Our Team
The Staff at A Childs life Learning Center
Jonathan and Danie Hanson
Owners
Jonathan - Marketing | Finance | Culture Manager
Danie - Hiring | Design Manager
Danie and I have been the owners of A Child’s Life for over ten years now. We are parents of two beautiful girls, Aubrey and London. They are fiery, free-loving girls and we realize how lucky we are to have a family filled with so much love.
We recognize that many families deal with complex situations. They want to be able to rely on that critical extra support to help provide a caring and loving environment where their children can thrive. We embarked on the journey that is A Child’s Life Learning Center to give these children the opportunity to grow up in a loving and joy-filled environment like our girls have been blessed to have. We love being part of a team that makes such a difference in our children and parents’ lives. It gives us so much joy to see the love, happiness, and care shared between our staff and our families as we help to empower and prepare these children for their next stages of life.
Director | Coach
Mindy Drewer
Mindy is the director coach here at A Child's Life. She has been working in Early Childhood since September 2004. Previously she worked at ACLLC for 10 years as a Teacher and then a director and then just returned back to A Childs life in May of 2022. She really enjoys being able to watch children grow and develop. Being able to support them in their developmental process is incredibly rewarding. Her favorite time is when the kids are focused on classroom activities and you can see them working through physical and relational obstacles. Mindy has brought back a great focus on individual learning and working with their unique social, emotional, physical, and sensory needs.
Kendra Lee
Team Director
Kendra has been a part of A Child’s Life for over three years now. She has helped and been a part of every program at our center. She loves seeing children learn and grow. She gets inspiration from the look on a child’s face when they finally figure out how to do something new for the first time. Kendra is not only an incredible leader and woman, she is also a great mom. She treats each child here as if they were her own. She shows strength and wisdom that is rarely seen and is a pillar for our preschool.
Larissa de Forrest
Program Supervisor
Larissa has been working in Early Childhood Education since 2016 and prior to that she was an Au Pair and Nanny. She has been with A Child’s Life Learning Center since October 2020 and also worked in the toddler building from 2017-2018. Working with children and being a part of the development and growth that happens is one of the reasons Larissa enjoys being in early learning. Being able to not only teach but to play and create and imagine with the children in the center. She loves the ability to impact this time of their lives and see how they grow and change. Her favorite part of our day is the morning gatherings and the craft and creative time. Even on the hardest of days, the ability to be with the kids is something she looks forward to. Something Larissa uniquely brings to ACLLC is that she lived in Germany for two years and immerses the language into their daily routine. When she is not at work Larissa is devoted to being the best mom she can be to her son and daughter.
Joanna Doyle
Business Manager
Meg Reeve
Teacher of Teachers | Social Media Manager
Meg has been working in Early Childhood Education since 2007 across a variety of ages and classrooms. She has worked at A Child’s Life Learning Center since September 2021. Working with children is all about the ability to watch them grow and develop, even though we may never see an outcome to the things we teach them. Meg’s favorite part of the day is when she brings food into the toddler rooms because toddlers are always excited about food. Meg enjoys that she gets to feed not only the kids here but also the teachers. A few fun things about Meg are that she’s from California and has lived in Bellingham since July 2015. She’s a writer and writes for a few websites and has had an active blog since 2014.
Aly Jager
Teacher Support | PIC
Aly has worked at A Child’s Life Learning Center and in early learning since March of 2016. She loves the ability every day to watch the little ones in her classroom discover things for the first time like it’s magic. It helps to keep her positive and grateful for the incredible world we get to live in. Every morning when she walks in the door she feels a bit like a celebrity when all the kids are excited to see her she is to see them and it gets her ready to start the day. Outside of work she enjoys art and creativity as an outlet for stress and dealing with emotions and that is also something she utilizes in her classroom. Not sure why, but her favorite number is 37; she has 12 siblings, and growing up she showed dairy cows in 4H.
Samantha Neary
Toddler Lead Teacher
Pink Room T1 (ages 2-2.5 years)
Samantha has been working at ACLLC since October of 2023. She is one of our support teachers. She enjoys working with children because they are so fun, loving, and free. Samantha thinks that you can learn something from children each day if you just pay attention. She likes getting to be with the kids outside and seeing what they find and create. Fall and winter are her favorite times to be outside and outside of work she loves getting to spend time with her family and explore new places.
Kristina Bresser
Toddler Lead Teacher
Sage Green Room T2 (ages 12-18 months)
Kristina has been working at ACLLC since February of 2025. She is our T2 teacher and works with our smallest kids. Kristina enjoys working with our kids because she has a passion for helping give a safe and stable place for each child that comes to our center. Her favorite time of day is group activities and seeing how kids interact and engage together. Kristina comes from a big family and has always loved working in childcare. We’re grateful for everything Kristina brings to ACLLC!
Mandy Ortiz
Toddler Lead Teacher
Lavender Room T3 (ages 18-24 months)
Mandy has been working at A Child’s Life since March of 2018, and she has over a decade of experience working with young children. She loves helping children and especially toddlers learn and grow. She enjoys the fun she gets to have with the toddlers here during dance time, but her favorite times of the day are after diapering and naps because the toddlers always get extra cuddly and loving. It’s important to Mandy to make sure every child feels loved and cared for. Mandy wants families to know that she will do the very best she can for your children.
Alyssa Wyldoaks
Preschool Lead Teacher
Green Room
Alyssa started at ACLLC in March of 2023. She is one of our lead teachers for our preschool program. She has worked with all ages of children in her life. She loves being able to make connections and play whatever games they enjoy coming up with. Her favorite part of our day is mealtime. She enjoys the chance to sit down and connect with the kids and hear about their day. Alyssa loves arts and crafts and creating things that are new and exciting. She is also married and is the mom to two little boys.
Evelyn Capps
Kindergarten Prep Lead Teacher
Blue Room
Evelyn has been with us at ACLLC since January of 2023. She is one of our support teachers. Evelyn comes to us all the way from Massachusetts. She is a traveler and has lived in both Guatemala and Ethiopia. She enjoys working with our kids at ACLLC because of their love for life and watching how they enjoy and investigate the people and the things around them! Her favorite parts of our day here are getting to do art with the kids in the classrooms and seeing how creative and silly they can be with what they create. She enjoys reading books in the library area and seeing how kids start to develop and grow in their learning! In her spare time, she loves to bike, hike, swim, read, organize, and spend time with the people she loves
Ezra McConnell
Preschool Lead Teacher
Yellow Room
Ezra has been working at ACLLC since April 2025. She is a lead teacher in our preschool program. Ezra enjoys with with kids because it’s incredibly rewarding and she wants to help creating long lasting impacts- even with just one child. Her favorite part of the day is learning time in her classroom! Getting to see things click in the kids brain makes all the days worth it. A fun fact about Ezra is she is a self-proclaimed “crazy bunny lady”. She has a bunny named Sade and collects all sorts of bunny shaped things.
We are so grateful for the positive attitude and flexibility Ezra brings to ACLLC!
Lacey Binggeli
Preschool Lead Teacher
Orange Room
Lacey is one of our teachers here at ACLLC. Lacey enjoys all the different personalities she’s met here at the center. She loves being able to engage with the kid’s imagination and being able to just play with them! Her favorite part of the day with our kids here is outside time. She also loves cleaning and making the center look beautiful. Lacey has a son named Bentley; they love painting rocks and camping together.
We’re grateful for Lacey here at ACLLC!
Carol Hofbauer
Kindergarten Prep Lead Teacher
Gold Room
Carol has been with us at ACCLC since March of 2018. She loves seeing the children progress and grow throughout our programs. Her favorite times of the day are table time and art time. She likes being the one her friends can rely on for support through tough times by giving them words of love and encouragement.
Kate Turner
Teacher Support | PIC
We are so excited to have Kate back at ACLLC. Kate worked with us here in many different roles from 2009-2018 and came back on staff in the summer of 2022 to be a support teacher and an amazing wealth of knowledge for our team. She is usually who you can find in the big room most times of the day, stepping into different classrooms to help. Kate has worked in early learning for 13 years, and her favorite parts about working with kids are their sense of humor and getting to experience their ability to find joy in things that we, as adults, might see as mundane. Her favorite parts of our day here are any moments she gets to see the light bulb click in a child’s head when they figure out something new and watch what they create from their own imagination. A fun thing to know about Kate is that she was born and raised in England, and she is the mom of two boys.
Miranda VanZanten
Teacher Support
Miranda has been working in Early Childhood Education and at A Child’s Life Learning Center since May 2016. She likes working with children because she is happy to come to work and be with the kids in their class. Her favorite part of our day is coming in at the beginning of her day and seeing all the kids and their smiles. Miranda’s incredibly kind and sweet nature allows all of the children to feel safe and loved.
Praise Jorgenson
Teacher Support
Praise has been with ACLLC since February 2025. She is a support teacher who mainly works with our toddlers. Praise’s favorite time of day at our center are mealtimes, when she can sit and chat with our kids. She enjoys working with kids because they remind her to not take life so seriously. A fun fact about praise is that she has worked on a marvel movie! We’re grateful for the flexibility and peacefulness Praise brings to ACLLC.
Mahlea King
Teacher Support
Mahlea has been working at ACLLC since spring 2025. Her favorite part of her day at ACLLC is being able to watch the kids play at different centers and figure out how things work in their own. Working with kids brings her so much joy and she loves watching them grow into who they are meant to be! Mahlea is a big traveler and loves to travel. We are thankful for the joy that Mahlea brings to ACLLC!
Isaac Anderson
Teacher Support
Isaac is a support teacher here at ACLLC. He enjoys working with kids because he likes being able to see how they are growing into their own people. His favorite part of the day is when it gets close to closing and there are a few kids left and he has more time to hang out with them in small groups . A fun fact about Isaac is that he was born in Montana and really enjoys being outdoors! We’re so grateful for the energy Isaac brings to ACLLC!
Erik Drake
Head of Facilities