Spelling Safari:
The first classroom spelling app developed alongside teachers to personalize learning.
Our Team
Jonathan Marceau
Founder
Jonathan has been an elementary educator for 20 years, teaching students in grades 3rd through 6th. He was named the State of Michigan and National Student Teacher of the Year in 2004. During his teaching career, he had a passion for curriculum development, serving on curriculum committees and routinely developing unique materials for his students.
Jonn Behrman
Founder
Jonn has been a serial entrepreneur for more than 20 years, founding, growing and exiting 5 tech companies in that time. He specializes in startup development, operations, and marketing. As a father of two kids and a spelling-challenged individual, he jumped at the opportunity to help bring the Spelling Safari vision to the masses.
Zoe Sponseller
Project Assistant
Zoe is a student at Eastern Michigan University studying Secondary Education with focuses in Mathematics and Chemistry. She has experience working with K-12 students as a tutor, substitute teacher, and paraeducator. Zoe has a background in entrepreneurship through her work at the EMU Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
Our Story
​Spelling Safari's creation began after Jonathan's student teaching experience. His cooperating teacher had several above-level students who excelled at spelling. They quizzed each other from lists of frequently-misspelled words to build a unique set of words to study. During his first year of teaching in 3rd grade, Jonathan thought he could build a system like that for all students, so that everyone could have relevant learning. He spent months researching and building the word lists that would be used the following year when he taught 5th grade. That paper-pencil system was utilized for many years with great success.
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Jonathan always wanted to develop the idea into a computer program to fix issues with the paper-pencil system, utilize the power of computing, and help teachers and students in a significant way beyond his classroom. In the Fall of 2021, he took the entrepreneurial leap and in 2023 partnered with Jonn Behrman. Together they developed the first version of the app and ran a very successful pilot program in 2024.
We are just getting started with Spelling Safari and are committed to developing this tool further to benefit educators and students across the United States and beyond!
Our Mission
Improve the
educator experience
Maximize student
literacy learning
​I have always loved words, their etymology, and the perplexing but fascinating complexity of the English language. As an elementary teacher of 20 years, I experienced the relentlessly high demands on educators. Nothing was ever done to alleviate those burdens or balance those overwhelming expectations. I built Spelling Safari to provide educators with a classroom tool that would take something off their plate while reaching every student with a meaningful and fun experience. I hope to improve their learning and confidence, and, hopefully, foster a love of language.
-Jonathan Marceau, Founder
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