Michelle Peterson
Founder - Executive Director
Michelle Peterson has devoted her life to educating children from birth to twelve years old. She started babysitting at the age of twelve, worked in a day care, nannied and found every possible way to engage in the lives of children. She graduated from The University of Texas in 2005 with her degree in Applied Child Development and a teaching certificate in early childhood through 4th grade. She taught Kindergarten and Second grade in Texas before moving up to Central Illinois. Michelle taught 4th grade and 5th grade math and science at Peoria Academy before transitioning into public school administration. For the last 10 years, she has served as an elementary assistant principal in McLean County Unit 5 and Morton 709 school districts. She is currently working on her doctorate at Illinois State University for Pre K-12 general administration. She is often found spending time with her three young children, volunteering in her church nursery, or coming up with her next big idea! Michelle just released her first children's book, Heavenly Made!
Tracy Fick
Office Manager
Tracy Fick is no stranger to Early Childhood Education. She has served as a classroom aide in the Morton 709 school district in Early Childhood at Grundy Elementary and Kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary. Tracy’s family moved to the Morton community when she was five, and she has been a Mortonite ever since. She is a true boy mom with four boys and loves to work outside in her yard, tending to her garden and flowers. Tracy is bringing her business acumen from various clerical jobs and owning her children’s clothing store, Spunky Monkey, in Morton. We are excited to have Tracy join our team in the front office!
Cathie Odanovich
Academic Specialist
Cathie Odanovich is most commonly known to her three grandchildren as "Gigi". Prior to her title of Gigi, she raised four beautiful children and taught kindergarten for 20 years in San Antonio, Texas. Cathie has a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Texas A&M Corpus Christi with an emphasis in early childhood education. In 2009, Cathie was one of five finalists in the state of Texas for the HEB Excellence in Education Awards. Cathie is excited to share this adventure with her daughter, Michelle, as they work together to bring innovative education to central Illinois!
Cristi Lewis
Enrichment Teacher
Cristi Lewis loves igniting the dramatic, creative spark in children through her Play School Presents theater and creative writing programs. She is passionate about how music, movement, and theater arts are for everyone and every age and feel so privileged to partner with Spark Academy!
She first came to central Illinois to obtain her two bachelor's degrees in Communications and English Literature at Bradley University. In the following decades, she entered the education world by homeschooling her children and developing theater programs from scratch for homeschool co-ops and a private school.
She resides in Mackinaw with her family of five (plus three pets). In addition to Play School Presents, she is a familiar face at Lincoln Elementary in Morton as a classroom and special needs substitute teacher.
Now Hiring!
At Spark Academy, we are working to ignite a brighter future by focusing our enrichment programs on children 3-10 years old. We believe through hands-on, play-based exploration, children can spark a lifelong love of learning! We will focus on social-emotional development, academic growth, creative arts exploration, foundations of language, and S.T.E.M. in various offerings throughout the year.
We are looking for 2 highly motivated teachers with the creativity and energy to bring a new program to life in the Morton area. The teachers will guide students ages 3-5 through the Experienced Learning curriculum. Our program is three hours a day, and the teachers are required to arrive 30 minutes prior to the students and stay 30 minutes after the students leave.
Start Date: 20 hours per week / Monday-Friday
8:00-12:00 Starting Fall 2024
Competitive Pay Rate: Discounted program fees are available for immediate family members who meet the age requirements for preschool
Required Teacher Qualifications: 60 hours of college credit (6 hours of early childhood coursework)
Preferred Qualifications:
-2 years experience with children ages 3-5
-Early Childhood or Elementary Education Degree
-Organized
-Strong Interpersonal Skills
-Clear communicator
-Love to get messy through play
-Experience with technology
To apply, submit the following to Michelle Peterson at sparkacademymorton@gmail.com
-Resume
-Cover Letter
-Three Letters of Recommendation
-Copy of College Transcript
Now Hiring!
At Spark Academy, we are working to ignite a brighter future by focusing our enrichment programs on children 3-10 years old. We believe through hands-on, play-based exploration, children can spark a lifelong love of learning! We will focus on social-emotional development, academic growth, creative arts exploration, foundations of language, and S.T.E.M. in various offerings throughout the year.
We are looking for a highly motivated teacher with the creativity and energy to bring a new program to life in the Morton area. The teacher will guide students ages 3-5 through the Experienced Learning curriculum. Our program is three hours a day, and the teachers are required to arrive 30 minutes prior to the students and stay 30 minutes after the students leave.
Start Date: Summer 2024 M-Th 25 hours per week
Competitive Pay Rate: Discounted program fees are available for immediate family members who meet the age requirements for preschool
Required Teacher Qualifications: 60 hours of college credit (6 hours of early childhood coursework)
Preferred Qualifications:
-2 years experience with children ages 3-5
-Early Childhood or Elementary Education Degree
-Organized
-Strong Interpersonal Skills
-Clear communicator
-Love to get messy through play
-Experience with technology
To apply, submit the following to Michelle Peterson at sparkacademymorton@gmail.com
-Resume
-Cover Letter
-Three Letters of Recommendation
-Copy of College Transcript