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The life story of Ms. Pennsylvania, '09, Willetta Silva is best told by a young reporter, Jessa Bartley-Matthews whose article appeared in the Phoenix Newspaper, September 5, 2009. Jessa wrote- Dr. Willetta Wyatt Silva, is the representative from Pennsylvania who will compete in Atlantic City, NJ, at Harrah's in October. If ever there was a woman who embodied the ideal qualities sought after in Ms. Senior America, it would be Silva, whose platform is based upon her impeccable record of community service and advocacy for the handicapped and the elderly, as well as her dissemination of knowledge with students of all ages in both the United States and abroad. ....Her list of achievements is lengthy and continually growing. After completing majors in foods and nutrition sciences at universities in Illinois, Silva went on to complete her PhD in philosophy and education from Southern Illinois University at age 50. Silva taught in the Philadelphia School District until age 55, at which point she was offered the opportunity to be a professor of English at Tohoku Gakuin University in Sendal, Japan through the American Baptists Churches. During her ten years in Japan, she served as an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Counseling Studies, Heidelberg College, Sapporo, Japan. She also was a research consultant and editor to gro9ups involved with brain imaging at the Dept. of Nuclear Medicine, Tohoku University. Along with her professional experiences abroad, she has been an active teacher of the handicapped, particularly children with disabilities. As a founder of the Pennsylvania Association for Brain Injured Children, she was one of the driving forces behind the Learning Disabilities Act of 1969, which created a federal mandate and generated funding to identify and serve learning disabled children.
In 1999, she returned to the United States where she created a TV program for seniors, Senior Moments. The focus is on new trends in gerontology. She also served as a founder for the Widener Academy of Learning in Retirement, OLLI, Exton, PA where she volunteers to teach a curse, Living to be 100. Her talents range from teaching Ikebana, to speaking a little japanese. She is also dedicated to health and fitness and she believes that if "you are healthy, you are wealthy".
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