Speakers

• 

  Jip Bartels

  
  Jip’s dream was to become a successful professional soccer player. He played for the Dutch national youth teams and signed a contract at AFC Ajax aged 16, but unfortunately three cruciate ligament injuries at the age of 17, 18 and 19 prevented him from living that dream. During his stay at the AFC Ajax youth academy he came in touch with Ruben and Patrick. Jip kept playing semi-professionally but decided to focus on his study and even won the prize of ‘Student Talent of the Year’ during his Bachelor (Honours) in Organisational Sciences. He thanked this to his extracurricular activities and his positive, energetic, and disciplined attitude. After finishing his Master Business Administration, he moved to Melbourne to start Montessori Sports programs in Australia. In 2021 he came back to Amsterdam to continue his mission with Montessori Sports. He holds a 6 to 12 AMI Assistant Certificate. Jip believes that sports and Montessori is the best combination for young children to develop their full potential.

• 

  Madlena Ulrich

  
  Madlena Ulrich spent her childhood in Germany and attended a Montessori Elementary school there. She moved to Norway as an adolescent and later obtained a Bachelor’s degree as a preschool teacher and is about to finish a Master’s degree in pedagogy at the university College of Vestfold, Norway. She took her original AMI 3-6 training at Mount St. Mary’s Montessori College in Dublin, Ireland. Since 1995 she has worked in the classroom and has been involved in the development of Montessori in Norway by giving lectures and serving as Vice President on the board for the national association NMF. In 2008 she started on her Training of Trainer’s, spending two years with Molly O’Shaughnessy in Minnesota and a Summer course with Ulla Wikefeldt in Sweden. She is currently part of the AMI faculty in China and lectures in Norway as well as in many other coutnries.

• 

  Patrick Oudejans

  Patrick worked at the AFC Ajax Youth Academy from 2012-2016 as a data analyst and is an UEFA licensed youth coach with more than 12 years of coaching experience with children in the ages from 3 till 16. Patrick is a creative and optimistic individual that is passionate about education and entrepreneurship, able to connect and reach out to different generations. He loves the process from creation to improvement and refinement. With products as well as with people. Furthermore, he strongly believes that human connection is the core of everything we do and why we are here on earth. In 2018 he founded Montessori Sports and moved to Beijing, China, from where he set up various Montessori Sports programmes in the Asia-Pacific region. He is specialized in creating environments with room for constant changes and
  improvements, based on the individual needs of children. Patrick holds a honors bachelor degree (Bsc) in Sports, Management and Business at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. He has almost completed the AMI 3-6 Diploma Course.

• 

  Kyla Morenz

  Kyla Morenz is an AMI 6-12 Elementary Trainer from Toronto, Canada. Currently she is a co-Director of Training at Montessori Institute Prague, Czech Republic and a trainer working in Collonges-sous-Salève, France. She has taught in 6-9, 9-12, and 6-12 elementary Montessori environments in Canada and Morocco. She has particular interest in bilingual education, developing language materials for the elementary classroom, and adult learning and education. In addition to her work on diploma and orientation courses, Kyla regularly presents workshops for parents, classroom guides and assistants. She mentors teachers and schools with 6-12 programs in Canada and the Czech Republic. She has lectured on AMI elementary diploma courses in Ireland, England, Canada, United States, and France. She has worked with both simultaneous and consecutive interpretation in France, the Czech Republic, and Romania. She has a B.A. from the University of Waterloo and her M.Ed. from Loyola University in Maryland. She obtained her TESOL certificate from the University of Toronto, Woodsworth College. She has AMI diplomas at both the 3-6 and 6-12 levels.

• 

  Jenny Marie Höglund

  
  Jenny Marie holds AMI diplomas for the ages 3-6 and 6-12. She has mainly worked with the 6-12 and 12-18 (adolescents). She also holds a M.Ed. and she is an established AMI Elementary trainer. Jenny-Marie was one of the founders of the Montessori School “Lära för Livet” in Varberg, Sweden in 1995, teaching children from 1 till 16 years of age. She founded and runs the first and so far the only Swedish Montessori Farm School. Jenny-Marie has taught elementary and adolescent students for over twenty-three years. She has been serving as head of school since 2006. She has also lectured at the International Centre for Montessori Studies Foundation-Bergamo (CISM), in Italy since 2006.

• 

  Patricia Wallner

  Patricia Wallner has been working in Montessori since 1970. She took her AMI 3-6 diploma in Washington D.C. and the 0-3 diploma in Houston, Texas with Dr. Silvana Montanaro. For 17 years she worked in a bilingual Infant Community in Amsterdam, The Netherlands where she lives. In 1995 she began the Training of Trainers program supported by the Association Montessori Internationale and during her training earned a Master’s degree in Education. She has trained students and lectured in Europe, Asia and the U.S.A. Her goal is to promote Montessori, especially for the 0-3 age group in Europe.