The Story Box Family
A Message from the New Ownership
These values are our compass that guide us in making the best decisions for the Story Box and providing the best service possible:
Education. One of the most important principles in building community, we hope that through making Story Boxes we can provide a service that helps families grow and learn together.
Community-building. We envision creating a thriving community of book-loving families, founded upon our commitment to respect and diversity.
Quality. You entrust us with your hard-earned dollars and expect us to deliver a product that does what we say it does. We strive to fulfill all promises. Should we fail, we vow to make amends appropriately.
Transparency. As a company, we understand that your trust must be earned, and we pledge to give a proper understanding of our operations and where all the money goes.
Respect. We vow to be empathetic and thoughtful towards others, our team, and the whole Story Box community.
– From the Stewarts. Written by Demetri.
Helene Stewart
Guiding Light
Helene Stewart is a former teacher and the wonderful mother of Demetri. With her years of teaching experience and volunteer work, Helene has learned how to build community and work with families to get the most out of learning together. And as a big advocate of libraries, she knows a thing or two about good books.
Demetri Stewart
Get-It-Done Guy
Demetri Stewart is a 17-year-old homeschooled dual enrollment student who’s taking classes at a local college and sees running the StoryBox as a great way to get business experience. Homeschooled all his life, Demetri has learned self-responsibility and independence, and believes this will influence the way he will work to lead the StoryBox. He is also an avid musician who plays many instruments and loves experimenting with recording his own music!
Mark Stewart
The Dad
Mark loves and supports his family so they can follow their hearts. He also follows his own heart and is an author, unbelievable neighbor, and an incredibly principled person.
Amy Yacoub, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech Pathologist
Amy is a Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist living in St. Petersburg, Florida. She has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Florida, and a Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Columbia University. Amy has over 10 years of experience working with children in the areas of early language delays, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Childhood Apraxia of Speech. She has her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, is PROMPT trained, and certified in the Hanen It Takes Two to Talk Program. Amy offers consulting and content writing through her business, Sunshine City Speech. Amy is also the proud mom of her 5 year-old daughter Olivia, and has a passion for working with other parents to help improve their children’s speech development
Tyler Burley
Ideas Guy
House spouse, Pet Dad, and Clown, certified human sexuality educator; Tyler Burley is a Florida native with a diverse set of skills including experience as an Assistant Montessori Teacher. After serving the Unitarian Universalist Church of Jacksonville as the Director of Religious Exploration he has dedicated his time to enriching children’s lives through story and community building. He enjoys all acts of creativity and loves to set up workshops or events that encourage participants to express themselves without limits. He believes honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness are the foundation of how we will change the world.
“I believe as an adult member of our species it is my responsibility to look after our young and do my best to support and affirm the worth of every child. I hope to inspire, empower, and guide them in making good choices on their journey through life.”
Tina Ramey
Makes Things Pretty
Tina Ramey grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida and graduated from Florida State University with a Masters in Philosophy. She enjoys photography, web development, design, and general geekery (Buffy & Star Trek are perennial favorites). She has an amazing eight-year-old, Sofia and is married to Paul Ramey (also a little bit amazing).
“As a kid, I was a voracious reader: books opened up the universe for me! I love that I’m helping to pass that passion for books onto others.”