Our Mary in a Minute series about people making an impact on the Mary Cariola Community.
Meet Laura Wink, Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Specialist at Mary Cariola Center. Laura lives in Canandaigua, NY and is currently attending the University of Rochester in pursuit of a doctorate in Education Leadership. Laura recently received the Paul C. Scott Mary Cariola Center Employee of the Year Award.
Mary Cariola Center appealed to me and taught me. I wanted to be part of an organization that serves individuals, along with their families, with severe and complicated disabilities. I have learned that I have a greater capacity to love students, learn, grow, team, lead, and do work that I would have never thought possible.
Covid completely changed my daily duties and pushed many of my normal work to the side. I took on many new tasks such as creating systems to reopen school safely, dealing with the covid hotline, contact tracing, submitting data every day to the NYS Department of Health and other jobs that no one has done before. Like everyone, I found it stressful to the constant adjusting to changing situations as the pandemic progressed. However, Christine Sheffer led the team and we worked together to make the best situation possible for students, families and staff.
On the weekends, you are likely to find me at my desk at home working on my dissertation. I take breaks to exercise in the Finger Lakes-trekking at Ontario County Park or Dryer Rd Park in Victor, or riding my bike on the roads or canal path. My husband and I really enjoy hiking peaks in the Adirondacks.
Dr. Christine Sheffer has influenced me the most in my career. I moved out of the classroom and into a school leadership role because she created the Teacher on Special Assignment role-now Quality Assurance and Utilization Review specialist job and it suits me! That was a big turning point in my career; while I love teaching, I also love this job. Next, Christine encouraged me to go to graduate school. Most importantly, I continue to learn from Christine both professionally and personally. In my role, I see and appreciate that she frames decision-making through respect, compassion, kindness, and thoughtfulness Christine has been a tremendously positive influence on my career and personal development. I enjoy working alongside her and hope it continues for a long time.
You might be surprised to know that I keep pet chickens. They are hilarious.
If someone wanted to know about Mary Cariola Center, I’d say, Mary Cariola is about like-minded people working together to improve the lives of individuals with severe disabilities. It is a fantastic place to work if you enjoy sharing adversity and hard work with a team and making a difference in the world.
