Staff

Our professional teachers love learning and pass that love and excitement to the children.

Bonnie Kasman

Director

Bonnie Kasman and I am the Director and the 2- 4 year old teacher. I have my Bachelors in Early Childhood Education from Western Illinois University. I have been Director here at the Big Barn since May, 2011. I have been working in early childhood centers for over 30 years. I have a wonderful husband of 32 years who often helps out here at the school. I have two children I am extremely proud of; my daughter is a Veterinarian, and my son has a masters in Business!

Educators

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I love working at The Big Barn because of its homey, loving and caring environment. I love as the director I get to help the families and as the teacher I help the students. Staff here have the freedom to teach the themes, and materials they choose are best for the children’s needs. We are not cookie cutter. I love our belief that children learn in 3 ways. 1 on 1, free play, and group learning are all needed to teach to the whole child. That is what we do and I am proud to be a part of it!

Meet

the wonderful team of childhood education .

Valeria

English Teacher

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Greece

Sign Language Teacher

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Antonia

Kindergarten Teacher

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Vera

Toddler Teacher

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Doby

Art Teacher

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Megan

Sports Teacher

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SKole

early childhood educators.

are fully qualified, very experienced and extremely dedicated to their roles – many have been with us since it opened in 2010.

We truly value continuity of care and know how important consistency is in a young child’s life – which is why we our team is only made of of all permanent part-time and full-time educators. We employee regular permanent float educators which enables us to refrain from using “casual” or “agency” educators. This means that your child will always know and be familiar with every educator in the service!

Jane Stults

Assistant Teacher

My name is Ms. Jane. I am an assistant teacher at The Big Barn Preschool. I started at the school as one of the founding members of the board of directors when my daughter Katie was very young. We opened the doors in 2007 and Katie was one of only two students at the time. I am proud of the way The Big Barn Preschool has grown and evolved over time. I have always stayed involved as a volunteer until our director, Ms. Bonnie, offered me a paid position as a teacher assistant. This has been an amazing experience for me. I have learned so much from our staff and the children and I am currently studying to get my teaching Certificate. My favorite things about working with children is seeing them learn things, master new skills, make friends, and amaze themselves with all they capable of.

I love reading, acting, traveling, art, nature, gardening, learning new things, and children.

Brian Darrow

Teacher

Hello my name is Brian Darrow. I have been teaching preschool for 28 years. I graduated from Harper College with my Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education. I started working for The Big Barn February 16, 2016. I love working with children the age of 2-6. They are a joy and a pleasure to be with and I love to enrich their minds and teach them the things they are curious about.

My favorite things to do is watching horror and superhero movies and watching my favorite show Doctor Who. I also enjoy helping my Mother on the weekends. I also have a sister and two brothers.

Sheri Futris

Pre-Kindergarten teacher and The Assistant Director

Hi, my name is Sheri Futris.I have been teaching preschool age children for over 30 years. I am the Pre-Kindergarten teacher and The Assistant Director at The Big Barn Preschool.I have been working at the Big Barn Preschool for 14 years and have enjoyed every moment of it! I love working with children because it is so fun to see them learning and I enjoy learning from them as well.It is also fun to watch them grow, learn and progress in life, each day is a new experience for them!

I have been happily married for 36 years to my wonderful husband, Tom. We have two children, a 24 year old, Tyler and a 17 year old, Chad. Tyler enjoys doing MMA and Chad is a junior in high school where he plays football and wants to get a degree in Business.