<h2 id="butterfly_staff">Butterfly Cottage</h2> ###Carolann Zinda and Emilie Machon### ![alt text][1] **Carolann** first saw the beauty of Montessori through the eyes of a child: her niece was in a Children's House classroom, and Carolann was captivated by the Montessori approach. She spent a year in the classroom as an assistant and knew this was what she was meant to do. She completed her primary training at the Montessori Institute Northwest in 1991 and taught in Liberty Lake, Washington, before starting her own family and then joining Sunstone. Bringing more than a decade of Montessori experience to the Butterfly Cottage, Carolann's warmth and graciousness fill the classroom with a special ambience. She brings enthusiasm, energy, and love for the children to the rich learning environment she has created. A Montessori parent of two, Carolann's daughter, Sophie, and son, Max, have both enjoyed many years of Montessori classrooms. Carolann is a Portland native and enjoys walking, gardening, the Oregon coast, and spending time with her family cooking, hiking, and playing together. <h2 id="sunflower_staff">Sunflower Cottage</h2> ###Anna Varnelius and Carrie Caffee-Martin### ![alt text][2] **Anna** was first introduced to Montessori education as an assistant in a Children's House in California. This experience gave her inspiration to pursue her Montessori teacher training. After completing a fine arts degree in sculpture and ceramics at California State University of Chico, she moved her family to Portland to complete her AMI training at the Montessori Institute Northwest. She also received her Master's degree in education from Loyola University. Anna has been the guide in the Sunflower Cottage since 2004. Her gentle, calm spirit and passion for her work bring a wonderful sense of joy to the classroom. Anna and her husband, Clif, live in southeast Portland with their adventurous son, Tarquin. They share their time together mountain biking, kayaking, cooking, baking, and spending time with their golden retriever, iguana, and African spurred tortoise. In her spare time, Anna enjoys yoga, the arts, and the great outdoors. <h2 id="elephant_staff">Elephant Cottage</h2> ###Monica Wright and Emma Pribnow### ![alt text][3]**Monica** holds a B.A. in landscape architecture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. She worked as a landscape architect before coming to Portland to earn her AMI Children's House diploma from the Montessori Institute Northwest. She is the mother of two children in the Children's House and Elementary programs at Sunstone. Monica has worked at Sunstone as a classroom assistant, before and aftercare provider, and in-house substitute for the last two years, honing her skills with groups of children, developing relationships with families, and observing and working with experienced guides in beautiful and harmonious classrooms. She has continued her professional development while at Sunstone, attending numerous workshops and events hosted by the Montessori Institute, observing in Montessori classrooms in Portland, working for the Montessori Institute as a reader of trainees' teaching albums, and travelling to Houston this year for the AMI Refresher Course. She is excited to begin her Montessori work in earnest at Sunstone this year. [1]: http://www.sunstonemontessori.org/system/attachments/14/original/image0.jpg?1257375287 [2]: http://www.sunstonemontessori.org/system/attachments/8/original/image3.jpg?1256242309 [3]: http://www.sunstonemontessori.org/system/attachments/23/original/image0.jpg?1260999930 2009-10-19T20:49:07-07:00 Biographies of the Sunstone Children's house staff 9 32 false Children's house staff 20 33 ##Other staff## Meet our outstanding staff: * [Elementary staff](/elementary_staff) * [Extended care staff](/extended_care_staff) * [Administrative staff](/administrative_staff) 2009-10-19T20:49:07-07:00 childrens_house_staff