Lead Teacher- 

Hello!  My name is Stacie Williams and I am a new lead teacher here at Spirit At Play.  Having just graduated from the University of Montana with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education, I am ecstatic to begin my teaching career in such a wonderful preschool environment.  I am a native Montanan, and have lived in both Helena and Missoula.  I have always loved the diversity and uniqueness of Missoula, and I have thoroughly enjoyed living here during my college experience.  I am even more excited for the amazing opportunity of getting to stay here in teach.

While growing up, I spent all of my school vacations helping out in a local preschool my mother worked at.  When I was in high school, I worked at the preschool as a teacher's aide.  I found I loved the passion, excitement, energy, and curiosity of young children, and I decided that my goal was to become a teacher.  I loved the preschool setting, but decided to study Elementary Education.  I enjoyed all of the classes I took for my major, the most exciting and educational experiences were being in the various classrooms with the students, not only teaching but also learning.

Along with my passion for teaching and learning, I enjoy just being out in the local community.  I love volunteering and during college, I volunteered at the Poverello Center, Head Start, and Watson's Children Shelter.  I also love living in an environment where it is so easy to find fun activities to do outside.  Each season is exciting and there is so much to do in and around the Missoula area.  Eventually, I want to go back to school to work toward my master's degree, but for the time being, I am so excited for this wonderful experience of working with such great staff at an amazing school.  Children are vivacious and make life so exciting.  Each day is a new experience and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to spend my time here!

Sincerely,  Stacie Williams