
(941) 312-4777
Meet The Counselors

Owner of Powerful Education Solutions
Lori Stephens
Lori has been working with children and families in various capacities since 1993. Her focus has always been two-fold: to teach parents how to work with their children to create confident, responsible, happy children and secondly, to instill in them why and how to always be their child’s advocate.
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Lori has degrees in education, special education, elementary education, and reading specialization. Her professional roles include special education teacher, program director, and executive director. She began working with families in the capacity of educational advocate and school success coach in July 2011 and now owns and operates Powerful Education Solutions, LLC.

Camp Director
Dr. Candi Horsting
descriptions needed

Group Counselor
Wendy Knuth
Wendy has a degree in Special Education - Behavior Disorders from University of South Florida. She has certifications in Elementary Education K-6, as well as Special Education K-12 grade and has taught 4th and 5th grade for a combined 8 years. She has also been an ESE teacher for grades 3-5 for 3 years. Wendy has received recognition for being a High Impact Teacher in the state of Florida, which is based on test scores and student learning gains. She also received the ESE Teacher of the Year Award from the CEC (Council for Exceptional Education) by the Sunset Chapter which covers Manatee and Sarasota Counties. She comes to us with not only teaching experience but expertise in working with students with special needs.

Group Counselor
__Townsley
__ has worked for the Manatee County School Board for 21 years. She started as a paraprofessional at Abel Elementary and Samoset Elementary. After graduating from USF in 2010, she worked at G.D. Rogers Garden Elementary (3rd and 4th), Daughtrey Elementary (reading interventionist 3rd and 4th), Ballard Elementary (3rd and 4th), Harvey Elementary (STEM) and Bashaw Elementary (3rd grade inclusion). __ is currently working on her Master's degree in Educational Leadership.