Michelle Morales
Wonderseum Teacher
I am a proud wife to a Retired Marine (USMC) and dog mom to a Red Siberian Husky. I have been working with children since 1997. I have my Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and I’m fully accredited in early childhood education. I have twelve years experience in Reggio Emilia. I believe the Reggio approach program can foster children through empathy, education, expression, and exploration. I believe in investing in the early learning in a child’s life.
Maria Sweeney
Wonderseum Assistant
Maria is an award winning children’s book author in Mexico, where she grew up, and a speaker and promoter of literacy programs for children. After moving to the Los Angeles area, Maria spent 12 years as an Art docent in the Education Department of the Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical gardens in San Marino, becoming the head of its volunteers program and a designer of special arts education programs for Children such as “Discovering Art” and “My Master Pieces” in collaboration with the Pasadena School District. She is a Spanish teacher for the Whole Child Learning Company.
Maria graduated from Anahuac University in Mexico City with a degree in Law, and a masters certificates in Art, History and Literature. She is married and has three children.
Jan Streelman
Literacy Specialist and Music Teacher for Wonderseum
“Miss Jan,” a former children’s librarian in New Hampshire, has been the Literacy Specialist at The Woodlands Children’s Museum since 2016. She loves sharing her passion for books and music with children through weekly floor programs—Boogie Bash, Shadow Puppet Theatre, and Storybook Theatre. Recently she introduced Rhyme Time, a program geared to children 6-24 months and their caregivers with a focus on fun hand rhymes, fingerplays, and songs that encourage early literacy development and socialization. She also brings in visiting children’s book authors on a regular basis and creates book displays to encourage families to connect with books and embrace the joy of reading. In addition, Miss Jan is the music teacher for the museum’s Wonderseum preschool.
Jamie Glass
Education Coordinator
Jamie Glass is committed to fostering the arts within her community. Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus on dance therapy and early childhood education, she brings a unique perspective to her work. For ten years, she served as Arts Coordinator for the City of Conroe, providing crucial support to local performing, visual, and literary arts organizations.
Her experience extend to education, encompassing eight years of teaching Pre-K and Kindergarten. Notably, she founded the Multi-Arts summer camp and the Soup R’ Arts outreach program, which received the Texas Recreation and Parks Society’s award for outstanding arts and humanities programming achievement.
Jamie is also a passionate supporter of community theatre. Currently, as Education Coordinator at The Woodlands Children’s Museum, she oversees workshops, Wonderseum Preschool, and the museum floor programming.
Leigh Cordier
Robotics and Science Teacher
Leigh has been teaching robotics and science classes at the museum since 2018. She is an engineer and enjoys passing along her love of science and curiosity of how things work. Leigh has a Geological Engineering Degree from the University of Missouri-Rolla, now Missouri University of Science and Technology. Leigh looks forward to working with your kiddos in science and Lego robotics classes.
Wendy West
RobotiKs Teacher
Wendy has a bachelor’s of science degree in Psychology with a focus on Educational Psychology, and is currently working towards earning her EC-6 teaching certification along with furthering her education in the realm of psychology. Favoring the science subjects, she strives to create an inclusive learning environment where children can be creative and comfortable. Wendy is excited to continue working with the kids in Robotiks and Beyond and Creative Coders!
Julie Oudin, MSWJulie Oudin, MSW, brings a wealth of experience and a passion for working with young children to her work teaching mindfulness. A former preschool teacher and director at Interfaith Child Development Center here in The Woodlands, Julie believes all children deserve to feel good about themselves, and using stories, songs, art activities, and creativity she hopes they will gain awareness about their feelings, develop kindness towards themselves and others, and have a lot of fun doing so!
Julie will be teaching Playing Attention, an early play-based experience for 2 -3-year-old children with the comfort of a parent or caregiver nearby. Focusing on mindfulness-related concepts such as kindness, awareness of feelings, exploring with all five senses, and gratitude, this class will promote self-worth and socialization through stories, music and movement, sensory activities, imaginative play, and art.
Ellen Schwabe
Elle has been working in the world of early education for the past 10 years in an international setting. With a background in the non-profit sector she has worked in various educational settings around the world and locally, from creating a bilingual educational center in Tel Aviv for young families, to working with preschools locally to achieve a higher level. She has a love and appreciation of culture, the arts and all things creative and enjoys sharing that passion with the children in our community. She has a Masters Degree in Child Development. She works in the museum on outreach, exhibits, curriculum support and with the Wonderseum Preschool.
Annie McAulayAnnie McAulay is a wife, mother, and self taught artist who teaches children and adults how to paint, sculpt, and create one of kind pieces of art online, in person classes, and face painting.
Creating art is a passion where she tries to bring the audience a sense of joy and wonder. Sometimes, her paintings have hidden sentimental items that are meaningful to each piece like: animals, faces, people, items, places, words, and/or optical illusions that engage the audience.
Olivia Morales
Hi! I’m Olivia. I’m twenty-five years old and currently studying psychology at The University of Houston Downtown. At the museum, I proudly wear a lot of hats and assist in a handful of our incredible departments including floor, education, and social media. This summer I will be assisting my good friend and co-teacher Wendy West in some of our robotics classes for older children. I have a background in robotics with my middle school FLL (First Lego League) experiences, plus a personal interest in coding and Lego robotics. I look forward to working with your children this summer and help them tap into some fun activities and challenges along the way!