The Teaching Team
Our talented and dedicated teachers work together to create a wonderful preschool experience for all children. A fun fact, many of our staff were Hobby Horse moms before becoming a part of the team. We are more than just co-workers. We are a family!
Meet Our Team Leaders
Jennifer Vilimonovic
"Mrs. V" has been working in the Early Childhood field since 1993. She was employed as a Hobby Horse Teacher before becoming Director in 2020. As a classically trained violinist, she is dedicated to sharing her love of music with the children.
Michele Grubbs
Mrs. Grubbs is our longest employed Teacher, coming to Hobby Horse in 2007. Teaching our 4-year-old Busy Bees and Fancy Foxes (she LOVES foxes), she is our resident naturalist and loves bringing the great outdoors into her lessons. She added the role as Administrative Assistant in 2021.
Meet Our Lead Teachers
Stacie Yates
Mrs. Yates has been a teacher since 2010. She is in the Dino Den with our older full day 4 and 5-year-old students, and she is also the Director of Christian Education at the Medina United Church of Christ, Congregational. Sunday School is a BLAST!
Krista Carpenter
Mrs. Carpenter has been a Lead Teacher of our 3-year-old students in the Playful Puppy Room since 2014. She recently decided to dive back into learning to speak Spanish and we are excited to get the children involved with her language learning.
Adrienne Owens
Hired in 2021, Mrs. Owens also leads our 3-year-old Playful Puppy friends. She loves to travel and has a goal of visiting all 50 States. Last we heard, she only has 9 to go!
Yvonne "Bonnie" Kluth
Mrs. Kluth came to us in 2021 with 23 years of experience. She teaches our older 3s and younger 4s in the Colorful Crayons Room, a classroom name she is really excited about! Mrs. Kluth inspires us with her passion for using sign language in her classroom.
Heather Resan
Mrs. Resan started as an Assistant Teacher in 2021 and is now ready to lead our MWF AM Busy Bees! Along with many other gifts, she has the amazing talent to gently redirect the children with her incredibly realistic animal sounds. It is fun to hear and witness!
Kayla Liebenguth
Mrs. Liebenguth aka "Mrs. L" is very excited to join the team as both a Busy Bees Lead and Assistant Teacher this year. She is a semi-truck driving Army Veteran, a super mom, and now a degreed teacher with some awesome new ideas to bring to her classroom. We are lucky to have her!
Danielle Kay
Mrs. Kay also accepted a Lead Teacher position for our 2nd TT full day older 4s and 5s program in the newly established and super festive Lucky Llamas room. Returning to teaching after a small hiatus, she is thrilled to be back in the classroom. When she's not busy teaching, she loves riding horses. She'd love to have her own horse someday!
Meet Our Assistant Teachers
Vanessa Butsko
Mrs. Butsko has been an Assistant Teacher in a variety of classes since 2019. She enjoys assisting Mrs. Grubbs in the Busy Bees Room and Mrs. Yates in the Dino Den. We love that she has a background in speech and language pathology!
Melissa Miller
Mrs. Miller spends Monday through Friday with our 3s in the Puppy Room, assisting both Mrs. Carpenter and Mrs. Owens. Pizza is one of her favorite foods, especially Courthouse Pizzeria pizza!
Elisha Vitou
Mrs. Vitou enjoys assisting Mrs. Kluth in the Colorful Crayons Room and Mrs. Yates in the Dino Den. She is a lover of ALL animals, but she is especially fond of HIPPOS!
Stephanie Jordan
Mrs. Jordan is in her 2nd year as an Assistant to everyone. She is always there to help out wherever and whenever we need her. Mrs. Grubbs loves having her assist with the Fancy Foxes.
Holly Schwamel
Mrs. Schwamel returns to us this year as an Assistant to Mrs. Yates in the Dino Den and Mrs. Kay in the Lucky Llamas room. We are so glad to have her back in the everyday mix!
Nicole Schachinger
Mrs. Schachinger was a Hobby Horse mom, then a substitute teacher, and now joins us as a Busy Bees Assistant with Mrs. Resan. She doesn't share the same animal sounds talent as Mrs. Resan, but she is a very practiced wrangler of little people.
Megan Hatala
Last, but certainly not least, we have Mrs. Hatala. She has wanted to be a part of the Hobby Horse family for a few years now and we finally have her! Her background in working with children with disabilities will be a real asset to our programming.