Miss Kathy – Teacher
Kathy Martin, the teacher for the 3-year-old class, joined East Columbia Preschool in 2010. She has worked with both the 3 year old classes and the 4 year old classes. Kathy has lived in New York, Texas, and Maryland. She has been involved in the education of children for more than 25 years in both a professional and volunteer capacity. She has experience in developing and writing curriculum and worked briefly as a kindergarten teacher in Texas.
Kathy has received the Catechist/Religion Teacher of the year award and been nominated by East Columbia Preschool parents for the Howard County Excellence in Bloom award for individual teachers. Kathy volunteers at Church of the Resurrection as a religious education teacher, VBS program coordinator, in the Confirmation prep program, and the Marriage Prep program (with her husband) and has worked as a tour guide at Clark’s Elioak Farm. She earned the Maryland Department of Education 90-hour preschool teacher certification and has completed ADA Including All Children training as well as training to help children cope with small anxiety issues. Her classroom lesson plans incorporate the State of Maryland Early Learning Standards (Birth through 8 years old) as well as utilizing the state curriculum Little Treasures and a wealth of her own activities. She employs a 2-year rotation in curriculum/lesson plans (so no back-to-back years are identical in the classroom) to keep things fresh and interesting for students.
Kathy has been married since 1989 and is the mom to two grown “boys” – one a computer programmer and one a forensic psychologist.
“Being a preschool teacher is truly one of life’s blessings!
Miss Kelly – Teacher
Kelly Carney, the teacher for the 4s and 5s classes, has been teaching at ECP since 1999. A lifetime Maryland resident, Kelly graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and a minor in English. She performed her student teaching in Howard County at Stevens Forest Elementary and Bryant Woods Elementary. Kelly worked in the Membership and Publications Departments of a trade association for many years, where she wrote, edited and published technical journals, newsletters, and public relations materials. Among her many volunteer positions in the community, Kelly has served as the president of East Columbia Preschool. Kelly is currently the editor of the OBServer, the newsletter of the Owen Brown Community Center. Over the past 15 years, she has served as the PTA president at Jeffers Hill Elementary, Oakland Mills Middle School, and Oakland Mills High School. Kelly and her husband, Ed, live in Columbia; they have two children. Teddy graduated from UMCP in May 2012, and received his Masters Degree in Systems Engineering while working at Northrup Grumman in Baltimore. Teddy has three children, Millie, Dexter and Quentin. Bonnie graduated from UMCP in May 2014 and received her PhD from Georgetown University in 2020; she works at Washington Hospital Center in DC. As she begins a new year of teaching at ECP, Kelly looks forward to developing relationships with new students and parents, and pursuing further professional training in the field of education.
Katie Lamp – Teacher/Teaching Assistant
Katie has a degree from the University of Maryland in Elementary Education and Master’s degree from Loyola University certifying her as a reading specialist for grades Pre-K-12. She worked as a sixth grade teacher for nine years and as a substitute teacher for all grade levels, and served on the board as Class Coordinator for the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 school years before joining the ECP staff as an assistant teacher in 2016. She is very excited to continue in the EC classroom to ECP as both an assistant teacher and lead teacher for the 4 and 5 year old Pre-K classes!
Meg Ricks – Teaching Assistant
Meg Ricks grew up in Chicago and has lived in Howard County since 2004. While earning her BA in Anthropology, Meg got to participate in a two-month archaeology field school in the Southern Utah desert at a site aptly named Rattlesnake Point. As a two-time ECP parent and former publicity chair (2016-17), Meg was very excited to return as a teachers’ assistant in 2021. Every job Meg has held has involved teaching, educating, or coaching in some aspect. Meg’s extensive volunteer work has involved working with and teaching children of all ages up through adults. She served on the Elkridge Elementary PTA executive board for 11 years, the last four as president. Meg has been a Girl Scout leader since 2013 and has enjoyed supplementing and adapting badge work to make it more engaging for her scouts. Meg also served on the board of the PTA Council of Howard County, which allowed her the opportunity to train many local PTA leaders. She continues to be involved in PTA at her younger children’s schools and cheers on from afar her oldest who is in college. In addition to her two still at home, Meg also lives with her husband Bob and dog Cali.
Gillian Kraeuter – Teaching Assistant
Gillian is a Howard County native. She earned her BA in Early Childhood Education from Hood College in Frederick, MD. She taught Pre-K for West Meade Elementary in Anne Arundel County, spearheading the establishment of the school’s inaugural pre-kindergarten program. She took a break from teaching and spent the next years raising her three kids and volunteering in the community. Gillian was a Girl Scout Troop Leader, volunteered with God’s Little Kid’s at St. Augustine Church, is an active PTA volunteer, and is on the committee of her children’s Boy Scout troop. Gillian enjoys crafting, baking, and being outdoors. She loves spending time at home with her husband, three children, and a cat.
Amy Rushing – Director
Amy Rushing joined ECP in August 2014. Amy has a Bachelor’s Degree in Information and Computer Science and an M.B.A. Prior to coming to ECP, she worked 17 years as an I.T. Specialist. In 2015, Amy completed the 45-hour Child Care Administration course. In 2023, she earned the Maryland Department of Education 90-hour preschool teacher certification. She has two sons who are ECP graduates. While they were at ECP, she served on the Executive Board as a Class Coordinator, Treasurer, and Bookkeeper.
