Our Staff
Director and 3-4 year old teacher Beth Whitaker moved to the Carrboro area after relocating from her hometown in Wisconsin. She received a BA in Early Childhood Education from the University of Wisconsin Madison and spent the past 10 years teaching in a variety of classroom environments. Beth has a strong background in the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education and believes a supportive community of learners encourages each child to explore their unique interests and develop a richer understanding of the world around them. Within the classroom, Beth enjoys collaborative storytelling, emergent writing and drawing, woodworking, and explorations of the natural environment. Outside of school, Beth enjoys camping, sewing, baking and spending time with her adorable beagle.
3-4 year old teacher Shareese Austin joins us as a current Durhamite, who was raised in the St. Croix Virgin Islands. She received her BS in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in early care and education from UNCG, and is currently pursuing her masters of education at UNC Chapel Hill. Shareese has a North Carolina B-K teaching license and is also an American Montessori Society certified primary (3-6) teacher. She is interested in taking what she has gained from her experiences with the Montessori approach and integrating the methods in a Reggio inspired environment. She is especially enthusiastic about early literacy, and the exploration of world cultures and community building within the classroom. In her free time, she enjoys painting, singing, arts and crafts, decorating, writing poetry and spending time with family and her cute cockapoo Keira.
2-3 year old teacher Anna Berry joins us from Northern California where she studied Early Childhood Education and worked in a Reggio Lab School teaching toddlers and preschoolers. She also has a B.A. in Chemistryfrom North Carolina State University. Anna is amazed at the many languages children use to learn through play. She enjoys implementing many different activities to engage children, such as exploring science through nature and cooking. Her hobbies include painting, yoga, ballet, hiking, and reading
2 to 3 year old Teacher Danielle Oldziey has a Bachelor of Arts in DancePerformance from Winthrop University and has been teaching dance to all ages for over eight years. She has lived in Seattle, Washington, where she performed in a dance group that educated public school children about how to heal social ills. She also lived in Belize, Central America where she taught virtues classes to local children. She is thrilled to be serving the children at Our PlayHouse Preschool and so honored to be working with such amazing teachers. Every day has been such a growing experience.
Young 2s teacher Gretchen Becknell is new to the preschool setting, as she has been working as a Nanny for the past 12 years! She had the pleasure of working with four wonderful families, and seven remarkable children, from birth to age 6. Gretchen enjoys being part of a child's growth and development, and finds children keep her youthful, creative, and energetic. Her commitment to children has taken her back to school to earn a degree in Early Childhood Education. Gretchen is excited about new adventures and joining the Our Playhouse Preschool family!
Gretchen loves spending time with her husband and daughter, and enjoys baking, working the community garden, hiking, canoeing, and photography.
Curriculum Development Paola Guerrero joins us all the way from Durham North Carolina, where she has been living for about 5 years. She received a BS in Psychology from Duke University in 2004, and decided to work in early childhood education right after graduating. Paola is drawn to the Reggio Emilia philosophy because of its commitment to developing and maintaining a strong image of the child. She believes that children have the potential to be constructors of their own experience, and active participants in organizing their understandings of and theories about the world. She hopes that at OPP she can help to open up spaces for this potential to develop, as well as spaces that allow children to explore their individual and social rights/needs/wants within acommunity space. When Paola is not thinking about how children learn and become members of communities, she does some community gardening with the hopes of growing more and more food, plays capoeira when she can find the time, and hangs out with her partner Allan and her toddler Suriyana.
Jay and Danielle Sunde, Owners
Jay and Danielle have lived in Chapel Hill for the past seven years. They both grew up and went to college in Virginia—Jay to Virginia Tech, Danielle to Randolph-Macon Woman’s College.
Jay, Danielle and their three boys love all things outdoors, including gardening and hiking together. The boys especially enjoy chasing squirrels away from their bird feeders and playing in the creek beside their house. When not busy with family, Jay enjoys Carolina basketball and folk music, and Danielle enjoys reading and sewing.