I’m an Elementary Montessori Teacher, Parent Concierge, and Teacher Coach. As a Connector and Companion, my joy comes from introducing children and their caregivers to the world and supporting their relationships to each other.

With Special Interest and Continued Education In

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Mindful Self-Compassion

Accessibility & Adaptability

Non-Violent Communication (NVC)

Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS)

Yoga Asana

Positive Discipline

Trauma-Informed Education

Anti-Bias Anti-Racist Education (ABAR)

My Cosmic Education

GEOGRAPHY

Based in Atlanta, GA

THEORY | EDUCATION OF MIND, HANDS, HEART

M.Ed Education, Loyola University Maryland | June 2014 – Sept 2017

Degree with concentration in Elementary Montessori. Capstone project related to research in Mindfulness. QPA: 3.944

B.A. English, Florida State University | July 2004 – April 2008

Degree with concentration in Literature. Additional focus in editing and technical writing.

AMI Elementary, Montessori Institute of Atlanta | June 2014 – Aug 2016

Elementary Teacher training with J. McKeever, Primary Foundations Course with Lilian Bryan

///

My Cosmic Education

HISTORY | OF EMPLOYMENT

Elementary Program Manager and Coach, Homeschool Development Team Lead, Higher Ground Education | Feb 2021 - current

Co-Founder & Virtual Elementary Tutor, Magnolia Montessori Tutoring | July 2020 - Aug 2021

Connecting children to the world, from the safety of their homes.

Elementary Teacher, Duluth Montessori School | Aug 2018 – July 2020

Maintained order and beauty of indoor and outdoor prepared environments · Implemented Cosmic Education for a community of 24-29 children · Integrated mindfulness practice into community · Implemented new planning, record keeping, and reporting system · Built and organized G-suite for more streamlined communication with parents and collaboration with colleagues · Transitioned work of 28 children from classroom to home · Collaborated with families on work of home and child development during crisis learning · Coordinated community events · Wrote blogs for school website · Co-wrote and presented bi-monthly Parent Education meetings

Administrative Director & Course Assistant, Montessori Institute of Atlanta | Aug 2017 – Aug 2019

Served as first point of contact for prospective students & application process · Purchasing · Maintained basic accounting including payables and receivables to support Board Treasurer· Organized rebranding effort for online and print collateral · Built G-suite cloud document storage and sharing · Built social media platforms and audience engagement through posts and events · Wrote & managed content for organization website · Organized and facilitated workshops · Designed & completed MACTE certification self- study · Coordinated community events · Maintained student, faculty, and facility files

Assisted Director of Training daily to maintain prepared environment, kept attendance records, organized student assignments and their review by readers, scheduled observation and practice teaching placements, maintained student working files and correspondence, supported guest lecturers, coordinated examination schedule and essential personnel

Elementary Co-Teacher, Montessori School of Raleigh | Aug 2014 – June 2017

Integrated new materials for lessons across all subject areas · Brought beautiful art, artifacts, and specimen into environment · Made materials for repeating lessons more easily available to children · Simplified and organized materials for limitation, accessibility, and variety of medium · Streamlined children’s work storage and processes · Protected uninterrupted 3-hour work cycles · Delivered Great Stories and Key Lessons to small, mixed-age groups of children, based on their interests and my observations · Implemented use of work journals for accountability · Collaborated with families on work of home and development · Recorded lessons and follow-up work in collaborative record-keeping software · Provided Diabetes Type 1 care & monitoring for a child in my classroom · Implemented the start of a Going Out program · Integrated ‘specialists’ work into children’s work · Wrote blogs for parent education · Met with Children’s House and Upper Elementary guides for continuity · 20+ hours of personal and professional development over 2 academic school years

…

IT Analyst, Louisiana State University AgCenter | April 2013 – June 2014

Development, Client Support & Documentation, Project Management

Program Manager, e-Gov Systems | July 2008 – April 2013

Program Management, Client Services, Content Management, Technical Writing & Technical Support

Assistant Editor, Online Submissions Editor, Apalachee Review | Jan 2008 – Jan 2013

Read & replied to prose manuscripts · Edited proofs of journal before print · Assisted writing COCA funding grant

Proofreader, Admin Assistant, Michael Ufferman Law Firm, P.A. | Feb 2006 – April 2007

Edited legal briefs for grammar, content, adherence to style

///

My Cosmic Education

MATHEMATICS | USING LOGIC TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

Zoom ∙Office 365 Suite ∙Salesforce ∙FormStack ∙Sharepoint ∙Figma ∙ClickUp ∙ Zoom ∙ Google Drive Suite ∙ MS Suite ∙ Altitude Learning Platform ∙ Transparent Classroom ∙ Folio ∙ Montessori Workspace ∙ EduBlogs ∙ MRX ∙ Veracross ∙ Prezi ∙ Joomla ∙ Wordpress ∙ Eventbrite ∙ Squarespace ∙ HTML ∙ Facebook Business ∙ Constant Contact ∙ Issuetrak ∙ Sitecore ∙ Survey Monkey

///

GEOMETRY | SHAPING COMMUNITY

AMI & AMI-EAA, Member | 2016
Montessori Association of North Carolina, Member | 2016
Triangle Montessori Schools Association, Member | 2014
Thanksgiving Thursday, Founder | August 2013
Red Stick Food Swap, Founder | December 2013
Port Hudson Organics Farm Community Supported Agriculture, Member | 2011 – 2013
Louisiana Book Festival, Volunteer | October 2008
Radio Reading Service, Volunteer | 2007 – 2008
America Reads, Volunteer | 2005 – 2006

///

BIOLOGY | LEARNING ABOUT LIFE, CURRENTLY READING

The Montessori Baby | Juniffa Uzodike & Simone Davies
This Book is Anti-Racist | Tiffany Jewell
How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen | Joanna Faber & Julie King

///

LANGUAGE | COMMUNICATION IN SIGNS AND SOUNDS

Parent communication examples, blog posts, and parent education meeting outlines all included here.

My Story

It all began with a trip to a used bookstore, where I found and read E.M. Standing’s Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work.

What I found there was a model for life and education that served me as an adult and empowered me to serve children with the respect and gravitas they deserve, but do not always receive from our dominant culture. I wanted to walk that path along with Elementary children - the most imaginative and curious and skilled of all!

I found there too, a formula for a life that could be defined as successful based on a continued path of self-construction, awareness of the grand mysteries of the universe, and realization of the inter-connectedness of it all.

From a six-month yoga teacher training, an exhaustive AMI Elementary certification, a Masters program, and in my years working with children in the classroom, I am attuned to the various ways a student and teacher relationship can exist and I insist that we are all always students and teachers (which makes the children laugh - they are my teachers?!). I have also have been gifted a vision of a peaceful, creative, and hard-working Elementary community and my role in co-creating that space.

I believe that great teaching comes from a combination of measured and well-timed observation, curiosity, preparation, enthusiasm, humility, creativity, intuition, experience, optimism, patience, and humor.

We learn so much from modeled behavior. I hope that my continuous pursuit of self-awareness, mindfulness, flexibility, and clarity are a model for the culture of the community and possibilities for childrens' own choices.