Region 9

The Minnesota Centers of Excellence for Young Children with Disabilities is the statewide professional development system for early childhood special education (ECSE). Professional Development Facilitators (PDF) in each of the state's eight economic development regions work to connect, support and empower local leaders to build capacity. Through these joint efforts, young children and their families are accessing and benefiting from high-quality programs and services throughout the state.

In some instances, the boundaries of educational districts do not align with the eight economic development regions' boundaries. In instances when a cooperative or district's boundaries are found in more than one region, the district's PDF and service region are assigned based upon the county in which a program's leader is housed.

Counties: Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca, and Watonwan

Ruth Ann Rosenwinkel

rrosenwinkel@mnscsc.org

Ruth Ann Rosenwinkel began her work as a Professional Development Facilitator for Region 9 in 2018. She comes to the Minnesota Center of Excellence with varied experiences in education providing services to children, families, and program leadership. Prior to her work with the MNCoE, Ruth Ann was an assistant director of Early Learning/Special Education, ECSE teacher (home visiting birth to 3, center and community based), parent educator and adjunct faculty for Minnesota State University-Mankato. She has been the representative for the Directors of Special Education on the Governor’s Interagency Coordinating Council, served as a representative for the Directors on a variety of work groups at the state and local level.

Ruth Ann holds a B.S. Degree from Iowa State University in education, a Master's in Special Education and a Specialist Degree in Administration from Minnesota State University-Mankato.

In her free time, Ruth Ann enjoys time with family, friends, outdoor activities, travel, music and reading. Ruth Ann lives in the beautiful southern lakes region of Madison Lake with her husband.