UCM Associate Professor Named State Children’s Champion by Missouri Head Start and Region VII Head Start Associations

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Karrie Snider, Ph.D., associate professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Central Missouri (UCM), has been named the 2025 Missouri Head Start Children’s Champion by the Missouri Head Start Association (MHSA).

The State Children’s Champion Award is presented to individuals who make valuable contributions to the lives of Head Start and Early Head Start children and families across Missouri. The award recognizes individuals with outstanding leadership, commitment and service who ultimately make a difference. 

Snider was nominated by the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), an organization she has collaborated with for more than a decade. She was recognized in May during the MHSA conference and again in June when she received the Region VII Head Start Association’s 2025 Missouri Children’s Champion award during the Region VII conference, which included attendees from Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.

“None of these things can ever be accomplished in isolation. It represents so many more people than myself,” Snider said of receiving the award. “It represents, in some ways, the culmination of things, but in many, many ways, we have just scratched the surface. It really means we have more work to do, but it does reinvigorate you and opens up conversations that can lead to even more opportunities.”

From her first job in a kindergarten classroom to training the next generation of teachers at UCM, Snider has been a Missouri educator and leader for more than 30 years. As of July 1, Snider is the associate dean of the College of Education.

Snider has served on numerous committees and task forces through UCM, Head Start and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), earning a reputation as someone who can turn talk into action.

After many MARC committee discussions about workforce development, Snider recognized the need for a new program. She collaborated with Ann McCoy, Ph.D., former dean of the College of Education and current vice provost for Academic Programs, and Natalie Tye, Ph.D., associate professor of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, to develop the model for UCM’s Early Childhood Education certificate program. It has since become one of the options within the Grow Your Own program.

“This initiative includes stackable certificates that encourage students who work full-time, are non-traditional or face barriers to education,” Tye said. “Dr. Snider provides instruction through evening Zoom meetings to accommodate working students and supports them with motivation, course design and partnerships that secure scholarships and reduced tuition. She collaborates with faculty across campus with varying backgrounds to support students with diverse challenges in obtaining their education.”

Snider has helped lead multiple research projects and program evaluations with MARC Head Start that demonstrated the effectiveness of the Project Approach, a fundamental curriculum component for MARC Head Start. She teaches the Project Approach at UCM and co-created the Project Approach Interest Forum through the National Association for the Education of Young Children. 

“I have a lot of passions in early childhood and teacher education, and strive to support children to get the most out of learning and teachers to get the most out of teaching,” Snider said. 

Snider’s nomination highlights numerous other contributions to early childhood education, such as:

• Created a research and practice website for MARC Head Start featuring its history with the Project Approach, which has served as a coaching and teaching resource. 
• Co-edited a book, “Growing Child Intellect: The Manifesto for Engaged Learning in the Early Years,” which features research conducted at MARC Head Start sites.
• Served on MARC’s Partners in Quality committee, working to address issues such as career and education development and compensation parity in the Kansas City region.
• Participated in projects with the DESE Office of Childhood. Most recently, she was the principal investigator for the Missouri Child Care Licensing Alignment Study.
• Provided research and technical support for MARC Head Start projects related to Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and Project Approach implementation. She also incorporates those tools into UCM’s curriculum.
• Shared research findings at various state, national and international conferences.

The award application required nominators to describe three traits that stand out about the candidate. MARC Head Start Program Director Kasey Lawson chose passionate, innovative and collaborative when writing about Snider.

“Karrie is dedicated to promoting developmentally appropriate and effective practices with young children,” Lawson wrote. “In her career, she has served as a teacher, administrator, practicum student supervisor, professor, researcher, consultant, presenter, author, editor, as well as president of the Missouri Association for the Education of Young Children. In each of these roles, she has worked tremendously hard to promote meaningful teaching and learning. She is accountable, thorough, and consistent in developing high-quality products and initiatives.”

McCoy said that Snider is focused on removing barriers to education for both children and adults. Through her work with Head Start and UCM’s certificate program, Snider has made education more accessible and opened doors to new opportunities.

“Karrie is inspiring. She works tirelessly and is passionate about early childhood education and improving educational outcomes for children,” McCoy said. “She encourages others around her to think deeply, remain open to new ideas, and to consistently keep our students – and their future students – at the forefront of all we do.”

Karrie Snider, Ph.D., associate professor of Early Childhood Education, left, accepts the 2025 Missouri Head Start Children’s Champion Award from Tina Bernskoetter, Director-Executive Services of the Missouri Head Start Association. Photo credit: UCM