Move Conference Presenters
Learn from the leading practitioners and teachers of Spacial Dynamics and Transformation Movement Education.
Maureen Curran Turtletaub
Maureen Curran Turtletaub has been involved in Therapeutic Education for over thirty years. She is the founder of TME, Transformative Movement Education, a program based in the natural world as a model for the students-first classroom. She is the co-founder of Meristem, a holistic approach to working with autistic young people 18-28 who are working towards independence.
Erin Schirm
Movement has been my focus my entire life. I am a former D1 college runner, Orienteering National Team coach, and movement-based educator. I’m excited to launch Meristem’s Move Conference.
Together, with the community where I was raised, my education at Syracuse University, and my experience as an Orienteering Specialist, as well as being mentored by the founder of Transformative Movement Education and Meristem, Maureen Curran Turtletaub, I have effectively supported and implemented Meristem’s vision dedicated to preparing young adults on the autism spectrum for a life of greater independence and fulfillment throughout his career.
As the Executive Director of Meristem, I am committed to Meristem’s philosophy and implementation of these philosophies using five pillars – Land, Craft, Movement, Life Skills, and Work Skills – that make Meristem’s program offerings unique. The Meristem program is designed to meet the developmental needs of a holistic human being. Each piece of the program has a specific purpose and application that meets a particular part of the human being. Students engage with the material to transform themselves in the process both inwardly and outwardly.
Jaimen McMillian
Jaimen McMillan developed the discipline of Spacial Dynamics®, which studies the use of space in all human interactions. For nearly 40 years, Spacial Dynamics has been applied in schools, therapy, business, and in world-peace efforts all over the world. He is the author of the book Still Moving co-author of The Fourfold Path to Healing and contributor to educational and medical publications. Jaimen directs training in Spacial Dynamics in 7 different countries and lectures on the topics of health, movement therapy, leadership, and personal growth. His passion is using movement as a vital force for change and spatial awareness as a means for self-development.
Spacial Dynamics cultivates individual presence and social connectivity through fostering embodiment, mindfulness in movement, and a sense of balance.
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Katie Morgan
Katie Moran is a coach, a mentor, and a lifelong student of dance, movement, and human development. An educator with over 28 years of experience and more than 20 years in the Waldorf system, she is constantly developing and teaching innovative ways to spark curiosity and discovery in her students and the other teachers she serves.
When not at home in Austin, TX, you can find her teaching at the Spacial Dynamics Institute in upstate NY, hosting movement programs, or traveling internationally to help other educators design and build their own curriculums.
Valerie Baadh Garrett
Valerie Baadh Garrett is a movement artist, parent educator, and teacher trainer of healthy movement through all stages of life. Lifelong immersion in the rhythm and flow in music and dance and trainings in Spacial Dynamics® and Transformation Movement Education® form the foundation of her lively approach to engaging children and adults in games, dances, and movement challenges for each stage of development. Founder of The Movement Academy Project and its Agile Aging programs, she has taught internationally in the UK, China, and Taiwan as well as San Francisco Waldorf School, Meristem, Spacial Dynamics Institute, Lifeways SF-Bay Area, and Waldorf Education Seminar for Teachers (WEST). Valerie is a co-author of the Waldorf Games Handbook (2022) and Games Children Sing and Play (2013), and writes The Movement Academy on Substack.