Office Staff
Autumn Douglas
Office Assistant
Autumn Douglas was raised in the Ogden Valley and graduated from Weber High School in 1996. She studied hotel management and worked as a Concierge for the Ogden Marriott and as a Tax Examiner for the Internal Revenue Service before deciding to stay at home full time in 2005.
She found Montessori that same year while searching for preschools. She fell in love immediately and knew it was the right fit for her family. She has been an active parent since MMA opened and has volunteered both in the classroom and with the Montessori Academy Parent Association. She served as President of the Parent Association during the 2016-2017 school year. She was a substitute teacher before joining the office full time in July 2017. She completed the Montessori Teacher Assistant training program through Westminster in 2018.
She lives in South Ogden with her husband Richie, sons Lancer and Ryker, dog Hendrix and cat Trixie. She enjoys skiing, golf, boating, traveling, crafts, the color mint green, reading cold case files and watching the same movies over and over again.
Specialists
Nicoletta Householder
Instructional Coach
Ms. Nicoletta is originally from the Pacific Northwest area. She holds her B.A. in Ecological Studies and minor in Sociology from Seattle University. She received a M.Ed. in Montessori Education from St. Catherine’s University. She has her upper and lower elementary Montessori certification through the Institute for Guided Studies, lower elementary Montessori certification from North American Montessori Center and her Utah State teaching license.
She has been in the Montessori classroom since 2005 as an upper elementary lead teacher and has been at Maria Montessori Academy since conversations began to open a Montessori Charter School. She has been teaching at Maria Montessori Academy since the doors opened in 2010. She served six years on the board of directors for Montessori Education Programs International. Montessori is a part of her lifestyle; it is not only applied in the school setting, but in her daily life. She is very excited to work at Maria Montessori Academy and know that the Montessori philosophy is an inviting and astounding education tool to watch blossom within a child. She fully believes all children need to have an opportunity for the love of learning. She served 12 years in the classroom and is now moving into her third year as the Instructional Coach for Maria Montessori Academy.
Ms. Nicoletta loves the outdoors, snow, the colors green and blue, live music, puzzles and traveling. She is married to a Pacific Northwest native, they moved here in 2001 to ski for one year and never turned back. They now have two children, both attending Montessori education. As a family they love to take road trips, camp, hike, ski, live music, laugh, play board games, do puzzles and swim in freshwater.
Email: NHouseholder@mariamontessoriacademy.org
Website: http://blogs.mariamontessoriacademy.org/instructionalcoach/
Megan Mazur
Instructional Technology Specialist, Data & Assessment Coordinator
Megan Mazur has been working with children her whole life. As a young teenager she began babysitting, during her high school years she would nanny over the summer and worked in daycares. Megan’s passion has always been to work with children. Megan is married and has one beautiful daughter who attends Maria Montessori Academy. Over the years Megan worked at an insurance company that provided her with many computer training courses. Megan also attended Weber Applied Technology for computer classes. She spent many hours volunteering in the classroom at her daughters previous school. Recently she was able to attend a workshop for “Keyboarding in the Classroom”. Megan also has her Montessori assistants training. Now she spends time working with students of all ages on Keyboarding and computer literacy skills.
Ms. Megan loves to spend time with her daughter. In the summer they love to go swimming, kayaking, camping and exploring with friends. During the winter Ms. Megan enjoys taking her daughter skiing, watching movies and cuddling up with a good book and a mug of coffee. Together Megan and her daughter love to read and watch Harry Potter! Music is very important to Ms. Megan and there is always music playing wherever she is.
Megan loves working at Maria Montessori Academy. Education has always been a part of her life. She comes from a family of educators and learned at a young age the importance of education. Megan continues her growth through training to improve her teaching and technology skills.
Email: mmazur@mariamontessoriacademy.org
Website: http://blogs.mariamontessoriacademy.org/digitalliteracycitizenship/
Shanan Zollinger
Physical Education
Shannon graduated in 1996 from Ben Lomond High and was Sterling Scholar. She then went on to the University of Utah and Weber State University to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a minor in Geography. She has danced her entire life and loves teaching in all ways. She currently teaches dance and in the past has taught swimming and school for many years and in numerous capacities. She loves being with kids and seeing them grow and learn. She believes that every child in unique and finding out about how they learn and how she can help that.
Shannon grew up in both Nevada and Utah as an only child. She has two kids who are amazing, a daughter who is attending Dixie State University and a son who will be in 10th grade at Fremont High School. She loves dance, swimming and anything involving water including wake-boarding and surfing. She loves baseball, especially the Dodgers. She also enjoys travelling, reading, golf, camping, going for drives and anything with her kiddos and that makes her laugh.
Kim Brower
Reading Specialist
Mrs. Kim Brower is originally from the Pacific Northwest region. She holds her B.A. in Elementary Education with a minor as Reading Specialist from Saint Martin's University. She has had teaching licenses in Washington State, Montana, and now Utah.
Ms. Kim has worked with students for nearly 13 years. She worked in a private daycare/preschool with 4-5 year olds for nine years. She was both a private tutor as well as in a tutoring center primarily advancing struggling readers skills. She was a substitute teacher in both Washington and Montana. Since she has moved to Utah, Ms. Kim has worked in a private Montessori school as a long term substitute, in a public charter school as a 3rd grade teacher, and is now joining the teaching team at MMA. She believes that all students have the ability to lean, can create a love of learning, and that each student is a unique individual.
Ms. Kim and her family have been in Utah for a little more than a year now. She loves to read, hike, spend time outdoors, and visit the local library with her young son among many other activities. She is married to a U.S. Airman for going on 10 years now. This has taken them to Montana, and now to settle in the Utah area. Her family loves road trips, time outdoors together, and building projects. They are also expecting the addition of a daughter in late January
Andria Yost
Art
Andria Yost holds a Masters degree and teaching license from Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon, and a Bachelors degree with dual majors in Art and Psychology from Weber State University. Maria Montessori Academy has been home to Andria for over a year, where she started as an upper elementary assistant. Now, while the Jr. High is growing, she is eager to be a part of the Arts and life with the MMA family.
Sculpture is an expressive tool for Andria, and her work has been exhibited in galleries and publications. The mentor-student relationship has always inspired her work and given her a great passion for education, with a desire to share her love of learning and the arts.
Andria is from Ogden, and has been with her husband, Adam, for 9 years. Adam taught her how to snowboard and in return, she taught him to play chess. They met in art school, and are still developing creatively which each other. Together, they have a new baby boy, Theo. Her family loves to travel and go rock hunting; once, they found a crystal mountain.
Andria is currently a member of the Junior League of Ogden, and Chair of Oasis Community Garden in Ogden. These works are important to her because of their impact on her hometown. Working regularly with volunteers, gardeners, and other board members, she is able to see the great influence of those who are dedicated to the success of Ogden.
Email: ayost@mariamontessoriacademy.org
Website: http://blogs.mariamontessoriacademy.org/arts/
Sarah Dalton
Music
Sarah Dalton received her Bachelor’s degree from Utah Valley University in Music with an emphasis in voice (performance emphasis). She later graduated with a Master’s in Music Education as well as a teaching license from the University of Northern Colorado. Sarah has conducted school and community choirs for over 7 years. She has also had experience teaching guitar, piano, and voice lessons in school settings as well as private studio settings.
In Sarah’s undergraduate degree a large area of focus was performance. She had the opportunity to perform in theater; choirs; and operas, and has since aided in theatrical productions on a junior high level.
Sarah has currently started her Orff levels (a kinesthetic, exploratory, and movement based approach to teaching music), and is excited to finish up and implement what she has learned from this certification. Sarah believes that students often learn best when they are physically involved in the learning process and thus has developed a kinesthetic approach to teaching.
Sarah has 2 of her own children who are her world. Outside of school her family loves hiking with their golden retriever and rock climbing.
Sarah has a special love for junior high students, and is excited to be a part of the Maria Montessori team.