Our Teachers
Annika ZumBrunnen , Classroom Teacher
Annika grew up in the Bellevue-Redmond area and has been involved with the Bellevue College Parent Education Program since 2017. She has participated in toddler classes as a student and an assistant children's teacher. Annika has been a parent at Sunrise Co-Op Preschool in Renton for the past four years where she served on the board as Chair and Class Chair. She also served as Chair on the Parents Advisory Committee for the past year, raising funds for scholarships for families in the Bellevue College Parent Education Program.
Annika enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys, Odin (7) and Hudson (5). She loves reading, cooking, travel, music, photography, volunteering in the community, nature and all that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
My Philosophy:
I love working alongside children and their families. I fully believe in the play-based model of instruction. My goal is to provide a well-rounded and diverse curriculum while fostering a safe and nurturing learning environment that also challenges each child to stretch, grow and learn. I seek to discover what sparks each child's interests and find what they love and enjoy.
My teaching philosophy and mission is to develop a welcoming and accepting community with positive discipline and a well rounded, diverse curriculum. I strive to ensure that each child, parent and caregiver feels safe and accepted in the classroom by focusing on equity and inclusion.
Every child is unique and beautiful. They learn at their own pace, needing love, support and encouragement throughout their journey.
Harpreet Kaur, Assistant Teacher
Harpreet has a Bachelor in Arts from Delhi University and a teaching diploma from Penn Foster College. She joined Eastgate in September 2022 and was a lead teacher at Kindercare prior to that. She has volunteered at a local bilingual school - Khalsa Gurmat Center - connecting young pupils with their culture and mother tongue and also at Hazelwood Elementary Math groups. She has also taught Maths, English, Social Studies, Science, Hindi and Sanskrit to 3rd - 5th grade students in India!
Her hobbies include fashion designing, interior design, cooking and traveling.
Harpreet’s son attended Crossroads Co-op Preschool for two years where she volunteered as a parent. Harpreet is a strong believer in a positive learning environment and is thrilled to teach at Eastgate. Can’t wait to see what is ahead in the year to come!!
Janelle Durham, MSW. Parent Educator
Janelle has been teaching childbirth and parenting classes and leading support groups for over 25 years. She has taught for Bellevue College Parent Education since 2013, working with parents of children aged 1 to 9. To get a sense of the topics she covers in parent education, check out her blog, www.GoodDaysWithKids.com. Here's how she summarizes her approach:
We are all trying hard to be the very best parents to our children. Some days we triumph. Other days... not so much. We forgive ourselves, we learn how to do better, and we keep moving forward, learning and growing alongside our children.
Janelle is delighted to teach in a program where she gets to interact with both parents and children. She loves to engage in child-led play, read stories, sing songs, and make playdough snakes. As the instructor for Family Inventors' Lab and Discovery Science Lab, she especially loves connecting on STEM topics.
Janelle has three children, ages 29, 25, and 12. (When her older kids were teenagers, she and her partner decided they loved parenting young kids too much to be almost done, so they decided to start over!) She participated in Bellevue College's infant and toddler classes, co-op preschool, and art & science labs with all three children and credits the Parent Education Program with helping her become both the parent she is, and the parent educator that she is.
