Élan Vital Montessori School

Erin Rice was born and raised in Gahanna, Ohio.  She graduated magna cum laude from Denison University in Granville, Ohio with a B.A. in History and Religion.  During her junior year at Denison, she joined a study abroad program for one semester with Oxford University.  This experience sparked her love of travel and helped to solidify her decision to join the United States Peace Corps.  With the Peace Corps, she volunteered in a small village in Bulgaria for 27 months teaching English.  Upon returning from the Peace Corps, she moved to California where she worked with a Montessori school in Palo Alto as an elementary lead teacher and the elementary curriculum coordinator.  After two and a half years of serving at a school of two hundred students, Erin enjoys the intimate setting of Elan Vital Montessori School.

Katie Guell has six years of experience teaching in a Montessori environment.  She studied Theatre and Dance at Northwestern State University.  When an injury kept her from dancing she started assisting at a Montessori school in New Orleans and fell in love with the Montessori classroom.  She decided to go to training and received her certification from Montessori World Educational Institute.  She relocated to Baton Rouge from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  While she misses New Orleans every day, working at Elan Vital is what has kept her in Baton Rouge. It's an exciting and unique place with a wonderful feeling of community.

Brytanni Lathan’s hometown is Bossier City, Louisiana.  She studied psychology at LSU in Baton Rouge and got her Bachelor’s Degree.  She completed an alternate teacher certification program, LRCE, and is qualified to teach elementary education grades 1-5. She is currently in an LSU Master in Public Administration Program where she will graduate in December 2011.  She is a former cheerleader and tumbling coach for all age groups and loves working with children, traveling, and being with family.

Catherine Lawrence was raised in Baton Rouge.  She graduated magna cum laude from Southeastern Louisiana University with a major in French and a minor in Spanish.  Upon graduating, and after a summer of French studies in Quebec, she began working at Elan

Vital Montessori School as a Primary Lead Teacher and the school’s French Teacher.  She received her AMS Early Childhood certification from Houston Montessori Center and has four years experience teaching in a Montessori environment.  She has always felt drawn to working with children, and after years of other experiences with childcare, feels that her home is with Montessori.

Molly Smith was born and raised in Baton Rouge.  She graduated from LSU in Interdisciplinary Studies with minors in English, Communication Studies, and Sociology.  Her teaching career began in high school and college where she taught theater and art classes, with a focus on painting, to children.  Her interest in teaching further led her to attended Houston Montessori Center where she received an Early Childhood credential. Her hobbies include reading, painting, and spending time with friends and family.

Jennifer Bourgeois grew up in New Orleans.  Coming from a large family of 5 siblings with an even larger extended family, she grew up surrounded with children of all ages.  As a teenager, Jennifer had her first experiences working with small children assisting in the dance classes where she studied ballet, tap and jazz.  She moved to Baton Rouge to further her education at Louisiana State University where she earned a bachelors degree in Mass Communications, Public Relations. After college Jennifer's love for dance pulled her back into the dance studio where she also taught Creative Movement to 3, 4 and 5 year olds.  Jennifer was first introduced to the Montessori method through a long time friend.  After completing her assistant training at Houston Montessori Center she overwhelming felt that Montessori is where she belongs. She served as an assistant in an early childhood classroom for two years and is currently completing her certification to be an Early Childhood Montessori lead teacher. Jennifer also has experience assisting in an Elementary classroom, which has given her a chance to work with children of different ages in a Montessori environment.  Even though her roots are in primary, Jennifer feels at home in an elementary classroom as well.   In her free time, Jennifer practices yoga, runs, reads and plays with her puppy, Millie Boo Boo.  She loves food, family and friends, but not necessarily in that order.

Tracey Duncan was born and raised in Virginia. She has lived all over the eastern corridor, but is a very happy Louisiana transplant. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Anthropology in 2006. After graduation, she moved to Baton Rouge as part of the Teach For America program, for which she taught in the East Baton Rouge Public School System. Her experiences there instilled in her a deep commitment to education. After retiring from TFA, she began her graduate studies in the English Department at LSU. She tried to become a researcher, but found that she was more interested in teaching and writing. She found herself happily immersed in LSU’s Creative Writing program, from whence she attained her MFA. She has been teaching at the university level since 2007. She is thrilled to be back in a classroom full of delightfully curious, intelligent students of a somewhat smaller stature. She did her Montessori training in Elementary Education at the Houston Montessori Center. In her spare time she teaches yoga, plays roller derby, writes, reads a lot, and takes long walks with her BFF Stevie, a Catahoula Cur.

Carmen Myer is a Baton Rouge native. She is a graduate of Baton Rouge Magnet High School and a current Elementary Education major at Louisiana State University. Her first experience with Montessori was as a primary student with Idabelle Burke.  She previously worked in an Early Childhood Center with a Montessori based curriculum as a teaching assistant. Since then Carmen has grown to love learning and cherishes the time she spends teaching children and making learning exciting and interesting for them. Carmen values the sense of community and serves others through a local Girls Club that she has been involved with for the past four years. Carmen was involved in the Talented Drama program in EBR for nine years and was also a part of the EBR Children’s chorus for six years. She hopes to bring her love for the arts into the classroom and to provide a positive learning experience for all children.