National Catholic Montessori Conference

Father Boniface Hicks, OSB, is a Benedictine monk of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He entered the monastery in 1998 and was ordained a priest in 2004. Father Hicks has provided spiritual direction for many men and women, including married couples, seminarians, consecrated religious, and priests. He completed a PhD in computer science from Penn State University and a licentiate in sacred theology from the Angelicum. Father Hicks is an on-air contributor for We Are One Body Catholic Radio and has recorded thousands of radio programs on theology and spiritual life. He has extensive experience as a retreat master for laity, consecrated religious, and clergy. Father Hicks serves Saint Vincent Seminary as the director for Spiritual Formation and the director of the Institute for Ministry Formation.

Chip DeLorenzo, has been a Montessori educator since 1995. He is the co-author, with Jane Nelsen, of Positive Discipline in the Montessori Classroom. As a teacher trainer and school consultant, Chip has worked with thousands of Montessori teachers and parents to teach the principles and practices of Positive Discipline through various workshops and lectures. He is the former Head of School of the Damariscotta Montessori School, where he spent 20 years as a school leader and teacher. Chip holds Early Childhood, Lower, and Upper Elementary AMS certifications and has worked extensively with Montessori Adolescent students. He is the father of five Montessori children, and he and his wife, Kathy, live in Loveland, Ohio and attend St. Gertrude parish in Milford, OH.

Mother Chiara Thérèse, AFL, MA, has been at Christ the King Catholic Montessori School since 2015 and has received training in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd from birth to 12 years of age. She has a real love for the youngest children, which led her to obtain an AMI Montessori Assistants to Infancy diploma (birth to three) from the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies in Mesa, AZ. Mother Chiara Thérèse also holds a bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University, a diploma in Spiritual Theology from the Teresianum in Rome, and a Master’s in Theology and Christian Ministry from Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH. She is the first member of the Servants of the Children of Light, which has the apostolate of Catholic Montessori education rooted in a life of contemplative prayer.

Father Nick Schneider, SLL, SLD, is a priest of the Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota. Ordained to the priesthood in 2009, he holds degrees in music performance, humanities, philosophy, and theology, as well as a Doctorate in Sacred Liturgy from the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm in Rome, Summa Cum Laude. Father Schneider's doctoral studies focused on liturgical philology and linguistics. He also holds the AMS Montessori diploma for 9-12-year-olds and is on course to receive the AMI Elementary Diploma for 6-12-year-olds. In pastoral ministry, Father Schneider is currently the Pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in rural Crown Butte. He has been an upper elementary (9-12) Montessori guide at Christ the King Catholic Montessori School since 2018. Father Schneider previously served as a board member for the Society of Catholic Liturgy and a presenter to their annual liturgical conference.