Mara Fulk was born and raised in Wisconsin where she was a Montessori student from prima-ry through 8th grade. Being raised in a Montessori environment, from school to home, it was an easy fit for her to look toward Montessori for her career. Mara relocated to the Bradenton area in 2002 and has been a huge influence in the education community since then. She has opened Montessori schools, taught, consulted and currently is the Administrator of Center Montessori School. Mara being active led a life of adventure and travel, however, after searching for a reason for her lathargic feelings during 2018, Mara was diagnosed with Leio-myosarcoma on Sept 11, 2018. Her battle began and the prognosis was not good. Local spe-cialists informed Mara that her mass was woven into her abdomen, engulfing her pancreas, spleen, intestines, stomach and portal vein, needless to say surgery was not an option. After 16 rounds of unsuccessful chemotherapy, and many more doctors appointments, Mara found her way to MD Anderson where she was able to convince the lead Sarcoma surgeon to at-tempt the surgery. And now she is CANCER-FREE!!