Through the programs Mary Orlando has implemented as director of Villa Montessori School in Phoenix, students learn basic skills while interacting with the community. One such program, The Heroic Journey, engages Ms. Orlando's middle school-level students in a year-long "rite of passage" modeled after the work of Joseph Campbell. Their "journey" includes community service activities and meetings with community leaders and concludes with an initiation weekend at an off-campus location. She conducts a Land Lab program, in which students work on various community projects such as restoring forest lands or building trails and fences. Ms. Orlando's professional development experience includes conflict resolution training and the use of writing for self-expression and personal discovery.
1964 Marygrove College, B.A.
