Beyond the Threshold: Social Emotional Wellness for the Prepared Adult
Staci Hedlund, Dr. Sara Knickerbocker, & Hannah Richardson
Beyond the Threshold: Social Emotional Wellness for the Prepared Adult
This two-session workshop addresses the social-emotional wellness of Montessori educators, drawing on Montessori pedagogy, the CASEL framework, and the Threshold Method. Its central premise is that the child lives inside the adult's emotional environment –a truth that extends beyond the classroom into collegial relationships, leadership, and community life.
Organized around three layers of influence–the child, the school, and the world–the workshop frames Montessori practice as a countercultural act of peacemaking. A unifying throughline is the Triangle of Care: the equally weighted responsibilities of self-care, care of environment, and care of relationships.
Staci Hedlund
Staci Hedlund is a co-founder of The Shared Environment, Prepared Environments, and Clover Montessori School in West St. Paul, Minnesota. She has worked as a lead guide in a Montessori young children's community, as an assistant director of a Montessori school, and as a conventional schoolteacher. Staci earned her Association Montessori Internationale diploma (Ages 2.5 to 6) at the Montessori Center of Minnesota and her Bachelors degree at Smith College and Rice University. In addition to her work as an educator, her professional experiences include non-profit fund development, grant writing, and retail. Staci is deeply committed to the Montessori movement. She focuses her work on creating supportive structures for prepared adults to support sustained and peaceful work with children.
Dr. Sara Knickerbocker
Sara Knickerbocker, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist whose work lives at the intersection of mental health, conflict, and Montessori practice. For 15+ years she has worked inside Montessori communities as a clinician, administrator, and consultant--first as the founding Director of Learning Support at Montessori School of Denver, and currently as school
Hannah Richardson
Hannah Richardson is the founder of Montessori Makers Group, an AMI-certified Primary educator, and a doctoral candidate (ABD) in Early Childhood Education with over two decades of experience shaping Montessori practice through the lens of equity, justice, and deep respect for children. A systems architect and thought leader, she partners with schools and organizations to build structures that actually work for the humans inside them. Her speaking and published work center what too many in education still treat as optional: anti-bias practice, inclusive leadership, and the belief that every child and adult deserves abject respect and unchallenged dignity.