Our Team
Willow Wood Nature Program currently consists of 2 outdoor educators, who both have a passion for the outdoors and working with children. Get to know the Willow Wood staff below!
Jessica Schiek
Founder & Teacher
Jessica Schiek graduated from Illinois State University in 2012 with a BA in Early Childhood Education and endorsement in Special Education. She has 12 years of classroom teaching experience ranging from ages 3-8 years old. During the 2020-2021 school year, Jessica initiated outdoor learning at her school, and taught her class of 5-7 year olds outdoors for the year. In the summer of 2024 she created Willow Wood Nature Program and has been teaching outdoors ever since.
Jessica has been giving presentations at the local, state, and national level since 2016. Her presentation topics are about the importance of risky play, the benefits of loose parts materials, and intentional interactions with children. Jessica's pedagogy is rooted in developmentally appropriate practice, current research, and elements of the Reggio Emilia philosophy.
Being part of an outdoor program has been an aspiration since she was in college, and she is continuously in awe of the children's growth at Willow Wood. In her free time, Jessica enjoys reading, hiking, roller skating, and spending time with her friends and family.
Christine Pearson is a native to the Bloomington-Normal area and graduated from Wheaton College in 2013 with a BA in Education and Spanish. She has 3.5 years of formal classroom teaching experience (Spanish, Biology, Health, and ESL) and has spent the last 8 years at home raising her two children.
Christine and her husband Bradley have been inspired by the RIE/Magda Gerber approach to parenting, more recently popularized by Janet Lansbury, and she incorporates aspects of respectful parenting practices into her work at Willow Wood.
She enjoys teaching at Willow Wood because she wants to create a space in which kids can build relationships and grow self-awareness in an outdoor setting. In her free time, Christine enjoys hiking, reading, learning new languages, and doing yoga.
Christine Pearson
Teacher Assistant