Early Childhood Village Faculty
Parent-Child Program
Jerre Whittlesey, one of our Sweet Pea Parent-Child Teacher, was born and raised in southern California and completed her Waldorf Teacher Training at Rudolf Steiner College. She came to Live Oak over two decades ago to assist/apprentice with Janet Kellman in the Early Childhood programs. After teaching kindergarten for three years, she met her husband, Ed, and soon gave birth to two sons, Frederick and Roger. She also has a daughter, Summer Waggoner; all of her children are graduates of Live Oak. Between the years as a faculty member at Live Oak, Jerre had a playgroup in her home for four years.
Jan Tannerome [Bio will be posted soon]
Nursery School
Rebecca Kennedy-Smith, one of our Early Childhood Day Care Providers, was born and raised in Elk Grove, California. She graduated from Elk Grove High School, then went on to study at Sacramento City College and Sacramento State College pursuing a major in Early Childhood Education. She worked for two years at KinderCare as a toddler teacher and five years at Applied Behavior Consultants, a school for children with autism. Rebecca had her first child just short of graduating from Sacramento State and decided to devote her time to mothering. Rebecca and her husband moved to Auburn several years ago and now have three children. Her older two children attend Live Oak; Tristan is in first grade and Ethan is in preschool. Her youngest, Mia, is two. Rebecca and her husband found Live Oak through family, and knew right away that this was the school they wanted their children to attend. After being home for seven years with her children, Rebecca saw an opportunity to use her skills and education to work with children in the aftercare program at Live Oak. She feels very blessed to be able to do a job she loves at her children's school. Rebecca enjoys learning more about Waldorf education; in addition to reading books on the subject, she has taken several weekend classes at the Rudolf Steiner College. She looks forward to the journey that lies ahead for her and her children at Live Oak Waldorf School.
Preschool
Candice Searles, our Daisy Preschool teacher, was born in South Africa. After receiving her undergraduate degree in English and Theatre, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to Stony Brook University in New York to complete her MFA in Theatre Arts. There she met and married Jason. Jason received a Fulbright Scholarship to South Africa and so they returned to Candice's home country and lived there for three years. Candice taught Speech and Drama to Kindergarten through ninth grade at a private school and also taught and directed in the local University Theatre Department. Upon returning to the USA in 2005, Candice found Waldorf Education while working in the public school system. She enrolled and completed her Waldorf Certification and MEd at Antioch New England University, and took a first grade class at the Tidewater Waldorf School in Eliot, Maine. After second grade, Candice decided to become a stay at home Mama to her new baby, Dylan Eddy. She was blessed with her daughter, Hope Anamae in June 2009. Candice and her family moved to California in February 2010 and found her way to Live Oak Waldorf School. She loves to paint, write music, walk in the woods and spend every moment she can with her family.
Sallie Cowan, our Daisy Preschool Teacher, has served at the school in many capacities since 1987. Sallie found Waldorf education long before she had children of her own. Her older brother became involved in the Waldorf program in the 1970’s, and Sallie immediately recognized it as a way to educate children with a balanced approach. She appreciated the emphasis on both arts and sciences in the curriculum, as well as the attention to understanding the needs of a developing human being. After completing school for business management, Sallie entered the Waldorf Institute of Southern California Teacher Training program where she trained in early childhood education. She worked with the kindergarten program at Highland Hall Waldorf School in Northridge, CA. Having recognized the importance of the artistic needs of children, she decided to pursue them herself and went on to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in visual Arts at California State University, Fullerton, with an emphasis in ceramics. Sallie and her husband, Bob, began a family with the birth of their daughter, Renee, and shortly thereafter moved to Northern California. A brother, Howard, later joined Renee. As her children grew, Sallie knew she wanted them to be educated in a Waldorf school and enrolled her children at Live Oak Waldorf School. Sallie participated in the school community first as a parent. As her time became more available, she began taking on working positions at the school including school receptionist, aftercare teacher, as well as assisting in the kindergarten and preschool programs. In the Sunflower Preschool, Sallie believes it is her responsibility to be a role model and create a space filled with love, joy and warmth. Sallie creates a daily rhythm of activities including art, cooking and imagination.
Sonja Van Heel, our Marigold Preschool Teacher, was born in Sacramento in 1973, where, at age five she was enrolled at the Sacramento Waldorf School kindergarten. She and her sister both were “Waldorf lifers.” Her love of children and her appreciation for her own education led her to Waldorf teaching. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Liberal Arts. After completing her teacher training she moved to Santa Monica where she taught in a preschool and kindergarten for five years. She was married, to her husband Wayne, in the fall of 2001 and then taught preschool at the Sanderling School in northern San Diego. Sonja and Wayne moved back to the Sacramento area in the Summer of 2003 and were blessed with their daughter Genevieve in November. Most recently she has worked at the Lifeways Children’s Center at the Rudolf Steiner College and at the Cedar Springs School in Placerville.
Sunny Ricks, our Marigold Preschool Assistant, was born in Auburn, California. She grew up in the Foohill area with her father, who built houses and worked construction, her mother, who was a homemaker, and three younger siblings. After high school, she broke a leg and was unable to drive a car. She lived on campus at Sierra College for a year and was a Liberal Arts major. Sunny enjoyed just being among other students and studying academics. During her time in college, Sunny married her high school sweetheart and bought a house her dad built in Foresthill. Shortly thereafter, she had a daughter, then just thirteen months later, a son. During their first five years, Sunny stayed home, and once a week, attended Live Oak’s Parent-Child program. As Haley, the eldest, got ready to start kindergarten, the family moved closer to Live Oak. Haley joined Lavender Kindergarten in 2007 and Sunny worked in morning care program. Occasionally Sunny assisted in the Sunflower preschool, and there she found her true calling to be with the littlest ones here at Live Oak.
Kindergarten
Carolyn Geoffroy, our Lavender Kindergarten Teacher, was born in a small town in Texas. Her family then moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, where she spent her early childhood. She has lived in California since age six. Carolyn received her B.A. in Child Development in 1975 from California State University in Sacramento, as well as her California teaching credential. She attended Rudolf Steiner College from 1980-82 and worked at Sacramento Waldorf School for seven years while her two children, Aaron and Jessica, attended school. Both her children have grown and started families of their own, making Carolyn a proud grandmother.
Katherine Friedland, our Rosemary Kindergarten Co-teacher, was born and raised in northern California. Her spiritual striving took her to India in 1971 where she studied yoga and meditation. Her first child was born there. Upon returning, she was a chaplain’s assistant in a juvenile detention home for girls, and taught yoga and meditation classes. Over the next years, she held yoga retreats, and she and her husband established a meditation center in the hills of Oregon. In 1978 upon once again returning from India, she started looking for a community in which to raise her two children. It was then that she became aware of Waldorf education. Within months, her children started attending the Sacramento Waldorf School, and Katherine became a student at Rudolf Steiner College. Upon graduation, Katherine joined the faculty of the Sacramento Waldorf School where she taught kindergarten for 12 years. After both children graduated from the Sacramento Waldorf School, Katherine once again returned to India where she lived for seven years. While there, she helped a friend establish a school for “Tribals” in the foothills of the Himalayas. Katherine has been at Live Oak since 2000.
Noelle Thompson, Rosemary Kindergarten Co-teacher, was born in Marin County. She attended college at Humboldt State where she received a B.A. in Spanish and a B.A. in Psychology in 1993. Following Humboldt State, Noelle attended UC Davis where she received a Bilingual Credential in 1996. From there, Noelle went straight into the private school sector; working with “alternative” schools where honoring the whole child and nurturing life long learners is vital to education. As Noelle continued investigating education and child development, she found Rudolf Steiner College where she attended workshops and weekend courses. Along with her interest in early childhood development, Noelle loves nature and traveling. Noelle has two children at Live Oak; Boden, who is in the second grade and Colby, who is in kindergarten. Noelle and her family currently live in Penryn.
The Grades Teachers
Lynne Poirier, our First Grade Teacher, took the Class of 2011 as class teacher in the fall of 2007. Lynne was born in Queens, New York. Her father’s career in the aerospace industry brought her family to Southern California and she spent most of her school years there. She began her college education with the ambition of becoming a teacher. Yielding to her father’s pressure to take up a more lucrative career, Lynne began searching for the right path. This took her on a course that went from business, to biology, to biomedical illustration, and finally to fine art. In 1988, the year her oldest son, Derek, was born, she discovered Waldorf education. At that time, while living in San Diego, she began to attend workshops and lectures at the San Diego Waldorf School. She also went back to college to take some courses in early childhood development. She began a playgroup in her home during which time her second son, Kyle, was born. When Derek began first grade, she was hired as the kindergarten assistant at SDWS. In 1996, Lynne and her family moved to the Sierra foothills so she could attend Rudolf Steiner College and work as the aftercare director at Live Oak Waldorf School. Finally realizing her goal of teaching, she began her began her first eight year cyle with the class of 2006 in the fall of 1997.She has been with her current class since 2007.
Cale Brandley, our Secon
d Grade Teacher, was born and raised in Berkeley, California. On his ninth birthday, he received a saxophone as a gift, which helped to kindle a life-long enthusiasm for music. As a young saxophonist, Cale had performed at festivals in Japan, Switzerland, Holland, and South Africa—all before his 21st birthday. Cale received a liberal arts degree from New York University in Manhattan, where he augmented his study of music with courses in mythology and cosmology. During this time he studied independently the craft of instrument making, and worked for a brief time as a woodworker’s assistant. After working two years for a farmer in northern New Jersey, Cale returned home to Berkeley, and while working in that city’s sustainable food movement he heard the calling to pursue teaching as a life’s work. Before coming up the hill to Live Oak to meet his class, he had worked in the East Bay as a music teacher, a kindergarten assistant, and as a garden instructor.
Natasha Vinson, our Third Grade Teacher, has been preparing for teaching through academics, social work and personal development. Academically, Natasha holds a B.S. in Anthro/Sociology from Eastern Oregon State, an Elementary Education Licensure from Western State College in Colorado, a Child Development Certificate from Humboldt State University in California, and a Masters of Education Waldorf Certificate from Antioch New England Graduate School in New Hampshire. Most recently, Natasha was a sixth, seventh and eighth grade teacher at Yuba River Charter School. She has completed internships in Waldorf schools, including a fourth and fifth grade practicum, has experience as a primary school teacher and has participated in the Center for Anthroposophy Mentorship Program. Natasha's social work includes work with the Americorps child protection program, residential counseling and work as director of an ESL/GED literacy program. She is an avid skier and snowboard instructor, as well as a yoga therapist and instructor.
Rev Bowen, our Fourth Grade Teacher, was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After earning his B.A. in English, he found work as a substitute teacher in and around Richmond, working in every grade and in every type of class. He then realized that he should become a teacher, but abhorred the idea of teaching within the same kind of compulsory schooling system that he had experienced. During his search for another way to educate, he picked up a hitchhiker who told him about Rudolf Steiner. Soon after, a grocery cashier told him about Waldorf education. Rev earned his Waldorf Teaching Certificate from the Rudolf Steiner College in 2000. He earned his M.A. in Human Development from St. Mary’s University in St. Paul, MN in 2004.
Rev took the class of 2008 from first through eighth grades and is now journeying through another eight year cycle at Live Oak. He loves to hear and make music, paddle in canoes or kayaks, swim in lakes and rivers, backpack, hike and camp, read and write, and play games of all kinds. His son, Seren, is in sixth grade and his daughter, Rosa, is a student in his third grade class.
Janaka Stagnaro, Fifth Grade Teacher,[entry in process]
Pamela Harris, our Sixth Grade Teacher, was born in Syracuse, New York. Her childhood was spent in both upstate New York and Illinois. She studied Costume Design at the State University of New York at Geneseo, receiving her Bachelor of Arts in 1982. Her interests led her to work in costume shops for theatre, opera, and ballet on both the east and west coasts. In San Francisco, while working for the San Francisco Opera and the American Conservatory Theatre, she trained with a wig master. Her career then specialized in wigs and make-up for opera, ballet, theatre, and film. After the birth of her daughter, Sophie, her focus shifted to child development. Pamela began her Teacher Training at the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training in 2003, while working as the Aftercare Assistant for the East Bay Waldorf School. She then was the first grade assistant and the head of aftercare at the East Bay School as she finished up her training, graduating in July 2006. Her daughter, Sophie, is in the eighth grade.
Teresa Thorman, Seventh Grade Teacher, [entry in process]
Jane Mulder, our Eighth Grade Teacher, grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan, in northern Illinois. Her family moved to the suburbs of New York City for her high school years, and then she crossed the continent to California for college. After graduating from Stanford University in 1971, Jane moved to the lovely Sierra Foothills. In addition to learning all the skills necessary to manage a small homestead, she also worked in home design and building, and wrote and edited in the field of organic agriculture. Jane taught at Hidden Valley Home School for ten years, and has enjoyed being a part of the Live Oak Waldorf School community where she has taught since 1992; her current class is her third class. She and her husband, Otis Wollan, have three daughters, all graduates of Live Oak Waldorf School. Malia, an honors graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a Master’s in journalism from UC Berkeley, is an AP reporter in San Francisco. Holly, also an honors graduate of UCSC, is a multitalented artist in the Bay Area. Byranna is studying for her Master’s in social work at San Francisco State.
Subject Teachers
Music
Nan Shaw, our Guitar Teacher, is a native of Southern California and grew up in the Ojai Valley. In this “nest,” private schools and spiritually oriented organizations abound amidst orange orchards surrounded by spectacular mountains. The beauty of nature was a major influence in her childhood, as were a theosophical family and many wonderful teachers in the several idealistic schools she attended where parents often worked to help pay tuition. Family activities included music, art, writing, reading, sewing, Spanish, gardening, and endless talking about theosophy, history, religion, esoteric subjects, and cats. Early music studies included violin, piano, and clarinet, but in the teen years, it was a love of the guitar which took root for life. At age 18, Nan began studying with the world renowned guitarist and composer Vicento Gomez, with whom she continued for many years. Driven by multiple interests, however, she attended Chorinard Art Institute (which became California Institute of the Arts) beginning in Fine Arts and graduating with an M.A. in Design. Next came marriage to Norton and a child who led the way north and eventually to Live Oak Waldorf School. There more children were born, grew up in the Live Oak “nest” and took flight. Nan stayed on in the music room to become a Live Oak grandmother.
Tim Stanley, our Strings Teacher, is a performing cellist and teacher in Sacramento. He is a graduate of University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a Bachelor’s in Music where he studied with Dr. Andrew Smith. He received his Master’s in Music from Sacramento State University under Andrew Luchansky. Since his completion of University, Timothy has been teaching privately in the Sacramento area and began teaching the Strings Class for Fourth and Fifth Grades at Live Oak Waldorf School in Fall of 2009. He has most recently joined the faculty at Sacramento State University as co-master teacher with the Sacramento State String Project, a not-for-profit that provides low cost music instruction to Sacramento school children and trains Undergraduate Music Majors in string pedagogy. As a performer, Timothy plays with numerous local symphonies and orchestras as well as area baroque ensembles. Timothy is a founding member of Citywater, a contemporary classical music sextet and Camerata Capistrano, a baroque chamber ensemble. Timothy has been featured on albums for Centaur Records and Matt Grasso's self produced album of chamber music for strings and guitar. He intends to be a force in helping Sacramento achieve its potential as an arts capital of California.
Doug Thorley, our Orchestra and Band Teacher, grew up in Massachusetts. He began musical studies in the fourth grade, later attending the University of Massachusetts in Lowell as a voice major. After leaving school, he spent five years dairy farming in upstate New York before moving to California and completing his music studies on the trombone at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He performs throughout northern California in all styles of music ranging from Mantovani to Mozart to Monk and has toured Asia twice. For the past fifteen years he has been teaching classroom and private music in both public and private schools in the Bay Area. Doug is living happily in Colfax with his wife, Beth Miller, and her daughters, Lauren and Erica.
Movement
Steven Casperite, our Games Teacher, was born April 2, 1962 on the Arizona/Mexico border at a small military outpost established in what were once Apache country and the home of Cochise, the great Apache Chief. His father was in the military, so by the age of three Steve had lived in Europe and different parts of the United States. By the age of 3 1/2 his family settled in the county of Orange in the southern part of California. His teen years were filled with much exploration and exhaustive efforts to understand who he was. At 21, his life began to take a new direction and many wonderful and painful events would cross his path clearly. Steve is a husband, a father of three, and a devout student of the history of western esotericism. He has coached men’s water polo and swimming at a local community college and took on the role of Games Teacher at Live Oak in 2001. All of these roles seem to have a symmetry that is interlocked in a certain way, helping him to see more clearly the path that is unfolding before him.
Debra King, our Eurythmist, [Bio will be posted soon]
Language Arts
Elise Rios, our lower grades Spanish Teacher, [bio will be posted soon]
Barbara Wauters, our upper grades Spanish Teacher, [bio will be posted soon]
Continuing Care Staff
Aerowenn Hunter, our Continuing Care Director, (entry in process)
Lucas Hedrick, one of our Early Childhood Village Continuing Care Providers, (entry in process)
Karen Wright, one of our Early Childhood Village Continuing Care Providers, is a mother of two young children at Live Oak. Working at Live Oak has allowed Karen to deepen her understanding and practice of the philosophy of Waldorf education with her own children. As parents, she and her husband have found the resources available from the school and faculty to be exceptionally helpful. Karen grew up in the Loomis area. During her twenties she had the opportunity to explore California; she lived in Santa Barbara, Humboldt County and Santa Cruz. After moving back to this area with her husband in 2002, Karen and her husband opened Wright Acupuncture and Massage in Auburn. They have enjoyed serving Placer County as holistic healthcare providers ever since. Karen holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology, with an emphasis in Physiology, from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Karen has been certified as massage therapist since 1993. Living a healthy and balanced life has been a passion of Karen's her entire adult life. She feels fortunate to be a part of such a dynamic group of people within this Waldorf community, in these beautiful Sierra Foothills. Her favorite times are spent playing with family and friends, gardening, and practicing yoga.
Hannah Parkins, one of our Early Childhood Village Continuing Care Providers, is a graduate of Live Oak Waldorf School. Thus, Hannah has her own memories of playing on its colorful campus—exploring the ‘shady playground’ in kindergarten, dancing around the May pole in the fourth grade, and performing numerous times in the amphitheater. Raised in a Waldorf-inspired home, Hannah remembers the thrill of Saint Nicholas’ visits and building gnome homes in her back yard. Because of this, she can relate to the vast imaginations of the students for whom she cares. The youngest of three (her older siblings are also Live Oak Waldorf School graduates), Hannah has always had a light, independent spirit and an imagination full of wonder. She started babysitting for fellow Waldorf families at age thirteen. Hannah’s babysitting career inspired her to begin working at Live Oaks summer camp program in June, 2010. She started working in the day care program when the school year resumed in the fall. She is a graduate of Placer High School and is currently enrolled in the nursing program at Sierra College.
Monica Tomasi, one of our Kindergarten Continuing Care Providers, (entry in process)
Cass Capel, one of our grades Continuing Care providers, (entry in process)
Sherri Siperly, one of our Grades Day Care Providers, was born and raised in southern California. In her early twenties, she lived in Europe for a year where she spent most of her time on the Canary Islands teaching fitness to German and Spanish tourists. After returning to the states, Sherri studied her passion of interior design and architecture, and worked in the furniture and decorative home accessories for 23 years. In 2001, she was asked to be an active initial board member of “Art Reach,” an organization which provides art therapy to children of war torn countries. To help assist in healing through this modality, their first endeavor was in Bosnia for four 2-week sessions over two years. In 2005, Sherri’s family became part of the Waldorf community in Atlanta, Georgia. She appreciated the way Waldorf holds a child spiritually, rather than simply by age, which instilled the desire to have her son surrounded by this deeply-connected education. Sherri and her son moved to Meadow Vista two and a half years ago after interviewing several Waldorf schools; they knew Live Oak was to be their new “home.” In 2009, she began working in the before and after school day care program at Live Oak. She has found her position to be very fulfilling; “The learning is never ending and I enjoy my own growth daily as I hold these children I am entrusted with.”
