Meet our Teachers
Colby Otto
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Colby Is the co-founder and lead teacher at the Limpy Creek Forest School and this school is her long time dream come to life! It is with great pleasure that Colby can offer her knowledge of high quality early childhood education with her community! She is thrilled to share the beauty of the land that she now calls home, with the children she teaches at her forest school. Her lifelong love for nature, children, and environmental preservation is the driving force behind her work. She hopes to instill a lifelong love for the natural world in her students. As well as play and have a lot of fun in every season!
Kristen Conicelli
Kristen developed a love and appreciation for the natural world at a very young age. Most of her childhood and adolescent years were spent exploring the Pine Barrens and beaches outside her home in southern New Jersey.
Kristen received her BA in Early Childhood Education and Psychology from Rutgers University. Having spent the past decade in the education field, she has had the chance to work in various educational environments, always finding her work with young children and their families to be the most joyful and meaningful of all. Kristen firmly believes that when children are given the opportunity to explore their surroundings and interests in a way that fosters freedom and creativity, they grow a deeper connection to their education as well as the land and its inhabitants.
With hopes of being an educator who encourages and provides children with this opportunity, Kristen aims to provide the children in our program with the early life lessons that will foster a lifelong love of learning and the natural world. When not frolicking around the woods, Kristen spends her time gardening, cooking, making music and writing.
Jillian Behrens
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Jillian is an East Coast native who fell in love with the Pacific Northwest, and spent the last seven years living in Southern Oregon. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Delaware and has spent the past few years working in diverse fields including native plant studies, farming, birth doula work, and natural building. She especially enjoys working with children. She’s led children's art classes, worked at a Waldorf based summer camp and has nannied for local families. Jillian enjoys spending most of her time outdoors and has cultivated a deep reverence for the earth. She has a positive, creative approach to teaching, and is excited to help her students discover the joys of the natural world through playful exploration. In her free time, Jillian enjoys homesteading, weaving baskets, hiking, backpacking, and making herbal potions from plants she forages. She is overjoyed to weave her love of nature, art and children together at the Limpy Creek Forest School!