Meet Our Team

Everyone wants Jacqueline on their team! She is funny, smart, analytical and creative all bundled into one! She orders the products, manages the finances and builds the website. When she is not overlooking all the details at Beyond the Blackboard, she is traveling, skiing, or hosting parties and celebrating birthdays with friends and family. She and her husband Brian are avid yoga enthusiasts and their recent vacation was hiking the Inca Trail in Peru - all 26 miles of it!

Jean’s happy place is working on the sales floor helping families tackle challenges at school. If there is a way to make memorizing math facts fun, Jean will find it! She and her husband , Walt, sell our Stop Summer Learning Loss! materials across the country and have created cutting edge literature tubs to support the Science and Social Studies content for grades K-8. Jean works with schools both locally and nationally to build Parent Engagement in the academic journeys of all children. In 2020, Jean will be publishing a book with FranklinCovey to provide new ideas for school leaders to create stronger partnerships with parents.

Jacqueline’s daughter, Carah, grew up at Beyond the Blackboard! In addition to the family business, she shares a love of travel with her new husband. She graduated with a degree in Europian languages, flirted with the idea of moving to Europe and eventually settled back in Denver as the Director of Retail Stores for Beyond the Blackboard. She knows our toys inside and out and always has a great idea on the tip of her tongue! When she is not working, you can find her on the dancefloor pursuing her love of ballroom dancing!

Our Social Media Queen. She is a creative adventurous artist who supports Beyond the Blackboard with all her creative juices! She is a regular on television sharing crafting ideas and sometimes our toys too! Check out her licensed artwork at LauraKellydesigns.com, meandmyinklings or even purchase her notecards on our website!

Barb is our Lead in Southlands Shopping Center. She is out techi guru and fixes everything from computers and printers to our music system,. She is a small town girl from Nebraska who found her way to Denver where she and her husband are raising two children. You know that she has “play” in her soul because their favorite family fun includes the Renaissance Festival and Camp Gladiator. They also have a pet lizard...who is an escape artist, so she occasionally need to run out to help coral the family pet!

Our Community Outreach Coordinator! If there is an event in or around the Southlands Shopping Center, Natalie is there with our blocks, trucks, craft projects, dice games and science explosions! Raised in Montana, Natalie now lives in Colorado with her husband and 3 children. She is a true Colorado girl now though! Not only does she embrace her local community, last summer their family took an extensive driving/hiking trip to all corners of the beautiful state of Colorado!

Have you seen our expert “plate spinner”?! That’s Jadon! He is exploring ideas for his future while working at Beyond the Blackboard. He is an amazing musician and can play almost anything with strings. Ask him to demo our ukuleles when you are in the store! We feel lucky when he gathers his musician friends to entertain outside during our sales and special play days!

Our resident “Princess” is a hit at our events. She is a self-taught Make-Up Artist and she looks like she stepped out of a disney movie! She is your go-to girl for all things Birthday at Beyond the Blackboard

Maureen is the oldest child in a large family and it shows! She is a nurturing, patient soul with all of the children in the store, She and her siblings play many of our games - so she is a great resource for good ideas.

Makenzee is a freshman in college and we hope to implement all the marketing skills she is learning.  She is amazing at squeezing in all the merchandise in the store making it look really great. She plays the piano and can’t wait  to return to her favorite spot on earth - Hawaii!

For almost 15 years Erik has been working at Beyond the Blackboard! While he was still in high school, he volunteered with his family or school friends and after graduation from Cherry Creek High School, he joined the team as our official Maintenance Manager. He is our most regular and dedicated Team member! Watch for him in Arvada!

A Colorado native, Amber is raising 2 sons and working at Beyond the Blackboard. She has 20 years of experience in Early Childhood education and is a poetry lover. Her favorite is Elizabeth Barett Browning, “How Do I Love Thee, let Me Count The Ways…”

Holly is our Rock Star! Literally! For years, Holly sang professionally! Her second career found her in the classroom. After retiring from teaching, coaching and intervention work in elementary grades, Holly is now sharing her talent with the customers at Beyond the Blackboard.

Karen is our resident Jewish mother - or is she Italian!? The truth is she nurtures all of us. It might be a homemade treat, an awesome new cheese or simply putting in an extra hand to get a difficult job done right.

Super mother of 3 children, Danielle is the chief cook and bottle washer! A Colorado native, she is raising her family blocks from where she and her husband grew up! When not at Beyond the Blackboard, you can find Danielle coaching children’s basketball or coordinating a school fundraiser.