TFL Staff Bios

Margaret Boyko, CEO
Margaret joined Top Floor Learning in 1996 as Director of the ESL program when the organization was known as Literacy Volunteers of Quaboag Valley. She assumed the position of Chief Executive of Top Floor Learning in 2006. Her duties include fund raising, program development, tutor training, and publicity and marketing. Recently she developed the Financial Literacy and Bridge to College programs. Margaret earned a B.A. from Edinburgh College of Art, and has a master's in ESL, Bilingual and Multicultural Education from the University of Massachusetts. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the Language Literacy and Culture in the School of Education at Umass and is also certified as a teacher in the Massachusetts public schools in the fields of ESL and English. Margaret is a Literacy Champion (2006) and is the recipient of an award for career contributions to literacy from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

Lisa Remillard, Director of Lifelong Learning
Lisa joined TFL in March 2006. She is responsible for managing the entire Lifelong Learning program which involves planning courses, liaising with instructors, timetabling, and contacting participants. She regularly updates the website and does the layout, proofing and mailing of the course catalogue three times a year, as well as managing the TFL mailing list. She coordinates the Financial Literacy program and is responsible for recruiting instructors and contacting participants. Lisa has a bachelor's degree in economics from Simmons College, and worked for many years in the insurance industry before joining TFL. Lisa is a Trustee of the Palmer Public Library.

Marsha Gaudette, Director of Adult Literacy
Marsha Gaudette has been director of the Adult Literacy program for Top Floor Learning since 2004, prior to which she held the position of Director of Reading and Writing from 1996 to 2004. Marsha is responsible for developing and managing the GED program, forging links with Holyoke Community College and other adult literacy agencies, and bringing the Wilson Reading System to Palmer. She provides unstinting support for the volunteer tutors in the program and runs a tutor training in Reading and Writing each year. She earned a B.S. degree in Education from the State University of NY at Oswego in 1965 and a Masters of Education degree in Reading from the University of Hartford, CT in 1967. As a certified public school teacher (grades 1-6), she taught from 1965 to 1969, and was a Reading teacher in 1970. Prior to 1996, she was a substitute teacher in the CT and MA public schools and volunteered as a tutor for adult learners. Marsha still tutors in the Adult Literacy program, specializing in the Wilson Reading System for struggling readers. Marsha is a Literacy Champion (2009).

Stanley Skowyra, Financial Manager
Stanley joined the board of Literacy Volunteers of Quaboag Valley in 1995. In the same year, he began to work for Palmer Public Library, making shelves, bookcases and other items which he built in his woodshop at home. Stan joined the PPL Building Expansion Committee in 2002 and liaised between the library and the literacy program while it was in transition from Literacy Volunteers to Top Floor Learning. In 2000, Stan left the board of Literacy Volunteers to become the Financial Manager, a position he still holds at TFL. After leaving Palmer High School in 1959, Stan first worked at Jarvis & Jarvis then joined the Navy for four years where he trained as an electrician aboard a submarine rescue vessel, USS Skylark. After leaving the Navy, he worked as a cable splicer for New England Telephone for 32 years until he retired in 1991. In addition to his position as Financial Manager for Top Floor Learning, Stan is a Trustee of Palmer Public Library, volunteers on the Finance Committee of St. Thomas' Church, and continues to work in his woodshop. Stan built the model railway in the children's library, donates bookshelves to the Summer Reading Program, and has donated several oak chests to the TFL May Basket Raffle.