Meet Vickie

VICKIE MAERTZ OTR, OTD

COURSE DEVELOPMENT & LECTURER TEXAS TRAINER # 3350
CHILD CARE HEALTH CONSULTANT

Vickie Maertz, the owner of PALS- Physical & Academic Learning Services in Columbus, Texas, holds both a Masters and Doctorate of Occupational Therapy from Belmont University in Nashville, TN. With a background that includes working for multiple school districts, Early Childhood Intervention, pediatric home health, and private practice, Vickie is a lifelong believer that what you do for kids matters. She is SIPT certified, an Interactive Metronome provider, and trained in both Berard AIT and Therapeutic Listening, and has lectured nationally on the topic of Autism, ADHD, and Sensory Processing Disorders. Currently, Vickie trains early childhood educators in the current, proven strategies and methods for learning.

Vickie co-authored a book entitled “Classroom Strategies For Children with ADHD, Autism & Sensory Processing Disorders: Solutions for Behavior, Attention and Emotional Regulation” with Karen Hyche. She is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association and holds her certificate in Early Childhood Training as a Master Register Trainer (#3350).

In her daily life, Vickie enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and being with her grandson. She continues to work with children at the Columbus/Mentz, Texas location where she can enjoy the horses and cattle wandering around right outside the office.

Meet Mindy

Mindy Hanak is the PALS Training Coordinator who, prior to joining the PALS team, worked at a financial institution for over eleven years helping both customers and staff. During her time in banking she held multiple positions that allowed her to grow and develop the skills needed to develop her client’s goals as well as her own. Following the closure of the branch in October of 2016, Mindy took a year off of work to assist her son who was having learning and behavioral difficulties at school. This is when she and her son were introduced to Vickie and the PALS program.

During the process of her son working with Vickie, Mindy began to learn more about the program and that she and Vickie had the same vision and desire to help and inspire others. At the same time PALS was looking for a training coordinator and Mindy, perfect for the role, stepped up and joined the team in August of 2017. Mindy is currently working on attaining her Texas Training License in Financial/Budgeting and team leadership building skills and she is looking forward to working with you and your team!