Meet The Team
Meet the minds behind this project. This dedicated team of educators have always been passionate about hands-on experiential learning.
Our Stories
Meet Laura
Co-founder
Wild Seedling Kindergarten Instructor
Hi! I’m Laura Greene. I’m a wife, mother, teacher and hobby farmer. I’m a proud native to our rural community and am passionate about growing lifelong learners who have a deep connection to their environment. My husband Travis and I are advocates for hands on learning and embedding life skills in educational programs. I have 20 years of teaching experience with a K-8 teaching license and an environmental education certificate. I also hold a MAEd degree and a school administration license. I can’t even explain how excited I am to start our fifth year of Project Wild Rooted. We took an idea and turned it into a reality! Let’s Get Rooted!
Meet Michelle
Co-founder
Rooted Academy Instructor
Hi! I’m Michelle Wille. I’m a born and raised country girl who fell in love with a farmer. Our family takes pride in our agricultural practices for the last 24 years at our Wille Farms. I am also a mom and a teacher within my small rural community. I have 22 years of teaching experience holding a 5-8 general science license, 9-12 Life Science license, and a M.A. in Teaching. I want to provide kids the opportunity to embrace the beauty and wonder of the natural world around them with hopes of promoting environmental stewardship and whole-body learning experiences. Having four years under our belt has given us just a taste of how meaningful this program is to our community. I am excited to continue with this journey as we join parents in keeping our youth rooted!
Meet Jackie
Lead Instructor
Little Wild Roots
Jackie has been with us since the fall of 2022. She has over 18 years of teaching early childhood. She has an Elementary K-6 teaching license, but her heart is with the littles in preschool. She has watched Project Wild Rooted from the beginning of its introduction to these exploration camps and she is so excited to be a part of this fabulous team of Project Wild Rooted teachers. Giving kids opportunities for hands-on learning, exploration of the outdoors, and helping them build skills you wouldn’t see in a normal classroom is a dream come true for Jackie. Jackie loves seeing our youngest learners excited and smiles as they are exploring all of these different natural opportunities. Jackie is always excited to watch our youngest learner’s use their curious minds and gain the confidence that they can do something. She is also excited to see our youngest learners build friendships, team work, and hands-on self-help skills that will help them in their future educational journeys.
Meet Renelle
Instructor
Little Wild Roots
Renelle joined our team the fall of 2023. She brings over 20 years of experience working with young children—most of those years spent with the age group she adores most: preschoolers. She holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and a current teaching license. Renelle has taught in a variety of early childhood settings, including Scandia Preschool, Sunshine Preschool, and a nature-based preschool in Lino Lakes. She also taught preschool for five years in the Chisago Lakes School District.
Renelle has called the Scandia area home for over 30 years, where she and her husband, Bill, raised their three (now adult) children. Her passion for early learning shines through in everything she does, and she’s especially excited to be part of a hands-on, nature-based environment filled with creativity, community, and animals! We know she’s going to bring so much warmth and joy to our little learners as she helps them build confidence and curiosity through outdoor exploration.
Meet Liz
Instructor
Rooted Academy/Elementary Camps
Liz joined our team the fall of 2025. While her degree is in Secondary Education/Biology, she never really had the chance to seriously teach before she decided to stay home with her kids. However, during those 10 years, Liz homeschooled her own kids and taught numerous elementary classes at their homeschool coop. She also has been highly involved in creating meaningful experiences for the youth at church. Liz has many skills and abilities from her homeschooling years that line up perfectly with PWR that she wants to share. One of her passions is creating unit studies that really help kids make worldly connections. Liz loves creating lessons that get the kids excited about learning and hearing about all the cool things they take away. She also is looking forward to making positive connections with the PWR families.
Meet Ralph
Instructor
Rooted Academy-Intermediate
Ralph is excited to share a career's worth of hands-on learning with the kids. He has 23 years as school principal experience and for over a decade he was able to work with middle school age kids as a science teacher. Ralph has enjoyed being the person who gets the ball rolling and then stepping out of the way to take on the role of guide for the learning. It is so fun to see the kids figure it out and to see the creativity they use in doing so. Ralph says he talks a little at the beginning, asks some questions while they are working and helps them “land the plane” with an activity or challenge that helps cement the concept.
Meet Elaina
Instructor
Rooted Academy/Elementary Camps
Elaina joined our team in the summer of 2025. Her passion for connecting kids to nature practically jumped off the page! Elaina brings with her a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Education, a certificate in Environmental Ethics, and training in Project WILD, WET, and Learning Tree. She’s spent the last two years teaching hands-on environmental ed to kids ages 6–12, and she’s ready to dive into summer camp with us. When she’s not teaching, you’ll likely find her skiing (she’s been doing it since she was six!), hiking, or hanging out at the lake with her siblings. Elaina is all about making learning fun, meaningful, and totally unforgettable.
Meet Kim
Substitute Instructor
All Programs
Kim joined our team the fall of 2023 and is now a substitute for our programs. With over 35 years of teaching experience in classroom settings, Kim brings a deep well of knowledge, patience, and joy to her work with young children. Although she recently retired, Kim knew she wasn’t ready to stop teaching altogether—and we’re so lucky she found her way to us! Becoming a grandma sparked a fresh love for working with little ones, and her warmth, creativity, and gentle presence are already making a big impact. Kim is especially excited to bring some Spanish into our early childhood programs, nurturing young minds through playful, hands-on experiences. When she’s not teaching, Kim enjoys gardening, boating on the lake, cooking, reading, and spending time with her partner Norm, her three children, and her beloved grandchildren. We can’t wait for your children to experience the joy and care Kim brings to every moment.
Meet Angie
Summer Instructor
Little Wild Roots
Angie joined our team in the summer of 2024. Angie brings with her a wealth of experience in early childhood education, including an Associate’s Degree from Pine Tech and years of teaching in preschools throughout the local area. Her excitement for hands-on learning, her appreciation for the magic of the outdoors, and her belief in learning beyond the classroom align beautifully with our mission.
Whether she’s encouraging awe and wonder in our youngest learners or engaging with the energy and insights of our older students, she makes each child feel seen and valued. Outside of teaching, Angie enjoys spending time with family, going to sporting events, shopping for her granddaughter, and even riding motorcycles! And although she likes to pretend she’s indifferent toward her pit bull, Gunner, we know they’re pretty much inseparable. Angie’s enthusiasm, experience, and heart for kids make her a perfect addition to our team. We can’t wait for you to meet her!