Administration Team
Director – Nikki Browning
Contact Information – nikki@wesleyssi.org
Nikki is passionate about Wesley Academy of Early Learning and its possibilities! She provides various services that help parents, teachers, and students to maximize their experience at our preschool. A big believer in Christian education, Nikki strives to build relationships with the families at Wesley through her contagious smile and warm spirit. When she is not helping the little “whales,” she enjoys spending time with her husband, three children, and black lab.
Assistant Director – Tiffany Herndon
Contact Information – tiffany@wesleyssi.org
Tiffany grew up in Newnan, Georgia, and went on to Georgia Southern University to earn a B.S. in psychology. She met her husband, Mead, there in Statesboro, and they now live in Glynn County where they are raising their three children: Jake, Lucy, and Will.
Tiffany began working at Wesley Academy of Early Learning in 2013 and has taught in several age groups. She has a passion for educating and nurturing young children and enjoyed her years in the classroom. She is happy to be assisting with the administrative duties of our growing and thriving preschool program but also enjoys being able to make an impact and care for all the children at WAEL.
Please see our Summer Camp teams below; we are grateful to have such a fantastic staff!
Infant Team
Kayla Stevens
Kayla was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. She moved to Savannah, Georgia her senior year of high school when her dad accepted a job at Wormsloe Historic Site. She then was accepted to College of Coastal Georgia, where she met her now husband, Ryan. She is now attending Florida State College to receive a B.S. Degree in Human Services. She loves being an infant teacher at Wesley Academy!
Jennifer Tindall
Jennifer is an infant teacher here at Wesley Academy of Early Learning. She has been a teacher at WAEL for many years and has loved every single year. She graduated from Brunswick High School and is now in the process of getting an Early Childhood Education Diploma. She enjoys every aspect of teaching and has realized in her years at WAEL that the children can teach us as much as we teach them. She is the proud mother of four wonderful children. She enjoys watching her children play sports, going to sporting events, taking the kids hunting and relaxing with family and friends on the beach. Her desire is to be the best teacher she can be by nurturing and teaching basic skills to all of the students at WAEL. She feels it is her purpose to make each day a great day for every child!
Briana Gonzalez
Briana joined the WAEL team in January of 2019. Briana has enjoyed being a part of the WAEL team and has loved the relationships that it has brought her; including the bond between parents and students. She plans on continuing to work for WAEL for many years to come.
Emma Wilson – Photo and Bio coming soon
Toddler Team
Jodi Figley
Jodi started at WAEL in September of 2018. She has her CDA and has been in the early childhood education field for over 20 years. She has been a Director, a Lead Teacher and an Assistant. She loves children and has always believed that children learn best when the learning environment is designed to meet the developmental needs of each child and one that encourages exploration, creativity and independence. Her role here at WAEL is to design the environment that provokes an understanding of new concepts and to interact with children in ways that develop language and thinking skills. It’s important to read and sing to children daily.
She has two daughters that recently finished their tours in the military, and three grandchildren that are the center of her world. She enjoys hiking, gardening, painting, cooking and spending time with family and friends.
Mary Jo Bryan “Jo”
Bio coming soon …
Melissa Hurt
Melissa grew up in Atlanta, Ga. Melissa began working at Wesley Academy of Early Learning in November of 2005. She has been a lead teacher in various Age Groups over the years and has helped with the Related Arts program as well as coordinating events & programs. Melissa has such passion for instilling a love for learning in a fun & creative environment for our little “whales!”
When she’s not spending time with your precious children, she loves spending time with her hubby, Johnny and their four furbabies!
Cara Bunkley – Bio coming soon
Early Preschool Team
Wrenn Kent
Wrenn began teaching in 2004 in Atlanta and has been at WAEL since 2012. She has worked with many different age groups throughout her career in childcare. She grew up in Macon, Georgia and graduated with a degree in Psychology from Troy University. She lives in Brunswick with her husband, Josh, and their two children: Dotsie and Sawyer. She loves working with young children and making relationships with them and their families here at WAEL!
Maggy Aldredge
Maggy moved to the area in August of 2014 and started at WAEL that same month. She loves teaching and really values the relationships she has made with the children and their families! She has her Bachelor’s degree from Georgia College & State University. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband Zach and their dog Finn, going to the beach, and reading. She is looking forward to another great year!
Amber Rowland
Amber is from St. Simons Island and worked in a few of our local restaurants before moving to West Palm Beach where she met her fiancé, Luther Thomas. They have a two-year old daughter, Aubrey, that attends Wesley in the Toddler class. She is currently enrolled at CCGA working towards her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She joined our team December of 2017 and has worked with our Toddlers, Early Preschool and Infants. She is very passionate about working with the children and establishing a good relationship with their parents.
Madison Horne – Bio and coming soon
Preschool Team
Amber Yarbro – Bio coming soon…
Susan Sheffield
Susan is a native of St. Simons Island. She received a BA in Psychology and Sociology, and a MEd in Secondary Social Studies from Converse College in Spartanburg, SC, and holds teaching certifications in Secondary Social Studies, Middle Grades Social Studies, and Early Childhood Education. After teaching in several public school systems in the Metro Atlanta area, she returned home to the Golden Isles. She joined the staff at Wesley in August 2018.
Krista Marshall – Bio coming soon…
Pre-K Team
Samantha Taylor
Samantha moved to Saint Simons in the fall 2011 after a summer interning with The Gathering Place and has been a teacher at WAEL ever since! She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2009 with her B.A. in English and is passionate about literacy and fostering a love of reading in her students. Her goal as a teacher is to provide a creative, collaborative classroom for her students that makes learning fun! When not teaching at WAEL, Samantha can be found in the youth room at Wesley working as the Associate Youth Director. In her free time, she enjoys going to the beach, crafting, doing yoga, and spending time with her fiancé, JP.
Heather Joris
Heather grew up in Massachusetts and moved to Saint Simons in 2010. Soon after she moved, she met her husband Chris. They now have two children, Cooper and Baylor. Heather has been at WAEL for two years in our Pre-k program. She loves helping her students learn and grow and strives to make her classroom a fun, interesting learning environment. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her family, go to the beach and ride bikes.
Kaitlyn Leopard
Kaitlyn is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Science Degree in Early Childhood/Special Education at the College of Coastal Georgia. Kaitlyn is originally from Acworth, GA but grew up visiting Saint Simon’s every summer since she was 6 months old. Kaitlyn loves to spend time on the beach with her bunny Bailey. She has worked as a babysitter for many years. She aspires to be a second-third grade teacher. Kaitlyn has been at WAEL since 2017. Working at Wesley has given her an opportunity to work with children in a loving Christ centered environment.
Elementary Team
Ashley Williams – Bio coming soon…
Tiffany Jordan – Bio coming soon…
Kim Mathis – Bio and picture coming soon…
Substitutes
Kait Monczynski
Kait was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. She went to college at Kent State University earning her Bachelors degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology. She moved to SSI in March 2011 and never wants to return to the snow. Since living here she has bought a house, got married, and now has two beautiful children Nora and Easton. Kait has worked at WAEL since 2012 and has worked with many age groups. She loves to educate, nurture, love, and build relationships with all of the students at WAEL!
Sabrina Faught
Sabrina moved to Brunswick in 2009 after she graduated high school. She then attended College of Coastal Georgia where she earned her Bachelors in Early Childhood and Special Education. She taught third grade in Glynn County for four years and loved it! She prided herself on the classroom communities she, her students, and her co-teachers built each year and the confidence she helped her students gain. Sabrina joined Wesley Academy in August of 2018 and worked with Pre-K; she then started teaching preschool in August of 2019. She loves being part of the Wesley team and seeing the children at WAEL build the various foundational pieces of their educational careers.
Sabrina loves spending time with her husband, Kelton, and their daughter, Emerson. She loves going to the beach, being outside enjoying nature, and traveling. Sabrina also enjoys expanding her green thumb and getting her students and those around her excited about plants.
Beth Millican – Bio coming soon…
Kathy Yeomans – Picture coming soon…
Kathy loves being a substitute teacher as Wesley Academy of Early Learning. She enjoys getting to know every student in the school. She is from Bad Axe, MI. She earned a B.S. in Biology from Central Michigan University. In her spare time, she spends time with her husband, two grown children and volunteering at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.