Kate Rickard, a parent of three former Bridgeview Montessori students, a current board member, and a local restaurateur, clearly sees the value of a Bridgeview Montesssori education. Similar to Kate’s experience, I speak with parents all the time who tell me stories of how their children’s poise, grace and inquisitiveness leave an impression of those they meet. If you would like to share your own comments, please do so after the blog post.

Hello, my name is Kate Rickard. I am honored to be serving as the Vice President of the Bridgeview Montessori Board of Trustees. While my children no longer attend Bridgeview, you may remember me cooking up some burgers at the potluck BBQ this fall. I had planned on taking a few moments to list some of things the Board of Directors does for this community at the picnic. As it happens, the constraints of being human got the best of me. Therefore, Sandy suggested I send out a few written words from the speech I had prepared. I had prepared to detail that our Montessori community raised just shy of $26,000.00 during the 2018-19 school year. I planned on thanking all those present for “digging deep” and giving us the opportunity to allocate those funds to bring our kids a Spanish and yoga curriculum, new classroom materials, building improvements including enhancements to plumbing, office materials, energy efficient lighting and a playground structure shaped like a boat. Then something happened that caught me off guard.

My dog is a jerk….not by his fault but by my family’s. So, we decided to hire a trainer to get his behavior under control. The trainer is superb. He set the tone immediately upon walking in our home. As he requested, all of our family members were present for the hour long session.

As the session went on, the trainer began to comment, with surprise, under his breath. He noted how bright and intuitive my children were. He sighed mentioning they were polite and confident. He commented on their ability to ask questions, make corrections and give clear training cues to our dog. About forty five minutes into the class he stopped training and turned me to say, “Really, I work with many families and your kids have an...a....” He was searching for a noun or adjective and couldn’t find the correct one. I smiled confidently and said, “They have gone to Montessori school.” As I expected, I didn’t have to explain the philosophy to this gentleman. He tilted his head back and said, “OOHH, that’s it.” He was noticing the confidence and intuition that characterize those who have learned within a Montessori setting. What he didn’t realize was he was teaching me about our Spiral and the Circle of Giving.

While my children spend their days inside different classrooms then the ones at Bridgeview, they continue to benefit from the way they were taught there. They treat others with respect and kindness. They look adults in the eye without fear. They are curious about the subjects they are being taught. They will take that with them wherever they go. I think that is how they continue in Bridgeview’s Spiral. The members of the board donate their time and knowledge to the Spiral. The Circle of Giving is what ensures the Spiral’s infinite nature. A big thank you is owed to this community for contributing to that Circle. But believe me, you will see the reward not in my gratitude but in your children throughout their lives.