Kristie Jensen

PreK-3 M.Ed. Brigham Young University

Kristie has been an Early Childhood Educator in the PreK program at Waterford since 1997. Thanks to the support of generous donors and administrative support at Waterford, Kristie helped initiate the installment of the certified Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom in 2017. Along with daily opportunities for outdoor classroom exploration, Kristie’s students also enjoy weekly forest journeys around Waterford’s beautiful 41-acre campus to expand sensory awareness,to grow in caring concern for the natural world, and to promote joyful wandering through the trees with friends. Kristie hosts Summer Term Nature Explore classes on campus for children ages 3-8, and a Forest Family Nature Club at Crestwood Park. Kristie became a certified Tinkergarten Leader in 2015 and led parent-child nature education classes at Falcon Park for three seasons. Kristie is interested in the Forest School Movement worldwide, which promotes physical and social-emotional development, as well as nature connection and ecological literacy. She has enjoyed participating in several workshops by Lia Grippo and the Academy of Forest Kindergarten Teachers. Kristie has made presentations at local conferences UAEYC and USEE, as well as NAEYC on project work and outdoor learning in early childhood. Kristie has four grown children who are Waterford Graduates.