About the Teachers

Kerri Meelia has been teaching in Forest Kindergartens and/or Waldorf schools for the past eight years as a Spanish teacher, pod leader, and Forest Kindergarten assistant. She has also spent over a decade working with families of young children through Head Start and other agencies designed to promote whole family wellness. Kerri is currently completing a certificate in Nature Based Early Childhood Education from Antioch University. She also has a Master’s Degree in Holistic Nutrition and loves to explore food with children - be it by following a seed from plant to harvest to table, grinding corn, flipping tortillas over a fire, or telling stories about food and its mythical origins.

 

Kerri’s great joy is allowing children to be children in wild places, though she is equally passionate about providing access to nature and wellness to the entire family.   Kerri is also an eager traveler, gardener, and mother of two children. She has spent much of her adult life living and working in Mexico, where she became fluent in Spanish and developed a lifelong love for slow food, travel and the Spanish language. She loves letting the chickens and ducks out in the morning and watching them spread their wings, harvesting Hawthorne berries in the rain, and playing cards at the airport with her kids.

 

​​​​Violeta Salvadar

Viioleta has been working with young children in the bilingual setting for for more than twenty years, and loves to bring everything from yoga to science to cooking to the children she serves. In addition to her decades of experience, Violeta has significant training in early childhood education. She is a mother, grandmother, creator, yogi, chef and friend.  She brings warmth, joy, and calm to the people around her, and is adored by children and families alike!