Zoila Berardi is often referred to as "The Matriarch of the Valley," since she has been nurturing young people in our community for more than 50 years. She is one of the founding members of the Open Classroom and a pioneer in early childhood development and started her first childcare program in the 1970s. Since then thousands of young people have come through her programs with a deeper creativity, kindness, compassion, with an open understanding of the world and the powers of community.