Sonflower Christian Preschool Team
Experienced and Nurturing Staff

Lead Teacher
Loreta Beam
Loreta joins us with 20+ years of experience with the early childhood field in Durango. Loreta was nominated for Early Childhood Teacher of the Year (2018) for her unending kindness and fun with her students. As a teacher, Loreta knows how to reach each child on a personal level and help them in the first steps of their educational journey. She is a great model to our students with her positive attitude and enduring patience.

Outdoor Enrichment Lead Teacher
Colleen Wilcox
Teresa "Colleen" Wilcox has been a teacher for almost a decade - elementary at first, then a toddler teacher, and finally settling on preschool once her son hit that age and she was able to land a paraeducator position in his classroom at Needham Elementary. Before becoming an educator, Miss Colleen had two previous careers: early on, as a newspaper reporter in New England; then, after graduate school at Yale School of Forestry, as the director of an environmental nonprofit in post-Katrina New Orleans. Part of that program was teaching students about wetland plants and their protective role. The seeds of her current endeavor, training to be a Forest School Practitioner, germinated in the swamps of Louisiana.

Teacher's Aide
Grace Foster
Grace Foster is a teacher education student at Fort Lewis College. She has a passion for working with kids and helping them to thrive in their learning. She works at Sonflower as a teacher’s assistant, and loves getting to bring brightness to the children’s days. "I believe God has placed me where I am to teach young minds to grow in His presence, knowledge of His creation, and the fruits of the Spirit. God bless!"