The Rainbow Mountain Preschool Staff
Judith Beers, Preschool Lead Teacher
Judith Beers has been teaching in preschools for more than 26 years and over 15 years teaching at Rainbow Mountain. Judith has been in the role of Preschool Director for over four years. She has a Bachelors Degree in Speech and Hearing and has her Montessori Teaching Credential for ages 3 through 6.
Judith started her career as a speech therapist but fell in love with early childhood education while visiting friends who had a preschooler. She was captivated by the enthusiasm and open-heartedness of their lively 3-year-old child. Wanting more of this “magic” in her life, Judith went on to pursue Montessori training.
Many years later, Judith still delights in her students energy and enthusiasm. She loves helping them explore and name their feelings, and she encourages them to use their words in daily interactions with peers and adults. Judith works very hard to create a classroom that supports clear and intentional communication. She enjoys watching her students develop their communication skills and learn to solve their own problems.
Judith’s favorite time of day is circle time, when everyone gathers to share and learn in community. But, she knows that much of her students’ learning occurs organically during unexpected moments throughout the day. This realization helps keep her grounded in the present as it unfolds with all of its surprises and mysteries.
When she is not in the classroom, Judith loves to dance, garden, sew, hike, make books, stretch, nap and read. She also likes to make (and drink) homemade chai and is the proud mom of Grace, a 20-something-year-old political activist who is currently living in Brooklyn, NY.
Jessy Decker Tickle, Preschool Lead Teacher
Jessy Tickle has been teaching preschool at Rainbow Mountain for more than 14 years and received her early childhood certification in 2011. She studied art and education for 3 years at Warren Wilson College, and she has taken courses in early childhood education at Western Carolina University and AB Tech Community College.
As a child, Jessy always envisioned herself as a teacher but also loved artistic expression. When she first went to college, she felt torn between education and art. Education eventually won out when a friend suggested that teaching at Rainbow Mountain would be a great way to pursue both loves.
Jessy is passionate about helping her children articulate their needs, think for themselves and make wise community-based choices. She believes this approach gives her students the gift of clear and respectful communication; a gift that they can use throughout their lives.
Her favorite time of day is centering, when students are invited to offer appreciations for each other. She loves watching individual children progress from shyness to superficial compliments to genuine recognitions of their classmates strengths and kindness. Jessy also enjoys their morning yoga time.
When Jessy is not sharing art, stories, bubbles and hugs with her children, she grabs her favorite dance partner, her husband, and they swing, tango, waltz, zydeco, and salsa. Jessy also loves bookmaking, drawing, rubber-stamping, photography, reading, collecting faeries and playing with her two crazy cats.
Jessica Redford, Preschool Lead Teacher
Jessica Redford has a background in Montessori-based learning, and her credentials in early education. She also received a BA in Fine Art from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Jessica inherited a lifelong love of learning from her mother. “She taught me that the world is a wonderful, complicated and mysterious place and that you can’t just look at it once – or even a hundred times – and know it.” Already familiar with RMCS, Jessica was thrilled when the opportunity to join the community presented itself. “There is such a rich reserve of talented staff and parents here, and so much generosity at every turn.”
Jessica strives to make every child feel safe and loved in her classroom. She makes it a point to take the time to talk to – and connect with – each child personally when she first sees them in the morning. She embraces the idea that each child learns differently, especially at this early age, and is always looking for opportunities to encourage their exploration, and build their self-confidence. Jessica also enjoys sharing different world cultures with them through stories, myths, and celebrations. She believes in honoring the natural world around us, and encouraging a reverence for all life.
Jessica has a great love for the arts, and enjoys celebrating the creative impulse in the classroom. Her students learn about artists who have changed the world, and who struggled ceaselessly to share their point of view. They also learn “that we are all artists in the way we see and interpret our world.” Jessica’s own creative energy is always flowing, and ready to be tapped.
When she’s not in the classroom, Jessica loves to paint and create collages. She also enjoys reading and writing – both on her own and with her family. Jessica and Joe”s daughter, Harmony, is an elementary student at Rainbow Mountain.
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Molly Sternberg, Preschool After-School Lead Teacher
Since she was a Kindergarten student, Molly Sternberg has wanted to be a teacher; there’s never been any question about it. Likewise, Molly has always gravitated toward alternative education and schools that employ methods such as Waldorf and Montessori. This is what eventually led her to Rainbow Mountain after earning her Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education from Warren Wilson College.
Working on a very personal level with children is of utmost importance to Molly. She loves teaching preschool age children because of their innocence and openness to wonder. She enjoys helping them to hold onto wonder and to mold it as they begin their formal education journey. Molly believes it’s her duty to help them get off on the right foot so that true learning may take place when they reach Kindergarten and their lower elementary years.
New to Rainbow Mountain this year, Molly has been impressed by how welcoming the Rainbow community has been. She finds her fellow teachers inspiring, not only for their teaching expertise, but for commitment to self-governance. Molly is also pleased by the high involvement of Rainbow Mountain parents, who volunteer and whose input is valued.
Molly’s favorite part of the day is leading Circle Time in preschool after-school. It’s a special time for nurturing the spiritual domain of her students by helping them to respect themselves and others, to share their interests and to celebrate their intelligence. Molly loves sharing the affirmation, “I am safe, I am loved, I am confident” with her preschoolers. Other favorite moments come during recess, when Molly encourages students to explore the beauty of the natural world, and at nap time, when she and the preschoolers have sweet, personal time together. It’s often the little things they say when she rubs their backs that are the reason Molly leaves school smiling every day.
In addition to sharing stories, leading yoga and teaching her preschoolers self-massage, Molly works on her certification program to become a post-partum doula. She also enjoys gardening, traveling and photography.
