Coming Full Circle: Kirsti Forrest, David Lamiet, Kira Messinger Take On New Teaching Roles

For some alumni, the path from Wilmington Montessori School leads full circle. This school year we are lucky to welcome three former students back to WMS in new teaching roles. Kirsti Forrest, David Lamiet and Kira Messinger are familiar faces for many of us in the WMS community, but this year they are all taking on new leadership roles in our classrooms - and all three are equally thrilled.

	Kira Messinger

For Kira, who has stepped into a lead teacher role in Room 19 (a 6-9 classroom),  the path has been  clear since her days as a WMS student. "It's honestly a dream come true," she said. "I decided in second grade I was going to be a teacher and I was going to teach here. This is where I fell in love with learning and I'm so excited to share that with my students."

After attending WMS from 1996 through 2004, Kira went on to schools in Pennsylvania's Garnet Valley School District. She graduated from Millersville University at the end of 2016 with a degree in early childhood and special education, and immediately began working as a permanent substitute teacher at WMS. Kira also worked as a Camp Montessori counselor and a substitute teacher during her school breaks. As Kira continues her American Montessori Society teacher certification program, she feels lucky to have a solid Montessori foundation from her time as a WMS student. "Montessori has shaped so much of who I am," she said. "I really believe it helps children grow into the best version of themselves." Her fondest WMS memories include spending time in the woods, performing on the outdoor stage, exploring the creek, and uncovering fossils as a junior paleontologist in the 6-9 classroom - experiences she's eager to bring to her new Room 19 students. 

Kirsti Forrest as a WMS preschooler

Kirsti, who attended WMS from 1997 to 2001 (through kindergarten), still has vivid memories of finding caterpillars and smelling and tasting honeysuckle in and around the primary playground. She cites those early childhood experiences at WMS as helping to shape her respect for nature and living things - a lesson she hopes to share with the toddlers she'll be teaching as Room 6's lead teacher. Kirsti has been a fixture in WMS's Extended Day program for the past three years and has also worked as a substitute teacher and at Camp Montessori. 

Following her years at WMS, Kirsti moved to Pennsylvania, where she attended elementary and middle school. She moved back to Delaware when she was 12, attended Mount Pleasant High School and went on to study early childhood education at University of Delaware and Delaware Tech nical Community College. "Some people think of coming full circle like a bad habit, but this is a habit I never intend to break," she said about her return to WMS. "I know it sounds super cliche, but it's like coming home."

	David Lamiet as a WMS sixth grader

David, who graduated from WMS in 2007, believes two years is the longest period of time  he ha s spent away from   the school since he was a student. Two summers after his sixth-grade graduation, he returned  to the school as a Camp Montessori counselor-in-training and has been working as a counselor every summer since. He quickly found hi s niche working with toddlers and was assigned to Room 3 most summers. Now he's stepped into a new role as a WMS Fellow, in which he will receive on-the-job training as  a Toddler teacher - also in Room 3. "I am super excited," David said about his new as signment. "When I got the call offering me the job, I was jumping up and down in my apartment." 

Following his graduation from WMS, David attended the Concept School in Westtown, Pa., and went on to earn a degree in early childhood education at Barry University in Miami, Fla. David fondly remembers his time at WMS, particularly that his teachers made learning fun and were always there to answer questions. Additionally, "they encouraged us to be independent," he said. "I hope to help foster that same spirit of independence in the toddlers in my classroom this year."

For more information, contact Noel Dietrich, Director of Advancement & Communications.