Who We Are: Jeremy Lang

As part of a series we’re calling Who We Are, we’re working to build and connect our community by interviewing the talented, dynamic parents and staff who make up the people of Villa di Maria. Today, we meet Jeremy Lang, our Operations Coordinator and do-er of many things at Villa di Maria! Read more about Jeremy, his adventures at sea, and what he loves most about Villa di Maria, below. Enjoy!Villa di Maria: Tell us what you do here at Villa di Maria.Jeremy Lang: I'm the Operations Coordinator and Assistant and Director of Camp Pegnita. I supervise all activities and run supplemental care (basically anything with the kids that isn’t in the classroom). I'm often at Villa di Maria until 6 o’clock every night. My typical day is never the same.VdM: Tell us a bit about your background.JL: I was born and raised in St. Louis. I went to Parkway North for high school, then University of Evansville for college, where I studied Marketing. I then worked for Disney Cruiselines running youth activities. I was in charge of 1,500 different children, every 3 - 4 days, for 5 months of sailing around the Bahamas. Living on a ship for 5 months isn’t very conducive to a lot of people’s lives. It made a lot more sense to be land-based, so I moved back to St. Louis. After working in the restaurant industry, the position at VdM popped up on my radar. “Camp” caught my attention since I spent all of my summers growing up either going to camp or working for camps.VdM: Tell us about your "camp" experiences.JL: I worked at Six Points Sports Academy in Greensboro, North Carolina, where children from 40 different states all over the country, and 8 different countries came to train in their preferred sport. Children would train for 4 hours a day in their sport, then participate in camp activities like crafts, singing, kayaking, and rock climbing.My life was pointing me in the direction of alternative education. School was never something I enjoyed; I didn’t have a hard time academically, but I didn’t enjoy being there. Camp was my outlet. Once I began working at camps, I could see the impact I was having. I loved seeing kids coming back year after year after year, making improvements. I attributed that to what they were doing at camp every summer. They gained confidence that they could then take back to their classrooms and social lives that made them successful. Parents wrote to us year after year about the impact we were having. I had been searching for a way to have that kind of impact year-round.VdM: How did you get into Montessori?JL:  While I was interviewing for residential treatment centers in St. Louis, the VdM job became available. I didn’t really know anything about Montessori, but once I met with Laura and Robyn, I realized that what I had been doing all along was very close to the Montessori philosophy.What is so cool about working here is that Laura has never pushed me into being ‘Montessori,’ she just encourages me to do what I’ve done successfully in other places, what comes naturally. She has encouraged me to bring what I’ve learned elsewhere and implement it here rather than just throwing all that out the window.VdM: Tell us what you like about the aftercare program here at Villa di Maria.JL: Since I don’t see the kids all day, when they see me, it’s special. It’s exciting for me to see them, and it’s exciting for them to see me in a different context. My favorite part of working with the children is just how excited they are. The best time of day is around 5:15pm, when we start cleaning up and gathering together with a smaller group. They are exhausted, so they're finally ready to sit down and talk about what happened that day. It’s also fun to chat with the parents who come to pick up at that time of day.VdM: What are you most looking forward to this school year?JL: I’m already looking forward to camp starting; camp is my favorite. I work extraordinarily long hours during the summer, but I love it.Thank you, Jeremy, for all of your hard work and patience with the children at Villa di Maria, and the children who attend Camp Pegnita. We are so happy you are part of our small community! By the way... registration for Camp Pegnita 2018 begins January 2nd, which is only a month away!