Strata Staff
Justin Metz
Anyone who knows Justin knows his heart and soul lie within the wild forests and lakes of Canada. He grew up spending his summers in Temagami fostering wilderness skills that would lead him to many exciting career opportunities, including Professional Wilderness Guiding. Justin's favourite "clients" were always DVMS and Strata Montessori Schools. He has been a full-time adolescent guide at Strata for 8 years and is one of those fortunate people who love going to “work” every day. He teaches Humanities, Occupations, Geography and Phys Ed. He also organizes and guides the Strata Odysseys. Justin received his Environmental Science Degree and his Environmental Conservation and Citizenship Diplomas from the University of Guelph. He received his Montessori Adolescent Training Diploma from Hershey Montessori School in 2016. Justin is on the Board of Directors for the Temagami Lakes Association as head of the Fish and Wildlife Division. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Temagami Environment Research and Stewardship. Justin lives in the quaint Tiny House at Strata with his wife Bianca and son Bodhi, who is enrolled in Casa North at DVMS.
Skye Collins
Skye has been on the admin team for our Montessori family of schools since 2007. She has been located mainly at our Strata campus for the past seven years but is involved at both schools. She hails from a Library and Information Technician background, and had a professional organizing business (years before Maria Kondo did). She has 3 wild and wonderful children that have been moving through this family of schools much too fast! Skye has completed her AMI Montessori 12-18 Orientation and most recently graduated from the Whole School Leadership program.
Lisa Savard-Quong
Previous to working at Strata, Lisa Savard-Quong spent 5 years in the Casa environment as a French specialist and assistant. She has enjoyed her transition into the adolescent world where she can share her love of nature, creative spirit and passion for engaging in social justice issues. As an artist and songwriter, Lisa is grateful to explore her many skills and curiosities with the Strata community!
Michael Rode
My job, first and foremost, is to have 100% faith in your adolescent. Not faith in the “throw my hands up and hope it all turns out okay” way, more along the lines of “let’s ask the right questions together as you overcome the beautiful, earth-shattering challenges of adolescence”. On any given day I am working side-by-side with your adolescent as a teacher, guide, listener, storyteller, chicken coop builder, sous-chef, adviser, director, conflict manager, author, student, musician, role model, and the list never ends. Adolescence is a time of huge upheaval and it is my privilege to witness your adolescent’s growth as they journey toward adulthood.
I worked at DVMS in Lower Elementary for two years, Upper Elementary for three years, performed theatre across Canada, sung (virtually) for the Queen of England, directed a thirty-voice acapella choir, and once waved at Whoopi Goldberg from across the street in New York — but she didn’t notice me.
Sihem Boudjabi
Sihem is a scientist who graduated with a Ph. D. in Organic chemistry from the University of Montpellier 2 in France. She has over 20 years of diversified professional experience in synthetic and medicinal chemistry and has worked in France, US and Canada in both academia and industry. Sihem loves sharing her knowledge in science and French and believes strongly in hands-on learning as well as making connections with the natural world. Her teaching experience and practical approach led her to naturally join Strata and SiTE Montessori schools in 2019, where she has since then, had the opportunity to guide the adolescents towards discovering the fascinating secrets of the world and invite them to conduct their own experiences. For the past couple of years, Sihem deepened her understanding of the Montessori philosophy and education and completed the requirements for the AMI Montessori 12-18 Orientation.
Kierra Martz-Green
Kierra grew up in the small town of Port Colborne which taught her the importance of family and friendships. After earning her BASc from the University of Guelph, she continued her studies through a postgraduate program in Autism in Behavioural Science at Niagara College. Being a forever student, Kierra furthered her education and completed her BSW through the University of Victoria. She has worked as a therapist for children with ASD, supported children in school settings with various diagnoses, and most recently, provided one-on-one and group mental health support to military-connected youth. Both her educational and professional pursuits have always focused on supporting youth and children with any struggles they may be dealing with. In her leisure time, Kierra enjoys reading, being creative and loves to plan parties and weddings. She loves getting ice cream and having pizza nights with her husband and two children, Greyson and Parker who will both start their journey at DVMS this year. She is excited to join the Strata team!
Jennifer Coon
Jennifer has a bachelor's degree and master's degree in English literature. She grew up in nearby Norfolk County where she fell in love with fresh, local food. Prior to settling in Hamilton, she lived in Toronto, North Carolina, Saskatoon, and Missouri, where she experienced diverse regional cuisine and cultivated a love for cooking. Jen taught and worked in program management at various colleges and universities before starting a meal preparation and delivery business in Hamilton.
Cooking and baking has always been a passion of hers and she is honoured to have the opportunity to teach adolescents both the independence of knowing how to cook for oneself and the dependence of caring for others through cooking. In addition, Jen's goal is to teach students to prepare and enjoy food grown on the Strata property and to learn to love salad! In her spare time, Jen loves camping and hiking with her family, baking, and hosting dinner parties.
Tony Evans
“Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.” This is the Montessori quote that drives Tony’s work. That fundamental idea is that we can change the world through high-fidelity Montessori education, for him the definition of peace includes the individual, the family, the community and society at large. A few years after training as an Elementary Montessori Guide in Bergamo, Italy, Tony started Dundas Valley Montessori School. Since those early days with only 8 students, DVMS has grown to 275 students on 2 campuses, with students from 18 months to 15 years. He established Canada’s first authentic Erdkinder and developed a high school built on the idea of a village as a curriculum. He has been on the board of the CCMA for almost 20 years and served as Chair and Vice-Chair for much of that time. He has been Canada’s foremost lobbyist for Montessori and was successful in creating 13:1 ratios for authentic Montessori programs in Ontario. Most proudly, he is the father to two Strata graduates including the first High School graduate from our Family of Schools.
Calder Hutchinson
Calder originally trained to be a geneticist, but found lab work lonely and so instead travelled the world teaching for a while. He eventually wound up back in Toronto, where he taught math for a few years, all the while searching for the kind of school he'd taught at once before, in Okinawa; a school where students recognized their own roles in the community, embraced their agency and learned through participation in meaningful work with authentic consequences. Sound familiar? Calder also writes speculative fiction and loves games of all sorts. He can't wait to get started in September!
