My name is Sage Nikitin, and I am the Interim Director at Little Angels Preschool. My husband A.J. and I have two young children, Parker and Riley. A.J. served 11 years in the Air Force as a Civil Engineer before medically retiring in 2021. We are both Ft. Walton Beach natives and graduated from Choctawhatchee High School together in 2010. We are very happy to be back home and closer to our families.

I graduated from Northwest Florida State College in 2014 with my A.S. in Early Childhood Education. A week later, we moved to Germany and I started working in banking at a German-owned bank. I progressed to being a merchant teller and working with businesses on their financial needs while also dealing with foreign currency and exchange rates. In 2017, we said, “Auf Wiedersehen” to Germany and “Aloha” to the beautiful state of Hawai’i. This is where we grew our family and our children were born.

I was a stay-at-home mom for 5 years until this year when I decided to get back into the workforce. I knew Little Angels Preschool was the perfect place to start and I do not doubt that God led me here for a reason. I love working with children and having the opportunity to be a helping hand alongside their families in their growth and development.

I’m thankful to be able to serve as the Interim Director and grateful for the trust Mary Esther UMC has in me to help maintain the success of their program in previous years and continue on the path of serving the young children and families in our community.