“Of all things, love is the most potent” -Maria Montessori
Leah Walsh (she/her)
Leah is the founder, director, and lead teacher of Bluebird Montessori. She is the mother of two children (one in college and one in high school) and lives in Delmar with them, her husband, a cat, and a handful of chickens. She completed her Montessori training at Northeast Montessori Institute and is a certified teacher through the American Montessori Society (AMS). Leah has a background in visual and performing arts and holds a BA from Bennington College. She is passionate about handcrafting materials for family and classroom learning, and inspiring a joyful life.
Leah is a faculty member at Northeast Montessori Institute in Cambridge, MA where she teaches the Practical Life and Music+Movement curriculums where support others on their path to becoming Montessori teachers too! She has presented workshops to Montessori educators including at the national AMS conference in Chicago, at the CMS regional conference in Cincinnati, and Trillium Montessori’s online conference called “Montessori and the Science of Reading.”
Shannon Maker (she/her)
Shannon is a certified Montessori assistant teacher for children aged 3-6. She studied at the Northeast Montessori Institute in 2018. She worked alongside Leah, at Bluebird, the following year and has been a devoted substitute-teacher and parent-volunteer from the start. With her classroom experience and, as a mother of two former students, Shannon has a unique perspective on the needs and growth of children in Montessori settings. She follows each child's curiosity and creates environments where they can thrive and love learning.
Shannon's previous experience as a registered nurse and yoga teacher enhances her ability to incorporate empathy and mindfulness into her teaching. She is dedicated to nurturing individual development and wellness. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys climbing mountains, gardening, dancing, music, and art. She is most frequently accompanied by her school age children and her super friendly cat, Marvin, but he doesn’t venture far from their Delmar neighborhood.
Gwen Walsh (she/her)
Gwen Walsh (she/her) graduated from SUNY Purchase with a BFA in sculpture. She approaches every day with playful enthusiasm and every obstacle with empathy. She’s interested in encouraging students to engage with nature and introducing them to new craft materials. Most of her time is spent creating soft sculptures of bugs and animals out of wool. Having worked in restaurants for several years, she now finds joy in cooking dinner and is on a quest to discover how many different ways she can prepare tofu. She lives in Troy in a hundred-year-old house with her lizard, Gumby, and is looking forward to joining the faculty for this summer.
Eleanor Toomey (she/her)
Eleanor is a current student at Bard College studying Studio Art and Sociology. She loves cooking and baking, digging for worms, having adventures, drawing barnyard animals, collecting interesting objects, mending clothing, and wandering for hours in art museums. She brings her creativity, enthusiasm, whit, and calm demeanor to the classroom. She was even a Montessori student from ages 3-13!
This will be Eleanor’s fourth summer teaching Bluebird summer camp.