Jillian originates from Louisburg, KS and graduated from Kansas State University in December 2012 with a degree in Early Childhood Education. As a leader in the field of early childhood education, Jillian's focus is to improve the lives of young families now, while also setting the stage for the future of education. As such, Jillian has traveled to China to complete a project on the study of early childhood education practices in other cultures. During her investigation of the East Asian culture, she visited different kindergartens (preschools) in Zhuhai and Guangzhou, studying early childhood programs and creativity. This experience exposed her to a wide variety of preschool offerings as well as numerous new practices, activities, and materials that could be integrated into classrooms in the United States.
Prior to beginning her tenure at Creche, Jillian completed clinical internships within contradistinction early childhood classrooms, which included infant and toddler, two-year-olds, inclusive preschool, and kindergarten. Prior to graduation, she completed a student teaching internship in a classroom of two-year-olds. Through her teaching experiences, and while working as a nanny in college, she gained valuable experience that helped prepare her to lead her own classroom. She accepted a Lead infant/toddler teaching position at Creche in January 2013, then in July 2014 was promoted to Director. In September 2015, Jillian co-led the Creche team to receive the prestigious award of NAEYC Accreditation.
Throughout her college and post-collegiate courses; work and educational experiences, Jillian has developed a strong sense of early childhood development, developmentally appropriate practices, effective teachings strategies, classroom management, the importance of environments and room arrangement, and positive relationship and discipline techniques.
“Having the opportunity to observe the children growing and thriving in our classrooms continuously reignites my passion for early childhood education. The lifelong impact our team makes in each child’s life is amazing to watch and I’m honored to be a part of it.”
