Elementary Teaching Staff

Carie Modeer

Lower Elementary North Lead Teacher

Carie joined the Khalsa School in 1999 as a Lower Elementary assistant. After graduating from Penn State University with a degree in Elementary

Education and traveling across the country, she decided to head west to Arizona. Her immediate family, along with a change of environment, brought her to Phoenix. Outside of gaining her degree in education, Carie worked for six years as an assistant teacher in a Christian Daycare in Pennsylvania. She also held part-time positions in childcare throughout her college years. After experiencing Montessori for the first time at Khalsa and gaining a passion for the Montessori method she made the choice to become trained as a Montessori Lead Teacher. Carie has been a Lower Elementary Lead Teacher since 2004.

In her free time, Carie enjoys playing Taiko (Japanese drumming) and has been a member of the Phoenix Taiko dojo since 2001. She also enjoys reading and spending time outdoors hiking and camping.

Angie Martinez

Lower Elementary North Assistant

Angie joined Khalsa Montessori for the 2022-23 school year. She loves working with the students and enjoying her time assisting Ms. Carie in Lower Elementary. Prior to joining Khalsa, Angie worked with children in Pre-K and Kindergarten for over 25 years. She believes children thrive in a Montessori classroom and enjoys seeing it each and every day.

Laurie Alejo

Lower Elementary South Lead Teacher

Laurie joined Khalsa Montessori School in 2019 as an elementary extended care assistant then transitioned as a lower elementary assistant teacher.  After falling in love with the Montessori philosophy and wanting to learn more, she decided to become a trained Montessori educator.  She  completed a year-long training through the Arizona Montessori Teacher Education Program in June 2022.  Aside from her accreditation in Montessori, she also has a Bachelor’s Degree in elementary education from New Mexico State University and tutored students at Sylvan Learning Center for 8 years.  In her spare time, she enjoys baking, listening to music, and reading inspirational books. 

Pamé Arteaga

Lower Elementary South Assistant

Pamela goes by Pamé (“Pah-may”). She is originally from Quito, Ecuador, so her first language is Spanish. She moved to the States in 2020 to live with her now husband, John. They have lived together in Idaho and Georgia before moving to Phoenix with their beloved dog Stella!

Pamé has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Universidad San Francisco de Quito. She has taught in several classrooms both in the US and Ecuador for the past 6 years. Pamé has experience as a classroom teacher and a teacher assistant and is excited to be a part of Khalsa’s community and looks forward to growing and learning with Ms. Laurie and the children! In her free time, she enjoys being outside with her husband and dog. They like hiking and being in nature. She also enjoys working out, doing yoga, hanging out with friends, and eating all kinds of good food! She loves art and dancing too. She has a minor in theater and acted in community theater back in South Georgia. 

Helen Williams

Lower Elementary East Lead Teacher

Teaching is my calling. I joined Khalsa Montessori as Lead Teacher in the summer of 2020. 

While born and raised in Sweden, I have spent most of my adult life in the U.S. My husband and I have made a home with our three children in ten different states over the span of three decades.

I earned a Bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and later a teaching certificate in Elementary Education at Eastern Michigan University. I entered the education field after many years as a stay-at-home mom.  My teaching experience includes elementary, middle school, and adult education.

Very proud to be a teacher and life-long learner,  I have obtained Arizona teacher certification and a Montessori teacher certification by American Montessori Society. The road here was long, but I feel as though I was meant to be a Montessori teacher.

Besides teaching, I love healthy cooking, hiking, and visiting my three adult children who are spread out across the country. My special interests are language learning (French and Spanish) and children’s literature.

Each new year is brimming with exciting possibilities.  I look forward to guiding our students in creating a beautiful community and exceptional learning experiences every day.  

Candy Cotto

Lower Elementary East Assistant

Candy first joined Khalsa as a parent more than ten years ago, and she is now happy to be starting her fifth year as a Classroom Assistant. Candy completed her Montessori Assistant Training through the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies and also holds a BS in Dental Hygiene from NAU. Outside of school, she loves traveling with her son and their cat, live music, sewing, and crafts.

Shannon Pursell

Upper Elementary Lead Teacher

Shannon is originally from the Gulf Coast region of rural Mississippi. She graduated from the University of Tulsa with a bachelor’s degree in English Lit and has completed some postgraduate work in English Lit through ASU. Shannon and her husband of 35 years finally settled in Phoenix in May of 1999 after bouncing around the country for a bit. They soon welcomed two children, in 2001 and 2003, respectively. She became interested in Montessori education when her own children joined a Montessori Primary community. She became an assistant in a Montessori Primary classroom, and soon thereafter began training to earn certification as a Montessori Primary teacher, which she did in 2011. Shannon earned Primary Montessori certification through the North American Montessori Teachers’ Association (NAMTA) and the American Montessori Society (AMS). Before joining the Khalsa faculty as an assistant in 2014, Shannon had worked in a Montessori classroom for six years; three as an assistant teacher and three as a lead teacher.

In 2016, Shannon assumed the role of lead teacher for Primary North at Khalsa Primary, where she remained until June of 2024. In July of 2024, she began her journey into the study of the Montessori Elementary curriculum, the 2nd Plane of Human Development (as defined and described by Dr. Montessori and others), the Universal Human Tendencies (as observed by Dr. Montessori and others), and perhaps, most exciting to her personally, Dr. Montessori’s vision of The Cosmos and the interconnectedness of All Things. These are the ingredients of Cosmic Education and comprise the foundation of Montessori elementary philosophy.

Shannon worked in the Khalsa Upper Elementary classroom while completing her Montessori Elementary certification during the school year 2024-2025. In May of 2025, Shannon received her American Montessori International (AMI) certification through the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies (SIMS) in Mesa. Shannon’s hobbies are reading, writing, and hiking. She is an enthusiastic coffee drinker, a movie junkie, and an animal lover. She and her husband have, in addition to their two adult children, an elderly chiweiner dog and four cats. She also enjoys collecting journals and “nerd” memorabilia.

Ayeleth Aragon-Molina

Upper Elementary Co-Lead

Hello Upper El Families! My name is Ayeleth, and I am excited to start a fresh, new year with our new and returning students. I am training and working closely with Ms. Shannon as a Co-Lead Teacher. This school year, I am continuing my training through the Arizona Montessori Teacher Education Program in Elementary Education.

I am a first-generation college graduate with a B.A. in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University. I have always wanted to work with children and love what I do! I am the oldest of seven children and enjoy talking about my siblings. 

I look forward to the new opportunities that this school year will bring! 

Leslie C.

Extended Care Assistant

My name is Leslie, and I joined Khalsa Montessori in August of 2025. I was born and raised in Connecticut, and I received my degree from UCONN. I have 6+ years of experience working with children in a childcare or educational setting, and I love this path more than anything else. Work that allows me to make a difference in someone’s life is the most rewarding thing in this world. I admire the Montessori style for the way it aims to teach children in a loving way how to live their most fulfilling lives. In my free time, I enjoy creating art, playing games, and exploring nature. I have two playful pet cats who like to keep me on my toes with their daily mischief. I look forward to expanding my horizons every day alongside the students at Khalsa Montessori School.

Caleb Demeter

Music Teacher

This is my first year teaching at Khalsa Montessori School, but I have been teaching music and working with kids for over a decade. I have a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Vocal Performance and have almost completed a Master of Divinity degree at Phoenix Seminary.

I love reading and writing, I am a huge coffee and tea nerd, and I always love learning new things like ice skating and pottery throwing. My wife and I have four fish, a hermit crab, and a bunny at home, and we volunteer at FurryTail Bunny Rescue once a month, so if you want to come to feed and pet some bunnies let me know!

Lupita Juarez

Yoga Instructor

Belen Martin

Spanish Teacher

Founder of the preschool Spanish immersion program curriculum, “Funny Sunny Spanish”, Belen has had the privilege of teaching and entertaining young children in the San Francisco and Phoenix areas for many years. She is grateful to have discovered this opportunity to combine her experience, love of children, and her abilities to create and interactive Spanish immersion program for students. Belen is orginally from Argentina.

Robin L.

Reading Interventionist

I joined the Khalsa team in early October 2024. I love Montessori because even though learning and work can be challenging, it should be fun, engaging, and supported, not uninteresting and forced. I have a B.S. in Family Studies & Human Development, along with a minor in Spanish. I have a daughter who learned to read at age 1 and is now is almost 12! We have a sweet, amazing doggie name LaLa, and a funny little hamster named Sunny. During our free time we love to read, play games, make jewelry, and snuggle our puppy.