Toni-Ann Williams, Olympic Gymnast
Attended from 1999-2010
“Something I learned from Montessori is leadership, even from a very young age. Having that independence and being able to take my own initiative – two values Montessori taught me – I became the first Jamaican Olympian for gymnastics.
Toni-Ann Williams is working to use her passion for social welfare and legal studies to not only open access to the opportunities gymnastics can provide for young Jamaican girls, but to ensure that the environment is a safe one throughout their journey.
The spark that started Toni-Ann’s journey to become the first gymnast to represent Jamaica at the Olympic Games began at Greenspring Montessori. “Before Montessori, I had done ice skating. Once I got to Montessori, when I was playing on the playground Ms. Vivian saw me [doing cartwheels] and jumping off the playset and told my mom I should look into gymnastics. And that’s how I kind of got started. She helped my mom figure out my focus.” Toni-Ann obtained dual citizenship when she was fifteen years old and went on to represent Jamaica in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Toni-Ann’s story was filled with destiny from before she was born. “My mom was my age, in her twenties, when she came to America. My parents hadn’t met – well, actually they hadn’t known they had met in Jamaica – until they came to America. They met each other through a mutual friend in the close-knit Jamaican community here in Baltimore. They got together and opened up a grocery store in Baltimore City and their relationship grew from there.
“In Jamaica, my mother had lived toward the beach in Jamaica – an ‘uptown girl’. My father lived in the poorer neighborhoods and he often had to steal to survive. When he came to America my father was retelling the story and my mom asked him, did you steal from this specific house? It turned out that my father had been stealing my mother’s family’s chickens for years and they had no idea who it was until they came to America and realized it was him! I thought it was a really cute story: he stole your chickens, then he stole your heart.”
Recent immigrants working hard to provide the best opportunities for their children, Toni-Ann’s parents sent her and her younger sister Maya (also a Jamaican gymnast and now an Arizona State University student) to Greenspring Montessori. Toni-Ann says, “They wanted a more open teaching mechanism than my older sister experienced at public school.”
Toni-Ann attended Greenspring Montessori for eleven years. After completing her Montessori experience and graduating Greenspring with the class of 2010, she attended high school at Roland Park Country School.
Montessori Moments
The Montessori model helped Toni-Ann open up and explore her passions. “I remember being really shy when I first came. Being able to interact with people of different ages, I was able to become more comfortable, involved with more sports, not afraid to play with the boys at recess, playing soccer, trying more things – it was a very open environment. I felt welcomed within each age group and within each gender – I became really comfortable and I was able to explore more of myself. [The school offered] a freedom to explore.”
Montessori also helped her become a confident learner. “Not only did I figure out my gymnastics career, also academically I got to explore a lot of different things I might not have done if I’d gone to a traditional school. Different books I got to read and being able to advance ahead of other people my age, being able to have the opportunity go ahead or stay back or whatever I needed to do, being able to explore my own academic journey on my own but also to have people guide me, as well.”
Bringing Montessori into the World
Toni-Ann took the challenge of balancing college school work, college gymnastics, and international gymnastics by the horns. “Something I learned from Montessori is leadership, even from a very young age. Having that independence and being able to take my own initiative – two values Montessori taught me – I became the first Jamaican Olympian for gymnastics.
“[Going to the Olympics] is everyone’s dream as a kid. I knew that I wanted to do college gymnastics, and I knew I wanted to compete for my family’s country, but I never ever dreamed that it would get me all the way to the Olympics. That was definitely one of my biggest accomplishments.”
Despite all her local, college, national and international gymnastic success, the accomplishment she is most proud of took place this year. “I tore my Achilles over a year ago and I was out for the entire season. This past January was my coming back season after the injury and it was very difficult for me. At the end of the season I [earned the title of] ‘All American’ – that’s top eight in the nation – that was a big moment for me. I have earned a lot of honors and recognition, but this one meant the most to me because I had struggled and stumbled and [through hard work] became top eight in the nation.”
Impacting the Future
Toni-Ann is combining her passions and talents to impact a serious need in the gymnastics community.
When the stories of sexual abuse throughout the gymnastics world came to light, Toni-Ann says it was a watershed moment to solidifying her vision for her future. “I’ve mapped out different versions of my life. I still want to be really involved in gymnastics. But there has been a lot of scandal and sexual abuse going on in the gymnastics world. I want to be a part of helping fix that, not only in the US but in Jamaica where that has been troubling for as long as I’ve known.
“I personally know a lot of the gymnasts who have spoken up – I’m friends with them and we’ve competed with each other for years. Even some of the competitions where they recalled the abuse happening, I was probably in the hotel room a couple doors down and I never knew any of that was happening to them. It’s heartbreaking to hear.
“I always had my focus on going back to Jamaica – a third-world country where my parents grew up – to help the gymnasts there. Gymnastics is not a sport that Jamaica recognizes, so [I am dedicated to] helping the gymnasts there realize their dreams. I was able to go to college because of gymnastics and a lot of Jamaican girls my age don’t have that opportunity. I wanted to go back and help them that way.”
Toni-Ann attends the University of California, Berkeley and is double-majoring in social welfare and legal studies.
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Reposted from NAMC Montessori Teacher Training Blog
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| Math and science work harmoniously in nature. |
Since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the US has called for an increase in scientific and mathematical education. There is currently a movement underway to train and terrain 100,000 STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) teachers. Across the country, there are new standards for STEM subjects, with educators being charged to be creative and engaging rather than just teaching from a textbook.
What does this mean for Montessorians?
STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math: Being Creative and Engaging in the Montessori Classroom
Montessori teachers have a jumpstart on their conventional counterparts. Since student engagement is at the forefront of the Montessori classroom, we are already actively engaging students in hands-on learning. Beginning in the Montessori preschool environment, students learn the fundamental rules of math and science through the discovery of natural laws through manipulation of didactic materials and problem-solving with peers. The work engages the senses and ensures the internalization of concepts, not just memorization of disjointed facts and figures. Through the Montessori concept of Cosmic Education, the curriculum reinforces that everything is interrelated; students see how math and science work harmoniously in nature, like in the Fibonacci sequence.
Upper Elementary students dissect a cow heart as part of their studies in anatomy.
On March 29, 2012, the National Governor’s Association issued a brief on “The Role of Informal Science in the State of Education Agenda”. It calls for an increase in hands-on discovery and practice of STEM concepts, something that is already happening across all levels in the Montessori community. It also calls for the use of outside resources such as museums, science centers, and other ‘real-life’ activities that engage and focus student’s attention in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math. Again, Montessori teachers have been using “going-out” opportunities to pique student interest and foster real-life connections for over 100 years.
An Adolescent student shows one of their chicks to a Children’s House classroom, engaging in cross-level science work.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Co-founders of Google, have said that Montessori education allowed them to think for themselves. They credit Montessori with allowing them to question what was going on around them and to discover the answers for themselves. Former Montessori students, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, and Will Wright, inventor of “The Sims” video game series, also credit Montessori for allowing them to ask questions, discover, and learn on their own terms.
The current STEM movement is calling for innovation, collaboration, and hands-on learning and problem-solving. To the Montessori community, this is nothing new. This is what we’ve been doing all along.
