Our Loving Staff
The Loving Space School community is pretty special. It is made up of wildly magical children, creative passionate teachers, involved loving parents, invested experienced grandparents, a gorgeous grey cat named Gracie and a fluffy pup named Soda Pop.
Abby Franklin
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Abby started Loving Space Kindergarten and Preschool in 1993, because she wanted to create an environment for kids that was hospitable, healthy, and especially, fun. “So many of the places I substitute-taught were so NOT that way,” she explains. “I wanted to provide a place that celebrated the joy of childhood, that provided a creative outlet, healthy food, healthy activities -- with enough adults around to make sure that kids got what they needed.”
Great ideas are what Abby thinks are her most important gifts to Loving Space. “I have a lot of ideas,” she laughs, “ and I think I bring a great deal of passion to my work. I feel so lucky that my dreams are not only coming true with the school -- they’re being surpassed. Every year just gets better and better.”
When she’s not teaching, Abby loves to read, walk her two dogs, go to movies, and spend time with her family: husband Chris and kids, Raeanne and Leo.
Her favorite quote? “A little nonsense now and then – relished by the wisest men.”
– Willie Wonka
Erin Merenda
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A Bellingham native, Erin has been at Loving Space since 1997, with a couple of breaks for some world traveling. “I took a year and a half off to travel to 15 countries,” she explains. “When I left I wasn’t sure what my plans would be -- whether I would come back to work, or maybe stay in any one of those countries.” But she found that being away made her realize how much she wanted to be at Loving Space. “I found I needed this place in my life -- that what I was doing for these kids, and what they were doing for me, was so important to me. I feel I’ve learned more during my time at Loving Space than I have in any other school situation I’ve ever been in.”
Erin brings a great sense of humor, endless patience, and loads of creativity to Loving Space. “I think I’m a good friend to the kids,” she says. ‘I see myself as a playmate, a friend, and a facilitator to them.”
Has she cured the travel bug? “No way!” Erin protests. “I mostly visited the Southern Hemisphere that time. Now I need to do the Northern!” The only difference next time is that she’d like to travel with her (future) family. In the mean time, she tries to live by the words of the great philosopher, Dr. Seuss: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.”
Sherry Helde
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Sherry admits that she loved the atmosphere at Loving Space so much that she spent 6 months lobbying to get a job here. She thinks they finally hired her because she said she would always answer the phones, which seemed to ring constantly whenever she came by. She's been at the school since 2000 and believes that along with understanding and compassion, she brings a nice sense of balance to her work. “Some teachers have their niches, but I get to do a little of everything,” she says, “and I like that.”
Sherry spent 7 years teaching swimming before she came to Loving Space, and she still likes to swim in her off time, as well as go for walks and just hang out with her friends and family. Her favorite part about being at the school is arriving to all the kids’ enthusiastic welcomes. “Their love is just so pure and real,” she says. “The honesty of their emotions is really joyful – whether they’re happy or sad.”
Chris O’Neil
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Chris spent five years teaching art to grade K-12 students at the Oreland Art Center in Orland, PA, before moving to Bellingham, where he has also spent time teaching grade 1-5 kids at Northwest Family School. He brought his love of art to Loving Space Preschool in the fall of 2007, around the same time that his youngest daughter was born. Chris and his wife Amy also have two sons, both of whom attended Loving Space Preschool and Kindergarten.
“Because of Connor and Finian’s experience, I am well aware of how special this school is, and how lucky I am to be involved in it,” says Chris.
Chris earned a BFA from Tyler School of Art in Drawing and Painting, and has attended various other institutions along the way to further his education. He likes to spend his free time hanging out with his family, reading, and practicing Kung Fu, when he’s not cleaning up after the family’s menagerie.
“I’m also currently working on a comic book based on an epic story told to me by my kids,” he said. “That’s a creative resource I learned to tap years ago!”
Chris’s favorite quote (this week), is from Lemony Snicket:
“Never trust someone who hasn’t brought a book.”
Rosie Gehring
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Rosie has been presiding over the quiet room at Loving Space Preschool since 1999, sharing her nurturing presence, gentle sense of humor, and especially her love of books. She feels she gets as much from her kids as they get from her. “I have a long commute to school,” she says, “so sometimes I’m in a bit of a stressed out mood when I get here. Even so, it never takes long before all the love and laughter from the kids turns me right around.”
Rosie’s favorite part of working with the children at Loving Space is seeing them beginning to reflect behaviors and values that she’s modeled for them. “When you see something, some lesson, that you’ve taught them starting to come back – that you’ve touched their life in some way – there’s a lot of joy in that.”
Someday Rosie would like to retire and live near Tenaskit, WA, in the north Cascades. "I’d like to just live on the land - it's so beautiful up there," she says. Rosie's favorite quote is from William Blake: "No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings."
Diana Davidson
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Diana is another teacher who was brought to Loving Space by her children. Her daughter Celestina and son Spencer are both alumni of the preschool and kindergarten, and in 2008 Diana became a part-time teacher at the preschool. She works in the float position, helping out in the quiet room, the big room, outside, or wherever she's needed.
"I finally gave myself permission to have a fun job," she says. "When my kids were at Loving Space, I never wanted to leave, and now I don't have to!"
Diana is a Bellingham native and has worked in the community as a nurse. She says her favorite thing about teaching at Loving Space is "the kids, of course! (Though not having to work nights is a close second!)"
Her favorite quote is: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." – Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince
Emily Katzenberg
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For Emily, who joined the Loving Space Preschool family in August of 2005, teaching children is in her blood. “My grandmother was a first grade teacher,” she said, “and I hope to be the same someday.”
In the meantime, she’s really enjoying her time at Loving Space. “I love playing with the kids; pretending and making Lego ships,” she said. “It feels really natural for me. And I love how sweet and honest little kids are.”
Emily was born in Bellingham, moved to Philadelphia for a time, then back here when she was 13. She says she really enjoys the water, the mountains, and “all the coffee” in Bellingham. When it comes to coffee, she’s an expert, as she and her sister used to be the owners of Bayside Coffee in Fairhaven.
Her family is a high priority in her life, especially her sister and two nephews (both Loving Space alums). She also enjoys reading, making dinner with friends, the company of her Chihuahua, Iggy, and watching Clint Eastwood movies.
Emily’s favorite quote is from Descartes: “The heart has its reasons, which reason knows nothing of.”
Julie Silverman
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Julie came back to Bellingham in the summer of 2006, spending the years after her 2002 graduation from WWU teaching in various classrooms around Western Washington. She feels at home at Loving Space Preschool, because its philosophy so closely matches her own when it come to kids.
“I love that there’s lots of room for exploration, for creativity,” she explains. “I love that we provide many different options for kids, and then let them choose what they want to do. I think that helps them to grow their decision-making skills and learn their way in the world.”
Julie is an active, creative person, and thinks that she brings a love of physical activity to her work at Loving Space. She likes to get the kids outside and moving around, and sees that as a way to help children develop self-confidence and independence. She also values art, music, creativity, and the outdoors in her personal life.
Being at Loving Space provides Julie with many opportunities to grow and learn. “Being here helps me learn more every day about best practices in teaching and how best to help the kids become more aware of the world around them and how they fit into that world.”
Julie’s favorite quote is:
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” -- Albert Einstein
Kristan Brennen
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Kristan’s relationship with Loving Space began when her son Eli attended preschool and kindergarten there. “I just loved the school and all the people there,” she says. “I wished Eli could stay there forever!” So when the chance to join the staff opened up in the summer of 2006, she jumped at the chance.
Along with hiking, snowboarding, knitting, felting, and taking care of her youngest son (who was born early in 2007), Kristan enjoys cooking. A talent she shares with the kids at Loving Space, both helping in the kitchen at lunchtime and teaching cooking to the children. “I like to show the kids what I know about the world, and to bring some confidence into their game. To give them that ‘Hey, I can do that’ feeling.”
Kristan believes that Loving Space offers kids many opportunities to get that feeling. “We give them space to practice their life skills, to learn to get along,” she explains. “You can go to any park or public place and see that not all kids are getting that. Loving Space kids really benefit from the open, accepting and loving environment here.”
This atmosphere fits well with Kristan’s own positive personality. “My motto is to just be yourself – if you do that, everything always seems to work out in the end.”
Stone Veritas
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Stone worked for Loving Space back in the very beginning, from 1993-1996. She continued to work with children over the years she was away from Loving Space, and experienced much in that time.
Stone feels that she brings "an easy going personality" to Loving Space. She says, "I have a lot of faith – if someone knocks their head I don't go all crazy." Stone believes she gets a lot out of working with young children, and calls them her "little Buddhas."
Other than hanging out with kids, Stone enjoys reading, meditating, writing, making art, gardening, listening to music, cooking, watching movies, having interesting conversations and spending time with her identical twin sister.
Stone's dream super power would be to say and do the best thing in every situation.