MUSIC: Melissa Archer

Melissa was born and raised in a small town in Oklahoma, singing in choirs and playing piano. She and her family moved to Ashland in 1974 when she attended SOU in music studies. Already an established piano teacher, she began teaching at the Haleakala Waldorf School on Maui in 1991. Studies with Michael Deason-Barrow, Cynthia Frongello and others have deepened her understanding of  the importance of being musical in today’s world. Through her curriculum she strives to bring Steiner’s ideas to our students, always seeking musical integrity.  Melissa is married and has two grown children: Allegra, a graduate of Waldorf, and Anthony, living in England. She is also thrilled to be teaching her nephew at our school. She enjoys fine cooking and tending to her bonsai.

HANDWORK: Cynthia Bower

Cynthia is passionate about handwork and has been known to knit at stoplights, gas stations, and at meetings. Since 2000, Cynthia has been the school's Handwork teacher. She has also served as a teacher's assistant from kindergarten through fourth grade. Currently, Cynthia begins each day working in the office where, as office manager she helps with bookeeping, record keeping, and admissions. Cynthia has a BS in Forest Management Science, from Colorado State University.
Cynthia’s passions include Capeoira (a Brazilian Martial Art), knitting (need we say more?), gardening, and walking. Cynthia lives with her husband Tim and her two children, Terran and Rayna.

WOODWORKING: Michael McGlone

Michael McGlone completed his Waldorf teacher certification in Eugene, Oregon in 2004. He was born and raised in Philadelphia. In 1996, he graduated magna cum laude from Temple University, with a B.A. in Geography and Urban Planning. For the next few years, Michael traveled around the world doing odd jobs. While working on a biodynamic farm in Pleasant Hill, Oregon, Michael discovered Waldorf education through a teacher he met there who was affiliated with the local Waldorf school. Since then he has immersed himself in Waldorf education and philosophy. He worked at the schools in Eugene, Olympia, and Seattle before joining the Siskiyou School in 2005. Michael's interests include hiking, gardening, cooking, fishing, and reading. After two years of class teaching Michael shifted over to serve as our woodworking teacher and to bring support as needed to children & teachers across several grades in his capacity as assistant.

GAMES & EXTRA LESSON: Margie Bernards Glatte

What you need to know about me is that I love art, children, the outdoors and teaching. My life has been a combination of all of these both for my work and for my fun. Most recently I've been a substitute teacher in the public schools for all grades and for all subjects imaginable. This has allowed me to continue to be in the teaching profession while pursuing my personal interest in art. The best thing about substituting is that it gave me the chance to see what is going on in education and with children from all types of backgrounds. I observed that there are many seemingly bright children who are unable to focus and direct their actions the way they wish. I also observed that there is a growing need for trained teachers to work with these children in a new way. These “survey years” as a substitute teacher directed me back towards Waldorf education. I have just completed the third year of the three year Remedial Educational Support Teacher program at the Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento. I have also acquired the screener certificate from the HANDLE Institute in Seattle. Prior to this, I was the German teacher for ten years at the old Waldorf school(s) (all three locations!). I was dedicated to the school and the children, and was successful at meeting its many different demands. In addition to teaching, I was involved in the school's administration. I was faculty chair for two years, member of the Waldorf Board of Trustees, and a College member. I loved my work as a Waldorf subject teacher and have longed to back in the school community. Finally, I love to be outdoors. I pursue many types of sports with a passion, as well as lead others on outdoor adventures. For years my husband and I have been teaching kayaking to children, teenagers and adults, which we still continue to do.

MANDARIN: Jennifer Carroll

Jennifer (ZhangWei) was born and raised in northern China, close to Siberia. She received her B.A. in English at Shanghai Foreign Language University in 1992, and continued to reside in Shanghai working as a translator until 1999. She then moved from China to Ashland, struck by its natural beauty and lifestyle. She lives with her husband, (whom she met when he was studying in China), and their four children. She is committed to the education of the whole child through which Waldorf methodology and the Chinese language offer a panorama of possibilities for self-discovery. Jennifer enjoys camping, cooking, films, and quiet moments in her garden. Jennifer's daughter is a students at The Siskiyou School.

SPANISH: Navin Mahabir

Navin Mahabir Navin brings to the Spanish Program an incredible love of language and passion for learning about cultures. In addition to Spanish, he speaks Italian and has studied French, Catalan and Japanese. He admits that when he was younger, he often sifted through the library in order to study ancient Phoenician, Greek and Hebrew scripts. These interests he describes as symptoms of a greater drive to see and know the world, and to that end he endeavors to travel as much as possible. His study of Spanish started in middle school in Miami and grew to a passion in high school at St. Albans in Washington, D.C. He started his undergraduate career as a Spanish major at Duke University, but got his BA in Geography after transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Geography”, he says, “gave me a framework within which I could study and understand the interactions of many languages and cultures.” Navin’s educational career started at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center where he worked in integrated preschool classrooms. He has managed and taught workshops at the Carolina Friends School Summer Programs for several years. He has his black belt in karate, and has been teaching kids for most of a decade. In his other life, he has an artistic background in photography and motion pictures, and loves climbing and white water paddling.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH: Alex Newport-Berra

A native Oregonian, Alex attended Oregon State University in his hometown of Corvallis before moving to Hawaii to complete his undergraduate studies. He graduated from the University of Hawaii with a BA in Cultural Anthropology in 2004. He has taught ESL, Spanish and math to middle school students for the past several years and has also done a lot of private tutoring. His most recent class teaching was at the Linus Pauling Middle School in Corvallis. In the last year, he has added a new subject to his teaching credentials: Bikram Yoga! Alex is one of the regular teachers at Ashland's Bikram Yoga Center. In his free time, Alex loves to be outdoors and he is an avid cyclist. He thinks nothing of biking to a meeting 180 miles away.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH: Bill Ritch

Bill comes to us well qualified to teach both academic classes and direct class plays in the upper grades. He is a trained Waldorf teacher with five years experience as a class teacher. He taught at the Sacramento Waldorf School, the Monterey Bay Charter School, and the Summerfield Waldorf School. He also has several years of university-level teaching experience. Bill recently moved back to Ashland from Monterey. His wife, Janis,a trained Waldorf kindergarten teacher, is teaching this year at the Stone Soup Kindergarten. Bill has three grown children, all Waldorf graduates. Waldorf education and theater are second and third careers for Bill who received his BS from the US Military Academy at Westpoint and whose first career was in the military, including a tour in Vietnam. Bill also has an MFA in Dramatic Arts from the University of California-Davis. This is Bill's second year teaching math to Siskiyou School middle school students.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH: Dustin Monda

Dustin graduated with a B.S. in psychology from Southern Oregon University in 2002 and worked as a counselor for the Lithia Springs Boys' program before joining The Siskiyou School in 2004. He has assisted in Ms. Gallwey and Mrs. Murphy's classes and currently complements and supports Ms. Cassagnau's third grade class. Dustin brings playfulness and enthusiasm to the classroom as well as an ability to attune to the individual needs of students. He enjoys music, reading, writing, hiking, biking, and traveling. Dustin lives in Ashland with his partner, Tracy, and children Taylor, Ryan, and Olivia Nevaeh, their beautiful, but rascally two year old.

TEAM BUILDING AND COMMUNICATION: Josh Sadler

Josh began working with youth 20 years ago teaching swimming, sailing, canoeing, backpacking and teen leadership development.  Working across the country, in community centers, camps, schools, treatment facilities, wilderness expeditions, homes and everywhere in between he has developed a keen understanding of people and how they interact, grow and change.
Combining his deep experience of people and the tools and approach of a Cultural Anthropologist (B.S. Southern Oregon University '98), he began consulting with teachers, administrators, school communities, social service agencies, businesses and families, providing community & professional development, change management, counseling and coaching, and program creation in a business now known as the Leap Institute.  
Josh is also the Executive Director of LEAP Camp, a personal development summer camp for teens.  Over the last 15 years in Ashland he has worked with many Waldorf students, families and classes and is thrilled to support this community.  “My passion is to support the development of individuals and communities to discover and act on their greatest potential; it’s wonderful to see people excited about their life, its amazing what happens next!”
Josh works on a regular basis with our 5th through 8th graders as part of our 'Middle School Fridays' initiative. He is also spearheading our school's new W.I.L.D program, an outdoor leadership program.

READING SPECIALIST & MENTOR: Molly McKissick

Molly McKissick began her teaching career in 1984 at an eclectic private school in San Francisco. Her love of teaching was kindled there and later exploded into full flame when she helped found a Waldorf school in Gig Harbor, Washington. She ran a home-based Waldorf kindergarten for ten years before becoming a class teacher. In June 2008 she graduaed her first class. During this sabbatical year Molly is bringing her expertise as a reading specialist to the younger grades at the Siskiyou Shool and mentors and supports class teachers as needed; she plans to return to class teaching next September. Molly brings imagination and spontaneity into her teaching, with an emphasis on multi-sensory learning. She inspires children to bring pride and integrity to their work while allowing for individual differences. Her passions include traveling, harp-playing, storytelling, skiing, and attending faculty meetings! She lives with her Swiss husband and has four children and a big black dog.

DRAMA: Eve Smyth

Eve Smyth was born and raised in Seattle, then spent several years in San Francisco, before finding her West Coast equilibrium in Southern Oregon. After graduating with a degree in theater from San Francisco State University, Eve performed and toured with her own theater company throughout the Northwest.
Eve taught and performed with BATS Improv and was the Director of their Young Audiences program, where she facilitated improvisation workshops and performances in schools throughout the Bay Area.
As an emerging playwright, Eve received critical acclaim in Seattle and San Francisco for her solo show “What Big Teeth You Have! or Little Red Bites Back”. She has written and directed several productions for Ashland Children’s Theatre that she co-founded with Kate Sullivan at Oregon Stage Works in 2004. Eve currently teaches acting and improvisation at Ashland Children’s Theatre and is a member of the comedy improv troupe The Hamazons.
Eve feels that many of the basic improv tenets, like saying “Yes, and…” can be basic life tenets as well. She is constantly mystified and grateful for the combined magic of theatre and children.
Eve lives with her daughter Aidan, who is a student at the Siskiyou School.

W.L.L.D. Program: Tom Shelstad

They say “You can take a boy out of the woods, but you can’t take the woods out of the boy.”  Tom spends over 100 nights a year in his sleeping bag under the stars and loves every minute of it.  Tom is a NOLS graduate and has held a Wilderness First Responder(WFR) for more than 10 years.  In 2000 Tom earned a Masters in Experiential Education and moved to Ashland to help administer and teach at the Heartlight School.  Traveling to Italy in 2005, Tom attended WYSE, a leadership development program sponsored by the United Nations.
Tom started working with teens as a Juvenile Correctional Officer in Minnesota.  His roles have progressed to include teacher, challenge course facilitator/builder/trainer, athletic coach, wilderness therapy guide, designing and facilitating rites of passage for teenagers, and teaching Body Basics for Boys.  Tom currently serves as the Program Director for LEAP Camp, an adventurous program for teens that focuses on personal development. 
His extensive wilderness experience includes multi-week backpacking expeditions, sailing 1000-miles from Fiji to New Zealand, Climbing the North side of Mt Rainier, building countless forts in the woods of Minnesota, ascending granite walls in Yosemite, and innumerable backcountry trips in almost every state west of the Mississippi.  He has safely and successfully led hundreds of people on backcountry and mountaineering trips over the last 17 years.
Tom’s passion for facilitation is currently being fed by teaching people how to give and receive feedback in a way that is caring, insightful, and heartfelt.  Even when he isn’t out on trail with our W.I.L.D. program or LEAP Camp, he’s often getting back from, or planning his next adventure up Shasta, backcountry skiing, or spending time with his wife, Kelly, the 8th grade teacher, and their dogs.

SPANISH: Ruthie Smith

Ruthie, known as Senora Smith, was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela until the age of 15. She came to the United States where she completed her studies and her B.A. Following her education, she moved to Bali, Indonesia where she lived for 9 years. There she began her volunteer position teaching English at a local school. When she returned to the States she continued teaching Spanish as a volunteer at a public school in California. Ruthie became drawn to the Waldorf approach because of its creativity and expression via language, art and music, which is an integral part of her life. Last year she attended the Spanish Foreign Language Teacher Training Program at Steiner College and began teaching last fall. Ruthie has lived in Ashland since 2001 with her two daughters Djamika and Djaruna, and values the quality of life continually being created in this community.

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