Carolyn LeBlanc
President / CEO
Carrie has many years of experience working with children and parents. She has been in the education field for over 9 years, beginning as a Teacher Assistant at the Moncton Montessori School. It was in this year that she developed a love and passion for the Montessori methodology.
Carrie was given further opportunities, in 2014, to expand her knowledge of the Montessori philosophy by working as a teacher for over six years at Kingswood Academy. She held the positions of Casa (co-teacher), Kindergarten, and Grade 1 teacher.
Carrie has completed the NAMC Lower Elementary (6-9) certification in 2017, a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Psychology, and a Bachelor of Education majoring in Elementary Education. She also finished her 90-hour Introduction to Early Childhood Education course in May of 2020. Carrie has also has diabetic training with Horizon Health.
Assistant Director
Lisa rejoined our team in August 2022. She first came to Willow Bend, along with her adopted son, in March 2021. She remained a regular fixture at the centre for a year as a relief staff, a full time educator and temporary Assistant Director. Lisa discovered her passion for working with children while taking an early childhood class in high school. She continued on to complete her Early Childhood Education diploma from the Institute for Human Services Education in 2002. Lisa has more than 18 years experience as an Early Childhood Educator with a couple of breaks during her journey to work as a Family Support Worker.
Lisa and her husband of 16 years both hail from Sackville, NB but relocated to Moncton in recent years to be closer to their work places. Along with their two year old son, they are welcoming a six year old little girl to their family. Lisa goes on to say "Home is where the heart is and my heart is with Willow Bend. I was thrilled to see first hand the care my son is receiving from all of the dedicated educators at Willow Bend. I am equally delighted to have the opportunity to return as a support, not only to the staff, but to the wonderful families who entrust us with their little ones."
Lisa Embree-Steeves
Melissa Young
Educator - Infant room
Melissa joined our team in September 2020 and hails from Salisbury, NB. She has a keen passion for children and has worked with children of all ages - from babies to after schoolers. Melissa brings with her over 3 years experience as an aid. She has 14 years of skill in the daycare field and received her Early Childcare Education in 2018.
Melissa's positive, cheerful and caring character brings a warmth to the centre. Her time at Willow Bend has been fantastic and she feels like we’re all family. She loves her, hopefully, forever home. Melissa is married and is a fur mommy to 2 caring and gentle dogs.
Educator - Infant Room
Amanda joined the Willow Bend team in June 2022. She is a recent graduate of Oulton College. Amanda had the pleasure of doing her On The Job Training at our centre. She was able to learn and obtain so much knowledge in the field from our team of educators. Soon after her placement, she was hired after graduation as a relief staff. Amanda became a full time staff member in September 2022.
She has always loved kids and babysat when she was a young teen. After almost 20 years of working in the service industry, she knew she needed a change and she knew this was the field she was meant to be in. Amanda is quoted as saying "The best part of my day is seeing those happy smiles on the children's faces. They always put me in a great mood. I am able to make a difference in those young lives, help them learn new skills and grow which is the best feeling. I look forward to placing what I have learned and further expanding my knowledge. I'm happy to be a part of such an amazing team here at Willow Bend."
Amanda is a mother to a wonderful daughter. She is also an "Auntie" to 2 beautiful nieces ad a fur mom to 3 crazy cats.
Amanda Williams
Brooke Flanagan
Educator - Infant Room
Brooke joined our team in May 2023 and will be graduating from Oulton College in June 2023 with her Early Childhood Education diploma. She has a passion for observing how children learn, grow and explore new things and is grateful she can be a part in that. Brooke has been babysitting and working with children since a young age however had been working in the banking industry for the past 5 years. After having her daughter, she knew she wanted to pursue a full-time career in Early Childhood Development. She believes that it is a privilege to be a part of young children's early learning and development.
Brooke is married with a beautiful daughter and a fur baby who thinks they are human too! In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, bringing her daughter on fun activities as well as taking some down time to recharge.. She is excited to join the Willow Bend family.
Mikayla Betts
Educator - 2s Room
Mikayla hails from Moncton, NB and is a recent graduate from Oulton College (June 2022). She has experience working with children ages 12-17 with Autism. Mikayla knew she wanted to work with younger ages for quite some time now. She used to babysit when she was younger and looked after her cousins as she was the oldest. Her love for children came from her grandmother who adored children which they share in common. She says "After my first day at Willow Bend, I went home with tears of happiness because I knew this was what I was meant to do. I have never felt such happiness radiate from a workplace."
She is a fur Mommy to 3 cats. In her free time, she loves spending time with friends and family, working on something creative (painting, drawing) or curled up on the couch with a cup of coffee and a good book.
Danie Masse
Educator - 2s Room
Danie joined our team in March 2021. Danie comes from the small town of Grand Falls and brings her French heritage. She has been working in the Early Childhood field since she graduated from Oulton College in June 2020. She wanted to become an Early Childhood Educator to help children learn as they grow and play. Danie continues to fall in love with this career path as she expands her knowledge of the field. She enjoys creating fun activities that allows everyone to get messy and creative including the educator! Danie strongly believes that messy play will stay in a child's memories for a lifetime. Danie is a newlywed to her husband Kyle and they have a daughter whom the welcomed to their family in August 2021.
Jerrika Ratte
Educator - Montessori 3/4 Room
Jerrika joined our team in Novemer 2020. She is a recent graduate of Oulton College (June 2020). Jerrika's passion, love and care of children shines in everything she does. She has a positive, energetic, goofy and outgoing nature. Jerrika has always wanted to work with children. She desires to support them; help them learn; develop new skills and help them build a positive self image. She brings with her such skills as Sign Language Level I; Non-Violent Crisis Intervention training and Applied Suicide Intervention Skill training.
Jerrika has experience in life guarding; teaching soccer and was a counsellor in a summer children's program. Family means the world to her especially her niece.
She is thrilled an thankful to be a part of such a wonderful team.
Kit Wing Lam
Educator - Infant Room
Wing first joined our Willow Bend team in April 2023 as a relief staff member as well, at the same time, completing her On the Job Training. She started as a full time staff member in the infant room in July 2023. She hails from Hong Kong and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Wing arrived in Canada in September 2022, She graduated in June 2023 from Oulton's with Early Childhood Education diploma. Before her studies, she was lucky enough to take care of her nephew in Hong Kong, which strengthened her desire to work with children. Wing loves spending time with children and finds joy in watching them grow.
She has 18 years of experience in different industries in Hong Kong, and being multilingual allows her to connect and communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds, enriching my interactions with children and educators.
She is quoted as saying, " I'm so excited for the journey ahead and looking forward to having a great time with the kids.