Educators - amstch

All teachers have completed all necessary trainings including CPR, references, Medical Report, Child Abuse and Neglect registry, and background checks to be in compliance with Alabama Dpt of Human Resources, Child Care Division.

Teachers listed in order of length of employment at Auburn Montessori School:

Charlene Kam, Founder/ Director/Lead Educator set 1997 Contact information: tel/text 334-740-6192, email: amstchori@gmail.com
Preferred name: Charlene
Personal pronouns: she/her
Hours: 7:45 am – 1:00 pm / 6:00pm when needed
Education: B.S. Chemistry, Minors in Biology and Secondary Education University of Miami 1993, Masters in Business Administration 1995.
Length of time in teaching: 22 years.
Continued Education hours: Over 250 hrs
AL DHR training: AL Early Learning Guidelines 2019
Montessori training: Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) Early Childhood Level 1998, Elementary Level 1 Diploma 2012.
Intention: To continue her work here at Auburn Montessori School, keeping true to the Montessori philosophy to cultivate a desire to learn in ever changing diverse environments.

Personal Statement:

Mrs. Charlene Kam was born in Trinidad and Tobago. She moved to U.S.A. in 1989 to attend college. Mrs. Kam graduated from the University of Miami in 1993 with a BA in chemistry and a minor in biology and secondary education. She returned to the University of Miami graduating in 1996 with a Masters in Business Administration with specializations in Management Information Systems and International Business. She moved to Auburn, AL in 1997 and founded The Children’s House.

Mrs. Kam has received certification from the London Montessori Center, stating that she has attended the Montessori practical workshop for children 2 ½ to 6 years of age. She completed her practical primary training in 1998 from National Center for Montessori Education. She served as a mentor to trainees for the Child Care Resource Center’s (CCRC) entry level training for new center staff, Introduction to Child Care. She was president of the Lee County Family Child Care Providers during 1998– 2001, president of Parish Council for St. Michael’s Catholic Church from 2012-2014, founder of Anawim Uganda, a non-profit organization providing used soccer gear from local soccer clubs to communities in Uganda. Mrs. Kam holds a Montessori Elementary Level 1 Diploma with MACTE accredited training program, MontessoriLive Training Center. She happily joined the staff of Montessori Live September 2014, offering online instruction in Montessori Math.

Facilitating the community with opportunities to learn more about Montessori Education, Mrs. Kam guest lectures and provides Auburn University Early Childhood Education program with an of-site location to perform supervised student-teacher observations, research, and development of curriculum for outreach in Africa, China and locally. Mrs Kam has developed a parent community that contributes by providing cultural, career, and life history presentations. Mrs Kam has been credited with creating and sustaining a welcoming school community where parents are involved in improving the Natural Playground for their children. Over the past 4 years, she has coordinated spring and summer projects that included the construction of the outdoor performance area, a deck, vegetable garden, and playground equipment. In 2012, Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education has used the facility to educate its Alabama First Class PreK teachers/Directors on Natural Playgrounds in Preschool Education.

2. Name: Susan Harper
Preferred name: Susan
Personal pronouns: she/her
Employed at Auburn Montessori School: 8-1-2013 Position: Morning Lead Educator
Hours: 7:00 am – 11:30 am/ 2:00pm when needed
Education: BA Studio Art, University of Alabama at Birmingham,1982.
MA Management of Nonprofit Organizations, University of Georgia, Athens,GA. 2006 Length of time in teaching: 30 years. Continued Education: Over 250 hrs
AL DHR training: AL Early Learning Guidelines 2019
Montessori training: American Montessori Society (AMS) Elementary Levels I and II 1999, Pan American Montessori Society (PAMS) Primary Level 2002.
Intention: To continue her work here at Auburn Montessori School

Arctic Animals

Personal Statement:

After working with children for 37 years, Susan Harper joins the staff at Auburn Montessori School-The Children’s House. Susan grew up in a military family. She attended nine schools in twelve years.

Susan has a Bachelors degree in Studio Art from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Susan later owned and operated an art gallery in the East Village, New York and worked at the Third Street Music School Settlement in a program focused on teaching young children through the arts based on a Montessori model.

Under the guidance and mentorship of Dr. Feland Meadows, Susan received her Montessori certificate from Pan American Montessori Society (PAMS), in Atlanta Georgia in 1995. She later took her American Montessori Society training at NCCMTE (North Carolina Center for Montessori Teacher Education) for students six to twelve years of age. During this time she pursued and completed her Masters degree in the Management of Nonprofit Organizations with a concentration in Educational Psychology. She worked at Athens Montessori School for eleven years and as a Montessori teacher trainer for PAMS, Institute for Guided Studies (Camden, SC), and Montessori Teacher Institute (Athens, GA) before she and her family moved to Auburn.

In January 2009, Susan joined The Village School, which she later led to become Village Montessori School. She led this school for two and a half years before being offered the opportunity to help guide a brand new school, Montessori School at Hampstead, in Montgomery in 2011. After two successful years in Montgomery, Susan returns to Auburn. She is returning to her preschool roots, ready to observe and promote student development and independence, allowing each child to explore the prepared environment and to make discoveries that lead to fulfilling his or her innate potential.

3. Name: Sam Price

Preferred name: Sam
Personal pronouns: he, him, his
Employed at Auburn Montessori School: 8-1-2016 Position: Afternoon Lead Teacher
Hours: 1:00pm – 5:45 pm
Education: B.S. Auburn University 2016
Length of time in child care: 3 years.
Continued Education: 40 hrs
AL DHR training: AL Early Learning Guidelines 2019 Montessori training: 80 hours residency
Intention: To facilitate a sustainability community center

4. Name: Subhalina Saraswati

Preferred name: Subha Personal pronouns: she/her
Employed at Auburn Montessori School: 8-1-2018 Position: Assistant teacher
Hours: 7:15 am – 2:30 pm
Education: Completed equivalent of college in India. Length of time in child care: 1 year. Continued Education: 40 hrs
AL DHR training: AL Early Learning Guidelines 2019 Montessori training: 80 hours residency
Intention: To pursue Montessori certificate.

Personal Statement:

I grew up in a small town Midnapore, West Bengal India. I accompanied my husband during his studies in Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma during 2008-2011. Later, we moved to Gaithersburg, Marylandand with God’s grace, I become mother of two children during 2012-2017 (Riona andRiyan). In 2017 we moved here at Auburn, Alabama. Click here to view Subha portfolio

5. Name: Sehrish Gul

Preferred name: Ms Seherish
Personal pronouns: she/her
Employed at Auburn Montessori School: 8-1-2018 Position: Assistant Teacher
Hours: 11:00am – 5:45 pm
Education: BA University of Sindh Pakistan. Primary Teaching Course (PTC) Government College Length of time in child care: 14 years.
Continued Education: 72hrs
AL DHR training: AL Early Learning Guidelines 2019
Montessori training: inservice training
Intention: wants to open a restaurant

6. Name: Dong Shang

Preferred name: Ms Dong
Personal pronouns: she/her
Employed at Auburn Montessori School: 8-1-2013 Position: Chinese Teacher
Hours: 8:30 – 9:30, 1 day/wk
Preferred pronouns: she, her, hers
Education: B.S. Art degree at Tsinghua University, Beijing China Length of time in teaching: 30 years Continued Education:
Intention: To continue Chinese education at Auburn Montessori School.

7. Name: Billye Welburn

Preferred name: Billye/Mx Billye
Personal pronouns: they, them, theirs
Employed at Auburn Montessori School: 3-1-2019 Position: Assistant teacher in training
Hours: 7:00am – 11:00am, M-F
Education: B.S. Industrial and Systems Engineering, Auburn University, December 2012. Length of time in child care: 8 years as a babysitter, 5 years as Sunday morning coteacher Continued Education:
AL DHR training: AL Early Learning Guidelines 2019
Intention: To participate in 80 hrs Montessori Residency training

8. Lame: Laura Griffin Preferred name: Laura Personal pronouns: she/her Employed at Auburn Montessori School: 8-1-2018 Position: Assistant teacher in training Hours: 4 pm – 5 pm 4 days/wk Education: Auburn High School, anticipated graduation May 2020. Length of time in child care: baby sitting – 5 years Continued Education: AL DHR training: AL Early Learning Guidelines 2019 Accepted to University of Montevallo

9. Name: Rashmi GC
Preferred name: Rashmi
Personal pronouns: she/her
Position: Afternoon Physical Education teacher Hours: 3 days/wk 2:00 pm-5:00pm Education: Masters in Physical Thearapy India
Length of time in child care: 4 years
Continued Education: multiple trainings: certified to work with disabled, elderly, pediatrics. Intention: To pursue teaching position at Auburn Montessori School

10. Name: Yvonne McGinty
Preferred name: Yvonne
Personal pronouns: she/her
Employed at Auburn Montessori School: 8-1-2014 Position: Substitute teacher
Hours: 8:00am
Education: BA University of Alabama 1991 Length of time in child care: 12 years Continued Education: 40 hrs Montessori training: 80 hours residency Al DHR training: pursuing

Personal Statement:

Middle School and Upper Elementary Co– DirectressYvonne McGinty is delighted to be a part of Montessori at Hampstead since its inception over two years ago. She first became intrigued with the Montessori Method and Philosophy when her oldest son Allen, now 18, attended Montessori School in Connecticut.

She has pursued a variety of career paths since graduating from the University of Alabama with a BS in Political Science and minors in Business and French. Her French language studies afforded her the opportunity to study at L’Universite d’Aix en Provence and backpack throughout Europe. This particular experience instilled an early love for experiential learning and a love for diverse cultures. Since marrying Charlie 21 years ago, she has worked and lived in Washington, DC, Memphis, TN., Richmond, VA., West Simsbury, CT., Atlanta and most currently Auburn, Alabama. She started her career in politics working for former US Congressman Bill Dickinson (now deceased) in his Washington office. From politics she moved to a marketing role at both The Travelers Insurance and Reflexite North America. While working at Reflexite North America she had the exhilarating experience of attending Parsons School of Design in NYC to study Design Marketing. While in Atlanta she started a home based personalized gift business and really enjoyed running her own small business.

It is this varied path that she believes has led her to study Montessori education and the desire to become a Montessori guide. The thought of preparing an environment and utilizing our already naturally prepared outdoor environment to entice children to learn, explore and reach their full potential is a thrilling calling. She is currently seeking her lower and upper elementary certification from The Center for Guided Montessori Studies in Sarasota , Florida. She is particularly interested in the integration of experiential and nature based learning into her classroom as well as her current studies.