Childcare Providers

Natalie Anderson
Natalie is a Preschool teacher for Origins Education in Missoula. She has always had a deep calling to work with early childhood development and is eager to be apart of the phenomenal community with Families First. Natalie is passionate about healing trauma and the inner spirit through tools such as Kundalini Yoga, Dance, Art and engaging with the outdoor elements. She firmly believes in teaching our youth these tools of emotional expression, hoping for future generations to live peacefully, positively, mindfully and consciously aware of their own self healing gifts. Natalie is the middle of 5 brothers and sisters. Her most cherished moments about coming from a big family is the laughter at every family get together, nothing shy of a good time! Her favorite childhood board game is Aggravation.

Athina Collins
Athina is a mom of two and a Para Educator with Missoula County Public Schools at Russell Elementary. She has been working with children all of her adult life. Athina truly enjoys and personally thrives being with children and students. It is very fulfilling and inspiring to her to be able to make a difference in their lives. According to Athina, Families First has offered her the opportunity to engage with children while their loved ones are on a quest of knowledge. In her spare time, Athina enjoys spending time with her friends sharing a delicious meal.

MaryPat Hertz
MaryPat has her Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and 25 years of experience working with preschool children. MaryPat started as a parent volunteer in the Head Start program when her oldest child was a student there in 1994. After beginning to work as an aid in the classroom, she moved up into a management position where she worked up until the summer of 2018 when she joined the Origins Education team. MaryPat has a passion for working with children as well as working with teaching staff to help foster a high quality educational experience.

Abi Meyer
Abi graduated with her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Montana in 2021, and she is currently working towards her Masters in Special Education with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis. She has been working for the Child Development Center as a Registered Behavior Technician since 2018, working one-on-one with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Abi also enjoys being outdoors, spending time with family, and watching a good movie. In the summer you can find her on the water, and in the winter you can find her beating her husband down the ski mountain!

Lisa Wall-Rodriguez
Lisa has owned Fun and Fancy Free Learning Center since 1999. She and her husband, Alex, and have 7 awesome children. She has her teaching degree in Preschool thru 3rd grade and loves reading to children, taking them on field trips, and watching grow and learn.

Jaidyn Wall
Jaidyn Wall has been an assistant teacher at Fun and Fancy Free Learning Center since 2018. Jaidyn's passion is to eventually become a hairdresser and he is the one mothers come to in the mornings asking him to fix their children's hair. Jaidyn started coming to Fun and Fancy Free himself when he was 5 weeks old and has grown up there. It's great to see him now be working with children.