HOW THE DREAM DEVELOPED
The dream of providing new opportunities for at-risk children and families in inner city communities in Baton Rouge using the Montessori Method grew out of the passion of Carolyn Myer. This passion grew after viewing her daughters, her friends’ children and later her owns students thrive in the Montessori environment. After teaching kindergarten in East Baton Rouge Parish for one year, Carolyn decided to pursue Montessori training which focuses on giving children the opportunity to develop a life long love of learning with the freedom to advance at their own pace. After calling every Montessori School in Baton Rouge about job openings she landed a teacher’s aide position at a school less than a mile from her home. The position offered her the opportunity to learn from experienced teacher, to observe children as they learned, and to assist in paying part of her tuition to be trained as a Montessori teacher. Although another opportunity beckoned, Carolyn accepted the job and began in the fall of 1999 at the Montessori School of Baton Rouge. The groundwork for her dream was laid. Within three months an opening became available for a teacher at the school, and she was offered the position. She traveled to Hammond, Louisiana, and attended the Oaks Montessori School where she was trained to use the Montessori materials. Her Montessori theory training was obtained by correspondence through the Montessori World Educational Institute. Carolyn taught for three years at the Montessori School of Baton Rouge and obtained her Montessori teacher certification during that time. One of Carolyn’s goals at that time was to one day take the Montessori Method of teaching and make it available to at-risk children. In the fall of 2002 Carolyn met Melissa Peck. She took Melissa to tour the school and shared her dream of opening her own school one day. Melissa was excited and inspired and shared her dream of working with families. She asked if she could be a part of the dream. It was an ideal partnership: Carolyn would work with the children, and Melissa would work with their families, thereby addressing the family as a unit. Carolyn made a decision in 2002 to pursue her goal by making a transition to teaching out of her home. Her husband remodeled their garage, and Carolyn transformed it into a classroom. The Montessori home school opportunity was taken to Carolyn’s garage in the fall of 2002. This was an intermediate step to determine whether this venture could be taken to the inner city. The home school was successful, and Carolyn ended the second year with six students. As 2003 arrived Carolyn researched the steps to owning her own school. By late spring of 2003, Carolyn and Melissa were working on the ideas for starting the South Baton Rouge Christian Children’s Foundation (SBRCCF).
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