Founded by educators. Designed for children.

Licensed Educators

• Published Authors

• Literacy Experts

• Licensed Educators • Published Authors • Literacy Experts •

OH What a Space was born from a simple belief we carried through decades of teaching: that when children are given freedom, materials, and trusted adults who believe in them, something extraordinary happens. We watched it happen in classrooms for a combined 75 years. And we wanted to create a place that put that joy at the absolute center. This is the third space we always wished existed.

We Are Veteran Educators with 75+ Years of Classroom Experience

Franki has spent the past 35 years in education. She taught in Dublin City Schools for over 30 years and has co-authored several books for teachers. Franki holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Reading from Bowling Green State University. Franki also served as president of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Franki is a lifelong learner and her passion has always been on teaching that is responsive to each individual child. Areas of focus include early and elementary literacy development, student-driven reading choices, classroom design, quality children’s literature, project-based learning and digital literacy.

Most recently Franki served as the Executive Director of SproutFive’s Professional Learning Institute. There she supported teachers in implementing best practices with 0-5 year olds.

❋ Franki Sibberson

Josie Stewart is OH so happy you are here! She has been honored to teach for 35 years. During her career in education she has been a classroom teacher, a reading teacher, a member of the curriculum department, and an instructional coach.

Her degrees include a Bachelors of Science and a Masters in Reading both from The Ohio State University. She was the co-founder of a publishing company where she wrote and produced books for young readers.

Josie has loved working with children of all ages and her passions include learning from children, encouraging children’s interests and observing children make discoveries and growth in literacy and math. Watching her two daughters grow and become educators as well has been pure joy! Speaking of joy - playing with her two young granddaughters who are imaginative, energetic, and inventive is a true gift!

❋ Josie Stewart

Katie Strawser was born and raised in northwest Indiana. She attended Purdue University where she received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education as well as her reading endorsement.

After graduation, Katie began her teaching career in Dublin City Schools. Over 6 years, she taught at 2 schools and grew alongside 6 classes of third graders. Throughout her years teaching, her passion for children’s literature grew. She worked to create a community around reading and the power of books.

Once her first daughter was born, she transitioned to a role staying home and surrounding her children with adventures, play, and literature. As each of her three children grew, she noticed the power of play and how it molded each of their personalities in different ways.

Now that Cora (9), Isla (5), and Wells (2) are in school, she is excited to watch other learners grow and continue to learn from them. She cannot wait to share her passion for literacy with the community of Dublin and central Ohio once again.

❋ Katie Strawser

About Our Space

We didn't choose our name by accident. OH What a Space is Dublin's third space for children—a place that exists between home and school, designed to give kids something neither one can fully offer: the freedom to be creatively themselves.

Every inch of our studio has been thoughtfully designed by educators with 75+ years of classroom experience. The materials on our shelves, the layout of our rooms, the rhythm of our programs — all of it is intentional. Because when children are given a truly great space, extraordinary things happen.

Our Beliefs

We don't sort children into categories. We walk in every single day believing that every child who comes through our door has strengths worth finding, a voice worth hearing, and a spark worth nurturing. Our job isn't to fix what's missing—it's to find what's already there and build from it.
Every program, every interaction, and every moment at OH What a Space starts from that belief.
Joy isn't the reward you get after the hard work is done. Joy is how the hard work gets done. We have spent 75+ years watching children in classrooms, and the evidence is clear: When children are genuinely delighted, curious, and engaged, they absorb more, remember more, and want more. That's not a philosophy we adopted. It's something we watched happen, over and over again, in front of us.
Every program at OH What a Space is designed to be joyful on purpose, because we know that's where the deepest learning lives.
No single space raises a joyful learner alone, and we have never pretended otherwise. We see ourselves as one important part of a much larger village alongside parents, caregivers, classroom teachers, and the community. The spark your child finds here is meant to keep burning at home, around the dinner table, and back at school on Monday morning. That's why we invest in parent workshops, family open studios, and community events. Because the learning that matters most doesn't stay inside our walls—it travels home with your child and keeps going.