Where I’m Coming From
Compiled by Forrest Preece
Grae Baker
Head of School, Austin Montessori School
- What’s something about you that not many people know?
I’m strangely adept at interior design.
- What was your first job?
My grandfather was a plumber, so my first summer job in high school was working for him. I was really excited to learn and apply home plumbing skills. It turns out that he had just signed a contract with Perdue Farms, so all I did that summer was construct and repair drinking systems for chickens in 500-foot-long chicken houses -- not a particularly transferable skill set, unfortunately.
- If you could have dinner with three people – dead or alive, at any time in history—who would they be?
Leonardo da Vinci, Hypatia, my grandfather
- If you had to pick three musicians for a playlist, who would they be?
My music playlist is all over the place! You’ll find everything from Phish to 80’s music to Vivaldi. My sweet spot is late 50’s/early 60’s soul and R&B. Also, now that my daughter Kamryn is a little older and into music, Taylor Swift tends to make a lot of appearances on the list.
- Favorite book and TV show?
The Lord of the Rings trilogy for books. TV show would be a tie between Ted Lasso and Stranger Things. Lasso is such a feel good show and Stranger Things watches like a chronicle of my childhood in the 80’s (without the monsters).
- Most powerful movie you have seen.
The Shawshank Redemption
- Favorite place in Austin?
A tie between the Greenbelt and the Lady Bird Lake hike/bike trail.
- Favorite restaurant and watering hole
Numero28, right around the corner from Ballet Austin - an authentic Italian pizzeria.
- What did you want to be when you were growing up?
An astronaut/scientist. (I had no idea there was a career called Engineering, which was a much better fit for me by applying science to solve problems.)
- Which living person do you most admire?
Our school’s founder, Donna Bryant Goertz. She lived her vision and created a school that made a difference in the lives of thousands of children while also contributing significantly to the global Montessori movement.
- What makes you happy?
Swimming. I swim laps daily -- this is my zen, happy place that I can’t live without.
- Best advice you ever received?
A quote from Winston Churchill -- “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
