Board of Directors, 2022-2023
Stephanie Johnson, President, Alumni Parent
Stephanie is mom to two Woods Creek Montessori graduates: Anders, age 7 and Olin, age 5. After having kids attend WCM for the last 5 years, Steph wasn’t quite ready to let this special school go and is thrilled to serve on the board. Before becoming a mom, Steph taught middle school English at Lylburn Downing Middle School in Lexington. These days, when she’s not chasing two very active little boys, Steph is an intermittent writing tutor and adjunct writing instructor at VMI. Although she originally hails from Minnesota, Lexington has been home for the past 13 years. Steph, her husband Dan, and both boys are endlessly grateful for the community they’ve found in Woods Creek Montessori.
Cary was born in Virginia, but spent most of her life in North Carolina, having received her bachelor’s degree in communications and sociology from Appalachian State University. Her family moved to the area in 2020 from Raleigh, NC after making a proactive and intentional choice to live in a smaller community. Cary is the owner of Roundtable Interiors, providing residential interior design and real estate staging services, but her background is in media/public relations, corporate communications, non-profit advocacy and rural economic development. Her husband Will is the senior director of constituent communications for Washington and Lee University, and they have two school-aged children. She relishes time in the yard, working on projects in their midcentury home and hunting for vintage furniture and art. Cary and her family are members of Grace Episcopal Church and love attending live music performances, having a household family-reading-hour and exploring the beauty of their community.
Megging Bissell, Treasurer, Current Parent
Megging is mother to one current Woods Creek Montessori student (Ford) and two graduates (Keeler and Lawson). She is married to Collin, a lieutenant colonel in the US Army. As Lexington natives, they were thrilled to find themselves back home when Collin was assigned to the Army ROTC department at VMI. Before life as a military spouse and a stay-at-home mom, Megging was an English major at the University of Virginia then spent a few years in fundraising and marketing at a think tank in Washington, DC. Currently, she fills her spare time hosting an Airbnb and devising ways to protect her yard from marauding deer.
Megan moved to Lexington in 2012 for work at Washington and Lee, where she currently serves as an associate dean of students. She and her husband, Bobby (Commercial Lender at CornerStone Bank), are mom and dad to Anabelle, enrolled in the toddler and after school programs at WCM. Megan was pleased to be offered the opportunity to serve on the WCM Board because she believes in the intimate approach to teaching and learning at WCM.
Sara is mom to two elementary-aged children, Marian and Eli, both of whom attended Woods Creek Montessori. Her husband, David, is a Rockbridge native who owns Valley Distribution, a refrigerated transportation business that connects farms and small businesses with restaurants and retailers throughout Virginia. Sara, originally from central NY, graduated from Cornell University with a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology. She currently serves as an associate professor of psychology at Virginia Military Institute where she specializes in child development, specifically the impacts of poverty and associated risk factors on children’s behavioral and educational outcomes. Sara is grateful for the incredible foundation that WCM teachers and staff provided to her children and wants to continue supporting this gem of early education in Lexington.
Erin Terapane, Current Parent
Erin is a mother to Riley (current WCM student) and Morgan (former WCM student) and wife to Chris Terapane. Together they moved from Northern VA to our special town when Chris accepted a job at VMI. Chris is now an employee with the Federal Government while serving in the Army National Guard. Erin previously worked in the wedding industry as a coordinator after receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Longwood University. Recently, she joined the Chamber of Commerce as the Membership Director after working for Main Street Lexington. She is also a former PTA officer for Waddell Elementary. Erin and her family enjoy traveling, being outdoors and being active in our small community.
Dan Harrison, Current Parent
Dan has two children, Austin (former WCM student) and Connor (current WCM student), with wife Brittany, a Nurse Practitioner at UVA Health in Charlottesville, VA. While Brittany is a Richmond native, Dan grew up in southern Indiana and transplanted to Virginia to attend the Virginia Military Institute. Dan later completed his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Virginia, performed Post-Doctoral research at UNC-Chapel Hill and returned to the natural beauty of Lexington to teach Chemistry at his alma mater. As a professor, Dan enjoys facilitating opportunities for undergraduate researchers to experience the thrill of inventing and discovering new molecules that lower the energy required to make useful byproducts from carbon dioxide. Brittany and Dan enjoy developing their small homestead, Basset Hill Farm, where they raise Silver Laced Wyandotte chickens, ducks, Sulcata tortoises, honeybees, children, and, of course, a basset hound. WCM has been foundational in developing their thriving children and teaching Brittany and Dan how work through problems constructively and positively with the boys. Dan is grateful for the opportunity to give back to WCM and help shape its future direction.
Mike Gilmore, Community Member
Mike Gilmore retired as director of the Alexandria Department of Community and Human Services in 2014. Eleven years prior to working in Alexandria, he was executive director of the Rockbridge and Area Community Services Board for twenty years. Other positions include heading the Office of Child and Family programs for the Ohio Department of Mental Health and research associate at M.I.T. His academic credentials include a Ph.D. In developmental psychology from Cornell and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale Institute for Social and Policy Studies.
He and his wife Mary Anne have lived in Lexington since 1983. They have three grown children and two grandchildren. His grandson Mikey enjoyed his time a year ago at the Montessori Center of Pearl Harbor in Oahu. Mike is currently chair of the Rockbridge Department of Social Services as well as Resource Committee chair for the Rockbridge Area Community Services Board.
Kevin is dad to Cyrus (current WCM student) and Nellie (former WCM student) and husband to Amanda, a Lexington native. Together, they all live at Yonderyear Farm in Rockbridge Baths, where they grow specialty cut flowers and raise livestock. In his day job, Kevin is a Vice President at Rare (www.rare.org), a global conservation organization based in Arlington, VA that works around the world to inspire change so that people and nature thrive. He is proud to be a part of Woods Creek Montessori, which is such a valuable and important piece of our thriving Rockbridge community.