Words on a Limb feature with the creators of the EnteleTrons®
Entelechy Education, LLC is the brainchild of two forward-thinking partners who came together in 2012 to develop a company that would advance children’s knowledge of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) topics while helping them to understand vital character education concepts. They accomplish this by producing books that teachers can use in the literacy curriculum and parents can strategically place in the home bookshelf for further discussion of the topics. By offering children fun EnteleTrons® characters, learning becomes enjoyable.

Renée Heiss, the corporate literary officer, is an award-winning children’s author and retired teacher of child development. She was the 1997 New Jersey Family Consumer Sciences Teacher of the Year. In 2008, she was honored as a Baldwin Fellow at the University of Wisconsin at Madison for a Nanotechnology Meets Biotechnology Symposium. She is an instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature and a member of R-NEA, R-NJEA, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Visit her website at www.reneeheiss.com and contact her at renee@entelechyed.com.

Gary A. Stewart, the corporate business officer, has a unique record of accomplishment in the areas of strategic planning, domestic and global business development, marketing and sales, and operational management. Gary has been actively involved in all major facets of the pharmaceutical industry, leveraging his scientific and business background to promote entrepreneurship, strategic and critical thinking, innovation and creativity. Gary is a successful inventor and active educator. Visit his website at www.semperprotinus.com and contact him at gary@entelechyed.com

What was the impetus that drove you to co-found Entelechy Education, LLC?RH: When Gary posted an ad on the SCBWI bulletin board for an author to help produce a science series with a character education component, I felt that the position was mine. While teaching, I had been a founding member of The Human Relations Council at my school. To me, character education is as important as intellectual education in the growth of the whole child. As an author, I knew I could develop the complex scientific topics on a level young readers could understand.

GS: Years ago, watching my own children grow-up, I was always struck by the “standard” plot of good-versus-evil in children’s cartoons and entertainment. As one with a scientific background, I often thought about ways in which we could teach young people basic STEM concepts earlier in a child’s life and how these concepts could also be presented with character development themes. So the idea emerged from asking the fundamental question, “What if?”…and it occurred to me, what if we were able to create a new set of scientifically-based “action figures” to teach real scientific lessons to children? At that moment, I knew at a minimum that I’d need a creative writer to get started! Continue reading →