IMA Faculty

Teacher Leader Team

Contact: teacherleaderteam@imapublic.org

Melissa M. Droessler

M.Ed., S.A., AMI Montessori 0-3 Guide, AMI Montessori Primary Directress, AMI Montessori Elementary Teacher, Founder

Melissa’s family has lived in Madison for 24 years, but it was in her hometown, just outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Melissa first experienced Montessori education: from the ages of three to six, Melissa attended Golden Valley Montessori School.

After completing her undergraduate degree from UW Madison, Montessori found Melissa again as she was applying to graduate school for social work. As an assistant in Carrie Marlette’s classroom, Melissa became fascinated with the children and their excitement for their work. Realizing that she was too old to be a student again in a Montessori classroom, Melissa decided to take the Montessori training and become an AMI Montessori elementary teacher with a Masters in Education in 2005.

After teaching in Madison for many years, Melissa received her state teaching license and taught for the Milwaukee Public Schools at Craig Montessori School until her first child, Roman, was born. Passionate about early childhood development and education, Melissa completed her AMI Montessori Primary training in 2009. Prior to completing the AMI Montessori Assistants to Infancy training in 2021, Melissa completed her graduate certificate in School Administration from Johns Hopkins University. Melissa thoroughly enjoys speaking Spanish with her students, as well as playing the flute and piano in her classrooms. Above all else, Melissa adores working and learning with families and children of all ages.

Melissa has been in Montessori Primary and Elementary classrooms for sixteen years, she has served on the board of the Montessori Institute of Milwaukee and as Vice President of the Wisconsin Montessori Association, and she is excited to be a part of this growing AMI Montessori community in Madison!

Carrie Marlette

M.Ed., AMI Montessori Elementary Teacher, Founder Emeritus

Carrie earned a Journalism Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1978. She then completed the Association Montessori Internationale training at the elementary level (for students ages six through 12) in 1995 and received her M.A. in Education at Loyola College in Baltimore, MD that same year. Carrie also attended Edgewood College in Madison to study the Orton-Gillingham program to help students with reading, spelling, and writing.

Carrie taught at Madison Central Montessori School for 15 years. During that time, she served on the curriculum committee and the Retention Task Force. Both of Carrie’s children attended Montessori at the primary level and her son continued in the elementary class through the fifth year. Implementing true Montessori methods with a thriving “Going Out” program is Carrie’s goal for IMA.

Carrie has lived in Madison for more than 30 years. She fell in love with the city as she studied at the university and met her husband soon after graduation. The Marlettes chose to raise their children in this progressive city filled with education, diverse culture, and arts. In her spare time, Carrie practices Scottish Highland and other dance forms and is one of the founders of Gaelic Fusion Dance Company. Carrie and her family love to travel and enjoy nature.

IMA Board Members

Troy Vosseller

Troy is the Co-founder of gener8tor. gener8tor’s turnkey platform for the creative economy connects startup founders, musicians, artists, investors, universities and corporations. The gener8tor platform includes pre-accelerators, accelerators, corporate programming, conferences and fellowships. gener8tor operates more than 100 accelerators annually across 41 cities, 20 states and 2 countries, working with more than 300 startups per year. To date, gener8tor has worked with more than 1,000 startups that have cumulatively gone on to raise more than $1.5B in follow-on capital and employ more than 9,000 people. Troy came to gener8tor from the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic, a program providing free legal services to startup businesses and entrepreneurs, where he worked as an Assistant Clinical Professor/Supervising Attorney. As an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Troy founded the most cliché student startup imaginable–a t-shirt company. It was a success, and today Sconnie Nation continues to market a line of apparel that focuses on celebrating the Wisconsin lifestyle. Before discovering his love of startups, Troy held brief stints at Qualcomm and Intuit. He holds a BA, MBA and JD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jessica Wortman, MS, OTR/L

Jessi obtained her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2000.  She has experience in a variety of pediatric settings over the last 12 years, including early intervention, private practice, schools and home-based practices. She has worked with a wide variety of diagnoses including orthopedic issues, neurological, cognitive and/or behavioral disorders. Continuing education experiences Jessi holds include Crisis Intervention Training, Handwriting Without Tears training, The Wilbarger Deep Pressure Touch Protocol (DPPT), Therapeutic Listening, Astronaut Training (a Sound-Activated Vestibular-Visual Protocol) and Food Chaining (a feeding approach for difficult eaters). Her additional training includes Pediatric Vision Therapy, Pre-reading and Writing exercises, Oral/Motor and Feeding difficulties, and treatment strategies for children with Developmental Delays. Jessi is certified by the National Board of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). She holds a current Wisconsin and Illinois Occupational Therapy License as well as a Department of Public Instruction license.

Dr. Hanif Nu’Man, Ph.D, JD

Dr. Hanif Nu’Man is the Founder and Chief Sociologist of ReSCI Consulting, LLC. Dr. Nu’Man is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Sociology Department where he conducted dissertation research on the American mortgage industry collapse of 2008. His research uncovered how the use of technology influenced loan originator’s decision making; how internal norms and practices impacted bank executive’s compliance relationship with federal regulators; and how preemptive federal laws determined how state regulators offered protection to the public. Prior to graduate school Dr. Nu’Man worked as a prosecutor at the Illinois Office of the Attorney General in the Financial Crimes Prosecution Unit. He handled criminal cases involving securities fraud, insurance crimes (underwriting fraud, claims fraud and premium theft), computer fraud, fraud on government agencies and programs, embezzlement schemes, criminal trademark and other intellectual property offenses, and public corruption. This experience sparked his interest in organizational behavior, culture and climate.

Allyn Travis, M.Ed, AMI Montessori Elementary Diploma

Allyn S. Travis has a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Michigan State University and a Master’s Degree in Education from Loyola College of Baltimore. She also holds both Primary and Elementary Diplomas from the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and has fifty years ofexperience in Montessori teaching both children and adults.Mrs. Travis is an AMI Elementary Teacher-Trainer, examiner and school consultant. She helped established and ran the Montessori Institute of Milwaukee for 29 years. She also ran training courses for 6 to 12 teachers in Portland, OR and Sydney, Australia. Currently she is Co-Directing an Elementary teacher training course in Washington, DC. Mrs. Travis was a member of the AMI Training Group for six years and is a past chair of the AMI- USA board of directors. Currently she is a Pedagogical Advisor for the Elementary Alumni Association (EAA) and Chair of the Consultation Committee for AMI-USA. She consults schools and gives workshops around the world.

Carol Hicks, AMI Montessori Elementary Diploma

Carol Hicks is an Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Teacher Trainer at the elementary level, an AMI Elementary School Consultant and Examiner, a member of the AMI Scientific Pedagogical Group and is a past chair of the AMI Elementary Alumni Association. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in History with a minor in Elementary Education from Marquette University. She holds both Primary and Elementary AMI Diplomas.

Carol brings a wealth of practical experiences to her work. She has eighteen years of teaching experience at the elementary level in both public and private Montessori schools and served eight years as a Montessori program coordinator in the Milwaukee Public Schools. She worked as a trainer at the Montessori Institute of Milwaukee. She has also given courses in Toronto, at the Washington Montessori Institute and in South Africa and lectured on a course in Thailand.

Benedict Moudry

Bio coming soon.

Read about the IMAP Governance Council.

IMA, Inc. and IMAP Board Meeting Minutes and IMAP Governance Council Minutes