COVENANT - Key Persons
Aissatou Milsap, or Ms. A as she is affectionately known by children and parents, joined Covenant this fall as an Assistant Teacher in the Birch classroom. Ms. A comes to Covenant with over 30 years of experience with young children! She worked for Evanston/ Skokie District 65 in many capacities over the last 30 years including as a Childcare coordinator, a lunch supervisor, a Secretary, and a Teaching Assistant. She is looking forward to getting to know all the children and families in our program!
Allison has been a lead teacher in the Birch Multi-age room at Covenant for 16 years. She has a Masters degree in Music as well as additional coursework in Early Childhood Education. She enjoys using her musical background to bring music and singing games into the classroom. Allison has been teaching young children since 1988 - that's over 30 years of experience! Allison has two children and is loving being a grandma to an 18 month old granddaughter and a 2 month old new grandson.
Britta was new to Covenant last year and comes to us with over 16 years of experience in programs serving young children. She is currently working on her Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education, taking classes at Oakton Community College and at Northeastern Illinois University. She is engaged to be married and planning her wedding for some time in the non-COVID future.
Caroline has been teaching at Covenant for 3 years in the Turtle Two's & Honeybee Three's classroom. Caroline has a Bachelor's degree in Communication with additional coursework in Early Childhood and an extensive array of volunteer work directing programs for young children, organizing events and interacting directly with young children of all ages. Caroline has three school age children of her own, ranging in age from 9 to15.
Erica has been an assistant teacher at Covenant for the past five years working in both multi-age classrooms. This year she will be teaching solely in the Wildflowers multi-age classroom with Ms. Kim and Ms. Moira. Erica has some good expertise in navigating the system for special needs children. She has a Master's Degree in School Psychology and many years of experience working with school age children. She has two children of her own, both in high school.
Jackie is an assistant teacher in the Turtle Two's and Honeybee Three's classes. In addition to her 16 years of experience at Covenant, Jackie is a mom of four children and one grandchild - which naturally brings a wealth of practical experience and knowledge to our program! In total, she has over sixteen years of Early Childhood Education experience.
Kim is our Assistant Director/ Rover Teacher. She has a Degree in Early Childhood Education focusing on ECE Administration. Kim has two children, one in high school and one living on his own, and a beloved Cockapoo. She has been at Covenant for 11 years with over 25 years of professional early childhood experience.
Liz Pawlak is starting her first year as a lead teacher in the Turtle Twos and Honeybee Threes classroom although her history with Covenant has been much longer - one of her children is currently attending Covenant and the other is a proud alumni. Liz has been an active member of Covenant's Board of Directors for the last four years as well. She has a Bachelor's degree in Advertising and is continuing her Early Childhood Education at Oakton Community College. She's looking forward to nurturing our next crop of little learners and partnering with parents through all the intricacies of separation and parenting.
This is Moira's second year as a lead teacher in the Wildflower Multi-age classroom although her history with Covenant has been longer - two of her three kids are Covenant alumni and she has been a substitute in our program as well. Moira has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's in Counseling Education as well as her Children's Yoga Certification. Prior to being at Covenant, she was a lead teacher and assistant director at another local preschool.
Rebecca has been teaching at Covenant for the last five years in the Birch classroom. Rebecca has a Masters Degree in Education and over 10 years of experience teaching children 2-5 years old. She will also be helping to lead the Pre-K enrichment. Rebecca has one child in college and one newly graduated and living on his own. She is excited to share her love of the outdoors with all our children.
Renata was new to Covenant last year and comes to us with a wealth of expertise on the natural world. She has a Master's Degree in Forest Sciences and a Veterinary Degree. She has been enriching our program with a great wealth of knowledge on animals, plants, trees, birds, and every species of bug. Renata has two children in high school and also speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese.
Tina has been the Executive Director of Covenant Nursery School for the last sixteen years. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Northwestern University and a Masters of Education, specializing in Early Childhood Education from the Erikson Institute (a graduate school specializing in child development) here in Chicago. Prior to having her own children and taking a few years off, she was Assistant Director of Baby Toddler Nursery in Evanston. She is married with three children, all of which are Covenant graduates!