Welcome Our New Employees

We are excited to announce that in the past month, we have added two new people to our PlayGarden team, Margot Bell and Mike Bernatovicz. 

Margot Bell is joining PlayGarden as our new Supported Employment Job Coach. Margot is a Seattle native, moving back after spending four years at Vanderbilt University, where she studied special education and disability studies. Margot spent her time at Vanderbilt working as a job coach for their inclusive higher education program, Next Steps and teaching at Our Beginnings preschool and spent her summers working for Seattle Parks and Recreation’s summer specialized program. In her free time, Margot enjoys cuddling and taking naps with her pug, Ellie, drawing and making collages, dancing to her favorite music, and watching cartoons— especially Adventure Time. In her role as the Supported Employment Job Coach, Margot will work with our supported employees to ensure that they have the tools needed to succeed in their work!

Mike Bernatovic is joining PlayGarden as our new Lead Preschool Teacher, working Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Mike is a graduate of Evergreen State University, where his focuses were history, writing and political science, and has worked as a preschool teacher for over ten years. In his time as an early childhood educator, he has worked as a lead teacher for a handful of different schools and organizations, his favorite being a fully outdoor program based out of public parks in South Seattle. Mike is a big proponent of emergent curriculum, risky play, and supporting children for the people they are today. When not teaching preschool, Mike can be found riding his bike and making music. In his role as Lead Preschool teacher, Mike will work alongside the other lead teacher, Sophie, and the entire preschool team, to run preschool programming at PlayGarden.