Our Team

Shannon Otto

Founder & Executive Director

Shannon has a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Studies from the University of Minnesota Duluth and a Master's Degree in Education with an Early Childhood emphasis from Concordia University. She has been in the field for 20 years and has had experience in a variety of early childhood settings. She is also a certified K-12 reading intervention tutor. Shannon opened Kids Under Construction in 2000 and is the mother of four daughters.

Julie Bieniek

Assistant Director & Classroom Teacher

Julie has a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Concordia University and has had a variety of experience working with parents and young children in child care and preschool settings. In addition to being our assistant director, Julie serves as our music specialist coordinator and teaches one of our Preschool classes. She is the mother of three children and has been with Kids Under Construction since 2007.

Kristy Masso

Classroom Teacher & Yoga Specialist

Kristy received a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Hamline University and has had a variety of experience working with children and families in preschool settings in both Minnesota and Iowa. Kristy coached gymnastics for over 15 years, working with kids preschool aged through high school. She now uses that background to teach monthly yoga lessons to the children in our program and is one of our Preschool classroom teachers. Krist has been teaching in our program since 2010 and is the mother of two children.

Denise Oscarson

ArtSmart & Classroom Teacher

Denise is one of our KinderJump teachers and is also our art specialist! Denise has a variety of experience working with people of all ages and has been leading and inspiring our art enrichment in all of our classes for many years. She brings her passion for art into the classroom and inspires all of our children and staff when it comes to creativity! Denise is the mother of three children and has been a part of our program for the past 16 years, first as a parent and then as a teacher. 

Kathy Utecht

Classroom Teacher

Kathy is one of our KinderJump teachers and brings her backgound in science education and her experience as a Kindergarten Reading Corps tutor to our program. She has experience in kindergarten classrooms and preschool settings and she brings her love of science to the classroom for all of us to enjoy!  Kathy joined our program in 2017 and is the mother of 2 young boys.