Hello. My name is Jennifer Spikner, and I am the founder of Acorn Educational Consulting.

 

I started my journey in the field of education in the late 1980's in St. Louis, Missouri as a freelance researcher. I was fresh out of college, bright eyed and idealistic, when I accepted a position with the Committee on Quality Education, a court-appointed monitoring committee tasked with making sure that schools were implementing the programs they had been ordered to put in place to compensate for years of racial segregation.  They weren't.  This work opened my eyes to the disparities in education and motivated me to do two things: to pursue a Master's degree in education; and to become an advocate for equality.  Terms like diversity, equity and inclusion hadn't been coined yet, but I did what I could to stand up against injustice when I saw it.

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Years later, after having children of my own, I discovered Montessori. Dismayed that I had not been introduced to this amazing philosophy and method of education during my graduate studies in education, I headed back to school, this time to pursue a lower elementary credential, the first of three credentials that I would eventually earn through the American Montessori Society. I absolutely loved lower elementary. I loved the kids, and I loved the curriculum. In fact, I might still be in that same classroom at Brookview School in Benton Harbor, Michigan had life not taken a few unexpected turns. Our Head of School moved, and Brookview needed an administrator. I gave school leadership a shot, which led to a succession of positions in three amazing Montessori schools over the next fifteen years. 

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The range of experiences I had in my years as a Montessori teacher and Head of School were truly remarkable: Running a farm with sheep, chickens and pigs;  accompanying students to Leon, Mexico for an exchange program; collaborating with other schools and community partners in social justice work; helping to restore a prairie with native plants...the list goes on and on.

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As a Head of School, I had the opportunity to become involved in teacher education, to speak at conferences around the country, to develop meaningful partnerships, and to pursue my passion for equity and social justice.  In August of 2023, I passed my Head of School baton to my successor, and launched Acorn Educational Consulting, a business dedicated to helping schools do better by supporting teachers, administrators, parents and students.  As founder of Acorn Educational Consulting, I have supported schools in many ways. I've worked with new teachers to help them set up their classrooms and guided them in classroom management and lesson giving skills. I've worked with teaching teams to help them align their curricula and identify and fill in curriculum gaps. I've facilitated anti-bias trainings and team building workshops, and I continue to speak at conferences and retreats. I am thrilled to be able to share my expertise with teachers, administrators, parents and students.