Kelly Wild
For over thirty years, I have been working in early childhood education with families and their children ages birth to second grade. After completing my undergraduate degree, I attended the Master’s Program in School Counseling at Lewis & Clark College while working with Head Start graduates in kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Vernon Elementary School in NE Portland, Oregon. I then worked at the Multnomah County North Portland Parent-Child Development Center, co-running parent-child groups and preschool programs. I have worked in public, private, and non-profit preschool and toddler classrooms. I have gleaned much along the way through universities, books, trainings, research, teachers, and most of all from the children themselves (including my own three children). I am RIE certified and studied directly with Magda Gerber. I have been inspired by many child development philosophies and have incorporated Unconditional Parenting, Positive Parenting, Sensory Integration, Respectful Parenting and Collaborative Problem Solving into my educational practice. My eclectic knowledge, experience, and dedication to early childhood education culminated in the creation of Hummingbird Preschool in 2005. I began creating social emotional learning games for young children in 2019 as I love finding fun ways for children to connect with one another.
Jenna Sarowitz
Jenna first taught at Hummingbird Preschool in 2005. She worked with us for several years before taking time away to care for the youngest of her three children. Jenna is a talented artist and our primary art room teacher. She excels at making early literacy work fun, creative, and artsy. She is a specialist in autism, sensory spectrum challenges, and neurodiverse learners. Jenna is the calm in any storm. She has a soft, gentle, patient, kind, respectful approach to working with even the most difficult situations.
Ari Edwards
Ari began teaching at Hummingbird Preschool in 2018. She has extensive experience working with young children both as a parent, teacher and nanny. Ari is especially skilled at managing whole classrooms. She has the amazing ability to keep whole groups of children engaged, combined with that impossible skill of knowing where to be and when. She especially shines when kids need help with conflicts. Always kind and creative, she has a balanced, grounded approach and really connects with kids in a mutually respectful, collaborative way.
Mariella Swearingen
Mariella first came to Hummingbird as a preschooler in 2005. She worked as a sub and summer teacher before joining us in June 2022. Mariella spent a year interning at a Portland Public School kindergarten and is currently pursuing her degree in early childhood education. She has been studying dance for over ten years and is a lifelong learner of guided meditation and yoga, and brings these skills to circle led activities at Hummingbird. Young children LOVE this teacher! She somehow “gets” kids and they connect with her in such a special way. She has the magical ability to bring playfulness and ever changing creativity to every situation whether it be collaborative play, structured games, academic teaching, or conflict management.