Meet the Children's Choice Staff!
Staff Professional Development
Children's Choice team members receive some of the best training available to school-age child care practitioners anywhere in the country. They are trained by both our own nationally-recognized trainers - Mike and Chelsea, and by other nationally-recognized trainers that we bring to Albuquerque and those that we travel to learn from at local, regional, and national conferences.
Mike Ashcraft
Co-Founder/Director of Children's Choice holds a Master of Arts Degree in Education with 
an Emphasis in School-Age Care from Concordia University. He is a doctoral candidate with Nova Southeastern University in the Ed.D. Organizational Leadership program. He has more than 20 years of combined experience in child care and education. He is a former Accreditation Endorser for the National Afterschool Association. He is an experienced trainer in the field of School-Age Care. He is a former training and technical service contractor and a professional writing contractor for the New Mexico State Department of Education. He is a former guest professor on the faculty of Concordia University, teaching college courses in school-age care programming. He a Past President of the New Mexico School-Age Care Alliance, and a Past President of the New Mexico Association for the Education of Young Children. He is the author of Best Practices: Guidelines for School-Age Programs, and the Best Practices Workbook. He is co-author of Leading to Learn: Learning to Lead – Organizational Leadership for the Child Care and Youth Development Director.
Chelsea Ashcraft
Chelsea Ashcraft, Co-Founder/Director of Children's Choice, holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, with Honors, in Psychology from the University of New Mexico, and a Master of Science Degree in Early Child hood Education and Administration from Nova Southeastern University. She has more than 17 years 
experience in child care: as a teacher, a camp director, a school-age child care coordinator, an Assistant Director, and in her most recent position, as the Director of the Lovelace Child Care Center. Chelsea has significant experience managing school-based child care programs. She has extensive training and experience in school-age child care and has shared her knowledge as a presenter for the National Association for the Education of Young Children's Annual Conference, the New Mexico Association for the Education of Young Children's Conference, the Santa Fe Association for the Education of Young Children's Conference, the National School-Age Care Alliance Conference and the New Mexico School-Age Care Alliance's (NMSACA) Conference. Chelsea serves on the faculty of Central New Mexico Community College, teaching college courses in child development and guidance. She is the current Treasurer of NMSACA. She is an accreditation endorser for the National Afterschool Association and a certified Quality Advisor by the National Institute of Out of School Time. She is co-author of Leading to Learn: Learning to Lead – Organizational Leadership for the Child Care and Youth Development Director.
Click here for Chelsea's resume.
Leann Sommers-Templeman
Leann has been with Children's Choice since its inception. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in 
Psychology from UNM. She has more than 13 years of experience and extensive training and education in the field of school age care. She is a certified Quality Advisor by the National Institute on Out of School Time. She is also an Accreditation Endorser for the National Afterschool Association. Leann is responsible for program implementation and evaluation. She is involved in organizational development, including management of human resources and fiscal management. She assists in developing the mission, goals and policies for the programs. She provides guidance and mentoring to the Program Directors.
Catherine McAllister
Catherine holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Political Science from Capital University in 
Columbus, Ohio. She has more than ten years experience working with school-age children and has much training in the field. Previous to coming to Children’s Choice in 2002, Catherine worked with KIDSTOCK, INC. in San Francisco and served as an Administrative/Teaching Assistant and Aftercare Supervisor at Our Montessori School in Albuquerque. In 2006, Catherine led the CC site at Sombra del Monte to national accreditation by the National Afterschool Association. Catherine is responsible for ensuring, maintaining, and improving program safety and quality throughout the organization. She serves as a coach and mentor to the Program Site Directors.
Sara Mestas
Sara Mestas, Office Manager Children's Choice, is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of New Mexico. She has worked for Children's Choice since 1998. She is the former coordinator of our Kindergarten program. She has more than eleven years of experience in school-age care. Sara oversees accounts parent accounts and office procedures.
PROGRAM DIRECTORS
Children's Choice Site/Program Directors are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the program. They supervise the teachers, communicate with families, build relationships with the school staff and faculty, and oversee all program activities.
The Program Directors lead the Accreditation Teams (parents, faculty, staff and kids who evaluate the program according to national accreditation standards of quality) and the Design Teams (staff and kids' committee teams who plan the curriculum, enrichment classes, activities, field trips, etc.)
The Children's Choice Program Directors are required to have a combination of experience, education and professional preparation. They must hold a Bachelor's Degree in a related field, six months experience and six credit hours in child and youth development, OR two years of college in a related field, two years experience, and nine credit hours in child and youth development.
Missison Statement
Children's Choice Child Care Services, Inc. is dedicated to facilitating the positive development of children by developing and maintaining school-age care programs that are a model of quality care -- programs where children play, learn, grow, and make friends -- programs where children are nurtured and develop life skills. We will use these programs as a source of training and technical assistance for the larger community of school-age care practitioners.