Meet our Team
Our teaching team is made up of an eclectic, creative, professional, and skilled community of individuals with a passion for what they do! All of our classroom teachers have native or near-native fluency in German. They express a genuine love for children in all areas of the daily interaction with our students. With backgrounds in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Art, Music, German Studies, Psychology and Special Education, we are fortunate to enjoy and benefit from their many areas of expertise and experience that enrich our classroom environment.
All teachers meet education and experience requirements appropriate to their position, as required by the Child Care Licensing Division of the State of Minnesota. The Germanic-American Institute regularly conducts professional development training for teachers and classroom assistants. Our staff maintains current certification in First Aid and CPR. Criminal background checks are completed on each employee, regardless of their level of child contact.
Leadership Team
Emily Ruggles Johnson, Director, St. Paul
Frau Emily joined Kinderstube in 2018. She fell in love with the German language and culture during a high school exchange program, then again while teaching in German schools in Hamburg, Germany. She loves to play the violin, collect plants native to Minnesota, raise Monarch butterflies, kayak, and engage in messy craft projects with her children, Lukas and Anneliese. Her favorite aspects of working at Kinderstube are coaching teachers and planning professional development, supporting families, and, of course, being immersed in the joy and wonder preschoolers bring to the world.
Lisa Ragan, Director, Minneapolis
Frau Lisa joined Kinderstube in 2021 when she moved back to Minnesota after 30 years in Monterey/ Carmel California. She studied German at Minnehaha Academy, St. Olaf College, Monterey Institute of International Studies, and Concordia Language Villages (Waldsee). During high school, she participated in an AATG exchange program and spent 3 months living with the Edelmann family in Graben-Neudorf (near Stuttgart) and spent a semester studying at the University of Paderborn her Sophomore year at St. Olaf. She enjoys kayaking, outrigger canoeing , gardening, skiing, dancing and exploring new hiking trails and state parks with her husband, Bill and dog, Libby. Working at Kinderstube offers her the perfect opportunity to combine her love of German language and culture with a passion for and commitment to early childhood education.
St. Paul Teachers
Emma Naragon
Frau Emma grew up in a small town in northeastern Indiana but spent a number of years throughout her child- and young adulthood living with her family in Marburg, Germany. The time that she spent living in Marburg was highly influential and instilled in her a love for German culture and language. In May 2012, she graduated from St. Olaf College with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. After spending the following year travelling back and forth across the Atlantic, first working as an au pair in Germany, then completing her student teaching in Minneapolis, and finally going back to Germany to work with students in early childhood music programs. She enjoys learning and making music with the children at Kinderstube. Frau Emma has been teaching at Kinderstube since 2013.
Seha Samsa-Bonte
Frau Seha joined Kinderstube in 2016. She grew up in Pfaffenhofen (in between Audi Ingolstadt and BMW Munich). She enjoys spending time with her dogs, chameleons and family. She also likes pyrography, plants, gardening, doing art, and listening to German Audibles. Her favorite part of working with preschoolers is to see their enthusiasm about many things, see them growing, making progress and becoming more and more independent.
Jenna Gullickson
Frau Jenna has joined our St. Paul team in 2021. Her love of music sparked her interest in German, and she studied Flute Performance and minored in German Language at the University of Minnesota. During her semester abroad in Munich she loved experiencing the different pace of life, the amazing food, and spending her weekends hiking in the mountains. Some of her hobbies include making pottery, baking, being outdoors, and discovering unique facts and stories through books and podcasts. She has taught music lessons for many years and is inspired by the creativity, curiosity, and humor of her students.
Lilia Conklin
Frau Lilia joined Kinderstube in 2020. She learned German in high school and majored in German studies in college, and also studied abroad in Berlin and Vienna. She’s obsessed with her 16-year-old parrot companion, Beaky, and her 30+ houseplants. She loves creating and experiencing all kinds of art and music, and having a good laugh with friends. She’s inspired by the plasticity of young minds and the ways children transform themselves. Each day brings new ideas, new friendships, new skills, new achievements.
Minneapolis Teachers
Vincent Büttner
Herr Vincent joined Kinderstube in 2011. He grew up outside of Hamburg, Germany. He loves to play golf in his free time, and he’s amazed to think that our children understand and can express themselves in a second (or even third) language when they leave our program at such a young age.
Johanna Foster
Frau Johanna joined Kinderstube in 2017. She grew up in a German-speaking household in northern Illinois and spent several months out of every year with her extended family in a small town near Munich. She enjoys hiking, rock climbing, reading, watching and playing soccer (especially the USWNT!!), and generally likes to be outside. She loves exploring the intersection of art and nature with the children in her class, and she also loves how weird and wise the kids are.
Andrea Wilberding
Frau Andrea joined Kinderstube in 2018. She studied German at the University of Minnesota and spent a year abroad studying in Freiburg, Germany, as well as another year living and working as a teaching assistant in St. Pölten, Austria. In her free time, she likes to run, play various instruments, watch movies, play board games, and hang out with her two cats. Her favorite thing about being a preschool teacher is that she gets to spend most of her work day laughing!
Eva Krohnfeldt
Frau Eva joined Kinderstube in 2021. She moved to Germany after high school to work as an Au Pair in Berlin. Afterward she studied German and linguistics at the University of Minnesota. Her free time is spent playing piano, going on trail walks with her brother’s dog, Kika, and teaching herself how to paint! Her favorite thing about working with young children is their curiosity about the world and being able to watch their personalities develop.
Michelle Weber
Frau Michelle joined Kinderstube in 2012. After a few years away while she welcomed her daughter, she’s excited to be teaching preschool again. She enjoys doing art and creative theater with students. She’s happiest wearing/carrying a baby, or reading a book in her hammock, bathed in dappled sunlight, or creating something.
Kendall Theroux
Frau Kendall joined Kinderstube in 2022. She grew up in rural Vermont and fell in love with German language and culture when studying abroad in Munich at age 20. After graduating with degrees in German and Anthropology from Kenyon College, she went on to teach English in Hamburg, Germany, for several years while working on her M.A. in Ethnology with a focus on post-colonial studies regarding cultural effects of German Colonialism on contemporary Namibia. In her free time, she sings jazz and nurtures her creative energy through visual arts. With a love of intercultural exchange, she brings her background in the theater and arts to the classroom as much as possible. Frau Kendall has taught students of many ages, but finds the joy and imagination of preschoolers endlessly delightful.
Olivia Jones
Frau Olivia joined Kinderstube in 2022. She began learning German in high school and went on to major in it at St. Olaf College, where she also studied Education and Linguistics. Aside from teaching, she enjoys pottery, painting, swimming, hiking, watching Jeopardy and pretending to be a film critic. She loves helping students cultivate their sense of curiosity and self esteem, especially when she can play and crack jokes with them at the same time.
Chloe Braunmiller
Frau Chloe joined Kinderstube in 2022. After hearing about her German ancestry, she began studying German in high school and went on to double major in German and Child Psychology at the University of Michigan. Chloe spent a semester studying in Tübingen during college and met her (now) husband. After graduating in 2015, she moved to Stuttgart, Germany (Southwest, home of Daimler/Mercedes) and lived there for 4 years. Chloe enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and dog, reading, and has an addicting board game hobby. She loves the budding independence and confidence that her students show at this age and is always impressed by their humor and new ideas.
Substitute Teachers
Carol Randall
Frau Carol joined Kinderstube in 2016. She has been a teacher since 1968 and has extensive experience with students of all ages. She speaks German, French and Spanish and has taught Spanish at Century College since 1969. Her travels around the world have taken her to Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Peru. We love having her as a substitute whenever she is not traveling the globe. She shares with us her wealth of experience and teaching skills.
Laura Rotering
Frau LauraLi joined Kinderstube in 2019. She studied German in high school and won an AATG award to attend Waldsee German Immersion Camp. In college she studied in Berlin and Salzburg. She likes afternoon tea, writing, walking/hiking, and reading. She also plays D&D. Her favorite part of working at Kinderstube is making art projects led by the students and listening to their ideas.
Emilee Daniels
Frau Emilee joined Kinderstube in 2021. She began studying German at the age of 11. She did an exchange to Germany before her senior year of high school, and also met many German expats during her time living in Spain. She is passionate about crocheting, and she’s also currently learning Catalan and Spanish. She loves how honest and creative young children are, and that they see the world as full of endless possibilities.
