Kari Payne

As a District Early Childhood and Youth Coordinator (DC), Kari serves as a resource to the early childhood and youth workforce in a designated district in Maine. She has experience and knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices for early childhood and youth from birth through age 8. She believes in coupling her specific expertise with focused attention on building strong collaborative relationships with practitioners.

Kari supports educators through technical assistance in a variety of forms (e.g., web-based, on-site consultation, facilitation of peer-to-peer groups, coaching). Kari also collaborates with state and local partners to meet the needs of the early childhood and youth workforce in the district assigned and statewide when needed.

Before her current position, she spent many years as a special educator in a multidisciplinary, special-purpose inclusion preschool with experience in direct care, consultation, and coaching.

As a statewide need arose in March 2020 for online curricula, she began a creative endeavor as a designer for a Department of Education Project-Based Virtual Learning Curriculum project. She has co-created four Pre-Kindergarten asynchronous learning modules to provide “anytime, anywhere” learning options and resources for educators, students, and their families.

Kari also teaches early childhood courses at the University of Maine Farmington, with a knack for project-based interactive learning to help the information feel relevant and applicable for adult learners.