Marilynne Serie will pass the baton to Andrew Mlcak, her assistant director, as she retires from her position as the executive director of the Achievement Center of Texas. She has held this position for 30 years.
Starting with ACT in January 1987, Serie has brought the Achievement Center from a small day care center with 25 students, located in a church Sunday school building, to its current “Home of Their Own” through grant writing and public speaking. She has worked alongside Mrs. Irene C. Hostrup.
The center currently serves 135 students daily. Serie holds an associate degree in Child Development and received much of her training in the Doman Delecato Program through Cincinnati’s Ohio Valley Clinic for Brain Injured Children.
In 1997 the director was awarded the Margaret Cone Award by the Dallas Association for the Education of Young Children. In 1993, under Serie’s direction, the Achievement Center was awarded the “Best of Texas” award by the Corporate Child Development Fund in Austin.
Serie will continue to plan the ACT’s annual Special Arts Festival and plans to write grants for the organization as well.
Andrew Mlcak has been an employee of the Achievement Center of Texas for nine years and has served as Serie’s assistant director for the past five years.
Mlcak holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and numerous years’ experience working with special needs adults and children. Before coming to ACT he worked as a counselor at Camp Summit, a camp for children and adults with disabilities.
Mlcak is the son of Dr. Mark Mlcak, a prominent Garland family practice physician, and Mrs. Kim Mlcak, a science teacher for high school students with learning disabilities at Fairhill School in Dallas.
We look forward to Mlcak taking on the position of executive director in January.