FIRST GRADE: Ben Gaskin

Ben Gaskin is the newest addition to The Siskiyou School staff as a Class Teacher. He moved to Ashland last January from Hawaii and got to know our school when he substituted in our classes last spring. Ben received his BA from Colorado State University in 1995. He then went onto receive his teaching license in Denver, Colorado. After discovering Waldorf education while visiting Kauai, he immersed himself in finding out more about it. Within two years, he was offered a position at the Waldorf school on Kauai. While there, he underwent three years of professional development, mentorship, and training to become versed in Waldorf methodology and pedagogy. He was a staple at the Kauai Waldorf school and community for eight years. This is Ben’s second time as a Waldorf first grade teacher, and his ninth as an elementary class teacher. Ben is also a performing musician on various types of guitar and piano. His other passions include the outdoors, biking, tennis, travel and his beloved dog, Makai. Ben is excited to be living in such a wonderful community and to be the teacher of the newly formed Cedar Class.

SECOND GRADE: Ken Friedman

Ken Friedman has been a Waldorf teacher for seven years. He did his training both in Honolulu and at the Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, California. Prior to teaching, Ken worked as an investment broker, but followed his heart and creative spirit to Waldorf. Ken teaches guitar and has recorded his original songs and written two books. In addition to class teaching, Ken has taken up the Spatial Dynamics training. He  has several years experience teaching movement and games classes. Ken and his wife, Christine, and his children, Gabriel and Sophia, moved to Ashland from Arizona to teach at the Siskiyou School. Ken is now in his second year as the teacher of the Cascade Class.

THIRD GRADE: Christine Crawley

Christine Crawley pioneered Waldorf education in the Rogue Valley & her passion for teaching has inspired children & faculty for 30 years. She received her Waldorf training from Emerson College in Sussex, England. Her philosophy is to give students the support and tools they need to find their own creative genius within a joyful environment where children love to learn. She believes the goal of education is to engage and excite. After graduating her fifth 8th grade in June 2006, Christine took a one year sabbatical from class teaching. Three years ago she began the class teacher's journey once again with a class of first graders. In addition to her love of teaching, she enjoys tennis, gardening, painting, camping, body surfing, swimming in mountain lakes, and, above all, just being with family and friends. Christine is married and has a daughter.

FOURTH GRADE: Christine Cassagnau

Christine Cassagnau began her teaching career in Mali, West Africa, where she developed and taught an environmental education curriculum to children in French and in Bambara. She managed to avoid the malaria bug but was bitten instead with the teaching bug. She returned to the United States and taught as an itinerant arts teacher in the Metro DC area. Christine's interest in a curriculum and way of teaching that honored the developing consciousness of children led her to the Waldorf Teacher Training Program in Eugene, Oregon. During her training she also substituted in Eugene's French Immersion schools. As a teacher she seeks to unfold the capacities inherent in each child while nurturing their ever deepening interest and love of the world. Christine has traveled throughout Europe, parts of Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. She continues to dabble in various arts forms and media.

FIFTH GRADE: Anna (Ghigs) Razi- Robertson

Ghigs began teaching at The Siskiyou School six years ago when she picked up the fourth grade class. She graduated that class last June and decided to jump right back in and pick up Jade Class when their teacher moved to Arizona. Ghigs received her BA in Political Science from Colorado College, in Colorado and completed the Goethean Studies Program at the Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, CA. As a Waldorf school graduate and the daughter of a Waldorf class teacher, Ghigs has a sense for both the challenges and incredible growth that can occur for both student and teacher. Ghigs feels that the freedom of the teacher to meet each child where he or she is, and the ability to enliven each day with creativity and imagination, is a living example of the transformation that is possible in every realm of society.

SIXTH GRADE: Debbie Murphy

Debbie has twenty-four years of teaching experience from first through twelfth grades. Fifteen of those years have been as a Waldorf class teacher in Bend and Ashland. She is currently with her third class (having graduated her second class here in Ashland in 2004). Debbie has a B.A. in Education from Eastern Washington State College, an M.S. in Education from the University of Alaska, and holds a Waldorf certificate from Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, CA. She finds that the Waldorf method not only inspires a love of learning in children, but also inspires teachers to strive for personal artistic development. Besides teaching, Debbie has a passion for gardening and music. She lives in Ashland with her husband, Joe. Their children are Bill, a local potter; and Lindsay, who is studying massage therapy in Seattle. Their foster daughter, Susan, lives in Anchorage with granddaughter, Santha.

SEVENTH GRADE: Nina Gallwey

Nina Gallwey is a certified Waldorf teacher and Remedial Instructor and has been involved with Waldorf Education for nineteen years. Trained at the HANDLE Institute in Seattle, Nina has worked as a consultant for families with children having learning challenges and as a trainer of teachers in special needs assessment and the use of integrative movement in the classroom. She has found her remedial training invaluable in her work as a class teacher as well. Fascinated by the correlation between the active, artistic, and experiential Waldorf approach to teaching and the latest research on how the brain develops and how children learn, Nina is working on a book documenting her experiences working with children with special needs. When not in the classroom, Nina enjoys cross-country skiing, gardening, cooking and writing poetry. She lives with her partner, Jacob, and her son, Brendon.

EIGHTH GRADE: Kelly Shelstad

Kelly Shelstad graduated from Northland College, a private liberal arts college in Ashland, WI with a B.S. in Elementary Education and a minor in Environmental Education. Before becoming a Waldorf class teacher, Kelly helped administer and teach at the Heartlight School in Ashland, OR, she created and implemented environmental education summer courses for K-6, led trail experiences for school groups, facilitated self-discovery workshops for teens, and substituted both in Waldorf and public schools. The Waldorf approach, with its integration of the arts and ability to meet each student holistically, resonates deeply with Kelly. Her passions include family, painting, writing, singing, dancing, and camping under a clear night sky near a fire's warm glow after a good long hike. Kelly lives in Ashland with her husband Tom.