Christine Batora

  •  My Journey

    I received my Ohio (K-3) Teaching Certificate along with my AMS 6-9 (1st-3rd grade) and certification from Xavier University in 1998 and my 9-12 (4-6th grade) and Michigan K-6 Certification in 2004. I have been teaching since 1998 in Michigan, Ohio and in Nepal, Asia. Through internships at public and private Montessori schools in 1997 in Cincinnati, Ohio I began to practice the quality training I received from Xavier University. After returning from Nepal in 2000, I began teaching in a lower elementary environment in a private Montessori school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Then in 2004, began teaching in Okemos as the first upper elementary (4th & 5th grade) teacher for Okemos Public Montessori School- where our school began. I moved back to the lower elementary environment in 2005 and was the teacher of the Redbud Room of first-third graders until 2010. In 2010, I returned to a mixture of the two age groups to teach 3rd and 4th grade in our new Montessori Central Building (where I taught Okemos' first fourth and fifth grade Montessori years ago). As I have the training, experience, and certification in both age groups I am excited to work with this new group of life long learners. I am confident that our class will be a class of academic leaders and peacemakers. I absolutely love being the directress (teacher) in a Montessori class and encouraging students to challenge themselves, support each other, respect themselves and others and our environment.

    I enjoy attending various Montessori workshops and am a member of AMS (American Montessori Society). I was asked to present to classes at MSU in 2005 and 2007 and presented to all the public schools in Okemos covering: Montessori and Edgewood Public Montessori. I enjoy running and have run the Indianapolis mini-marathon race 5 times. In 2003, I ran the Chicago Marathon. I enjoy hiking, music, and arts and craft shows. When I am not working on our environment or outside, I enjoy spending time with my family. My husband and I are so excited that our two sons are attending our Montessori school. I volunteer within the Lansing community and am the preschool Sunday school teacher for my church. 

    I have a Master of Science Degree in Educational Leadership with a focus in Administration. I enjoy learning how I can be a better leader in our school and Okemos community- not necessarily as an administrator- but as a teacher/directress in our Montessori school. The classes I took definitely related to our classroom of leaders as we often discussed, as a class, how to be a "peaceful leader" in this world. I am currently working on my second Master of Science Degree in curriculum design and instruction with a focus on STEM.

    I have been active in many ledership groups. Since 2006, I have been the supervisor for student council and enjoy it very much. Our Student Council is involved in serving the community, funding Montessori and Educational Leaders to speak to our staff, parents, and district, in addition to being positive role models in our school. In 2007, I received the OEF 2007 Commitment to Excellence Award. I served on the School Improvement Team (2006-2009) and the MiBLiSi Team (2009-2011) and believe in making our school an active and successful Montessori School and Okemos Public School. As a S.I. member, I served on the Writing Committee to help our school reach our writing goal. I served on the the School Culture Team where we organize ways to create a true Montessori culture of peace and respect in our school. I had lots of fun creating our school Peace logo. I am also on the district's Social Studies and Science Committees and helped create the new Michigan Social Studies lessons to meet the second grade Common Core State Standards, CCSS (they were GLCEs then) into Montessori Lessons and Materials for our teachers. I serve on the CCSS District Math committee where I co-created all of the common math assessments for our 3-4th grade teachers to use, the Report Card committee and piloted science units in 2013-2014 and currently in the 2014-2015 year for the district to meet the new NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). Currently, I attend the CCSS training sessions as a building and district representative and along with my colleagues use active engagement strategies while teaching. For the last two years I had the wonderful opportunity to lead on the executive board of a local private Montessori school.