Jackie was born in New Jersey and grew up in Dallas, Texas.  She went to college at Texas State University where she received a bachelor of arts in Journalism.  She spent a few years editing technical publications and then became a technical writer for a software development company in Austin, Texas.  She left that field thinking that working with children would be more rewarding.  She tried many different types of preschools and daycare centers and loved the Montessori method because the peace and order seemed to provide the space for the child to best grow into a healthy, nurtured, independent individual. 
 
She completed the Association Montessori International (AMI) training in Dallas, Texas. During the training,  she got married and started a family and shifted her focus to raising her 4 children.  Over the years, she has worked at Montessori schools in Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and Dallas, Texas.  She and her family moved to Billings in 1998 and Laurel became her home in 2009.  She has worked at many of the Montessori schools in and around Billings.  She spent 6 years at Meadowlark Elementary as a paraprofessional in the Resource room, where she was able to use Montessori techniques successfully with children who had learning disabilities.