Welcome to
Blossom Laboratories!
Blossom Laboratories is the entity through which Dave, Anne Claire and their team develop and market educational tools, starting with MVQ. The name reflects the team’s goal of functioning as something akin to research scientists who devise, design, and workshop tools to help kids . . . well . . . Blossom into their best selves.
The name also reflects the first initials of Dave’s kids (Brooke, Levi and Zoe) and Anne Claire’s kids (Zachary and Maya), which phonetically transliterate to “blossom” (i.e., BLZZM).
Dave Tejtel
Prone to fixating on difficult problems (and occasionally their potential solutions), Dave conceived of and created the first My Virtuous Quest (“MVQ”) prototype in his basement one night after a series of news broadcasts about global conflict, societal discord and the perils of social media compounded his persistent concerns about how to raise happy, virtuous children in today’s world.
When his sister, Anne Claire, learned of MVQ and its remarkably positive impact on Dave’s children, she tried it with her own kids and achieved the same excellent results. Anne Claire then urged Dave to offer MVQ to the masses, but Dave said he would only do it if Anne Claire partnered with him, launching their quest to share MVQ with the world.
Dave lives in a New York suburb with his wife Ali—whom he met volunteering in Africa, who has dedicated countless hours to charities devoted to myriad worthy causes, and who applied her gifts for design and artistry to MVQ—and their children Zoe, Brooke and Levi, their dog Gus, and their six chickens.
Anne Claire Tejtel Nornhold
Long before tackling perhaps her toughest teaching assignment (i.e., parenting), Anne Claire fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming an educator upon earning acceptance into the highly-selective Teach for America program. Beginning in 2000, Anne Claire taught at Baltimore City public schools and charter schools, and also spent several years as an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. More recently, Anne Claire’s passion for education has focused on extending the reach of Baltimore’s most outstanding educators. Anne Claire has twice been a finalist for Baltimore City Teacher of the Year, has won the national Kinder Excellence in Teaching Award, and has been awarded a Teaching Ambassador Fellowship with the U.S. Department of Education.
Anne Claire has seen firsthand the critical importance and massive impact of effective educational tools. Thus, after her brother Dave introduced her to MVQ and she witnessed its effectiveness by using it with her children, Anne Claire urged Dave to share it with the world. Dave said he couldn’t and wouldn’t do so without her as a partner on the project, and the rest is history.
Anne Claire and her husband Brad—who shares Anne Claire’s lifelong dedication to education, who was named Maryland’s Teacher of the Year in 2012, and whose guidance has been invaluable to perfecting MVQ—live in Maryland with their son Zachary and daughter Maya, and their seven chickens.