Meet Our Team

Kristen Fischer

Owner & Center Director

I have a B.S. in Elementary Education & Sociology. I have been employed by Sylvan of Springfield since April 1999, & I have been a Special Ed & an Elementary Ed teacher.  I love cycling, reading, & collecting children’s books.  I also enjoy attending concerts with my husband, who I have known since 8th grade.  We have had the great fortune to have our hearts stolen by five Great Danes & a Pit Bull/Golden Retriever mix. I spent the summers of 2007 & 2008 working as a Group Leader for a camp in upstate New York.  My favorite city is Boston, & my favorite vacation involves anything with roller coasters.  After 20 years with Sylvan, I became the Owner of our Springfield, MO location in March 2019.  I then also became the owner of our Kansas City, North location in January of 2020.

Patty Chadwick

Director of Education

Patty joined our team in October of 2021 but was a Sylvan instructor at a previous location.  She holds an Associates Degree & a Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education.  She is a licensed Daycare Director and has worked in the educational field since 1991.

Jodie Anderson

Director of Marketing

Jodie has been employed with Sylvan since October 2021. She attended Jefferson Community College for Business Management and Missouri State University for Graphic Design. Jodie manages our social media posts and creates our sales flyers, monthly newsletters, and our marketing projects. She has always enjoyed working with children and has nannied for many families. Jodie has also been a substitute teacher for the Springfield public schools. Jodie and her husband have fostered (and then adopted) two beautiful girls. Her oldest has been a Sylvan student for 4 years, and her youngest began attending Sylvan this summer. She is passionate about children and their futures.

Matthew Haymes

Instructor

Matt has been a member of the Sylvan teaching staff since August 2013. He attended Drury University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Biology, as well as a Master of Arts and Teaching. At Sylvan Learning Center of Springfield, He tutors mathematics, reading, and ACT/SAT test preparation. Along with working at Sylvan, he teaches at various schools primarily in secondary mathematics and science. Matt also provides private tutoring sessions to help students of all ages learn mathematics. His hobbies include reading, listening to music, watching films, and playing sports.

Cassie Hayden

Instructor

Cassie has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with a Special Education certificate from Drury University and a master’s in Education from Southwest Baptist University. She has worked in several different positions in education for over 20 years. Cassie worked as an At-Risk/Title 1 teacher, taught grades first, third, and Kindergarten thru second in a Christian Hybrid Homeschool setting. She has held several different positions at Sylvan throughout her 20 year tenure. You could say, Sylvan is in her blood.  She has been married to her husband for 24 years. They have one son, who will be turning 20 in August.

Cassandra Collins

Instructor

Cassandra has a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University – Central Texas in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. She has been nomadic since childhood (she’s a military brat and was born in Germany) and has lived on 3 continents, in over 15 cities. She moved to South Korea in 2016 to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) for “a year” and stayed until 2020 when Covid forced her back to America where she landed in Nixa. Since then, she had been working in a High-Needs Special Education classroom working with fantastic instructors and learning so much from the students. Her teaching certification is in English/Language Arts, and she is currently studying to add on History.

Beth McRoberts

Instructor

Beth has recently rejoined Sylvan as an instructor.  She has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education grades 1-6 from Drury University and an Associates degree in Accounting from Ozarks Technical College.  Beth has had experiences as a paraprofessional in elementary while working in the Special Education department.  She is currently a substitute for many area schools and has taught third grade.  She has had many experiences working with students who have a variety of learning levels and abilities.

Beth is a mom of three older children: two sons and one daughter.  Some of Beth’s hobbies include reading books, watching movies, photography, art and traveling.  Last summer Beth drove from Missouri to Colorado to watch her daughter compete in a fashion show where she designed and created her own outfit.

One of Beth’s philosophies is: Every child is gifted. They just unwrap their skills at different times.