Anne Marie Palazzolo
Founder
Anne Marie knew she wanted to be a teacher since she was 5 years old. She’s been working with students 1:1, in small groups, and in classrooms for 20 years and is the first to tell everyone she has the best job in the world. Her experience as a classroom teacher, homeschooling parent, special educator, educational consultant, advocate, and parent make her an asset to the AMPed team.
Anne Marie & Wes
Owners
Anne Marie & Wes share the belief that our job as parents and educators is to help our children grow to be global citizens. From our own gaggle of five kids and beyond, we know every child is unique and should be treated as such. We’re thrilled to be able to realize our dream of creating learning centers and non-traditional learning opportunities here in our community that foster independence, curiosity, a love of learning, and that support the families we serve.
AMPed Hybrid Academy
Lindsey May
Upper Elementary Teacher
Hi! I’m Ms. May, the upper elementary teacher at AMPed. My experience as an elementary school teacher, home school mom, and nature enthusiast means I’m always ready and willing to help kids learn in all sorts of unique ways. In class, we’re hands-on, and brains on! We get messy, we ask questions, and we find the answers together. Music, science, math, literacy skills, and so much more are happening every day in our class. Stop in for a visit and you might find us feeding our classroom pet bearded dragon the kale we grew ourselves, singing and moving to songs from all different cultures, investigating a new specimen we found in the Nature Lab, or maybe reading a story about how to be a good friend. No matter what, we’re learning about our world, and having lots of fun doing it.
In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family, running, playing with my dogs, reading a good book and baking! My favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip, although chocolate peanut butter is a close second!
Kevin
Mascot
Hi! I’m Kevin, AMPed’s own bearded dragon. I like to lounge around in my home at AMPed Hybrid Academy and watch the kids learn. Sometimes I come out to visit the kids, but I prefer to stay snuggled up in my blanket when I do.
AMPed Learning Centers
Kristina Jones
Lead Teacher, Infants
Hi! I’m Kristina. When I’m not cuddling babies in the infant room, I’m probably cheering my sons on at their many sporting events. I think astronauts are OUT OF THIS WORLD so you’ll recognize my space themed accessories!
In my spare time, you can find me outside, baking, or tackling a jigsaw puzzle. My experience and training in childcare, working with special needs students in elementary schools, and being a mom helps me give every child the support they need. I’m passionate about continuing my education in early childhood development and love sharing my knowledge with our littlest learners.
AMPed Education
Dr. Husam Alrehaili
STEM Advisor
Hi! I’m Dr. Husam Alrehaili. I’ve spent my career studying and teaching mechanical engineering. I enjoy helping train the engineers of tomorrow in labs at Wayne State University. I’m excited to be joining the AMPed team as the STEM advisor, helping develop our custom curriculum that keeps kids asking “Why?” and “How?” and then guides them to find out the answer. In my spare time, you’ll find me running obstacle course races, cooking way too much food for my friends, checking out coffee shops, or taking a spontaneous road trip to explore a new place.
Janine Murphy
Art, Literacy, STEAM
Hi! I’m Ms. Murphy, I am an artist, lover of creatures, lifelong learner and someone who loves to explore places! My strongest super power is my desire to help people, and that is why I am so honored to be part of this AMPed team of superheroes!
When you are in an art class with me, you are also going to harness your own personal creative powers and strengthen your skills in learning how to use different materials and mediums, discovering what techniques work best for you, and how through making messes and learning about our world will help you share your artist voice and your own creative visual stories!
In those moments when I am not teaching, you can always find me being creative, making messes or doing what I can to help our world. Sometimes I can be in the kitchen making some sort of chocolate treats or in my studio creating a painting, other times you can see me playing with all the dogs in the neighborhood, or feeding all the fish, birds, wildlife that hang around my yard. It will be fun to share these moments, and to create art, with you!!
Finn Glomski
Math, Literacy, Science
Hi, I’m Finn. I’m studying to be a cosmologist, a scientist who studies the UNIVERSE! My favorite ice cream flavor is Blue Moon. I am very active in NJROTC where I’m a drone commander and teach cadets how to fly drones and even race them. In my free time I like to play video games and stream. The best part about reading is how it helps us see things from different points of view. Doing math makes me happy and I love when I learn something I can use in the real world.
Madeline Smith
Art
Madeline Smith is a practicing artist and experienced teacher who specializes in mixed media. Each of her own personal creations utilize a variety of different materials–paint, magazines, glitter, ink, random found objects. Everything can be turned into art and every moment can be artistic. This is the philosophy she aims to teach in her classrooms. Though she can teach the technical skills needed to draw portraits or paint a still life, she is more interested in seeing each student develop their own creative relationship to art-making. Expect to explore art in ways that will allow you to explore yourself. There is no right or wrong way to make art in this class.
Lawson Henry
Marketing Intern
My name is Lawson Henry. I am a Junior studying Marketing at Auburn University. I joined the AMPed team as a Marketing Intern in September of 2023, where I will be assisting in analysis, advertisements, and social media management. I cannot wait to help AMPed Education grow and prosper within the community.
Madeleine Ottenritter
Marketing Intern
Hi, my name is Madeleine Ottenritter and I’m a junior at Auburn University majoring in marketing! I started my internship with AMPed Education in September 2023, and have been working on curating social media posts to promote AMPed Hybrid Academy. I’m so happy to be working with a team who understands that not all children learn the same way and are working to create an environment that prioritizes the needs of each individual child.
Elizabeth Twentyman
Summer Operations Intern
My name is Elizabeth Twentyman and I am a rising Junior at Auburn University studying Supply Chain Management. I started my Operations internship with AMPed Education in June of 2023, where I have assisted with the playground construction process, creation of online classes via Moodle, furniture, and much more! I am proud to be working alongside wonderful people who have the same mission of making education an individualized, positive journey for every child.
Linda Li
Summer Operations Intern
Hi! My name is Linda Li, and I’m a chemical engineering major at Yale University in the class of 2025. Since June 2023, I have been working as a Marketing and Operations Intern at AMPed Education, supporting our team by performing market research, exploring advertising opportunities, and managing social media. I’m excited to be a part of a team that aims to create an enriching, unique educational experience!