Jodi
was
born and raised in Nebraska in an active,
athletic family. She earned her BS in Environmental Planning at the
University
of Vermont before making a move to the West Coast. She taught
Environmental
Education to children in the Santa Cruz mountains for five years,
during which
she discovered Waldorf education. Jodi began her teacher training at
the Bay
Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training in Marin, CA, while also
working in
the aftercare program and substitute-teaching at the Waldorf School of
the
Peninsula in Los Altos. Halfway through the training, an opportunity
arose to
continue studying abroad in Australia. Jodi spent the year learning,
working
and traveling to Australian Waldorf schools before returning to
California and
relocating to San Diego in the summer of 2006. She worked as an
assistant and
substitute teacher at the Waldorf School of San Diego before joining
Sanderling's faculty in 2007. Jodi enjoys traveling, swimming, cycling
and running, and
is often training for and racing in triathlons with her husband, Adam.
She is the mother of a toddler son, Matthias, and an infant daughter,
Rhyley.
Patricia
Rubano
Patricia Rubano considers
herself a human-being-in-training and enjoys the company of others
along that path. She was born and raised in Louisville, KY.
At age 21, while studying early childhood education, she heard about
Waldorf education and Anthroposophy. It was love at first sight and
being a true child of the 70’s, she chose Waldorf education
as her means of changing the world. When love and life brought Patricia
to San Diego for the first time, she became part of the founding group
of the San Diego Waldorf School. Then life took her to New York, where
she taught Kindergarten and Nursery at Green Meadow Waldorf School for
12 years. She studied Biographical Counseling in England and did the
Spatial Dynamics In-Service Training along the way. Upon returning to
San Diego – this time to North County – she found a
young initiative called Sanderling close by. For the past 12 years or
so she has been busy working at and with Sanderling Waldorf School. She
also continues to mentor and evaluate Early Childhood teachers in
various schools. Patricia has worked with A Child’s Garden of
Thyme and WISC; taught the Introduction to Waldorf Early Childhood
Education summer course, and co-directed the Biography and Social Art
training, both at Sunbridge Institute in NY. She is a proud wife,
mother of two and grandmother of three – not to mention
daughter and friend and all those other good things...
Hanna
Pellegrino
Hanna, assistant in all the
Parent-Child
classes, was
born and
raised in Germany. She came to the United States in 1997. Hanna's
educational background includes a B.S. in Global Business Management
and Certificates in Homeopathy and the Bach Flower Essences. She is
currently participating in the Waldorf teacher-training program at the
Waldorf Institute of Southern California (WISC). Hanna lives
in
Encinitas with her husband and two children. She enjoys spending time
with her family and friends, skiing, working in the garden, reading,
crafting and being at the beach.
Nursery/Kindergarten
Teacher - Rose Class
Maxine Garcia
Maxine, who
became the Rose
Nursery/Kindergarten class teacher in 2008, was born in Santa Fe, New
Mexico. She holds a B.A. in Visual Arts from the University of
California, San Diego, and brings her detailed, precise artistic eye to
each of the many projects she works on with the children throughout the
school year. After many years of volunteering in her own two children's
Waldorf schools, Maxine became a classroom specialty teacher in 2002,
teaching origami in Grades 1-3 at both the Journey School (a public
Waldorf charter) and at Sanderling Waldorf. She served as a Grades
Assistant at SWS from 2006-2008, and began her Waldorf-teacher training
in 2007.
Nursery/Kindergarten
Assistant - Rose Class
Kacey Moe-Vu
Kacey, assistant in
the Rose Nursery/Kindergarten, was born and raised in Southern
California, and
then
spent 18 years in Texas. In
2008,
Kacey and her family moved back to California
to be closer to family, the
ocean
and the beautiful weather. After
taking some time to settle into living in San
Diego, Kacey decided to
enroll in
the Waldorf Institute of Southern California (WISC).
She’ll
complete the WISC program in
December 2012. In
the meantime, Kacey enjoys spending
her free time with her husband and two children. She
also likes to play soccer, swim, run, garden, sew, and read.
Nursery/Kindergarten
Teacher - Marigold Class
Lori Hannigan
Ms. Lori is an
experienced Waldorf early-childhood teacher who joined
the Sanderling Waldorf faculty from Hawaii, where she previously worked
at the Haleakala Waldorf School and ran her own Waldorf preschool,
Plumeria Playgarden. She studied at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair
Oaks, CA, and holds a master's degree in Art Therapy from the
University of Illinois.
Nursery/Kindergarten
Assistant - Marigold Class
Priscilla Dulin
Priscilla, assistant in
the Marigold Nursery/Kindergarten, was raised in San Diego where her
childhood days were filled with reading, creating, and exploring the
natural surroundings. After earning a BA in Literature and Writing
Studies, she worked for Poway Unified School District. She is currently
in the teacher training program at the Waldorf Institute of Southern
California, and has worked for the Waldorf-inspired LifeWays center A
Child’s Garden of Thyme. She lives in Poway with her husband
and
daughter. She enjoys spending time with family and friends and creating
all types of handwork, especially knitting and doll-making.
Nursery/Kindergarten
Teacher - Sweet Pea Class
Megumi Caverly
Megumi, Sanderling
Waldorf School's Sweet Pea Nursery/Kindergarten
teacher, was
born and grew up in Fukushima, Japan. She came to the United States in
1995 to study Anthroposophy and Waldorf education, graduating from
Rudolf Steiner College in 1999. Since then, she has taught in both
Japan and the U.S. Megumi is the mother of an elementary-aged son, and
loves
young children, singing and making things. She also describes herself
as a bookworm - in both English and Japanese.
Nursery/Kindergarten
Assistant - Sweet Pea Class & Aftercare Director
Charlotte Erickson
Charlotte
is the assistant in the Sweet Pea Nursery/Kindergarten, as well as the
Aftercare teacher. She grew up in Encinitas,
where she spent her childhood days playing in the mud and at the
Swami's tidepools. Charlotte first learned of Waldorf education when
she worked as a babysitter for several families who sent their children
to Waldorf schools. This experience sparked a great passion for
education, which brought her to Emerson College, where she completed a
yearlong Orientation Program in anthroposophic studies. She later went
on to earn her B.A. in Education from Naropa University. Charlotte
worked at a Waldorf-inspired preschool in Boulder, CO before coming to
Sanderling Waldorf. She loves to create, which she expresses through
improvisational dance; singing; storytelling; felting; cooking and
painting. Charlotte is an avid gardener, ocean swimmer, and shakuhachi
flute player.
Nursery/Kindergarten
Faculty Assistant and Aftercare Assistant
Tonya Jones
Tonya is originally from Colorado, but
has lived in
San Diego for more than 25 years. She holds a BA in Liberal Studies and
a Multi-Subject teaching credential from CSU-San Marcos. Tonya was an
elementary-school teacher for five years in the Vista and
Encinitas school districts. She learned about Waldorf education through
a friend, and is very excited to be a part of the SWS staff. Tonya
loves outdoor activities including tennis, running, skiing and
paddling, but also likes to sew and create. She lives in North County
with her husband and three dogs.
Grades
Aftercare Teacher & Substitute Class Teacher
Leyla Makris
Leyla has been an educator in many
capacities for
the past 10 years. She has a master’s degree in
Elementary
Education and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor
in
Spanish. She began her teaching career as an assistant in a
Montessori classroom and then taught first, third and fifth grades in a
private school in Manhattan Beach, California. Leyla has
traveled
to Spain to teach English, and to Nicaragua to do volunteer work with
students and teachers. She also is a Hatha yoga
instructor,
and teaches Prenatal Yoga and Yoga to Children. She was drawn to
Waldorf education because of the
value it places on the individual soul of each child. Her
enthusiasm
for
Waldorf deepens as she is exposed to the many layers of the education.
Leyla’s two children are the lights of her life. She and
her husband have chosen to raise their children in conscious
community. They share a nine-acre property with four other
families where they garden, build, work, create and play
together. Leyla believes that life is a gift, which is the
essence
of everything she does.
Grade 1
Teacher
Shivani
Burrows-Goodwill
Shivani, a native of Great Britain,
brings a wealth
of experience and excitement to her position as the 2011-12
First
Grade class teacher. She holds a Doctorate of Education in Teaching and
Learning from the University of California, San Diego, and is a Master
Waldorf teacher who spent the past 13 years working at the Harriet
Tubman Village School, a charter school in San Diego. Shivani is fluent
in Spanish and has a Bilingual Multiple Subject California Teaching
Credential. She has worked as an instructor at the Waldorf Institute of
Southern California in areas including teacher preparation and Grade
1-8 curriculum design. Shivani assisted in the development of the
National Writing Project,
and was the
runner-up for San Diego Unified School District Teacher of the Year in
2009-10.
.
Grade 2
Teacher
Jason Gebeau
Mr. Gebeau joined Sanderling Waldorf School as the
First Grade teacher
for the 2010-11 school year, in which he also served as the Grades
Music
teacher. He moved to Encinitas from
Northern California, where he lived while finishing his
Waldorf teacher training at Rudolf Steiner College. Mr. Gebeau loves
music, and
has taught singing and performance for the past six years in various
Waldorf charter schools in Sebastopol, Sonoma and Flagstaff, AZ. He
studied voice and music education at Northern Arizona University and
pursued a career as an actor in New York City after graduating. Mr.
Gebeau is one of five children, all boys (sorry, Mom!); and grew up in
Bridgeport, CT, where he experienced a great childhood full of love and
support. He looks forward to growing with the
class and the Sanderling Waldorf community.
Grade 3-4
Teacher
Melanie
El-Ghoroury
Melanie was born
and raised in Freiburg, Germany. She is the mother of three boys:
Tristan, and twins
Dylan & Dennis. She met her husband,
Chuck,
during a
year abroad in Julian, California. Melanie went to a teacher's college
for four years in Germany, and completed her Waldorf teacher training
in San Diego in 2005. Her educational background also includes Polarity
Therapy training; studies in astrology; and wilderness survival
training with Tom Brown, Jr. As a teenager, she was a competitive
track-and-field athlete specializing in heptathlons, and sports was one
of her university majors in Germany. Melanie loves sports and the
outdoors. She previously worked as a substitute teacher at Sanderling
Waldorf
before joining the full-time faculty. She is fluent in German, French
and English.
Grade 5-6
Teacher
Lori Duckstad
Lori grew up on a
dairy farm in Wisconsin, where she learned to knit,
crochet and sew, and developed a love of working with her hands. She
has a Bachelor's Degree in Occupational Therapy and a Master's Degree
in Counseling and Human Development. She worked in a variety of
social-service, school and hospital settings for 11 years, and
discovered Waldorf education when looking for a preschool for her
eldest daughter. Lori has her Waldorf Teacher Certificate and more than
10 years of experience as a Waldorf
teacher, working as a Class Teacher, Handwork teacher, Music teacher
and Classroom Assistant. She is the mother of Kelsey,
a college student, and Sarah, a junior-high student. Lori loves to
read, travel
and do handwork in her spare time.
Eurythmy
Teacher
Amy Schick
Amy completed her training in Eurythmy
and
Pedagogical Eurythmy at the
Eurythmy School in Spring Valley, New York and Emerson College in East
Sussex, England. She has been teaching Eurythmy since 1992 to students
in Nursery/Kindergarten through Grade 8. Amy has taught in the Waldorf
School of Santa Barbara, the San Diego Waldorf School and the Journey
School, and has been teaching at Sanderling Waldorf School since 1998.
Spanish
Teacher
Señora
Vanessa Anderson
Señora
Vanessa -- also the Facilities
Manager at Sanderling
Waldorf School -- has worked in various
capacities at the school for more than five years.
Spanish has been a part of her whole life, given her Latin American
heritage. She received a B.A. in Spanish and Communication
from
Arizona State University, and is continuing her studies in Waldorf
education and pedagogy. She has a working background in elementary
education. Señora Vanessa and her husband moved to San Diego
in
2005 from Willcox, AZ, where they both were raised.
German
Teacher
Frau Annette
Andranian
Frau Andranian lives in Cardiff
with her husband Joe and their three children, as well as a dog and
five chickens. A native of Berlin, Germany, Annette has lived
in
Encinitas for ten years. She moved here after graduating from the Free
University in Berlin, where she majored in Elementary Education and
teaching English as a Foreign Language. Annette taught first grade at
La Costa Meadows Elementary School before leaving teaching to start a
family. In her free time, Annette loves to walk and play at
the
beach, explore with her children and meet her friends over a cup of
tea. Annette is thrilled to be teaching at SWS, especially since the
Waldorf environment reminds her greatly of her own school experience as
a child. She is excited to share her native language and culture with
the the Sanderling children.
Handwork
& Games Teacher
Thea Mason
Thea
Mason was born in an Indiana suburb of Chicago to two educators. Along
with her three sisters, she attended the only K-6 Montessori school in
the region. While she admired the philosophy of Maria
Montessori, she
became interested in the history of and philosophies of
Rudolf
Steiner, incorporating them
into her parenting style and
eventually enrolling her son at
SWS.
Growing
up, Thea was happiest while exercising her body - through every
discipline from dance and sports, to needlework and macrame.
Now
as an
adult, she is grateful to have found two career paths perfectly suited
to her life's pursuits. She has been teaching
yoga,
both in private and public settings, for almost 10 years, and she is
thrilled to be Sanderling Waldorf's Handwork
and Games Teacher.
Thea
and her partner Brian have three sons: Drake, Ocean, and Roanen.
Gardening
Teacher
Chuck
El-Ghoroury
Chuck first began working with children
in 1986 as
a camp counselor at
Camp Stevens in Julian, CA. He spent the following summers on staff for
the summer camp programs, and in 1993 he made a three-year commitment
as an intern camp director. Chuck met his wife, Melanie, at Camp
Stevens. After completing his internship, Chuck moved with
Melanie to her homeland of Germany, where they lived for three
years. During that time, he worked on a biodynamic farm and learned all
about Waldorf education, anthroposophy and biodynamic
agriculture. Chuck, Melanie and their three sons later
returned
to Julian to pioneer Volcan View Farm. In the summer of 2009, Chuck
participated in Waldorf Games/Movement training. He is happy to serve
as the Gardening teacher.
Strings
Teacher (Violin, Viola, Cello)
Cynthia Nunag
Cynthia, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, began
playing the violin at age 5. She graduated in 1997 with a BA in Music
Performance and History. In 2002, she moved to France where she learned
the skills of improvisation through Gypsy Jazz music, and performed and
toured with her jazz group in Paris and in Southern France. In 2006,
she settled in Oceanside and has recently completed her Masters in
Educational Leadership at Argosy University. She is currently
independently teaching both French and Music. Cynthia has
performed with orchestras including the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra,
Napa Symphony, Santa Cruz Symphony and the Madison Symphony and Chamber
Orchestra. She has studied violin and viola with teachers such as
Darcie Drexler, Vartan Manoogian, Sally Chisholm, and in workshops with
Mimi Zweig and Roland and Almita Vamos. She currently plays chamber
music in San Diego and performs regularly with the Gypsy Groove Jazz
group. She is a proud and happy mother of two daughters, Lydie and
Morgan.
Woodworking
Teacher (Grades 3-6)
Tom Kray
Tom has been an active member of the
Waldorf
teaching community for more than 20 years. He worked at the
Santa
Cruz Waldorf School for 14 years as a class teacher, as well as
participating on management and administrative committees including the
College of Teachers and the Board of Trustees. Prior to Waldorf
teaching, Tom had a number of careers including bank management;
residential construction; and work with private
institutions as a counselor, experiental educator and
wilderness-trek leader for adolescents. He is a volunteer with Habitat
for Humanity. Tom has three grown children and two grown stepchildren,
and he and his wife Gina are the parents of a high-school age son. He
enjoys camping in the Sierras, woodworking, taking long walks,
gardening, reading and road trips.
Administrative
Director
Tim Connolly
Tim joined SWS in 2011 as the
Administrative
Director. He is a
graduate of the
University
of San Francisco, where he
studied Business Economics; and the
Rudolf Steiner College, where he earned his Waldorf Teacher's
Credential. His 20+ years of background in
Waldorf
education
include being a founding parent of the Cedar Springs Waldorf School,
serving as the lead teacher at the school and graduating the school's
first 8th grade in 1998. Thereafter he served in various administrative
capacities over the years at Rudolf Steiner College,
Sacramento
Waldorf High School, Waldorf School on the
Roaring
Fork and the Journey School.
He has most recently returned from Nigeria where he served as
a
volunteer working with UKAID to support educational initiatives in the
northern regions of the country. Tim lives in
Encinitas
with his
wife, Patti, and has two grown children who are both Waldorf lower-
and high school graduates. His hobbies include traveling,
reading
classic literature, trekking, taking adventures and the pursuit of
seeing the best in life!
Email
Mr. Connolly
Director of
Enrollment & Marketing
Emily Towe
Emily
joined the Sanderling Waldorf School administrative team in 2007,
after first spending two years getting to know the school as
a parent. She
has
watched her two children continue to blossom as Waldorf students, and
is delighted
to
encourage and support the school's growth in the North County
community. She has a degree in English/Creative Writing; and more
than 15
years’
experience
working and writing for various newspapers, magazines, corporations and
web
publications. Emily, her husband and their elementary-age children live
in Carlsbad.
Email
Ms. Towe
Facilities
Manager
Vanessa
Anderson
Vanessa -- also the Spanish teacher at
Sanderling
Waldorf School -- has
worked in various
capacities at the school for more than four years.
She received a
B.A. in Spanish and Communication from
Arizona State University, and is continuing her studies in Waldorf
education and pedagogy. She has completed Spanish-teaching courses at
Rudolf Steiner College for the past two summers. She has a working
background in elementary
education. Vanessa and her husband moved to San Diego in
2005 from Willcox, AZ, where they both were raised.
Email Ms.
Anderson
Bookkeeper
Kim Paterson
Kim joined the Sanderling Waldorf
School
administration in 2010. She was born and raised in Southern
California and has two children, ages 7 and 5. She has a
degree in
Finance and worked in the financial industry for a number of
years
before taking time off to stay home with her children. She
enjoys
playing with her children, spending time at the beach, reading, and
gardening.
Email
Ms. Paterson
