Maya Warsame

Where do you live? Burnsville, Minnesota which is on Dakota Sioux Land

What experiences do you have in educational settings (Montessori or other)?

I was in traditional bilingual and immersion elementary school settings for 9 years as a classroom teacher as well as an admin before falling in love with Montessori when looking for a preschool for my oldest son. I decided to leave the classroom and get Montessori trained in hopes of opening a school. I am AMI Primary trained and opened one of the first Wildflower charter sites here in Minnesota in 2018, Lirio Montessori, with my Teacher Leader partner Susana Rodriguez.

What do you love about being an Operations Guide? I love how the School Startup Journey mirrors Montessori for adults in so many ways! The relationships I get to build with teams are so invigorating and exciting.  It feels like such an honor for teachers to entrust me to support them with opening their school which is often a direct connection to their core being.

What drew you to Wildflower?

I love the Montessori for Adults approach that Wildflower takes as well as our focus on liberation in our schools!!  As a former Teacher Leader,  I feel that our model truly allowed me to work in service of the community in a flexible and responsive way in my roles as instructor and administrator.

What is your favorite Montessori material and why?

I am Primary trained and it is so hard to choose just one! Golden Bead material is mesmerizing to me in all the different variations of presentations you can give as well as the sensorial experience of very large quantities.

Fun fact: I am fluent in Spanish! I lived in Guatemala for half a year and then worked in bilingual and immersion schools for all of my teaching career!