Paige Desjardins graduated from UConn in 2013 with a B.A. in HDFS with a focus on Early Childhood Education. Learning through first-hand experiences at the university’s Child Labs, Paige left school with a deep understanding of Child Development and the importance of instilling positive values in the lives of young children. She went on to work at Natural Learning Children’s Community School in Simsbury, Connecticut where she was head teacher of their preschool room, breaking the typical four walls of the classroom by taking her students out onto hiking trails and into the school’s gardens and composting units. Paige started sharing her curriculums online under the handle Natural Learning Kids, which slowly gained a following as she was promoted to Curriculum Coordinator at NLCCS.
After four years and 20,000+ followers, Paige decided to quit her teaching job and move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in children’s media. While nannying for high profile families and obtaining her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education, Paige volunteered with the Children’s Media Association, a networking group whose purpose is to connect people within the industry. She ran their social media pages and eventually became their Director of Marketing while starting to get freelance education consulting work on animated preschool scripts. Paige landed her first real role in the industry as a Coordinator on Disney Junior’s Educational Resource Group, providing educational notes for outlines and scripts on all of Disney Junior’s properties as well as testing shows in the form of storybooks at schools around Los Angeles.
Paige used this script coverage experience as fuel to take screenwriting classes and pursue a career in children’s animation writing. She moved into a production role on Disney Junior’s Alice’s Wonderland Bakery and worked her way into an Associate Writer role by its second season. Paige is currently a staff writer on Disney Junior’s Mickey Mouse Funhouse and spends her free time volunteering on the board of Black Thumb Farm, a nonprofit brining gardening opportunities to kids around East Los Angeles as well as playing flag football with her friends.