Meet Our Faculty
Infants
How do you want children to feel in your classroom: Secure, trusted and having a sense of belonging and ownership.
What is your best Saturday morning: Sleeping til I wake up, going back to sleep until I wake up again, then reading or puttering around the house while sipping coffee.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? ECE credits and 7 years of teaching.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? Happy, loved, well cared for and safe.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Probably relaxing on the couch with my dog lilo and my husband watching Disney plus or hbo max.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? Washington State Short Certificate in Early Childhood Education and decades of experience.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? Safe and happy, loved.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Watching movie and sleeping.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I have an associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education and have acquired certificates for infant/toddler care and education as well as preschool care and education. I have previous experience working with infants and toddlers as well as at-risk children experiencing social disarray. I have a special interest in and passion for the social and emotional development of very young children and supporting secure attachment with significant adults in their lives. My training has been focused on child-centered, process-based creative learning. Overall, I have been working in the Early Childhood Field for 10 years.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I strive for my classroom to be a calming environment where children can feel safe, secure, supported and free to express themselves emotionally and physically in a developmentally appropriate way. I want the children and their families that I work with to feel represented and acknowledged in the classroom whether that be through books, pictures, music, or other classroom materials. It’s important to me that children see themselves and their peers as strong, creative, capable, happy and connected human beings.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Sleeping in, making a nice brunch at home and drinking an ice cold Red Bull Italian Soda, then watching one of my favorite shows. If it’s a warm sunny Seattle day, then ideally I’d be out and finding some water to play in!
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want children to feel like they can express themselves and explore their environment with no boundaries. I want them to feel loved and that they can show their true emotions!
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? A lazy wake up! I would love to make breakfast and sit and watch the news with my cat, Lou!
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I studied child development and planning activities in High School. I began teaching in an ECE classroom in the start of 2021, working my way through preschool, toddler, and infant classrooms. I am currently in the Bachelor’s program at North Seattle College to obtain my degree in Early Childhood Education and aspire to be a classroom environment coach within this field.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want my class to be a place they can feel absolutely comfortable; I want to provide a space that has intention as well as open ended exploration. My classroom will always be a safe place for children to express themselves freely and confidently. We are only with them a short time, but I want the impact of my classroom to last a lifetime.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? My best Saturday morning looks like sleeping in with my dogs, then heading out to get some of my favorite food. I love to explore new foods and restaurants so I love to eat my way through the weekend.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want the children in my classroom to feel safe, loved, and welcomed. What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Food, a walk, time outside with my kids and friends/family.
Favorite/Touchstone quote: Every Day Is a Good Day
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I have an early childhood certificate. For me personally, working with children is very rewarding, from seeing them grow and learning each and every day, including learning to take their first steps, walking, and talking.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want for every child to feel welcome, safe, loved, accepted, respected, included and most importantly their needs will be met.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Sleeping in, having that first cup of hot coffee, spending time with my family &
friends & dancing to music.
Favorite/Touchstone Quote: “We deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame, and without compromise.” -Elliot Page
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I have a BA in Psychology from Seattle University. I have experience working with children from infants to elementary schoolers. I plan on attending a graduate program and becoming a LMHC for children and adolescents in the future.
How do you want children to feel at Hutch Kids? I want children to feel that they are in a safe space and that they are always loved and cared for. I aim to encourage self-expression and learning through creativity.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? My best Saturday morning would look like sleeping in, saying good morning to my dog, and relaxing with my partner!
Waddlers
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I have been employed with the Hutch Kids family for almost 14 years. I have been in the early learning profession for over 28 years. Along with experience, I completed Early Childhood Education courses at Alabama State University and obtained my Early Childhood Education Certification from North Seattle College. I will pursue my Early Childhood Education state certification from Bates Technical College in the Fall.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want children to feel loved, welcomed, safe, supported and included in my classroom.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? On Saturday mornings, I enjoy listening to music, reading, watching cooking shows and Thrift shopping.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I have an Associate degree in early childhood education and 18 years of experience in early learning centers.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? To feel welcome and the ability to explore learning.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Taking walks around my neighborhood in South lake union.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? Initial/Short certificate specializing in Early Childhood Education – Infants and Toddlers, with 32 years experience, the last 20 being here at Hutch Kids.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? A favorite place to come explore and discover new experiences about their world. I want the classroom to feel like an extension of their happy home. Where they feel loved and accepted. Where compassion and understanding await in the arms of a hug. A sense that they belong here, and that they are an important part of what makes up their group.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? The best Saturday morning would consist of my whole family and all my friends joining me in a sing-along of inspirational songs while my husband plays piano by ear. Then, I would serve up an amazing brunch of beloved comfort-style foods. Yum!
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I have a B.A. in Psychology, a M.S. in Child and Family Studies and have experience in the early childhood education field for over a decade.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? Valued, respected, understood, safe, and loved.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Adventuring with my dog and then brunch with friends.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I’ve been teaching for 3 years within the ages of 6months to 5 years old.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? Welcomed, loved, heard, respected and safe.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Cup of coffee and bagel at Cherry Hill or brunch at Odd Fellows followed up with a visit to Elliot Bay Bookstore.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? Experience working with all ages for the past 14 yrs, Bachelors degree in Education.
How do you want children to feel at Hutch Kids? I want kids to feel happy, supported and strong.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Sleeping in, having a cup of coffee, watching my favorite show and snuggling with my dog
Toddlers
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? State Certificate in Early Childhood Education, Bachelor’s in Communications, M.S. in Early Childhood Services
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want all children to know that they are welcomed and loved in the classroom.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? My best Saturday would be waking up early, eating a delicious breakfast, and partaking in my favorite hobbies.
Favorite/Touchstone quote: “The mountains are calling and I must go” John Muir
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I am from a huge family, surrounded by nieces and nephews and spent a number of years working as a nanny with children of all ages!
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I hope to encourage an engaging and fun learning experience for everyone!
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? A nice cup of coffee a good book and a fun hiking or biking adventure planned for the day!
Favorite/Touchstone quote: “I’m just an outline of what I used to be constantly evolving, steadily evolving.”
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I’ve worked in an early childhood development center for the last 4 months. I have my cpr and first aid certification also with infants. I also have my blood borne pathogens training. Here are my other traings and certifications; 30 hour STARS training and 10 hour continued STARS training; Cleared Portable Background Check; Food handler permit; Safe Sleep; Mandated Reporter; Disaster & Emergency Preparedness; Abusive head trauma; Families Experiencing Homelessness; Medication Management.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want them to feel safe and comfortable. I want them to feel loved and welcomed as well. I want it to be their safe place.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? The best Saturday morning for me is laying in bed for a little bit with my partner and being lazy and then us having breakfast and then us going to the farmers market.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I have been teaching at Hutch Kids for over 30 years now. I have taught infants Waddler I and preschool in my time at Hut Kids. I have a AA degree in early childhood education and a BA in Child Development.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want children to feel welcome , safe, supported and loved in my classroom.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Sleeping in, having a nice breakfast and reading a good book or taking a walk on a beach.
Favorite quote: “It’s never too late to begin again.”
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? In our classroom I want our children to feel cared for, safe. and empowered.
What does your best Saturday morning look like? Doing my morning reading while sipping hot chocolate, household chores, and errands around town.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? Babysit my siblings and my friends’ children and my family friends’ nieces. Completed 30 plus hours of training required by DCYF.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? Safe, happy, protected and understood.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Listening to music and reading a book and hanging out with family
Young Preschool
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want my children to feel valued and comfortable to express themselves in a safe and loving environment.
What are your credentials /past experience for working in your position? I have had the pleasure of being a Sunday school teacher and enjoyed volunteering at Peace Camp where I provided workshops. I have been an assistant teacher at Hutch Kids.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? Happy to be there, supported and safe.
What does your best Saturday morning look like? Sleeping in, having a nice brunch and enjoying a walk around a farmers market.
Favorite/Touchstone Quote: “Surrender to surprise”
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I have worked in Early Childhood Education for five years
How do you want children to feel at Hutch Kids? I want children to feel safe, and well cared for. I also want children to feel a sense of independence in their learning.
What does your best Saturday morning look like? Home brewed coffee, and a walk to Volunteer Park on a crisp morning.
Preschool
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? Owner/operator of my own in-home center for 25 years. Worked at 4 different centers ranging from being an assistant teacher, lead teacher, stand in director, program coordinator, and anything else that has been needed. I raised 4 children, homeschooled them for a chunk of their childhood, I have 12 grandchildren, AA in ECE in 2008.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? Welcome and free to explore; somewhere where they will not be told “no” but let’s do it another way I want them to feel: comfortable enough to be able to say goodbye to their parents, like they are our whole world, comfortable enough to try new things and confident enough to practice until they master the skill. I want them to feel excited to learn and I do this by showing my excitement and awe of our world and the things in it. I want them to feel like their curiosity of learning will be meaningful with the information they are seeking and how excited I am to watch them discover new things.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Getting up early and heading off into nature where there isn’t any cement only to plop myself down in a creek to look for Carnelians/petrified wood. Or maybe up to Hansen Creek, which isn’t a creek, to look for quartz/amethyst crystals. I also love to go look for beach agates. To make it my best Saturday, I would not have to rush home to get something done, I would want the entire day to enjoy and recoup!
Favorite/Touchstone quote: Not all those who wander are lost -JRR Tolkien
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? Leah combines a B.A. in Drama (Performance) and B.S. in Biology (Ecology, Evolution and Conservation) with an M.Ed. in Curriculum Instruction, all from the University of Washington. She’s been teaching since the age of 14. Her experience with the 5-and-under group of kids includes art, gymnastics, martial arts, chronic illness management, and botany. She lectures at the postsecondary level on trauma-informed teaching and validation.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I hope kids in my care will feel safe and supported enough in a warm and secure environment to tap into their own interests as natural scientists and storytellers.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Walking the botanical gardens then to the dojo for Quantum Martial Arts.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I have been teaching for the past ten years, working with kids anywhere from age two to high school programs. I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was a kid; it’s an honor to live out that dream every day, and to have impacted so many lives throughout the years.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want the children in my classroom to feel safe, listened to, heard, understood, empowered, and loved.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? My best Saturday morning is cooking a decadent breakfast with my partner (James,) getting cozy on the couch with our two cats (Gemma and Pepper,) followed by a nice, mountainous hike to round out the morning. Cats, views, and brews are the tent poles of my weekend!
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? This will be my fourth school year in the rainforest classroom. I have a B.S in Zoology and am currently pursuing my Masters in Early Childhood Education. I have a background as an outdoor educator and worked at a Nature center for several years while teaching a wide variety of ages, including adults! When I first moved to Seattle I worked at Woodland Park Zoo with their summer camps and that’s where I first heard about Hutch Kids. I’ve been a teacher here for the past 5 years now and have worked in the infant room, toddler room, and have found my teaching home in the rainforest classroom.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want children to be able to tell us who they are, show up as themselves, and not only have them feel supported but celebrated. The first five years are such a crucial time in early child development because they are taking in so much information about the world and working through how they fit in with it all. They’re learning how to be people, so I want them to experience what an educational space should feel like so they will never settle for less. We do our best to foster community and ask open questions to encourage exploration and we are constantly amazed at how much these kids already have figured out.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Coffee, a delicious breakfast, and if the weather permits a nice walk around my neighborhood.
Credentials: I have had experience as an assistant and support staff over the course of my 17 years at Hutch Kids and my Child Development Associate certification.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I would like children to feel safe and well cared for in the classroom with me.
Favorite way to spend Saturday morning: Coffee and classical music.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I have worked in the early childhood education field for over 20 years. I currently hold a BAS in Early Childhood Education from North Seattle College.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? My hope is that when children enter our classroom they feel welcome, represented, understood, supported, and safe. I want them to feel that our space is a secure environment where they can take risks, accept challenges, and make mistakes. I like to provide a space that encourages children to express and explore their natural curiosities and offers them a place for them to display their learning and development.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? My best Saturday morning looks like waking up naturally, without the blaring sounds of cell phone alarms, then snuggling into my fiancé’s arms. A delicious homemade breakfast comes next, usually consisting of a healthy serving of biscuits and gravy. Then, after the required “settling of the food” occurs, it’s on to facing the day’s tasks. A nice slow start on Saturday mornings really sets the tone for the rest of the weekend.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want children in my classroom to feel excited about learning as well as safe to be themselves.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? My best Saturday morning looks like sleeping in and eating a giant breakfast!
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I obtained my bachelor’s degree in speech language pathology from the University of the Philippines Manila and worked as a speech therapist for 7+ years with children with developmental needs and communication disorders, focusing on early intervention and inclusion in the Philippines. I also worked as a lead toddler teacher for a little more than a year before joining Hutch Kids.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? Safe, accepted, loved, and appreciated as individuals and as a member of the community.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Slow mornings with a cup of coffee and breakfast with my husband.
Enrichment
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? 9+ years ECE Teaching Experience. 5+ years of Pre-K Summer Camp Director Experience. 2+ years PE Enrichment Teaching Experience. 2+ years NASM Certified Personal Trainer. Youth Exercise Specialist Certification.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? Safe – to explore their environment and express themselves. Confident – in their abilities to try tasks on their own and ask for help when needed. Encouraged – to take on challenges, try new things, and ask questions for better understanding. Inspired – to explore their own creativity and ways of thinking/moving Loved – For who they are, no matter their choices. Their teachers will lead with love and understanding. Supported – along all the steps in their social, emotional, cognitive and physical learning journey. Challenged – To continue growing and not see limits to their abilities
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Sunrise yoga on the beach (or near water) with jazz playing in at least 65 degrees. Then morning basketball and brunch with friends afterward.
How do you want children to learn in your classroom? Like all teachers I have my favorite constructs as ways to activate best play-to-learn practice. Mine is music, language, art and science. I sing and play the autoharp. I have been a long-time storyteller and I love being messy and playing with all sorts of stuff. Early childhood teachers have always been STEAM.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? I have a garden and most of it sits on a hill, but mostly I am a garden volunteer interested in helping other people and fascinated with things that grow; how to share and make it happen.
Support
Favorite/Touchstone quote: “If you don’t attack your heart, your heart won’t attack you back.”
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? We have a Medical Centre back in our village for women and children and I was in charge of taking care of the toddlers and am completing the 30+ hours of required training.
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? I want them to feel secure, comfortable, and make them feel like they can share their feelings. Overall they should feel safe.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? On my best Saturday morning l watch my favorite TV shows and movies, spending time with my family.
Favorite/Touchstone quote? “Logic will get you from A to B; imagination will take you everywhere.” –Albert Einstein
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? WA State Early Childhood Education certificate and 36 years’ experience, almost 18 of those at Hutch Kids
How do you want children to feel in your classroom? Safe, happy, engaged
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Sleep as late as I want with no obligations.
Favorite/Touchstone Quote: “If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello” by Paulo Coelho
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? I’ve got my AA in psychology, currently working on getting my ECE and I’ve been a junior teacher ages 2-3 for the past 3 years.
How do you want children to feel at Hutch Kids? I want children to feel happy, safe and confident here at Hutch Kids. Ready to learn and play.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? My best Saturday morning would be to wake up to the sound of Seattle’s infamous rain. With crepes and chai tea for breakfast.
What are your credentials/past experience, for working in your position? Kitchen and Teacher support staff, babysitter/nanny; First Aid CPR AED certified (including child & infant CPR).
How do you want children to feel at Hutch Kids? I want the children to feel happy, loved, understood and supported.
What’s your best Saturday morning look like? Watering my plants or packing up for an outdoor trip.
