Bio: Berry, Will (Sunburst Director - 1974)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Berry, Baumgartner

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 7/18/1974

Berry, Will (Sunburst Director -1974)

An Indiana man was named director of education of Sunburst Youth Homes this past week succeeding, Kathy Baumgartner, rural Neillsville, who has held that position for the past three years and who will now be completing post-graduate work at the University of Minnesota.

The new director, Will Berry, holds a master’s degree in social education from George Washington University, post-master’s degrees from the University of Illinois and is completing his doctorate in the same field from the University of Indiana.

Berry, 30 years old, has taught special education in Maryland and Illinois, was a consultant in that field for a six county area in Illinois, served as a research associate in psychology at the University of Illinois and worked as a behavior modification consultant and staff instructor at the Madison State Hospital in Madison, Indiana.

Listed among Berry’s qualifications were keys to Tau Kappa Epsilon and Gamma Theta Epsilon, both honor societies, a fellowship for graduate study, and chairmanship of the Illinois chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children and the Council for Diagnosis and Prescriptive Teaching.

Berry has been a contributor to a large publishing company and has authored tutor’s guides and word skill books. He has also contributed to a supervisor’s manual for the Harper Row tutorial program, published by the MacMillan company for their education series.

Kathy Baumgartner will be pursuing a post-master’s specialist degree on the Minnesota campus in the field of learning disabilities. While at Sunburst, she introduced the staff to the use of academic diagnostics and prescriptive teaching and initiated the move toward certification of Sunburst teachers and programs.

Berry and his wife, Becky, and their three children reside at 1013 Hewett Street, Neillsville.