County Seed Farm, an incubator for new farmers in the region, and is active in education initiatives on the farm and in other settings. He is past president of the Emmaus Farmers' Market and has served on the boards of several food and agriculture related organizations.
Prior to farming, Jeff worked for seven years for GrowNYC as a project manager and environmental educator. He helped teach thousands of New York City students the skills needed to effect environmental change in their schools and communities. He served on the boards of the Environmental Education Advisory Council, the Newtown Creek Citizens Advisory Committee and several other organizations. He is the author of "Urban Environmental Education," and "Ozone Air Pollution: Study and Action."
Jeff attended the University of Michigan where he earned a BA in history and an MS in Natural Resource Policy and Behavior. He lives in Bethlehem with his wife, Kristin, and their two children.
Meagan Grega, M.D
Dr. Meagan Grega is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Kellyn Foundation. She is a graduate of Bucknell University with a B.S. in Biochemistry/Cell Biology and earned her MD degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.
Dr. Grega spent several years as a medical officer in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander before resigning from active duty service. She has been a staff Family Physician at Hunterdon Medical Center, the Director of Women's Health Services at Lafayette College and is currently the Managing Director of Llantrisant Retreat and Wellness Center (www.llantrisantretreat.com), where Kellyn Foundation is located. She frequently lectures on the topics of Lifestyle Medicine at colleges, universities, hospital Grand Rounds, medical residency programs and community forums. Mentoring residents, medical, dietician and nursing students is one of her passions. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and is board certified in both Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. Child/Family health in general, and the obesity epidemic in particular, are issues in which Meagan has had a long-standing interest. She believes the benefits of regular exercise, adequate sleep, supportive social connections, healthy food choices and the art of balance are the keys to improving our children’s future, as well as our own. Towards that end, she is committed to finding practical solutions that can be implemented by families and communities to strengthen each other physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Melissa Recchia
Melissa Plantone Recchiais the Supervisor and Corporate Secretary at Strunk Funeral Home,
Inc. She has been a licensed funeral
director since 1991. She is a graduate
of Easton Area High School, and continued her studies at Temple University
before graduating from Northampton Community College in 1990 with a certificate
in Funeral Service.
Melissa
is a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, South Easton, where she currently
chairs the Mutual Ministry committee, is active on the Safe Harbor committee
that volunteers to make and serve food on a monthly basis, and was a former
co-leader of the Junior Youth Group.
She has served on the Alumni Board at Northampton Community College
for over ten years, where she currently serves on the Executive Board, chairs
the Alumni/Student Outreach committee, and was a former chair of the
Fundraising committee and the White House Dinner committee. Melissa
has also
volunteered for IU 20 as an educational surrogate parent for several
years. Interests
include reading, cooking, yoga and pilates.
She and her husband, Nicholas, Jr., reside in Palmer Township with their
three children, Alayna, Andrew and Alisyn.
Eric Ruth
Eric J. Ruth is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kellyn Foundation. The well-being of children raised in today's world has had a significant influence in Eric's life. Raising three children, teaching thousands more and seeing the habits, pressures and influences on our children, has led Eric to co-found the Kellyn Foundation.
Mr. Ruth is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts. Eric spent the initial fifteen years of his career working as an accountant and then as a corporate controller. Later, Eric took his business knowledge into the fledgling Internet industry, where he spent ten years with a strong emphasis in online relationship marketing in the healthcare arena. The combination of a strong financial and online marketing background provides Eric with unique, wide-ranging business expertise. He has extensive experience engaging children and families to embark on healthy lifestyle changes through Kellyn Foundation’s educational outreach programs.
George P. White
Dr. George White is the Iacocca Professor of Educational Leadership and the Director of the Center for Developing Urban Educational Leaders (CDUEL) at Lehigh University. CDUEL focuses on a systemic approach to urban school reform through leadership development of principals, teachers, parents and community members by working with the community to build lasting focused partnerships that enhance student learning. While at Lehigh, Dr. White has been responsible for the development of a specialized program to train individuals for leadership roles in urban school districts receiving over $7M in grants from the U.S. Department of Education to support these initiatives. He led the establishment and currently directs two community school initiatives in South Bethlehem. Dr. White was instrumental in establishing the International School Leadership program. This program utilizes web-based and video conferencing learning experiences with face-to-face interaction to prepare individuals for leadership roles in international schools. He has recently coordinated the development of a series of Leadership Academies designed to prepare and mentor in-service leaders as well as providing executive coaching for in-service principals.
Dr. White is the co-founder and curriculum advisor of the Pennsylvania School for Global Entrepreneurship a multi-week summer residential experience to high school juniors and seniors from the US and countries from around the world. This program teaches the skills and knowledge associated with successful entrepreneur in a global environment. He is a nationally recognized consultant, having worked with for profit and non profit organizations nationally and internationally addressing issues associated with organizational development, change management, team building, strategic planning, soft skills, and leadership training.
Dr. White is a Class of ‘61 Endowed Professor at Lehigh University and has received the Lehigh University Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching the University Hillman Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Advising, and the University Hillman Award for Distinguished Teaching, Scholarship and Service.
