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Lower School, Kindergarten |
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Merry grew up in Huntington, New York and earned a B.A. from Skidmore College where she majored in Anthropology with a minor in Studio Art. After graduating, she worked as a graphic designer for a small company in upstate New York. Merry was unfulfilled with working in the business world and moved to Bend, a place she now calls home.
Her experience as a preschool instructor at A Child's Garden inspired her to go back to school to earn a Master's Degree in Teaching from Eastern Oregon University. As part of her training, she spent a year working in the Bend-LaPine School District, primarily in a kindergarten class and some time in a fourth grade class. Later she joined the Cascades Academy faculty and has been teaching kindergarten ever since. Merry enjoys being the gateway to the child's first experience in an elementary school setting and watching them navigate through their journey. Her teaching philosophy is centered around integrating curriculum and providing children with both a real world and global perspectives. She is trained in the Scottish Storyline Method and can't imagine a better way to engage children in learning.
When not in the classroom, (and covered in tempera paint!) Merry likes to work in her garden, camp, hike and canoe with her husband, Cliff. But perhaps the most fun is getting to explore and experience the world with her two children, Lucas and Jude.
