VITA
NAME:
Sophronia Nickolaou Tomaras
BORN:
January 14, 1930, Chicago, Illinois
EDUCATION:
Graduated from Koraes Greek-American School, an eight-year bilingual elementary school, Chicago, June 1943.
Attended Hirsch High School, Chicago, 1943-45, leaving after sophomore year to attend experimental program at University of Chicago.
Awarded Twelfth Grade Certificate, University of Chicago, June 1947.
Awarded Bachelor of Arts Degree, University of Chicago, June 1948.
Awarded Bachelor of Education Degree, University of Puget Sound, May 1964.
Awarded Master of Education Degree, University of Puget Sound, August 1970.
Awarded Doctor of Philosophy Degree, University of Washington, December 1980.
WORK EXPERIENCES:
1949-1956
A variety of work experiences during this period which covered the years from the B.A. until marriage. These included two years with D. C. Heath and Company, Educational Publishers, in their Chicago Sales Office as College Secretary, counseling in an employment agency, accounting, and proofreading, in addition to a basic one in the family restaurant business.
1956-57
Kindergarten and Music Teacher for the elementary grades, American Community School, Halandri, Greece.
1958
Administrative Assistant, American Pavilion, International Trade Fair, Salonika, Greece.
1963-65
Teacher, fourth and fifth grades, Fawcett Elementary School, Tacoma, WA.
1965-72
Teacher, second through fourth grades, McCarver Continuous Progress Education Center, Tacoma, WA.
1972-75
Teacher-Research Assistant, SST (Seattle-Spokane-Tacoma) Learning Disabilities Project, Tacoma School District, a state-wide special education project in which the rates at which 25,000 students statewide performed the basic tool skills of reading, writing, and computing were studied through precision teaching techniques.
1975-76
Sabbatical for study, University of Washington.
1976-80
Basic Skills Remedial Teacher, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, Stanley Elementary School, Tacoma, WA.
1980-89
Coordinator, Office of Research and Evaluation, Tacoma Public Schools until retirement in January 1989. Was responsible for various program evaluations including the District's student learning objectives program, multicultural education and mastery learning. As a program evaluator, was responsible for ongoing presentations to staff at school and district level. As senior editor of the SLO program, revised the District K-12 SLO's and Grades 1-8 curriculum tests in reading, language, and math. Developed the Core Curriculum materials for Grades K-8 after eliciting input from total staff. Managed the District's Teacher Expectations/Student Achievement (TESA) Staff Development Project from 1982-86, which trained over 10% of District staff. Wrote additional training materials for the TESA model to cover instructional management. Was a District representative/member of the Northwest Evaluation Association and the Washington Educational Research Association, presenting frequently at all their conclaves.
PROFESSIONAL COMMITTEES:
1968 Reading Guide, Tacoma Public Schools. Wrote section on the Disadvantaged
Learner.
1968-70 Tacoma Association of Classroom Teachers, Human Relations Committee. During this period numerous workshops were created and conducted for teachers.
1969-75 WORD Conferences. Presented at several over the years.
1985-88
Multicultural Education Committee, Tacoma Public Schools.
1987-88
Chair, Thinking Skills Committee, Tacoma Public Schools.
1987-88
Instructional Model Advisory Board, Tacoma Public Schools.
1987-89
Curriculum and Instruction Commission, Tacoma Public Schools.
OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS IN EDUCATION:
Consultant
1969, Clover Park Educational TV Production on Standard/Nonstandard Dialects of English.
1986-87, Seattle Pacific University. Served on a Presidential Task Force which investigated the feasibility of initiating an SPU Doctorate of Education program.
1987-88, Curriculum-Based Assessment Committee and Black Language Conference Committee, Tacoma Public Schools.
1989, Tacoma Community College. Developed the curriculum for a new 97-hr. Associate of /Arts Degree for Educational Paraprofessionals.
Publications
Language Lab. 1974,1975,1983 Editions. A 286-page collection of language arts materials, using the rate-based precision teaching format, developed during the McCarver days and the SST project, printed and distributed by the Tacoma School District through inservice workshops.
Multiple Consecutive Timings: A Remediation Tactic.
1974. Research paper read at Washington Educational Research Association, May 1975 Conference.
Curriculum Materials for Individualized Instruction: How to Create Rate Sheets,
1974. A rationale for developing timed-frequency measure formats for instructional purposes. Paper was presented most recently at the California Reading Association Conference, Sacramento, 1984.
Trace to Write Numbers in the First Grade,
1974. Data summary from seven first grades during 1973-74 in which number writing skills were taught through this format.
Writing Numbers in Kindergarten,
1973. Study presents summary data from a Write Number Project in three Tacoma kindergartens in Spring 1973 in which a Mark Sets With Numbers approach was used.
Map Labeling,
1974. This study tested the efficacy of a timed-measurement format for teaching map labeling skills to 4th graders. Experimental groups labeled maps against time, using a labeled map as a key.
A History of Minority "Black Studies" Unit
for Mastery Learning at the Ninth-Grade Junior High Level, 1974. Report of an instructional program in which timed-frequency measure formats were used for mastery learning of vocabulary and biographical data.
A Primary Math Program.
1975. A collection of materials and rationale for a beginning rate-based math program. Specific rate sheets included are: Trace to Write Numbers, Mark Sets With Numbers. Write Numbers Random, Primary Addition, and Primary Subtraction.
Nonstandard Dialects in the Classroom: A Study of Teachers' Perceptions. Expectations, and Coping Strategies,
1982. A report of the dissertation study presented at the Washington Educational Research Association, April 1982 Conference.
Papers
In Search of a Paradigm: The Scientific Study of Human Curiosity in the 20th Century. 1975. A review of the literature.
"Only Honor Needs No Honor": A Review of the Kohlbergian Cognitive Approach to Moral Education.
1975.
Dualism vs. Materialism and Plato's Paradoxes of the Meno,
1976. Ausubel' s Advance Organizer Model: A Review of the Research, 1976.
Dissertation
Nonstandard Dialects in the Classroom: A Study of Elementary and Secondary Teachers' Perceptions. Expectations, and Coping Strategies in a Selected School District. University of Washington, 1980.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS:
The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom: An English and Phonetic Greek Hymnal.
Third Edition, 1974. (Currently out-of-print.)
"Know Thyself": Profile of a Sub-Culture.
Results of a survey of customs and values taken in the Greek and/or Orthodox Christian Community of Tacoma, Washington, July 1970.
The First Fifty Years.
A commemorative album featuring the history of the Tacoma, WA, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Parish on its fiftieth anniversary celebration, 1977.
A Planbook/Lectionary for Orthodox Christian Church School Teachers,
published annually from 1980-98 by the Department of Religious Education, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America.
Student Learning Objectives for the Catechetical School,
a K-9 program and Catechists' Handbook for the Greek Orthodox Diocese of San Francisco, 1985
Hymns from the Liturgy,
a three-pan program (hymnal, teacher's manual, and sing-along-tape recording), edited for the Religious Education Commission, Diocese of San Francisco and the Federation of Greek Orthodox Church Choirs of the Western States - West, 1986.
"The Royal Priesthood of All Believers":
A Proposal for the Minor Orders of Altar Servers, Myrrhbearers, and Readers for the Diocese of San Francisco, May 1991
God Calls Us.
Grade 5 Text and Teacher' s Manual for the "Living Our Orthodox Faith " Curriculum Series, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, September, 1993.
Facing Up to Peer Pressure.
Middle School Unit and Teacher' s Manual for the "Living Our Orthodox Faith" Curriculum Series, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, December 1994.
CONTRIBUTIONS
IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION:
Director:
1984 to 1998, Religious Education Commission of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of San Francisco, 58 parishes in the western states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. Conduct annual Religious Education Surveys for the Diocese and report annually to Clergy-Laity Conferences. Conduct Teacher-Training workshops throughout Diocese and Archdiocese as requested. Represent the Diocese on the Archdiocesan National Curriculum Committee.
Beginning in 1986, All Saints Iconographers, a lay group which conducts icon painting retreats annually for the Puget Sound area.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church Sunday School, Tacoma, Washington, 1960-1979.
St. Nectarios Greek Orthodox Mission Church School, Pasco, Washington, 1980 to 2000.
Retreat Leader:
Conducted retreats on the subject of Women' s Place Across Cultures and Time and The Place of Women in the Orthodox Church since 1988 for Philoptochos and other organizations as requested.
Editor:
Editor of The St. Nicholas Weekly Bulletin. Tacoma, Washington, 1960-1979, and The St. Nectarios Messenger, Pasco, Washington, a monthly publication, December, 1990 to 2000. Proofreader/editor for the Holy Cross Seminary Press, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1992 to 2005. Freelance proofreader and editor for the Comprehensive Health Education Foundation, Seattle, Washington, 1989 to 1993.
Teacher:
Taught Iconography to Church School youngsters at Summer Camp programs, 1970 to 1989, and at Elderhostel Programs for the St. Nicholas Retreat Center, Dunlap, California, 1991.
Iconographer:
Icons painted for the St. Nectarios Greek Orthodox Mission Church, Pasco, Washington, St. Nicholas Greek orthodox Church, Tacoma, Washington, and St. Demetrios Church, Seattle, Washington.
MEMBERSHIPS:
Delta Kappa Gamma (Alpha Chapter, Sigma State); Phi Delta Kappa; Washington State Retired Teachers' Association; Past President, Northwest Evaluation Association; Religious Education Association; Orthodox Christian Association for Medicine, Psychology and Religion; National Curriculum Committee, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, New York; St. Nectarios Orthodox Mission Church Philoptochos Chapter, Pasco, WA.
PERSONAL
: Married to the Rev. Fr. E. Anthony Tomaras, retired Greek Orthodox priest and former Executive Director of the Foundation for the All Saints Center (Seattle, WA), Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Metropolis of San Francisco; two children, a daughter and a son.
