Dr. Kym Elder, Ed.D – President, Project Director, Instructor, Lecturer & Presenter. Kym is an instructor for teacher education and school leadership programs and is currently teaching Foundations of Montessori Philosophy (FDN), Observations and Child Development (OBS), Survey of Montessori Curriculum (SMCU), Practical Applications for Administrators (PRAA), and co-teaching Practicum for Educators (PRED). Kym is the founder of Island Village Montessori Charter School and Early Childhood Program as well as founder and program director of Montessori Live. Kym holds a doctorate in instructional technology and distance education and a master’s degree in charter school educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University. She graduated from New College with a BA in general studies and from Pine View High School, both institutions located in Sarasota, Florida. Kym has Florida professional certifications in educational leadership, elementary education (K-6), integrated middle school curriculum (5-9), earth and space science (6-12), exceptional student education (K-12), and English (6-12). Kym earned teaching certificates from the American Montessori Society for the early childhood and elementary levels. Kym is currently an adjunct instructor for Sarasota University and previously was an adjunct instructor for Argosy University.
Dr. Paul Czaja – Instructor, Lecturer, & Presenter. Paul teaches Foundations in Montessori Philosophy (FDN) for all levels. Dr. Czaja has been involved in the Montessori movement for over 45 years. He received his masters degree in philosophy and his doctorate in education from Fordham University. Dr. Czaja was on the founding faculty and, eventually, headmaster at the famous Whitby School and the American Montessori Center in Greenwich, Connecticut from 1960 until 1978. He has been involved in Montessori teacher training for many years, and has worked with Montessori public schools as well as private schools.
Lynn Eremondi, M.A. – Online Instructor. Lynn is an instructor for our Elementary I-II programs and currently teaches: Foundations for Montessori Philosophy (FDN), Big Picture of the Universe (CPBU) and Earth and Human History (CEHS), as well as co-teaching all subjects for our Canadian Elementary I Summer Residency Program. Lynn is a graduate of Montessori Live Elementary I and II programs. She holds a Master’s degree in Montessori Leadership from Sarasota University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts Honors in English and History and Bachelor of Education in Elementary Education from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. She currently teaches lower elementary in Saskatoon, Canada. Lynn taught at the elementary level in traditional elementary schools for a number of years and is certified for K-12 in Saskatchewan. Since 2011, she has taught Montessori at the elementary level at Allegro Montessori School.
Charlene Yvett Kam, MBA – Online and Face-to-Face Instructor. Charlene is an instructor for mathematics for the Early Childhood and Elementary I levels online as well co-teaching all subjects for the Auburn Summer Residency Early Childhood Program. Charlene is a graduate of the Montessori Live Elementary I program and holds a Primary Level overview certificate. She earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with specializations in Management Information Systems and International Business. Charlene graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor’s Degree in chemistry and a minor in biology and secondary education. She received practical training from London Montessori Center and the National Center for Montessori Education for children ages 2 ½ to 6 years old. In 2012, Charlene expanded her home-based preschool to better serve the Auburn community. She is currently the director and educator of Auburn Montessori School, serving children ages 2 ½ to 6 years old. It serves as a practicum site for Auburn University Early Childhood Education Program and visiting site for directors and teachers for area county schools.
Carissa Swiss, M. Ed. – Early Childhood Online Instructor. Carissa is an instructor for all levels and currently teaches Practicum for Educators (PRED), as well as language, history, and geography for the Sarasota Elementary II Summer Residency Program. Carissa also holds an AMS Early Childhood credential from the Adrian Dominican Montessori Teacher Education Institute since 2004. Carissa graduated from the Montessori Live Elementary I and II programs in March and June of 2015 respectively. She has been involved with Montessori Live since 2012. Her background includes a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University and a license to practice architecture. She has a Master of Education with a Montessori Emphasis from Chaminade University of Honolulu, and has been a Montessori educator since 2004. She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her daughters.
Harvey Hallenberg, MA – Face-to-Face Instructor, Lecturer, & Presenter. Harvey teaches mathematics and science for the Elementary II Residency Program in Sarasota, Florida. Harvey Hallenberg has over 40 years of involvement in Montessori education and has worked with secondary programs using the Montessori philosophy since 1981. He was Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies (Elementary Level) at the Barrie School in Silver Spring, MD beginning in 1981, and is Co-founder, with wife Dr. Nancy Hallenberg, of the Claremont School in Annandale, VA in 1986. In 1992, he and his wife co-founded the Claremont Center for Advanced Montessori Studies and Claremont Montessori School in Boca Raton, Florida. The Claremont School enrolls students from 1st grade (6 years old) through high school.
Whelma Thompson, M. Ed. – Face-to-Face Early Childhood Instructor & Presenter. Whelma is certified as a 3-6 Primary Educator and has been a Montessori educator for over 20 years. She has presented Montessori lessons to adults for our Early Childhood Summer Residency program since 2014. She has also presented at New Gate, Center for Montessori Studies. She has a BA in Linguistics and a M. Ed. in elementary education. Whelma is currently the head educator of the lower elementary department at Island Village Montessori School located in Sarasota. Her hobbies include dance, music, travel, and laughter. She strives to walk a spiritual path with practical feet.
Elaine Palmore, MA – Lecturer & Presenter. Elaine obtained her Montessori certification for ages 3 to 6 from MECA-Seton in Hinsdale, IL. Her elementary I level training is from Seacoast Training Center, Sarasota, FL. Elaine earned a BS degree from the University of Tennessee, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. She taught preschool children for 14 years at the Children’s House Montessori School of Nashville, TN. She was also on the staff of Island Village Montessori Charter School in Venice, FL as a teacher for 4 years, and served as principal for one year. She is currently the Director of the Child Development Center at Middle Tennessee State University. Elaine has written articles for two nationally distributed educational publications: Montessori Life and Tomorrow’s Child. She has a booklet in publication, Aftercare in a Montessori School, from her experiences designing and implementing the aftercare and summer programs at the Children’s House.
Monique Czaja, BA – Lecturer & Presenter. Monique has a BA from Bradford College and AMS certifications in Early Childhood and Elementary Levels I and II. She has been a lead lower elementary educator for over 15 years.
Jennifer Ocana, BA – Face-to-Face Instructor. Jennifer has been a Montessori educator for nearly twenty years. She started out at Oak Meadow Montessori in Littleton, Massachusetts, and was very happy there for ten years until the call of the warm Florida sunshine finally became too strong to resist. Jennifer grew up in the Boston area and attended Emerson College. She visited her first Montessori school when her oldest child was still a baby and was completely enamored with the philosophy. She got her elementary certificate from the Seacoast Center and has never even considered working in any other environment. Jennifer has her Florida professional certificate for K-6 elementary and her exceptional student education (ESE) certificate for grades K-12. She has been an educator at Island Village since 2003 and is now the program Director for the kindergarten through high school grades.
Rebecca Brown, AS – Face-to-Face Early Childhood Instructor. Rebecca joined the faculty of Island Village Montessori School in 2014. She received her associate’s degree in early child development from North Central Michigan College and also studied elementary education at Central Michigan University. Rebecca attended Wellspring Montessori Training Program in Chicago and received her Montessori certification in early childhood for ages 3-6 in 2013. Rebecca served as an interim early childhood director and has taught children from toddler to elementary ages in Montessori environments for over 15 years. She is new to the Montessori Live faculty team in 2016 and will be a presenter at our early childhood summer residency program.
Judi Dunlap, M. Ed. – Lecturer & Presenter. Judi Dunlap has been a Montessori educator for 30 years. She is certified in early childhood education by the National Center for Montessori Education and by the American Montessori Society for 6 – 12 elementary. Judi completed her elementary training at the Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies with Harvey Hallenberg. She also holds a Master of Arts in Gifted Education from the University of South Florida. Judi started both the Junior and Senior Elementary programs at Palm Harbor Montessori Academy. She was Elementary Dean at New Gate School in Sarasota for 11 years and most recently Principal of the Key West Montessori Elementary Charter School. Judi currently works as a Montessori teacher trainer and is a Montessori consultant in the Tampa Bay area.
Jenifer Baehr, BS in Business Administration – Registration, Admissions, & Director of Finance. Jenifer joined Montessori Live as the registrar in 2009. She received her Certificate of Paralegal from the Institute of Legal Studies, in 1989 and her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Eastern University in 2014. She worked as a paralegal for over 10 years in Fairfax, Virginia, and managed a privately owned title insurance company. She volunteers as Chairman of the Oversight Committee for the Interlocal Agreement on School Facility Planning for Sarasota County. Her memberships include the National Notary Association, Alpha Sigma Lambda National Honor Society and Eastern University’s Gamma Pi Chapter of the International Business Honor Society, Delta Mu Delta. She brings her many years of business management and finance experience to Montessori Live.
Jim Dunn, MS – Videographer. Jim has a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Computer Science. He has over 30 years experience as a software engineer for Fortune 500 corporations. He currently owns Suncoast Video Productions and has over 10 years experience in videography and video editing. Jim has produced most of the 1,200 video lessons that are an integral part of the Montessori Live online distance learning curriculum.