OUR FACULTY
"May wisdom shine through me, may love grow within me, may strength penetrate me, that in me may arise a helper of humankind, a servant of sacred things selfless and true." - Rudolf Steiner
2020 - 2021 Faculty
Current Faculty
ADMINISTRATION
|
Courtney Smoke - Administrator + Bookkeeper
Courtney joined the Riverwood staff the same way many of the faculty did, as a parent first. In 2015 she enrolled her oldest child in the Chickadee class and loved the feeling Waldorf education brought her family. Always looking for ways to help, she found her place as the bookkeeper in the spring of 2018. Courtney brings to this role an Associate's Degree with accounting courses, five years of experience working for the state legislature on Capitol Campus in Olympia, and training with the former bookkeeper. Courtney attended and completed the Art of Administration training through Sound Circle Center. Both of her children attend Riverwood and she is excited to continue seeing the benefits of Waldorf education. When she's not making spreadsheets and balancing budgets, Courtney is using her creative side in floral design for her flower farm business, spending time with her family and pets, and exploring the beautiful area where she lives. |
EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM
|
Kelsey Huguenin – Lead Teacher, Early Childhood + Early Childhood Program Director
Kelsey is our Mixed-Age Kindergarten lead teacher. She joined our Riverwood community in 2016 when she enrolled her oldest daughter in the Chickadee Kindergarten. Kelsey worked as an in-home childcare provider in the past. In the beginning of her time with us, she served as a volunteer assistant in the Chickadee class for the second half of the school year as well as home-schooled her niece for a year and a half. Her niece is now a Riverwood graduate while both daughters currently attend Riverwood. Kelsey organized and led our first week-long Summer Nature Camp in August 2017 which has continued each summer. She has completed the online courses, Home as the Model - Life is the Curriculum, Observing Young Children, Discipline with Loving Awareness, and most recently Learning in Nature with LifeWays North America, Raising Anti-Racist White Children with the Center for the Study of White American Culture, as well as Rejuvenation for Early Childhood Teachers with Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training. In the fall of 2018, she attended a Therapeutic Puppetry Workshop with Juniper Tree Puppetry that was held in Spokane. Kelsey attended the two-year Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Training program through Sound Circle Center, a WECAN-recognized certified training institute. She graduated with her Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher certificate July of 2019. She is also a WaNPA (Washington Nature Preschool Association) member. Kelsey brings much passion for Waldorf education and a can-do attitude to Riverwood while understanding the important role she holds with the children. She relishes time outdoors with her family, enjoys handwork projects, gardening, and loves to read. |
|
Lifehas Meaning - Early Childhood Assistant + Art Teacher + Handwork Specialty Teacher
Lifehas Meaning volunteered in our Early Childhood program throughout the last school year. This year, she looks forward to assisting Ms. Kelsey in the mornings and teaching art and handwork classes to our grades’ students in the afternoons. She has lived in Washington since 1974 and raised her family in northern Stevens County. As a homeschool mom, her approach was toward integrated learning, and she taught and learned from the natural world. Her family joined with other homeschool families for group play and learning activities sometimes based on Waldorf themes. She studied Waldorf education independently and would gladly have participated in the Waldorf experience for her child had the opportunity existed. As a textile artist inspired by Gandhi, she learned to spin and weave clothing, and this continues to be her passion. She also loves knitting and has explored felting and crochet. Visual arts appeal to her, and she enjoys painting with watercolor, pastels, and acrylics. She appreciates the way the natural world teaches and communicates to us through patterns, color, and system design. She is currently learning and practicing the art of storytelling. She has studied stories and legends from cultures around the world searching for teaching tales to help children internalize the lessons for self-growth and ethical conduct. These days, many children learn from television and movie experiences. But our ancestors learned through legends, hero stories, and the magic of fairy tales. These stories existed long before Grimm and Anderson recorded their versions of folk tales. Through teaching tales, children have the potential to learn how to become the ‘hero in their own story’. Life has Meaning holds bachelor’s degrees in Education and Environmental Studies. Curiosity continues to guide her path, and she considers herself a lifelong student. She is a grandmother and a great grandmother, and she values having her family close. Before she had grandchildren of her own, she treated all children as if they were her grandchildren. |
|
Lindie Bajema - Parent & Child Teacher
This year, Lindie feels privileged to start her career with Riverwood Community School as the lead Parent & Child teacher for 2021. Lindie's oldest will be attending Riverwood in our Chickadee class, while her youngest will be in the Parent & Child class. Her previous experiences with Waldorf, and her experience as a holistic labor/birth doula both serve her well in the position as the Parent & Child teacher, for ages birth to 3 are her passion (and before birth as well!). Her approach is down to earth, honest, patient, and energetic. She values connection and authenticity in her family, doula work, and teaching. Lindie loves her indoor plants, and enjoys an array of crafts, artwork, and music. She has attended the Coming to Earth seminar through Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training focusing on ages birth to 3yrs in preparation for the Parent & Child class. |
GRADES PROGRAM
|
Jeanette Maxson - First Grade Teacher + Japanese Specialty Teacher + School Counselor
Jeanette discovered Waldorf education in 2018 as a result of her quest for a school that would support her children in finding love and truth within themselves. After involvement at the Windsong School in Spokane, she began a self-directed educational journey in Waldorf education. Jeanette was drawn to this style of education because of its focus on the development of the whole child and a pursuit of wholehearted living. The heart of their family brought Jeanette, her husband, and two children back to her roots. They now live on her family's beautiful multi-generational property. They wholeheartedly jumped at the opportunity to join the Riverwood community, of which the children happily attend. Nature adventures are her family's favorite pastime. Her happy place is the ocean or really any body of water. She makes a pilgrimage to the pacific ocean at least once a year and in the summer months you might find her on Lake Roosevelt with a smile on her face and a stand up paddle board under her feet. She has continued her passion for Waldorf Education by completing Jamie York’s Grades 1-3 Art of Teaching Math, SunBridge Institute Approaching Grade One, and Robyn Brown’s Curative Education Course. She feels honored to accompany the children as they journey through the 1st grade. Jeanette lived in Japan for a couple months as an exchange student. This revelatory experience set her on her path to attend Western Washington University with a focus in Linguistics, Japanese, and Psychology. She has since returned to Japan a couple of times to visit her host family and friends of which she has remained connected. She looks forward to teaching Japanese to our middle school students. Jeanette is an Advanced Healing Arts Practitioner and Apprenticing Soul Coach. She assists individuals of all ages, including children and families, in connecting with their soul, consciousness, and the realization that they have chosen to be here on earth. Her passion for Waldorf education and experience as an Apprenticing Soul Coach provides a unique integration of Heart, Head, and Hands. She looks forward to helping the students, families, faculty, and community of Riverwood to grow in knowledge and in spirit! |
|
Amber St. John - Second & Third Grade Teacher
Amber has a passion for children of all ages and throughout her life has worked with them in a wide variety of settings both formal and informal. She first joined our school as the lead Mixed Age Kindergarten Teacher for the 2016/17 school year. During that time she attended the 2015 Summer Intensive at Waldorf Sound Circle School in Seattle and also a Waldorf weekend Symposium at Steiner College in Sacramento, CA. Her then youngest child attended her Chickadee class and her oldest attended sixth grade at Riverwood. After finding out she was pregnant with her third midway through the school year, her family decided to move back to Maui where they had previously been established for over a decade. She is returning to us this school year as our lead 2nd/3rd grade teacher. Her youngest child will attend our Chickadee class and her now eight year old will attend 3rd grade. She will complete the Sunbridge Institute Third Grade Intensive and Jamie York's Making Math Meaningful for Grades 1 - 3 seminar this summer. Growing up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, her passions for athletics and snowboarding led her to Truckee, CA where she studied at their local community college and began competing in her sport. After earning certifications in Avalanche Safety I and II, she began exploring her love for the backcountry and traveled extensively throughout South America and New Zealand to snowboard. After many injuries, she moved to Maui to heal and attend massage school. It is here that she discovered the world of natural medicine and in 2003 graduated from Maui Academy of the Healing Arts as a massage therapist. Inspired by her own healing journey, she moved back to the mainland where she continued her work as a massage therapist with a focus on helping athletes to heal. In 2005 she gave birth to her oldest child and shortly after felt called back to Maui to raise him. His voracious appetite and love for learning led her to exploring the world of alternative forms of education. She discovered Waldorf education when he was around the age of four. Unable to afford the local Waldorf School, she began integrating Steiner's ideas and philosophy into their home life. Her love for self study has carried her through many years of homeschooling both in early childhood and in the grades. Just when she thinks she has found her favorite grade to teach, she journeys with her child to the next and finds renewed inspiration all over again. She is currently homeschooling her eight year old and two other neighbor children in 1st and 2nd grade. Her passions include all things holistic in life and in the world of natural medicine, gardening, and spending time in nature and with animals. She loves sports, especially snowboarding, rock climbing, volleyball, water sports, and currently plays ultimate frisbee three days a week. |
|
Caite Antoine - Fourth & Fifth Grade Teacher
Caite became friends with Riverwood at its inception in 2011. In 2019, she officially joined Riverwood as a Chickadee Class Assistant and Grades substitute, and some of her children began attending at that time. In March 2020, the First Grade teacher took maternity leave and Caite filled that position. This year she will serve as lead teacher for the Grade Three/Four Class, Outdoor Stewardship and Nature Studies classes. Before joining our school, Caite actively involved herself in her children's education. She homeschooled some, while also serving as a para-educator in the others' public school classrooms. In anticipation of teaching at Riverwood, Caite attended an in-house Introduction to Waldorf Education course in July 2019. In February 2020, she represented Riverwood at both the east and west coast WECAN Early Childhood conferences. She then attended a Curative Education Intensive at the Mulberry School in southern Oregon, after which, she enrolled in - and currently attends - its three-year Curative Education Certification program. Finally, this summer, she completed a Grade Four Intensive with Sunbridge Institute in New York. Caite is an outdoor education enthusiast as a result of her unique, diverse upbringing. Raised by her parents as a missionary child with the Salvation Army, she and her family traveled and relocated often. Public outreach and service was a family focus. She helped her parents lead children's summer camps and an adult skills center. For the past few years, she assisted with the Between the Rivers Primitive Skills Gatherings youth programs in Valley, Washington. Each provided the opportunity to learn and experience the healing properties and wonder of the natural world. Her education also influenced her passion for outdoor learning. As a teen, she attended the Lincoln Science Focus Zoo School, linked to and taught by, professors of the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. The education focused largely on conservation, preservation of endangered species and animal husbandry. After high school, she traveled throughout Europe, settled in Kursk, Russia where she taught English for two years at the Pedagogical University there. After returning to the States in 2006, Caite enrolled in and completed the Eastern Medicine and Anatomy program at Myotherapy Institute, graduating in 2008. In 2012, Caite purchased a home in the mountains above Chewelah, Washington where she lives a blended family life with her husband and their six children. They use the clear running water of Huckleberry Creek as well as the surrounding forest, to sustain themselves, their garden, horses, goats, pigs and various small critters. They value family time, honest effort and togetherness overall. |
|
Monica Voltz – Sixth & Seventh Grade Teacher + Handwork Specialty Teacher + Co-Administrator
Monica is one of the founders of Riverwood, and she has been a teacher, administrator, and board member since the school’s inception. She led her first class from second through eighth grade. Then, she taught a class of second and third graders. Next, she was the lead teacher for the fifth and sixth grade class. She looks forward to carrying her students forward as the sixth and seventh grade teacher. In addition, she is the lead Handwork Specialty Teacher. Prior to Riverwood, she operated the Enchanted Forest home preschool for two years, and before that was a founding member of Fingerprints Preschool in Chewelah, Washington. She holds a B.A. in Scandinavian Studies and a B.B.A in Business/Marketing from Pacific Lutheran University. Since she discovered Waldorf education in 2008, she has completed a wide variety of Waldorf teacher training courses and conferences throughout the country including: most recently, a Grade 7 intensive at Micha-el Institute in Milwaukie, OR and a Curative Education intensive at the Mulberry School in Gold Beach, OR. In addition, she holds certificates in the following teacher training courses: Grade 6 online 2020 summer intensive at Sunbridge Institute in New York; Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 Online Teacher Conferences with Eugene Schwartz; Math Intensives for Grades 1 – 3 and Grades 6 – 7 with Jamie York/Making Math Meaningful; a grades summer intensive at Sound Circle Center in 2019 entitled Beyond Labels - Nurturing the Genius of Each Child and Building New Skills for Waldorf Teaching; a one year online course - Thinking, Feeling, Willing – with Waldorf Essentials; the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) Summer Conference in Austin, Texas; The Magic of Waldorf Summer Teacher Training Conferences at Shining Star Waldorf School in Portland, Oregon, from 2010 to 2013; Early Childhood Symposiums at Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, California in 2010 and 2011; Juniper Tree Puppetry Workshop at Windsong School in Spokane; Helle Heckmann Workshop for Educators at Seattle Waldorf School; and a workshop with Rahima Baldwin-Dancy, author of You are Your Child’s First Teacher at Portland Waldorf School. Her oldest daughter graduated from Riverwood, and her youngest still attends as an eighth grader. She enjoys skiing locally and around the world with her family and friends, mountain biking, playing with the family dog, reading and knitting. |
|
Kris Grooms - Eighth Grade Teacher
Kris began teaching at Riverwood as a substitute in 2018 and is now a full-time faculty member. She holds a B.S. in Architectural Studies and a Bachelor of Architecture, professional degree from Washington State University. She also attended the University of Nevada for one year and completed introductory music courses and learned the basic playing of instruments in the brass, woodwinds, reeds, and percussion categories. She has been playing piano since she was six years old, has taken 14 years of lessons, and has taught piano for two years. She designed and bid landscape construction for several years before beginning a nine-year homeschooling journey using Waldorf methods with her three children. In 2019, she completed a grades summer intensive at Sound Circle Center entitled Beyond Labels - Nurturing the Genius of Each Child and Building New Skills for Waldorf Teaching. In addition, she completed a Waldorf Sixth Grade Teacher Training Intensive. Both of Kris’s sons have graduated high school, and she lives with her husband and her youngest daughter who attends Riverwood, and their two cats, Louie and Marlin. Her hobbies include sewing, quilting, reading, landscape design, downhill skiing, boating, camping, hiking, and coaching soccer and basketball. |
|
Marci Bravo - Yoga Specialty Teacher
Marci joined our faculty in 2016. She focuses on movement and mindfulness as tools to center, calm and resolve conflict. She completed her RYT-200 teaching certification at Harmony Yoga in Spokane in 2015 and has training in Prenatal Yoga from the Seattle Holistic Center as well. She has practiced various styles of yoga for more than ten years. She also completed a grades summer intensive at Sound Circle in 2019 entitled Beyond Labels - Nurturing the Genius of Each Child and Building New Skills for Waldorf Teaching. Marci has worked with children in the fields of education, childcare, and the CASA organization since 2008. She holds a M.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Tulane University. |
|
Stazya Richman – Music & Singing Specialty Teacher
Stazya has been on our faculty since 2011 and teaches singing and music to all grades. She is a conservatory trained vocalist with a B.F.A. from the State University of New York. In addition to singing at the Northwest Bach Festival for seven years, she has produced two CD’s, one a solo album of world music, and the other jazz music with her band Stazya and the Naturals. She is the vocal director for the Kettle Falls Woodland Theater and has also acted in several of the theater’s productions. She has been giving private lessons as a vocal instructor since 2004. |
Photo coming soon
|
Mo Oliver - Violin Specialty Teacher
Mo joined our faculty in 2019, and with him he brings over 35 years of strings teaching experience to Riverwood. Mo studied the “Sukuki” Talent Education Method pedagogy and philosophy and earned his book-levels by attending SAA-approved Summer Institutes at various colleges including Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon; Western Washington University in Bellingham; and University of Montana in Missoula. His passion for music began when he received a ¾ violin for his eighth birthday, and it has never stopped. In 1983, he established studios in Chewelah, Colville, and Kettle Falls, as well as Grand Forks, B.C. There, he helped the Selkirk College start a music department where he taught from 1994 to 2000. With the late Alex Starr, a Cuban-born composer, Mo produced two CDs of original music, Midnight Cactus and Castanet, and performed at many venues throughout Washington and British Columbia between 1995 and 2004. Concurrently, he also played violin and viola in the Woodlands Orchestra in Kettle Falls and later served as its concertmaster. While living in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, he started the Celtic band Turning Tide which performed in Idaho, Washington, and Montana. With Turning Tide, Mo produced a CD, Ebb & Flo. From 2010 to 2015, Mo taught violin, viola, and guitar at Music Conservatory Sandpoint, during which he also performed as a violinist with the trio, “Triolet.” While living in Sandpoint, he was instrumental in designing the strings program at Sandpoint Waldorf School. Mo retired from MCS in 2015 to care for his mother. He currently teaches violin and guitar at Post Falls Music Academy. In addition to teaching violin and guitar, he instructs all levels of viola and ukulele students. |
|
Shelly Waldon - Substitute Specialty Teacher
Bio coming soon. |
