The Team
INSIDE MONTESSORI would not have been possible without the help of our amazing crew, knowledgeable advisors and generous donors.
The Filmmakers

JAN SELBY
Director/Producer
Jan Selby is an award-winning Director/Producer and founder of Quiet Island Films whose work has been screened in film festivals, art museums, university classrooms, and on PBS stations nationwide.
INSIDE MONTESSORI (2019, co-directed with Vina Kay), brings viewers inside five Montessori schools to show how Montessori is giving children from birth through high school the chance to achieve their full potential. It is being used throughout the United States to showcase the social justice potential of Montessori education. Her three children attended Montessori schools including Lake Country School and Great River School, where she served on both boards.
BEYOND THE DIVIDE (2014), follows the courageous acts of a Vietnam veteran and a peace advocate who discover a path to healing old wounds while reimagining peace. It premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, was included in the Best of Fest at the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, and was awarded Best Feature Documentary at the Peace on Earth Film Festival. After traveling to festivals worldwide, it was distributed to PBS stations by American Public Television.
Jan’s first film, A CIRCLE AND THREE LINES (2010), won a regional Emmy, was screened in festivals worldwide including the Woodstock Film Festival, and was featured in the Walker Art Center exhibit, The Reel Thing.

VINA KAY
Director/Producer
Vina Kay has committed her career and life to realizing a vision for racial justice, focusing on the systemic and structural change needed as well as how we practice liberation and model the world we seek. She is the Director of the Piper Fund, an initiative of the Proteus Fund, which connects and provides resources to grassroots organiztions committed to advancing an inclusive and representative democracy.
Prior to joining the Proteus Fund, she served as Vice President of Movement Capacity Building at Race Forward, which works at the national level to build awareness, solutions, and leadership for racial justice. She led a team focused on supporting, strengthening, and expanding grassroots movements for racial justice and increasing the capacity of organizations to engage in transformative racial equity work. Vina was Executive Director at Voices for Racial Justice, an organization based in Minnesota that works to create a healthy ecosystem of racial justice organizing through training and leadership development, culturally rooted policy tools and research practices, convenings and network building. While at Voices, she was also Director of Research and Policy, leading the work on the Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity, racial equity agendas, community narratives, and other tools that support grassroots organizing.
In addition to co-producing and co-directing INSIDE MONTESSORI, Vina is a writer of creative nonfiction and poetry, and has received the Loft Mentor Series award in creative nonfiction and a Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Residency at Tofte Lake Venter for poetry. Her two sons attended Lake Country School and she served on the boards of Lake Country and Bright Water Schools in Minneapolis.
Creative Team

Directed and Produced by
Editor
Original Music
Consulting Editor
Color Grading
Motion Graphics
Music Supervisor
Post Audio Mix
Associate Producer
Production Assistants
Jan Selby and Vina Kay
Amira Cohen
Ken Chastain and Rob Meany
Jim Stanger
Oscar Oboza
Greg Shultz, Gasket Studios Ltd.
Tammy Oellien, Gasket Studios Ltd.
Ken Chastain
Zac Bates
Sofia Asenjo
Kelle Green
Sarah Hellier
Allie Kopp
Stephanie To
Directed and Produced by:
Jan Selby and Vina Kay
Editor:
Amira Cohen
Original Music:
Ken Chastain and Rob Meany
Consulting Editor:
Jim Stanger
Color Grading:
Oscar Oboza
Motion Graphics:
Greg Shultz, Gasket Studios Ltd.
Tammy Oellien, Gasket Studios Ltd.
Music Supervisor:
Ken Chastain
Post Audio Mix:
Zac Bates
Associate Producer:
Sofia Asenjo
Production Assistants:
Kelle Green
Sarah Hellier
Allie Kopp
Stephanie To
Lumin Education Crew
Dallas, Texas
Director of Photography:
Adrian Danciu
Dave Schnack
Field Audio Recording:
Patrick Wylie
Grip:
Jake Hicks
Zach Morgan
Montessori Partners Serving All Children Crew
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Director of Photography:
Jeff Saunders
Dave Schnack
Jon Springer
Zach Pirolli
Field Audio Recording:
John Sims
Tom Colvin
Grip:
Amira Cohen
City Garden Montessori School Crew
Saint Louis, Missouri
Director of Photography:
Jeff Saunders
Field Audio Recording:
Tim Donsbach
Carlos Zuñiga
Grip:
Brett Dean
Drew Wilson
Lake Country School Crew
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Director of Photography:
Jeff Saunders
Dave Schnack
Jon Springer
Second Camera:
Amira Cohen
Tom Colvin
Amal Kay Flower
Field Audio Recording:
Tom Colvin
John Sims
Grip:
Amira Cohen
Cliff Dahlberg
MacDowell Montessori School Crew
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Director of Photography:
Jeff Saunders
Field Audio Recording:
Joe McCartan
Grip:
Tyler Jones
Directed and Produced by
Editor
Original Music
Consulting Editor
Color Grading
Motion Graphics
Music Supervisor
Post Audio Mix
Associate Producer
Production Assistants
Jan Selby and Vina Kay
Amira Cohen
Ken Chastain and Rob Meany
Jim Stanger
Oscar Oboza
Greg Shultz, Gasket Studios Ltd.
Tammy Oellien, Gasket Studios Ltd.
Ken Chastain
Zac Bates
Sofia Asenjo
Kelle Green
Sarah Hellier
Allie Kopp
Stephanie To
Lumin Education Crew
Dallas, Texas
Director of Photography
Field Audio Recording
Grip
Adrian Danciu
Dave Schnack
Patrick Wylie
Jake Hicks
Zach Morgan
Montessori Partners Serving All Children Crew
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Director of Photography
Field Audio Recording
Grip
Jeff Saunders
Dave Schnack
Jon Springer
Zach Pirolli
John Sims
Tom Colvin
Amira Cohen
City Garden Montessori Crew
St. Louis, Missouri
Director of Photography
Field Audio Recording
Grip
Jeff Saunders
Tim Donsbach
Carlos Zuñiga
Brett Dean
Drew Wilson
Lake Country School Crew
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Director of Photography
Second Camera
Field Audio Recording
Grip
Jeff Saunders
Dave Schnack
Jon Springer
Amira Cohen
Tom Colvin
Amal Kay Flower
Tom Colvin
John Sims
Amira Cohen
Cliff Dahlberg
MacDowell Montessori School Crew
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Director of Photography
Field Audio Recording
Grip
Jeff Saunders
Joe McCartan
Tyler Jones
Advisors
We are so grateful for the support our advisors provided. We are in the process of updating their bios. We will update this section soon!
KATHLEEN COSKRAN
Former Head of Lake Country School
Author Kathleen Coskran was head of Lake Country School in Minneapolis from 1995 until 2004. Under her direction, the school developed the Lake Country Land School at a recently acquired 180 acre farm to create a residential program for adolescents into the standard curriculum of the school. She is also a writer whose collection of short stories, The High Price of Everything, won a Minnesota Book Award as did Tanzania on Tuesday: Writing by American Women Abroad which she co-edited. She is the recipient of numerous artists’ fellowships and residencies including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Bush Artist’s Fellowship, and two grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
*GRETCHEN HALL
President, Association Montessori Internationale / USA Board
www.amiusa.org
Gretchen Hall serves as the director of training at the Montessori Training Center of Northeast (MTCNE). She received her AMI primary diploma from Washington Montessori Institute and an M.Ed. from Loyola University Maryland. She is the director of the Montessori Magnet School, an urban public Montessori school in Hartford, Connecticut. Gretchen brings over 20 years of Montessori experience to her role with the AMI/USA board of directors, currently serving as its president.
STEVE HUGHES, PHD, LP, ABPDN
Pediatric Neuropsychologist
www.pragueenglishpsych.cz
MARYELLEN KORDAS
AMS credential: Administrator
www.amshq.org
JACQUIE MAUGHAN
President, North American Montessori Teachers Association Board
www.montessori-namta.org
Jacquie Maughan received her AMI Primary Diploma in Palo Alto, CA. In 1980 she founded Woodland Montessori School, and in 1985 Pacific Crest Montessori School. After her retirement from Pacific Crest in 2013, Jacquie began Access Montessori. Jacquie brings her long history and commitment to the fundamental principles of Montessori education to her work. She is president of the Board of North American Montessori Teachers Association and is a participant in the Educateurs sans Frontieres initiative of the Association Montessori Internationale.
STEPHANIE MILLER
Former Executive Director, Trust for Learning
Stephanie Miller is the former Executive Director of Trust for Learning whose mission is to make ideal learning real for all children, regardless of their socioeconomic status. She has worked in the field of strategic philanthropy for over twenty years, focusing on collaborative grantmaking in education and community development. Stephanie founded a national network of community literacy education organizations that served marginalized communities across the country. Prior to her work with Trust for Learning, Stephanie maintained a philanthropic advising practice, advising a wide range of private grantmakers
MOLLY O’SHAUGHNESSY
Executive Director and Director of Primary Training Montessori Center of Minnesota
www.montessoricentermn.org
Molly O’Shaughnessy is an accomplished AMI trainer as well as a consultant and lecturer. She has led the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota (MCM) for over 20 years of expansion, growing a teacher training center into a movement to bring high-quality Montessori education to hundreds of underserved children. In 2008 O’Shaughnessy opened MCM’s campus in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood in East St. Paul. The campus includes an early childhood center, a teacher training center, and a one-of-a-kind Montessori museum. Additionally, MCM partners with Cornerstone Montessori Elementary School, a separate charter serving children kindergarten through sixth grade. Through a pilot program called Montessori Partners Serving All Children (MPSAC), O’Shaughnessy helped launch ten other Montessori schools in under-resourced neighborhoods. Montessori Partners forms partnerships with local communities to increase access to high-fidelity Montessori early childhood (0-6 years), and to strengthen the bonds between home, school, and community in a culturally responsive way. A noted authority in the field of Montessori training, she has served on the board of the Association of Montessori Internationale in Amsterdam, was a long-time member of the AMI Trainers Group, Chairs the board of the MM75 fund which provides assistance for future AMI teacher trainers, and was a member of the Montessori Leaders Collaborative. She is in demand as a speaker nationally and internationally and has presented keynotes and workshops across the United States as well as Canada, Australia, Mexico, China, and Europe. She has consulted on several Montessori projects nationally and internationally. She has a Master’s degree in Education from Loyola University in Maryland and a Bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Scholastica. She serves as Community Faculty for Metropolitan State University.
JOYCE S. PICKERING, HUMD, MA, SLP/CCC, CALT, QI, AMS/EC
Executive Director, Emerita Shelton School and Evaluation Center
www.shelton.org
Joyce Pickering is an over fifty-year Montessorian, speech and hearing pathologist, and learning disabilities specialist. Currently, she is Executive Director Emerita of Shelton School & Evaluation Center in Dallas, Texas, the world’s largest private school for children with learning differences. Under her tenure as executive director (1990–2010), Shelton saw significant growth and development, including an expansion of the application of the Montessori philosophy and practice and, in 2009, the launching of Shelton Montessori Teacher Education Center. She is the 2013 Living Legacy Recipient for American Montessori Society, an active member of several AMS committees and was President of AMS Board of Directors (2013 – 2014).
*DR. TIMOTHY PURNELL, EDD
Executive Director, American Montessori Society
www.amshq.org
Dr. Timothy Purnell joined AMS as executive director in August 2017. Previously he served as superintendent for Somerville public school district in New Jersey. There, he and his team designed and launched a non-traditional high school with a focus on reaching academically at-risk students and students disenfranchised with the traditional high school educational experience. He was one of just 100 educators selected to attend President Obama’s ConnectED Initiative at the White House, was selected as the 2016 NASS National Superintendent of the Year, and honored as the 2015 Highest Rated Professor in the nation. He is enthusiastic about Montessori education, and is looking forward to pursuing Montessori training.
TIM SELDIN
President, Montessori Foundation Chair, International Montessori Council
www.montessori.org
…………………..
WE ARE DEEPLY GRATEFUL FOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THESE ADVISORS. AS WE REMEMBER THEM, WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK TOWARDS ALL CHILDREN HAVING ACCESS TO QUALITY MONTESSORI EDUCATION.
JACQUELINE COSSENTINO (1964 – 2019)
Co-founder and Former Executive Director of the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector
www.public-montessori.org
An ethnographer by training, since 2001 Jackie Cossentino had drawn from her direct experience as head of an independent Montessori school and principal of a large, urban public Montessori school to produce an internationally recognized body of scholarship on Montessori education. Her 26 years in education included roles as a middle and high school English teacher, an elementary school principal, a professional developer for schools, districts, and museums, and a professor of educational leadership at the University of Maryland. She was a Lecturer in Loyola Maryland’s Montessori Studies program and served on the boards of Montessori Northwest and the Montessori Charter Management Organization.
LUCY SWIFT (1961 – 2019)
Film Development & Distribution Consultant
Lucy was a “citizen of the world” having grown up in Japan, France and England. After college, she lived and worked across the United States before settling in Minnesota. Lucy enjoyed spending time as a community connector, leadership mentor and strategic planning partner. She was Vice President of Minnesota productions and partnerships for Twin Cities PBS. In that capacity, she oversaw all broadcast and multi-media initiatives associated with local partnership and grant-based productions – telling high-impact stories across a wide range of social issues. She also participated in multiple statewide collective impact endeavors including Graduation Minnesota, focused on eliminating the graduation rate disparities gap and joined the board of the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging.
Supporters
Thank you to our worldwide community of supporters who are changing the future by shining a light on Montessori Education.
Leland Doan
Simmons Sisters Fund of the Dallas Foundation
Oswald Family Foundation
We are grateful for all our supporters around the world.