Our Faculty

Allison began her journey working with children during her undergraduate years at Ohio University where she was first introduced to the Reggio Emilia approach. This initial experience working in an early childcare center was so inspiring that she decided to delve further into the practices of progressive education.

After spending a few years in Chicago from 2009 to 2013, Allison moved to Thailand to broaden her experiences and continue her education career in an international setting. There, she taught at a Reggio Emilia school, learning under Mia Cavalca, her mentor and the school’s Atelierista, and also attended Professional Development meetings with pedagogistas from Italy. Upon her return to Chicago in 2017, Allison began working with Bennett Day School as an early childhood educator. She has continued to deepen her understanding of progressive and alternative education models by attending the Reggio Emilia study group in Italy, as well as a multitude of conferences and professional development sessions.

Allison’s passion for learning alongside children and fostering their education is displayed through her many open-ended projects, where children are encouraged to explore the many languages of learning and expression.

Excited to use her passion for a nature-focused and play-based learning experience, Molly is eager to begin another year at Bennett Day. Originally from the Finger Lakes of NY, Molly found her love for Reggio-inspired education while attending Syracuse University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Following graduation, Molly helped pilot one of the nation’s first voter-funded preschool programs in San Antonio, Texas, deepening her love for quality, responsive education. As Molly enters her sixth year at Bennett Day, she will also be pursuing her graduate degree from Erikson Institute in Early Childhood Education with a focus in Leadership and Advocacy. She can be found outside of school in West Town training for the marathon or tracking down the city’s best restaurants.

From an early age, Marissa always knew she wanted to work with children. As she entered college at North Park University, she decided to major in Early Childhood Education. After graduation, Marissa began working at an Early Childhood Center in a two-year-old room, which is where her passion for Reggio-inspired education began. After working with that age group for a year, she moved to a Kindergarten Prep classroom and carried her knowledge of education over to 4 and 5-year-olds. Since joining the Bennett team in 2018, Marissa has learned so much throughout each passing day. With a passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion work, Marissa has grown in her career as she advocates to continue this work both in her personal and professional life. She loves being a part of the Early Childhood team and appreciates the opportunity to work with faculty that has the same passion for education as she does!

Joseph started his Early Childhood education in community college and completed his BA in Early Childhood and Administration at National Louis University. He did all of this while working with toddlers and three to four-year-olds at the Jewish Council for Youth Services (JCYS) on the north side of Chicago for ten years. In his classroom, Joseph works to support children socially and emotionally through play-based education, inclusivity, and problem-solving skills, and his goal is to help mold kind and strong children for today’s world. He is a proud girl dad of an eight-year-old and new baby girl born in May. In his spare time, he enjoys going out for a nice restaurant meal with his wife, watching star wars movies, and building Legos with his eight-year-old.

Growing up on Meanjin country, under the governing present-day colony known as Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Nathan’s own education has always had a strong connection to environment and community. After graduating from Griffith University with a Bachelor of Leisure Management in 2003, Nathan spent years involved in community development organizations, event coordination, and service-related industries, while pursuing a personal passion for creative arts. During this time, Nathan worked alongside diverse groups of people, sharing and learning from a variety of interests, backgrounds, and cultures. It was when he moved to Thailand in 2011 that he discovered the rewards of teaching. Based in Bangkok, Nathan first trained to support ESL students and quickly understood the importance of incorporating play into learning and building rapport through shared experiences. Transitioning and drawn to instructing within early childhood classrooms, he spent several years as a kindergarten teacher with Singapore International School of Bangkok, completing a Graduate Diploma in Teaching & Learning in the Early Years through the Association for Early Childhood Educators Singapore (AECES). Since Immigrating to Chicago in 2016 to start a family of his own upon Potawatomi land, Nathan has remained engaged with educators and practices responsive to children’s developing sense of identity and informing an evolving understanding of a world filled with experiences outside of their own.

Nathan looks forward to another year of SK learning at Bennett Day School driven by the creativity, curiosity, passions & talents within his team. Built upon strong, smart community partnerships and connections, Nathan aims to help empower his young scholars to pursue inquiry through physical exploration, making the process, co-construction, and languages of our learning a visible foundation for future collaboration.

Caitlyn received her B.A. in Elementary and Special Education from Seton Hall University and was a member of the SHU Women’s Soccer Team. After graduating in 2012, she began working as a Substitute Teacher and fell in love with Early Childhood Education through her time spent in Kindergarten classrooms. In 2014, Caitlyn received an opportunity to be a Preschool Lead Teacher in Boston, MA in a diverse classroom setting working with English Language Learners before making her way out to CA in 2016. During this time, Caitlyn continued her career in ECE as a Preschool Teacher/Co-Lead working with 2.5 to 5-year-olds. It was here where she developed a deeper connection to Reggio Emilia practices teaching a Studio/Outdoor Lab program designed by her director. In 2020, Caitlyn received her Master’s in Early Childhood Inclusive Education & Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Constructivism. Caitlyn values the opportunity for children to explore a wealth of diverse materials as they give life to what they think and feel through expressive art. She enjoys fostering children’s natural sense of inquiry, wonder, and joy in learning through experimentation, social interaction, and play! She looks forward to her fourth year at BDS where she can continue to learn and grow with children, families, educators, and faculty.

Kari’s 12 years of lead teaching experience in various early childhood settings have solidified her passion for early childhood education. These experiences with children ranging from ages 2 to 7 formed her expansive perspective on the development of children, motivating her to build strong relationships with her students and nurture their social and emotional growth. Before moving to Illinois from central Wisconsin, Kari worked in a Reggio Emilia-inspired school which altered her career path from traditional education to progressive. Kari is thrilled to return to Bennett this year where she enjoys embedding crucial academic content throughout projects inspired by children’s interests to create meaningful learning experiences which instill a lifelong love of learning. Kari received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin Platteville in Elementary Education with an Early Childhood minor.

Mindy joins Bennett Day School with over five years of teaching experience in San Francisco, CA, where she received her B.A. from San Francisco State. She has a passion for keeping up with the most relevant teaching practices, with a special focus on cross-curriculum ways to integrate literacy, math, and science. She is excited to have joined Bennett Day and be able to practice the Reggio approach to learning on a school-wide basis. Mindy believes in the importance of a strong phonics foundation, whole group phonemic awareness through movement, and the use of decodable texts to facilitate the joy of reading in each student. She strives to provide all students with relevant grade-level experiences while meeting the differentiated needs of each student through exploration and tactile learning. Mindy is also dedicated to providing space for students to develop social-emotional and executive function skills that will serve them as members of any community. Outside the classroom setting Mindy finds passion in movement, music, and knitting.

Allison (Ally) is entering her seventh year of teaching at Bennett Day School. Over the past seven years, she has taught 1st and 2nd-grade classrooms working her way from Assistant to Lead Teacher. She is thrilled to be teaching 2nd grade again where she enjoys the rich (and, often, hilarious) conversations and diving deep into content with students. Upon graduating from Indiana University with her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a Reading License addition, she returned home to Ann Arbor, Michigan to begin her teaching career. After some time spent teaching in public schools and more progressive environments, she decided to move to Chicago to expand her horizons and, thankfully, found the warm, energizing, and forward-thinking community of Bennett Day.

Along with being a teacher, Allison spends her time coaching lacrosse and being a mom to her pandemic baby boy, Casey. Each new school year is an adventure and she looks forward to a new year of learning and growing with her students.

Shay has been a part of the Bennett Day community for the past seven years and has taught in grades First through Third, in addition to serving as a Cohort Lead to support her fellow teachers. Shay’s love and passion for social-emotional learning have always been at the forefront of everything she does both in and outside of the classroom. Working in a progressive and collaborative school environment has allowed her to develop strong relationships with her students to instill confident lifelong learners.

Shay is entering her thirteenth year of teaching and is excited to teach second grade again as this is her favorite age. Shay is also looking forward to having her daughter in Jk this school year. Shay’s biggest accomplishment within the classroom was being recognized with the 2012 Symetra Hero in the Classroom Award for Outstanding Leadership and Instructional Skills, presented in association with the Chicago Bears. Shay graduated from National-Louis University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and a Minor in Psychology.

Kim graduated from National Louis University in 2020 with a Master of Arts in Teaching Elementary Education. She also holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance as well as a minor in Spanish from the University of Illinois. In 2009, Kim began her career in education by teaching English to students of all ages in New York City. She continued teaching English for three years in Madrid, Spain. Upon returning to the United States, Kim spent three years working at The Mirman School for gifted children in Los Angeles before returning home to Chicago. Kim is excited to begin her fifth year at Bennett Day School. She takes great pride and joy in the invigorating work she gets to participate in with students and faculty and is looking forward to another wonderful year.

Sam could not be more thrilled about returning to Bennett Day for another school year! Last year, he served as an assistant teacher for both the third and fourth grades. The creativity and drive of both the students and the faculty continue to be a huge inspiration for him in his teaching career. He received undergraduate degrees in Creative Writing and Psychology from Drake University in Des Moines. While there, he worked on the editorial staff of multiple community publications. He returned to Chicago to continue his education, receiving an MA in Writing & Publishing from DePaul University. During this time is when Sam first began to consider teaching as a larger part of his career path. While at DePaul, Sam served as the editor-in-chief of the university’s literary magazine while also working at their writing center, tutoring college students on countless topics and forms of writing and leading several writing camps for visiting local high school students. He is eager to bring this knowledge to Bennett Day and looks forward to another fantastic school year.

Andy is thrilled to join the Bennett school community and brings six years of experience teaching science, engineering, and technology to middle school students. He is originally from Singapore but his family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where he went to high school. For his undergraduate education, Andy attended Carleton College and completed a double major in biology and philosophy. Then, he moved to Baltimore and earned his Master’s in secondary education from Johns Hopkins University while teaching in the local school district. It was during his time teaching in Baltimore that he developed a passion for project-based teaching and learning. Andy has experience using a variety of STEM educational technologies with students such as 3-D printers, virtual reality headsets, drones, 360 cameras, and more. Outside of school, Andy enjoys playing frisbee, long runs, traveling, and spending time with family.

Steven began his adult life as a designer and illustrator. After a dozen years, though, he began to feel restless, enjoying the creativity but wondering if there was something more. Then, his daughter entered kindergarten and he began volunteering, helping the seventh-grade tech class work on designing the school website. When the bell rang and he had to leave, he felt depressed to rejoin the Land of Adults. This was his signal. He was accepted into the Golden Apple Foundation’s Accelerator Program for career changers and became a teacher. After all these years, he still loves spending his days with kids and wouldn’t want to do anything else.

For eight years, he taught grades 1 & 5 at Lincoln Elementary, a CPS neighborhood school in Lincoln Park. Despite huge class sizes and bureaucratic challenges, he loved his time there, learning so much about how to teach creatively. During that time, he also completed a Masters from Northwestern University and achieved National Board Certification. Then, at the start of 2012, an opportunity presented itself to teach at Rosslyn Academy, an international school in Nairobi, Kenya. Steven and his family sold or gave away most of their possessions, rented out their house, and flew 8,000 miles away with 23 bins and their three kids, who were starting grades 4, 6, and 9. He taught grades 7 & 8 English and later 11 & 12 English. Along the way, he worked on 20 plays and musicals, which he came to love as much as his day job. They didn’t plan on staying so long, but all really enjoyed living abroad in a school community of over 50 countries, and stayed 9 years, moving back when their youngest graduated from high school.

As he considered what educational environment to pursue next, he reflected on the highlights of his years with kids. What had been the most impactful student learning experiences? He realized that from grades 1 to 12, it was always those hands-on activities, always the project-based experiences, always the work in which children had some measure of autonomy. Yet, his creative inclinations were often met with skepticism from admin… until it was completed and it worked. Coming back to the States, he searched for any schools where this way of learning was nurtured, was the rule, not the exception. He toured unschooling centers on the east coast, interviewing young people about their experiences for a new podcast. He considered opening a learning center in Chicago, though he wasn’t sold on 100% unschooling. Then he found Bennett. It is the only school in the city where he wants to teach. He is thrilled to be here teaching MS English and believes he has a lot to share and so much to learn as he (finally!) is able to plunge into Project Based Learning as the center of the work.

Emily Fields, a native Evanstonian, is a graduate of New York University with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a master’s in Mathematics Education. Prior to joining Bennett’s Upper School, Emily was the STEAM Creative Director at The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria – an all-girls public school in New York City where she taught math and computer science for 9 years. She is a proud National Center for Women & Information Technology Educator Award Winner, and former Processing Foundation Fellow and Math for America Master Teacher. As an educator, Emily is dedicated to finding creative opportunities for students to learn and explore their passions and believes deeply in the power of self-directed learning. As a lifelong learner, she loves integrating her own passions – travel, dance, and food – into her classroom. Emily is thrilled to once again be connecting to her Chicago roots and joining the Bennett community.

Angela Jaeger is a National Board Certified Teacher and a graduate from The University of Chicago with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English Language and Literature. With 13 years of teaching experience in secondary schools, Angela is passionate about learning and believes that school experiences influence how we navigate the world; therefore, the things we want to see in our world, we must model in our classrooms. As an Upper School lead teacher and a Chair of the DEI Advocacy Team at Bennett Day, Angela works to deepen student curiosity and compassion for others. Angela is a wife and a mother. She loves theatre, dance, and spending time with her family. Angela has had a wonderful journey around the world and is thrilled that it has brought her to Bennett Day’s Upper School.

Eric is incredibly excited to be a part of the Bennett team.  After graduating with a degree in Secondary Mathematics Education from Grace College, Eric spent 3 years running the Step One Alternative Program at Warsaw Community High School helping meet the needs of students labeled at risk of not graduating high school.  While working in the Step One program, Eric worked to connect students to their communities in meaningful ways, helping students create a vision for themselves beyond high school and be a home base for students who may not have felt at home in school previously.

After moving to Chicago in 2017 to pursue comedy, Eric continued working in alternative education as a math teacher at Jane Addams High School, consistently ranked as one of the top alternative schools in the city.  Here Eric was able to further pursue his passion for bringing real-world, applicable projects into the math classroom, offering experiential learning opportunities to a student population often neglected by the traditional education system.  Outside of the classroom, Eric continues to pursue his passions of writing and performing comedy, as well as playing basketball, tennis, and any other sport he can convince his friends to play.  He can’t wait to bring these passions and experiences to the classroom at Bennett!

Prior to Bennett Day, Bridget taught Physical Education and Health in Chicago K-8 schools for seven years while coaching and developing a variety of after-school programs. An accomplished athlete, Bridget was the Captain, MVP, and all-time season assist leader of her collegiate basketball team at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, where she earned a B.A. in Communications and a Public Relations minor. Earlier in her career, Bridget worked in advertising but realized she was missing her true passion for health, fitness, and sports, and she felt motivated to share that passion with others. She then earned a B.S. in Physical Education from DePaul University as well. Bridget enjoys being active with her students in class and works together with her students to create a fun, positive, and energetic environment. She is excited to continue to help Bennett Day students use their creativity to explore individually and in a team environment while building confidence to become lifelong movers.

Carmen is passionate about Second Language Acquisition and ways to provide plenty of comprehensible input. She feels it is important to do so during her sessions so students rise steadily in confidence and proficiency. She has taught Spanish to children for over 10 years and worked on refining the practice of a Lead Teacher and trainer of other teachers in a private school. She keeps abreast of best practices for language teaching, attending educational conferences, reading for pleasure on the subject, and collaborating with other teachers in the field of world languages.

She earned a BA in Literary Studies from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, in her native Colombia, where she also studied photography, radio, and television. In addition, Carmen has a Master of Arts in Teaching Spanish from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She applied her varied background to a multidisciplinary project for the Colombian Ministry of Culture by spending six weeks living with a tribe in the Amazon region. There she worked as a writer-recorder and photographer of the indigenous dietary traditions of that zone. At times, she has done freelance text editing of Spanish documents. Carmen enjoys not only sharing her knowledge of Spanish but the cultural perspectives closely linked to it.

Carmen finds Bennett Day School a welcoming environment not only for exposure and exploration of the Spanish language but also to connect the cultural competence aspect of it. She finds it well worth diving into to continue inspiring innovative students at the school with eyes on the world around them.

Kasey has 10+ years of experience working with children. She first became interested in providing therapy for children with Autism and worked as a therapist for a year. After graduating from college, Kasey joined a preschool team and fell in love with early childhood education. She has been a preschool teacher for over 7 years now and it has become a great passion of hers to continue working with kids throughout her career. Kasey graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, where she researched teacher satisfaction in special education classrooms. She has always been interested in working with children and knew she was meant to teach in a classroom setting. She loves to be silly, creative, loving, and patient with all of her students!

Corey graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California with a focus on Special Education after receiving a BFA in Theatre: Design & Production from the University of Michigan. During his time working with students with learning differences, he has focused on integrating creativity, empathy, and fun!

Corey enjoys building connections with students and partnering with them and their families as they work towards light bulb moments of personal success. As a lifelong learner, he knows that the greatest reward comes from the feeling of accomplishing a goal one is fully invested in and he is always ready for these moments with a celebratory dance!

Yvonne graduated from Erikson Institute in Chicago with a Masters in Child Development with a Specialization in Infancy and New Language Learning. Yvonne is passionate about working with children and families and specifically worked with bilingual families, children with autism, and other developmental delays. She has experience in various settings such as schools, daycares, and parenting education classes, and has created and implemented early childhood curriculum and parenting workshops. Yvonne believes that family relationships play a critical role in a child’s development and that collaborating with families directly impacts the progress the child makes. She feels that a child’s learning can be enhanced by incorporating therapeutic strategies into daily routines. Yvonne is bilingual in English and Spanish. She is currently pursuing an MSW Specializing in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health.

Before joining Bennett Day, Jennifer worked as a school counselor at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois for 12 years where she was the lead in developing social-emotional curriculum for grades 9-12. She truly has a passion for restorative practices and mindfulness. She strongly believes that empowering students with the tools to develop an authentic sense of self is her primary job as a school counselor. Jennifer received her B.A. in Education from Rollins College and her M.A. in Counseling from Chicago State University. Outside of school, Jennifer loves to travel and be active. She stays busy with three children of her own, but usually finds time to ride her bike, attend a yoga class, or enjoy a farmer’s market on the weekend.

Growing up in a small town of Minnesota, Kenzie knew she wanted to live in a bigger city for bigger opportunities. After moving to Chicago four years ago, she started at Bennett as an Aftercare leader full time while attending school at UIC full time. Over the years while still attending UIC, she had opportunities to grow at Bennett assisting where needed and being the General Administrator at the front desk. After recently graduating in December 2021, with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences on the Pre:med track with a minor in psychology, she has decided to continue her experience at Bennett taking over a new position as the Community Health Coordinator. While she loves working here at Bennett and making connections with the community and families, she has recently submitted her medical school application to 20 different schools throughout the state/country in hopes of one day becoming a Pediatric Surgeon. Until then, Bennett was and will continue to be the community she chooses to further her job experiences with.

Coming soon!

Derry first joined Bennett Day in 2016. He first found his passion for education while directing children’s theater companies in Maryland. After earning a degree in Elementary Education and Theater from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, he moved from the east coast to Chicago and began working at Bennett Day School. He has been lucky enough to work with a variety of ages and grades at Bennett Day and is looking into using this knowledge to expand the Auxiliary Department as the director. When not teaching, Derry often can be found directing youth theater around Chicago or (more often) playing with his dog, Bean.

Sarah holds a B.A. in Communications from Marquette University with a major in Theatre Arts. She spent her early time in Chicago performing with Second City along with various other theatre companies and also helped establish a production company. Sarah then followed her passion for education and became a graduate of National-Louis University with a Master of Arts in Teaching. She was in the classroom for seven years teaching grades from Kindergarten through second grade and doubled as a middle school drama teacher before she made the transition to administration. She has always identified with the mission of collaboration and lifelong learning both in her classroom and personal practices. Sarah loves that she can bring her enthusiasm for education and the arts to Bennett!