LOOK WHOSE TALKING!

2023 Presenter
Information

Tina Booth

Tina Booth is the Director of Adolescent Training at Train Montessori. She has worked as an adolescent guide and administrator in public, private, urban, and land-based Montessori adolescent communities since 2001. She is trained at the 6-12 and 12-18 levels and holds a BA in Archaeological Studies from Boston University (MA), and an MA in Anthropology from Northern Arizona University (AZ). She is interested in better understanding issues of equity, inclusion, accessibility, and methods of building resiliency for both children and adults in Montessori environments.

Paige M. Bray, Ed.D.

Director of the Center for Montessori Studies and Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Hartford, Connecticut, USA. She has worked with colleagues, allies and accomplices in community to address systemic inequities for over three decades. Her teaching expertise focuses on the personal “reflexes” and professional identity transitions fostered through dynamic inquiry and the use of meta-cognitive tools with both undergraduate and graduate level pre-service teachers as well as credentialed teachers across the career continuum. An activist for children and families, Dr. Bray’s research is grounded by a community context and consistently emphasizes human capacity as knowledge producers as well as knowledge consumers. Bray is a National Commissioner for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (USA) and an alumna of the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education Program at Harvard University. She earned her B.A. and M.Ed. from Sarah Lawrence College and her Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Bray integrates her research, theory, and practice through the URBAN network by focusing on public scholarship and is helping to develop emerging educational spaces as a co-founder of Planes of Learning.

Bodeene Amyot

Bodeene Amyot is the Digital & Audiovisual Archivist at James Madison University Libraries. Prior to joining JMU, she was the Mukurtu Hub Manager at the University of Oregon Libraries. She earned a BA in History from Carleton University, an M.Ed. from the University of Hartford, and postgraduate certificates in Archival Studies from Louisiana State University and Documentary Production from Algonquin College. She also holds an AMI Primary teaching diploma and a certificate in Information and Library Science. Her passion for ethical curation, epistemic justice, Montessori education, and taxonomies has led her to projects such as the Montessori Glossary Community Project, which she is tremendously grateful to be a part of. Her research interests include community-engaged learning using oral histories, ethically-minded and culturally sustaining digital curation practices, and accessible audiovisual archives.

MIchael waski

After nearly 20 years in the classroom, Michael Waski is now the Director of the Math Institute at Project 41,12 Inc. He has authored three books on Montessori adolescent math instruction. He holds an MA in Educational Administration from CSUSB. Michael has the AMI elementary and adolescent diplomas. He has presented to schools and communities on Montessori adolescent mathematics throughout the world. The Math Institute is a resource for his workshops, books, and original hands-on algebra and geometry materials.

Samson Foster

Sam's 10 years of teaching have run the gamut, from teaching 3-6 year olds with special needs to teaching Montessori Elementary and Middle School. He now teaches high school Computer Science, Robotics, and Culinary Arts at a magical charter in Utah. Sam is a proud member of the trans community.

ROGÉR DiJK

Montessori Trainer at the Montessori Scholengemeenschap Amsterdam: Montessori Mastery Post bachelor Diploma; Montessori Coordinator and trainer for introduction and foundation courses; Teacher at the Pedagogy Department of the University of Applied Science Amsterdam (HvA); Teacher English L2; Coach; Speaker; Generally energetic person with a cosmic vision of life.

Colin Palombi

Colin is the Co-Director of Adolescent Programming at Train Montessori. He has worked with adolescents in both Montessori and non-Montessori environments since 2004. Prior to joining Train, he established and directed the Adolescent Program at Chicago Montessori School (2016 to 2022), and enjoyed working as a humanities, self-expression, and kitchen guide at the Montessori School of Lake Forest (2004 to 2015). He is AMI trained at the 0-3 and 12-18 levels, holds a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (IL) and an M.Ed from Loyola College in Baltimore (MD). He has worked as an advisor and presenter for 12-18 Orientation and Diploma courses in Ohio, Illinois, and Colorado. He loves to collaborate and share his passion for art, music, and the outdoors with adolescents.

Justin Tosco

Justin Tosco is a Montessori administrator with more than ten years of experience in Montessori schools. He’s also a third-generation Montessorian - his mother and grandmother are life-long Montessori teachers.

Justin has elementary and adolescent Montessori credentials. He is a former Emerging Leaders Fellow and current Think Tank Fellow with the American Montessori Society (AMS). He also serves on the board of his state's Montessori advocacy group - the Montessori Association of North Carolina (MANC).

His areas of expertise are Anti-Bias/Anti-Racist practices, technology, and organizational management.

Kristen Francis

Kristen Francis was born in Pennsylvania, USA, graduated from the University of San Francisco with a BA in sociology, and moved to Baja California in 1999. She has been certified as a Children’s House Assistant and Orientation to Adolescent Studies by AMI. In 2016, she opened the Tipai Adolescent Program.

Imani Lovelace

These adolescents attended Butler Montessori in Germantown, Maryland for many years, and in 6th grade they developed their own service organization called Save the Earth Project, or STEP.

Imani Lovelace (she/her); student; Co-Founder of S.T.E.P.

Imani is a 10th grade Humanities Magnet student at Poolesville High School. She is interested in environmental studies, activism and writing. She is excited to tackle the global issue that is climate change and create a better world for our generation.

Grady Garraffa

These adolescents attended Butler Montessori in Germantown, Maryland for many years, and in 6th grade they developed their own service organization called Save the Earth Project, or STEP.

Grady Garraffa (he/him); student; Co-Founder of S.T.E.P.

Grady is a 10th grade student at St. John’s. He is interested in medicine, and likes art and graphic design. In addition, he is very passionate about baseball. He is really happy with how S.T.E.P. has turned out and is very excited to see it progress in the future.

Max Yuen

These adolescents attended Butler Montessori in Germantown, Maryland for many years, and in 6th grade they developed their own service organization called Save the Earth Project, or STEP.

Max Yuen (he/him); student; Co-Founder of S.T.E.P.

Max is a 10th grade student at Gaithersburg High School. He is passionate about helping his community and the rest of the world become more green. His interests include hockey, cooking,
and gaming.

Ken Kamezawa

These adolescents attended Butler Montessori in Germantown, Maryland for many years, and in 6th grade they developed their own service organization called Save the Earth Project, or STEP.

Ken Kamezawa (he/him); student; Co-Founder of S.T.E.P.

Ken is a 10th grade student at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. He is interested in helping his community change and preventing the effect of climate change one step at a time. In
addition, he is interested in many different physical activities such as soccer, swimming, biking, etc.

Alvin Lee

These adolescents attended Butler Montessori in Germantown, Maryland for many years, and in 6th grade they developed their own service organization called Save the Earth Project, or STEP.

Alvin Lee (he/him); student; Co-Founder of S.T.E.P.

Alvin is a 10th grade student at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. He is an aspiring engineer and hopes to create something more green for the world. He wants to help bring awareness and guide people to take action to save the earth.

Jip Bartels

Growing up Jip had the dream of becoming a professional football player. He played in the academy of AFC Ajax and the national youth teams of the Netherlands. That is where he met Ruben and Patrick as well. Aged 16 he signed a professional contract which fulfilled his dream. Unfortunately, he suffered three knee injuries when he was 17, 18 and 19 years old which meant he had to quit his professional career. This experience has motivated him to achieve other goals in life.

He went on to study a Bachelor in organizational sciences (honors) followed by a Masters in Business Administration. He even became Student of the Year at the VU University in 2015. When he finished his Master of Business Administration at the University of Amsterdam in 2017, he joined Ruben and Patrick on their mission with Montessori Sports. He moved to Australia, Melbourne to start Montessori Sports programs. He visited different cities and schools to deliver courses and workshops. On a daily basis he worked with hundreds of children aged 1,5 to 16 at Melbourne Montessori School, introducing them to Montessori Sports programs. Nowadays Jip has returned to Amsterdam to continue the mission with Montessori Sports. He is currently also active at the professional football club FC Volendam whereby he is active for the methodology department.

Jip is an experience youth educator and coach with more than 25 years of experience as a (professional) player. He holds an AMI Administration and AMI Orientation 6 to 12 certificate. 

Patrick Oudejans

Patrick worked at the AFC Ajax Youth Academy from 2012-2016 as a data analyst and is an UEFA licensed youth coach with more than 12 years of coaching experience with children in the ages from 3 till 16.

Patrick is a creative and optimistic individual that is passionate about education and entrepreneurship, able to connect and reach out to different generations. He loves the process from creation to improvement and refinement. With products as well as with people.
 
Furthermore, he strongly believes that human connection is the core of everything we do and why we are here on earth.

In 2018 he founded Montessori Sports and moved to Beijing, China, from where he set up various Montessori Sports programmes in the Asia-Pacific region. He is specialized in creating environments with room for constant changes and improvements, based on the individual needs of children.

Besides working for Montessori Sports he is also active at the FC Volendam academy as the methodology coordinator and manager of the 6 to 12 age group. 

Patrick holds a honors bachelor degree (Bsc) in Sports, Management and Business at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
He is in training for the AMI 3-6 Diploma Course.

Ruben Jongkind

James Alexander Lawrence

James Alexander Lawrence is a professional footballer who currently plays for German club Nürnberg. Born in England, he plays for the Wales national team. Lawrence has previously played for St. Pauli, Anderlecht, AS Trenčín and youth teams at Arsenal, Queens Park Rangers, Sparta Rotterdam and AFC Ajax.

James has a journey that started on the grounds of Montessori education. Hailing from London, Jamie's path to success began with his early years at Maria Montessori School (MMI) in Hampstead Heath, where he experienced the freedom of movement and the autonomy to structure his own day. Later, he continued his Montessori education at the Elementary school in Hampstead, where the values of self-discipline, intrinsic motivation, equality, and justice were deeply ingrained.

These Montessori-imbued life skills have been instrumental in Jamie's football career. The self-discipline and motivation instilled in him have played a crucial role in maintaining his body at the highest level of professional sports. Whether it's managing his diet, sleep, or overall fitness, the discipline he learned in Montessori has been a cornerstone of his success. Furthermore, his ability to empathize and form bonds with teammates has created a strong sense of community within his teams, and he actively contributes to the development of younger players, reflecting the peer-to-peer learning ethos of Montessori.

His career, marked by setbacks and challenges, serves as a testament to the importance of unwavering determination. From renowned academies like Arsenal and Ajax to representing his country on the international stage, James' journey exemplifies the rewards of resolute dedication to one's dreams.