Spotlight on Miss Luce

Miss Julie Luce joined Willow Tree Montessori in the 2018-2019 school year as an assistant, quickly becoming an incredible asset to the community, the children- and to have in Casa. Her patience and warm nature make for a seamless afternoon of work. Miss Luce also played an integral role in our first Creative Arts Collective Summer Workshop Series, assisting with all aspects: from providing positive daily feedback to make the program stronger, and to facilitating creative projects.  

WTM: Tell us a little bit about your background and education?

JL: I grew up in Woodbridge with my parents and older brother. I graduated from Amity High School in 2013. During my time at Amity, I played varsity and travel softball. I originally went to the University of Hartford after being accepted into their physical therapy program. I eventually transferred to Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) after switching my major to social work. I completed my undergraduate internship at the Willows, a nursing home in Woodbridge. I graduated with honors from SCSU in 2018 with my bachelor’s degree in social work and a minor in public health.

WTM: What brought you to WTM?

JL: After graduating from Southern, I decided to take a year off before applying to MSW programs. My primary goal was to gain experience working with children in a professional setting. Social work is such a broad major and I was struggling to find my calling. This is when I stumbled across WTM. I found a job listing online for an assistant teacher position at Willow Tree. I was somewhat familiar with the school because I drove by it frequently. After applying, I received a call back and was asked to come in for an interview.

Upon entering WTM, I felt right at home. The staff and environment were so incredibly welcoming; I almost forgot I was there for an interview. Mrs. Bielik gave me a tour of the Casa while sharing the “roots” of Willow Tree. It was early August and sunlight poured in through the many windows and skylights. I explored the environment slowly, with admiration for the child-sized tables, chairs, shelves, and even toilets.

It wasn’t until my interview that I realized I had vague experience with Montessori. While Mrs. Bielik educated me about the Montessori Method and what to expect, I reflected on my time at Beecher Road Elementary school. I was in a program called multi-age group (MAG). MAG is a four-year program at Beecher that stems from the Montessori Method. This program connected me to some of my lifelong best friends and all-time favorite teachers. MAG was the highlight of my elementary education and definitely prompted my love for learning. After making this connection, I knew that I wanted to take the job opportunity at Willow Tree and be a part of something special.

WTM: What is your favorite thing about being an assistant?

JL: My favorite thing about being an assistant is, of course, the children. I love to watch them grow and develop in all aspects of life- physical, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual. There is simply nothing better than watching the look on a child’s face when he or she accomplishes a seemingly impossible and daunting task. Just the other day, I eagerly watched a “first year child” successfully get on the swing for the first time by himself. The highlight of my work day is when I am asked to admire a child’s hard work, or when I hear someone shout, “Look! I did it!”

WTM: Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

JL: It’s hard to say where I see myself in the next five years. Life is wonderfully unpredictable. I am recently engaged to my fiancé, Anthony. We are in the process of wedding planning and house hunting. We just set a date for our wedding which will take place in April, 2021. In the next five years, I envision us happily married and moved into our own home. In addition, I wish to have completed my master’s degree and AMI primary certification. Ultimately, I just hope to be happy, healthy, and surrounded by loved ones.

WTM: What is your favorite quote?

JL: One of my all-time favorite quotes is, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” I tend to be incredibly hard on myself, but this quote reminds me to stop comparing myself to others. This quote can also be applied to the Montessori philosophy. It is important for children to follow their personal interests and skills. We all have our unique talents and its okay not to succeed at everything!

WTM: What interests you the most about the Montessori Method?

JL: I find all aspects of the Montessori Method fascinating. Science has always been my favorite subject, so I particularly appreciate that the Montessori Method originated from an experiment. The children are literally teaching themselves every day. All the works are self-corrective, which allows the children to learn at their own pace. The Montessori Method encourages children to make their own choices based on internal motivation. In traditional education, there is a specific curriculum that the teacher is required to follow. However, the Montessori Method encourages the “guide” to follow the child. This ensures that the child is always interested and engaged in the work at hand.

I also value the role of the “prepared environment” in Montessori. Not only is it beautiful, but it is functional. It allows the children to move freely and discover what they are truly capable of. They have access to sinks, scissors, utensils, pitchers, plants… the list goes on. This trust and accessibility helps foster confidence and independence in the child.

WTM: What have you learned or gained by working at WTM?

JL: It’s hard to communicate everything I have gained from working at WTM. It has shifted my perception of children and education entirely. Firstly, I have developed a unique sense of humor. Kids are unintentionally hilarious. You have to be able to laugh at all the bizarre things they say and do in order to get through the day.

In addition, I have developed a sense of patience and self-control. When a child is encouraged to do things on their own, everything becomes a process. It can be a challenge to sit back and wait while they put on their own shoes, open their own lunches, or clean up their own spills. Despite how difficult it can be to practice patience during these times, it is absolutely crucial to their development! Children will never learn to do things for themselves if they are constantly depending on others.

Lastly, I have gained amazing coworkers. Being an assistant allows me to learn from the best. I feel grateful to have Mrs. Bielik as a guide because she has so much knowledge and insight to offer. She has taught me skills that I find myself utilizing both inside and outside of the Casa. Mrs. Bielik has a clear passion for Montessori and love for children. Her positive attitude reflects on all staff members at WTM and creates a pleasant work atmosphere. I look forward to each school day because I love what I do and who I do it with.

WTM: You are involved in a local charity that has grown quite a bit over the last few years, can you speak a bit on that?

JL: Yes! Thank you for asking! I am on the junior advisory board for a non-profit called the Susie Foundation. The Susie Foundation provides families living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) with compassionate and enduring support services that help them overcome the adversities of the disease and access richer, fuller, and more meaningful lives. It was founded in memory of Susan R. Matthews, who passed away from ALS in 2011. My committee, in particular, seeks to support The Susie Foundation’s Flex Grant program, which provides reimbursement funding to financially distressed families. Our efforts also support the agency’s collaboration with Big Brothers Big Sisters, which seeks to provide adult mentors to children living with parental ALS.

To learn more about the Susie Foundation visit: https://www.thesusiefoundation.org/

Thank-you Miss Luce!

Julie Luce lives in Prospect with her fiancé, Anthony. Julie grew up in Woodbridge and graduated from Amity High School in 2013. She received her bachelor’s degree in social work from Southern Connecticut State University in 2018. This is her second year working as an assistant in the primary Casa. Julie is also a member of the Junior Advisory Board for the Susie Foundation, a local nonprofit. In her spare time, Julie loves to play outside with her dog, Lola. She also loves vacationing with her family to Sebago Lake, Maine.

Spotlight on Maureen Lyden-Ruhe

Willow Tree Montessori students have the opportunity to work with Suzuki trained educator Maureen Lyden-Ruhe on a weekly basis. We recently sat down with her, to get a more in-depth look at her life and career in music.

 WTM: At what age did you start playing the violin?

MLR: I started playing at the age of 3, my Mom wanted to do something with just me after my brother was born, so she signed me up for a Suzuki violin class with Lisa Barca-Hall. She had read an article in the New Haven Register about Lisa, and the program she was starting for young children to learn violin. Lisa Barca-Hall founded Suzuki Music School of New Haven, Bethwood Suzuki Music School and trained with Carol Sykes in Harwich MA- who had trained under Dr. Suzuki.

WTM: Tell us a little bit about your background in music.

MLR: I don’t remember a time that music hasn’t been in my life. Besides playing the violin, when I was in 5th and 6th grade my music teacher taught me how to play upright bass because there wasn’t a violin part in the school band. I played violin in High School at Sacred Heart Academy, and participated in the Southern Regional Music Festival all 4 years of High School, and the All State Music Festival my Junior and Senior years. In High School I also began performing in musicals, first playing violin in the pit orchestra, and then eventually moving up on to the stage.  I studied at Ithaca College, and I have a Bachelor of Arts in Drama with a minor in violin performance and a focus in Musical Theater. I received my Suzuki violin training and certification and First Steps in Music Training at the Hartt School of Music.

WTM: What brought you to WTM?

MLR: Mrs. Sloman. I grew up playing violin with Mrs. Sloman’s daughter.

WTM: Had you had other experience working in Montessori environments, or a background working in Montessori prior to coming to WTM?

MLR: In College I worked in a Montessori based program, as both a music teacher and a classroom assistant.

What I appreciate about working in a Montessori environment is that the children are given the opportunity to explore and create. I think creating a Suzuki program within the classroom is quite special, and the Suzuki philosophy and the Montessori Method pair nicely together: In that every child can learn, and learning music is like learning a second language.

 WTM: What is your favorite song to play on the violin?

MLR: Concerto for Two Violins by Bach (also known as Bach Double). I can learn Concertos for the rest of my life, but that will always be my favorite. I learned it probably when I was about 10.

WTM: We know that you perform with, and donate your time to charity and community outreach.  Can you speak a little bit on that?

MLR: I started volunteering with Ronald McDonald House (RMHC) back in High School. Over the course of the last 25 years I’ve been involved in their Lights of Love and Trees of Hope Events. My students have also starting getting involved, and we have also gone to play for their residents. For the last 18 years, I have brought students to be a part of their Trees of Hope event, which is a Christmas Tree Festival that benefits patients by raising funds and awareness. 

For the last two years, I have also brought a group of students to provide music at the Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital: Evening of Remembrance. This beautiful event is a night for bereaved parents to share memories about their children, and gives them the opportunity to work with child life specialists through art, music and poetry therapies.   

WTM: What is the most interesting song that you’ve been asked to play at an event or wedding?

MLR: An entire wedding with only music from the movie Twilight.

WTM: Tell us a little bit about how you founded Starlight Strings, and what that experience has been like for you? Or what has been the most rewarding aspect of that.

MLR: I founded Starlight Strings 2009 in Wallingford after leaving my position as string director at Bethwood Suzuki School.

WTM: You started out there, so it’s like full circle.

MLR: Definitely. I started student teaching with Lisa Barca-Hall in High School and in the summers during college, so I  ended up coming back to teach there. It was so easy to come back to Bethwood because it was a place that I always called home.

When I first came back to teaching at Bethwood, I was pursuing working in both violin and drama at the time. Coming back to a place I had grown up, made it easy for me to balance my teaching schedule and still take the train into the city for auditions. Starlight Strings eventually gave me an extension of that. Now, I have kept in touch with many of my former Bethwood students, and have even played at some of their weddings!

Since creating Starlight Strings, in the last 10 years I have been able to give my students different kinds of opportunities to play for the community and charity events. These same students have gone on to also play in regional and all state festivals, as well as in college.

 WTM: Do you have a great or interesting audition story?

I do actually. It was more of a job interview that turned into an audition. When I was commuting back and forth to New York, teaching early childhood music, violin and performing in many musicals, I was given the opportunity to apply for a job at a very prestigious Early Childhood Center in the heart of Manhattan.  They were looking for a teacher who could teach the children music, some instruments, but who also had a background in Theatre.  This seemed like a perfect fit.  I arrived planning to interview, maybe play some violin, and was dressed as so –professional looking skirt and blouse, heels- this was Manhattan after all. When I came, in the School Director, an older gentleman who had been at the school for 35 years, had me come into a classroom and asked me to sing a ballad from any Broadway show. I wasn’t prepared to sing, but had just performed as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, so Somewhere That’s Green was the obvious choice. In the middle of my singing, he took out a box of puppets threw them all over the floor, told me to stop singing my song, and said he would set a timer and every time it beeped I had to pick up a puppet, sing a different Children’s song in a different character voice, and interact with him as if he were a child in the class. I did 5 puppets/songs before he asked me to stop. He shook my hand and showed me out to the office. I never heard from that school again.

 WTM: Is there anything else that you’d like to share?

I love working with the students at Willow Tree, and I look forward to seeing what we accomplish with our violins this year!

Maureen Lyden-Ruhe also has a music studio in her home, which provides her the opportunity to teach, as well as be home with her two awesome kids, ages 5 and 9.  When not teaching, she enjoys volunteering at their schools, working at Book Fairs, Plant Sales, classroom events, helping in the Library, and hiking in the woods every other Friday with the Kindergarten. She has worked with Hartford Children’s Theatre and The Whitney Players as a music director and also an actress, as well as performing with several other local theatre companies. She loves everything Broadway and everything Disney, and when not playing violin you can usually find her singing with her daughter. She has been married for 11 years, and lives with her family in Wallingford.

We had the opportunity to briefly speak to Lisa Barca-Hall, Maureen’s mentor and teacher, she gave us a little bit of background on how she trained many aspiring violinists to hone their craft to become successful musicians and teachers.

She said “ Maureen Lyden began her studies with me at age three. She was shy and quiet as a preschooler. I remember calling her up to the front of her group class, to play a little snippet of “Lightly Row” and she totally surprised us all by playing the entire song! Maureen grew up at my two Suzuki schools playing in every concert and demonstration and recital she could. As a teen and young teen, she was an eager teaching assistant and showed a true love and enthusiasm for working with the youngest students though she was an inspiration for all.”

Lisa Barca-Hall was a first generation Suzuki student, having studied as a child in the sixties with several of Dr. Suzuki’s original American protégés including Susan Grilli and Carol Sykes. She has taught thousands of Suzuki students ages 2 through adult and trained numerous teachers for over forty years in Massachusetts, Connecticut and California. A graduate of Yale University, and the mother of seven children, she founded and directed the Suzuki Music School of New Haven in 1979 and the Bethwood Suzuki School in 1988 where Maureen Lyden began her violin studies. She also developed Kinderhythms, a unique pre-instrumental music and movement program for toddlers incorporating the Suzuki repertoire, and has been a clinician at workshops in New England and California. Mrs. Barca-Hall moved to California in 1995 where she developed Suzuki programs in Los Gatos and Santa Cruz public schools, as well as private programs in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. Despite officially “retiring” a few years ago, Lisa currently directs the Suzuki string program at Carmel River School where her daughter in law is the general music instructor. She has four grandchildren who are happily playing Suzuki violin and cello.

Spotlight on Miss Majla Isaku

Miss Isaku has been working at Willow Tree Montessori since 2018, and has decided to further her education to be a Guide in our Young Children’s Community this coming fall. We had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting with her about her studies and her passion for Montessori.

WTM: Tell us a little bit about the program that you are studying.

MI:I’m training to get my Masters in Early Childhood Education as well as getting accredited for AMI Assistance to Infancy. The program I am taking through MTCNE, and the University of Hartford is built around learning everything about children aged 0-3 years. We learn about their needs, development, care, psychological and physical growth, and how to help guide the child during the different stages of maturing. We learn about the importance of a prepared environment, and how that helps aid in independence within the child. Overall, you learn how to be a well-rounded guide!

WTM: What is your favorite thing about studying to become a Montessori Guide?

MI: My favorite part about becoming a Montessori Guide is really seeing Maria Montessori’s pedagogy happening right before my eyes. Her work has not only changed my views on children and their abilities but about education as a whole. Watching children follow their inner instincts drive them to what they need in the environment, watching them focus on work for a prolonged amount of time, watching them become independent explorers….these are the reasons I’m becoming a Montessori Guide.

WTM: Tell us about your journey and how you ended up at WTM, and what made you decide to pursue this as your career path?

MI: My journey to Willow Tree started after I graduated from Southern Connecticut State University. I started applying to jobs, and as fate would have it, I got a call back from Willow Tree to be an Assistant! On my first day there, I was star struck. The children were shining tables, cleaning up spills, setting up their snack tables, dressing themselves, and so many other remarkable actions. They were doing everything they needed to do for themselves, by themselves! With every passing day, I watched as the children grew into independent, productive, free-thinking, and kind people. Watching Mrs. Bielik work with the children was almost like watching a magic trick. During her presentations, the child(ren) would not only be focused, but they were so happy to be learning something new. After spending my first year in the Primary Casa (Casa Dei Bambini), I knew I found the career I’ve been searching for. Montessori is the perfect combination of psychology, philosophy, and education, which I absolutely loved. The opportunity for me to get my AMI Assistance to Infancy accreditation along with a Masters in Early Childhood Education came along, and with the love and support from the staff at Willow Tree, I was able to take that opportunity.

WTM: What have you learned about yourself working at WTM?

MI:Willow Tree has taught me that I need to relax!! Sometimes I find myself getting flustered trying to keep a close eye on every child, but I’ve learned that the environment is made for the children to explore and learn. Their inner drive will direct them to where they need to be and I simply need to sit back and observe. The best thing I’ve learned working here is that the child is not an empty vessel waiting to be filled with knowledge, the child is already filling himself with knowledge, and we are simply aiding in that task. Trust in the process.

Thank you to Miss Iskau, for taking the time to answer our questions.

Majla Isaku is a Masters student at the University of Hartford. She is also working toward getting accredited in AMI Assistance to Infancy. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a concentration in mental health from Southern Connecticut State University. During her undergrad she played women’s rugby for two years, and she sings Opera. Her favorite color is light blue. She was born in Albania and speaks both English and Albanian. If she had to eat one meal for the rest of her life it would be chicken parmesan with angel hair pasta.

Miss Isaku said “One of the biggest joys in my life is working with kids and I’m very grateful I get to do what I love at Willow Tree.”