Sandy Meindersee - Preschool
When Sandy was pregnant with her first child 13 years ago, she aimed to be the best mother she could be. She read books on child development and quickly developed a passion for developmental psychology. As her children grew and changed, she realized that no amount of parenting books can fully prepare someone for the realities of parenting. Becoming a skilled parent requires hands-on experience, which involves making mistakes and engaging in deep self-reflection. Guiding parents toward intentional parenting is very important to Sandy in her professional life. She believes that children are complete and whole at whatever stage of development they are in “right now,” and that it is the responsibility of parents and teachers to meet children where they are and guide them through the emotions and confusion of the larger world, as children continually unfold and absorb the culture around them. As a preschool teacher, she engages children with a rhythmic learning environment that helps them build resilience and emotional intelligence, explore nature and their world, and experience novelty and fun.
Sandy is well versed in human development and psychology. She spent 10 years homeschooling her young children while pursuing her own education and spent 5 years at Columbia Kids Preschool as a parent, learning from Virginia and other members of that community. She has completed several classes in child development and psychology while earning her bachelor’s degree.
As an important part of our co-op, Sandy also facilitates our parent education meetings. Intentional parenting takes thoughtful work and dedication to growth. This community of parents, sharing ideas and learning about child development, makes a world of difference in fostering emotionally intelligent and resilient families and children.
Janine Carr - Sprouting Seeds
Janine has been an elementary teacher for 37 years and has also worked with teachers on early literacy projects. She is K-8 certified in the State of Washington with a K-12 reading endorsement, has a Master's Degree in Language & Literacy, and is the author of A Child Went Forth: Reflective Teaching with Young Readers and Writers which is an account of her philosophy and practices from her years in public school teaching. Her expertise is in the field of literacy and she enjoys the many ways of helping children become thoughtful and proficient readers and writers.
Her husband Michael is also a teacher, and her grown children, Matthew and Anna were both part of the Sprouting Seeds program throughout their elementary years.
Virginia Triplett - Sprouting Seeds
Virginia Triplett has been a teacher at Columbia Kids and Sprouting Seeds for more than 40 years.
Hundreds of families have benefited from her guidance and support in the challenging, rewarding, but not always intuitive work of raising creative, curious, responsible citizens.
Virgina has three adult children and a dozen or so other “kids” — the goats she raises on her small farm in Hockinson, Washington.
Virginia worked in her position as our beloved Columbia Kids Preschool teacher and Clark College-affiliated parent educator for 40 years. Literally hundreds of families benefited from Virginia’s invaluable guidance and support in the essential work of raising responsible, creative citizens of all ages. In our Sprouting Seeds School world, Virginia continues to lead the sustained project stand throughout each of our studies where she involves our kids in a variety of ongoing unit-related projects that involve thoughtful, creative processes as well as all five senses as they complete their work together. She also facilitates our parent education discussions as we all embrace the thoughtful work of parenting strong, healthy children who are moving forward in our modern, complex world.