The People at Woods Creek
Christi has been the Executive Director of Woods Creek Montessori since the summer of 2009. She grew up in Huntsville Alabama and as a young child attended the Children's House of Montessori, presently named The Montessori School of Huntsville. She has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Alabama (Huntsville) with a minor in math. She has also served as the Director of the child development center at First Presbyterian Church in Montgomery, Alabama (First Place Development Center). She served on the Board of Directors for Yellow Brick Road in 2008, an early childhood center here in Lexington. Her career began as a teacher in the early childhood education program at First Baptist Church in Huntsville, Alabama. She has a deep love for the Montessori method and for working with the children and teachers of Woods Creek Montessori. Christi is married to Tom Crittenden, the Rector of R. E. Lee Memorial (Episcopal) Church and together they have four children, Joseph, Condé, Harrison and Sarah! |
Misty is a graduate of the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina with a BS in Education and a minor in Early Childhood Education. She is a native to Rockbridge County and taught third grade at Fairfield Elementary for three years. Misty's husband, Kris, is a general contractor and owns High Country Outfitters. They have a son and daughter, Zoe and Kohen, who attend Waddell Elementary. |
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Amanda McKemy has been a Lead Teacher over the Pre-Toddler and infant age groups since 2001, both here at Woods Creek Montessori as well as another preschool. She received her RIE (Resources for Infant Educators) certification in Florida during the summer of 2008. Amanda truly has a passion for working with young children and finds them to be very interesting. “It is amazing what we, as adults, can learn from children.” Amanda and her husband Eddy are life-time natives of Rockbridge County. They have one son, Logan, who is presently a high school student. |
Kelly grew up in Rockbridge County on her Grandfathers farm. Graduated from Rockbridge County High School then attended Blue Ridge Community and Dabney S Lancaster Community Colleges. In 2005 she married her Husband Jarromy and moved to Missouri to be with his family. After 2 years in Missouri and Kelly getting homesick they decided to move back to Virginia to be closer to Kelly’s family and Friends. In 2008 they had their daughter Adalynn and in 2012 welcomed their son Ryder. Kelly loves spending time with family and friends. She has always enjoyed working with children. Kelly has been at WCM since April of 2007. |
Katharine “Chat” Stroh grew up in St. Louis but fell in love with the Lexington area when on vacation with her family. She attended Washington and Lee University, graduating in 1990 (the second class of women) with a degree in American History but a passion for archaeology. She worked as an archaeologist in the Delmarva Peninsula and moved West in 1993 where she met her husband, Dean, in a field camp in the middle of a desert in Nevada. Soon after their marriage in 1997, Chat and Dean moved back to Lexington where Chat worked as the Research Archaeologist at W&L. She “joined the Montessori family” when her son, Dylan, entered the toddler room in 1999. After the birth of her daughter, Gabrielle, in 2001, Chat left W&L to be a stay-at-home mom. Chat did a lot of volunteering at Montessori and when the toddler teacher decided to move, she urged Chat to take the Montessori Toddler training. Chat became the Toddler Lead teacher in August 2002 and received her Infant/Toddler Montessori Certification in June 2003. Chat loves being the toddler teacher and watching how much the toddlers grow and change while they are in the toddler room. |
Corbin grew up in Pennsylvania and attended Linden Hall, the oldest girls' school in the country. She received a BS in Early Childhood and Elementary Education in 1980. Corbin and her husband, Mike, have three grown children. They have lived in Rockbridge County Virginia for more than 20 years. Through out those years Corbin has taught at four local preschools as well as Waddell Elementary School. She joined WCM in 2008 and after a brief absence returns to us this fall. |
Farishte Irani was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Maryland. Farishte and her family moved to Virginia in the summer of 2010 from New Hampshire. There she worked for 8 years at Mont Blanc Montessori Academy in many capacities including Lead Primary Teacher, Elementary Teacher and Middle/High School Teacher. She is passionate about the Montessori Philosophy and truly believes every child is a natural learner. Farishte lives here in Lexington with her husband, Afshad (Professor at W&L) and her two children Kaizad and Parizad. |
Ann Sullivan recently moved here to Lexington from Loudoun County, VA where she spent many happy years living on a farm, raising 6 beautiful daughters, home schooling, and working as a Teacher's Assistant for Special Ed for Loudoun County Public Schools. Since moving here, she was a full-time care giver to her father-in-law until his passing last October, helped her husband restore a home on Maury River Rd, and wrote, "Simply Sullystone", a cookbook filled with recipes and memories of life on the farm. She enjoyed a part-time position here at Woods Creek in the summer of 2011 and fell in love with the school and children. She is the Primary I Assistant Teacher and has possible plans to get her degree to teach in the future. She feels so blessed to be here at Woods Creek because her passion is loving people, big and small! |
A Colorado native, Dawn originally moved to Rockbridge County to attend Southern Virginia University where she studied Family and Child Development and Early Childhood Education. Following college, Dawn started at Woods Creek Montessori and began to fall in love with the Montessori philosophy. Dawn left us for a year to complete her M.A. in Educational Psychology (emphasis in Early Childhood Education) from the University of Colorado, following which she returned to WCM. In 2009 Dawn received her Montessori Credential from Northern Virginia Montessori Institute. Outside of the classroom Dawn enjoys dancing, yoga, reading, singing, and spending time with her husband Vladimir. |
Jessica Brotherson moved to Buena Vista when she was only four, and loves this area! She is currently enrolled at Southern Virginia University! Jessica has so many interests, but a few of her most prominent ones are music, biology, and theatre. Jessica worked many years as a counselor at Kid's University during the summer, and loves the knowledge and joy she gains from working with children. She began working for us in the spring of 2011 and is pleased to be an after school teacher this year! |
Kitty Dean graduated from Goucher College in 2011 with a BA in Dance, with concentrations in Dance Therapy and Dance History and Criticism, and two minors in Psychology and Communications. Following graduation, Kitty served a three month internship with the Development and Communications offices at Dance/USA in Washington D.C., where she learned all about non-profit organizations and what it feels like to sit in an office building every day. Being a seasoned performer who loves creativity and vibrancy, she decided the office job was not for her. After working as a substitute teacher at Woods Creek Montessori for several months, she decided to pursue a Montessori certification through the Center for Guided Montessori Studies. She believes she has found something kindred within the Montessori philosophy and is loving her new course of study. Kitty is a Lexington native, and though she loves to travel and explore, she is delighted to be back in Lexington working at both Woods Creek Montessori and The Studio for Dance and the Arts. She is so excited to be involved with the Summer Camp as well as After School at Woods Creek Montessori. |
Margaret McClintock is a sophomore at W&L majoring in English or business. She is involved in the Outing Club, Fancy Dress, Pan-Hellenic and her sorority. Margaret will be working with After School this fall. |
Staff Photos: Kevin Remington
