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About Waldorf Education

Early Childhood

William D.

Nursery Program (Butterfly), Parent/Child Classes (Rosebud and Dewdrop

After crawling through the hedges of Yale in New Haven, CT, I moved with my parents to Pittsburgh, where I found more shrubs to crawl through.  There I began a three year journey in a play-based early childhood program at the Carnegie Mellon lab school; parents and child psychologists could watch us through one-way mirrors.  After attending Yale to study English and Irish literature, play intramural softball, and grill burgers at tailgates, and after learning that the life of a professor was not for me at the University of Iowa, I considered moving West to become a teacher.  I found myself most challenged and rewarded when working with the youngest of children; their way of being and thinking is so different from an adult's that it helped me to become a better teacher and a better person.  When I enrolled in the early childhood education program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a professor introduced me to Waldorf education.  From the first it seemed natural to me, the way education should be--music, story, movement, calmness, play, soup, bread.  While teaching kindergarten in a public school outside Washington, DC, I was blessed to meet my wife to be, Kelly.  She and I moved West so that I could take Waldorf Early Childhood Training at Rudolf Steiner College and teach in a Waldorf kindergarten at the Monterey Bay Charter School.  When our son Liam (now 5) was born, we moved back to Baltimore, where I taught nursery and parent & child classes for 5 years.  In addition to experiencing the wonders of Whidbey, I hope to continue my hobbies such as gardening, knitting like a first grader, singing like a shepherd, and playing the fiddle.

Dyanne H.
Kindergarten

Dyanne was born and raised in the maritime Pacific Northwest, and has had lifetime connections with music, nature, children, and the spiritual world.  After receiving her BA in Psychology from Central Washington University in 1985, she began her quest for a career in working with children.  After working as a nanny and in daycare and preschool settings, co-creating summer programs for “at risk readers”, and earning her Washington State teaching credentials from the University of Washington, she turned homeward to begin her own family.  It was in her search for a school for her own children that Dyanne discovered Waldorf Education.  She moved to Whidbey Island with her husband and children in 1995, and has taught at WIWS since 1997.  Currently, Dyanne holds an MS Ed in Waldorf Early Childhood education from Sunbridge College, NY.  Dyanne loves living on this beautiful Island with her family and friends.  She enjoys gardening, cooking, singing, skiing, and walks on the beach and in the woods. 

Kim D.
Kindergarten

Kim was born in Manchester, England.  She spent her childhood acting, singing and asking questions.  After graduating with a BA in Drama and English Literature from York University, she traveled independently in search of “Truth” and “Love” all over the world and unpacked in Seattle three years later.  She settled here in the Pacific Northwest with her husband Joe and two children, Olivia and Eve. Their love of the forest and the ocean brought them to Whidbey Island seven years ago. Kim is a trained Waldorf teacher and graduated from Sound Circle Center for Anthroposophy in Seattle.

Grades 1-8

Karol W.
Grade 2

Karol White is from a small town in Texas where she lived for 40 years. Eleven years ago, her husband, Tom, a Coldwell Banker Realtor, and son, Whit, then age 4, moved to Whidbey Island to enroll Whit in the kindergarten of the Waldorf School. Whit graduated from WIWS in 2007. Karol has been teaching for 31 years. She has a deaf education certification, a public school elementary certification, and a Waldorf teaching certification. Her adult son, Rondi Bryson, is a film and television actor and lives in Hollywood. Spiritual study and growth are passionate topics to Karol as she strives to seek her path. As a teacher in the Waldorf school, Karol is able to use her love of storytelling, singing, dancing, drawing, painting, and music on a daily basis. Her goal as a teacher is to present to her students the awe and wonder of the curriculum out of reverence and to help the students to see the highest in each other as they work and play together. “One for all, and all for one!” 

Angela L.
Grade 3

Angela grew up in a “little house in the big woods“, along the banks of the historic Little Miami River in Ohio, where her love of animals and the environment took root. Art, dance and music were early passions. Angela is of Cherokee and Ojibwa descent, and spent her childhood summers visiting the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina. After graduating with her BA from Brigham Young University, Angela has worked as a journalist and teacher for over two decades. Before becoming a Waldorf teacher, Angela taught French, art, and literature, as well as being an Artist-in-Residence in nearly 200 public and private schools. She helped develop the Native American Studies program at the University of Cincinnati where she taught for seven years. During this time, Angela became a mother and discovered Waldorf education and the study of Anthroposophy. She has started several Waldorf Parent and Child programs, and holds Waldorf certifications in Early Childhood Education, Therapeutic Education, and Elementary Education. She will complete her M.Ed. this summer at Antioch New England University. Angela resides in Everett with her husband and five children, ranging in age from high school to first grade.

Detmar S.
Grade 4

Detmar was born in and spent most of his formative years in western Pennsylvania.  He acquired a metallurgical engineering degree from Penn State, which propelled him into a seven-year industrial management career.   An overland journey from London to Calcutta initiated a ten-year exploration of various working and living situations in the United States.  After discovering and reading Rudolf Steiner's major works, Detmar spent three years at Rudolf Steiner College where he met his wife.  He and his first class graduated in June 2002, after being together for eight years at the Davis Waldorf School  and a returning teacher to WIWS.  Detmar taught our 7th grade and graduated from the Spatial Dynamics Institute in 2004.  He has been active at WIWS as a substitute, a mentor, and member of both the College and Board.  Detmar enjoys juggling, gardening, and cooking, and can often been seen walking the local beaches with his wife or caring for their many farm animals.

Dorte O.
Grade 5

Dorte was born and raised in Denmark.  She attended a small private school.  Her mother and stepfather were both teachers.  After high school she studied literature at the University of Copenhagen and started teacher training at N. Zahles Seminarium in Copenhagen.  Out of the sense of adventure, she and her husband, Troels, entered the U.S. Green Card Lottery together, got lucky and won.  They moved to Monterey, California in 1995.  Their son Rasmus was born in 1997.  Dorte completed her Waldorf teacher training at the Waldorf Institute of Southern California in 2003.  She moved to Whidbey Island with her family in August of 2006.  She enjoys her family and her class.  She is enjoying settling into life on the island.

Lolly R.  Grade 6

Lolly grew up in Florida, and spent a lot of time playing in the various bodies of water, and running through the woods.  Many of the adults in her life were artists and musicians, thus inspiring a lifelong love of the arts, particularly with fibers.  After receiving a degree in Anthropology, Lolly worked in a museum cataloging the exhibits.  Eventually, the desire to travel led her to Europe, Mexico, Canada, and around the United States.   Family, love of the ocean, and a strong community always brought her back to St. Augustine, Florida, where both of her children were born.  Fifteen years ago Lolly’s family moved to Eugene, Oregon where she worked in the cycling industry, and enrolled her children at the Eugene Waldorf School.  Through that experience, she decided to follow the path of a Waldorf teacher, and completed her education at the Eugene Teacher Training Program.  Before joining WIWS, Lolly taught handwork in Eugene, Oregon; as a class teacher in Corvallis, Oregon; and in Anchorage, Alaska as a visiting teacher.   Her interests are many, but include folk music, traveling, cycling, fiber-arts, nature, and spending time with her daughters and close friends.

Nancy P.
Grades 7 & 8

Nancy was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.  She lived in a neighborhood hearing Italian, Polish, German and Spanish.  Her summers were spent at her great uncle’s cottage where her days were filled with swimming, exploring and playing in the woods and farmlands.  Nancy received a BA degree in Theatre/Fine Arts in 1975 from DePaul University.  Classes in Waldorf Education began for Nancy after her daughter was born.  Since 1991 formal coursework began with the Seattle Sound Circle classes in Early Childhood to studying with Bill Bryant for three years.  In 1998 she completed Waldorf training at Antioch University in New Hampshire.  Her Masters of Education was completed in 1999.  John and Nancy have three children, Robin who graduated from WIWS in 2002, David and Peter.  They have been members of this school since 1994.  Nancy has taught numerous classes both in the grades and in Early Childhood.  She feels very fortunate to be working with her new class and bringing her love for learning to her students.

Specialty Teachers

Natasha Z.
Handwork

Natasha was born in Illinois, raised in Colorado and spent summers and holidays in the state of Washington.  Natasha moved to Spokane, Washington to study at Gonzaga University where she graduated with a BA in Sociology and earned a State of Washington Teaching Certificate.  From an early age, Natasha knew she wanted to become a teacher, following in her mother's footsteps.  She spent the next few years substitute teaching in districts along the Olympic Peninsula, and she taught Social studies at the Bremerton Junior High School. While she loved the children and the opportunity to teach in many different grade levels, Natasha wanted to further her understanding of the growing child.  She enrolled in the Rudolf Steiner College and also began her studies through St. Mary's University of Minnesota towards a Masters of Arts degree.  She has been teaching at WIWS since 2000.  Natasha enjoys spending time with friends and family, gardening, handwork and playing the piano.

Bonnie F.
Eurythmy

Bonnie grew up in Ohio where she enjoyed romping with her siblings on her grandparent’s farm through all seasons of the year.  She has a Bachelor of Science in English Literature from Kenyon College, and a Master of Arts in Creative Arts Therapy from Hahnemann University.  Bonnie worked with children and adults in many clinical settings and in administration before turning her attention to education.  Bonnie and her husband served on the founding Board of the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh before moving to Whidbey Island in 1992.  After completing her eurythmy training in Stuttgart, Germany in 2001, Bonnie has been teaching at the Whidbey Island and Seattle Waldorf Schools.  She also performs with Sound Circle Eurythmy. 

Raquel E.
Spanish

Raquel was born in Santiago, Chile, and first learned to speak English in the first grade. Consequently, she is fluent in both Spanish and English languages.  Her family moved to the United States where she lived on the East Coast until marrying and moving to the state of Washington. Raquel graduated from Bates College where she earned her Bachelors in Science with a major in Biology. She has been teaching Spanish to kindergarten through Grade 8 at WIWS since 1996. Raquel has participated in Waldorf teaching seminars and foreign language conferences.  She has also taught at Bright Water Waldorf School and has been involved in many aspects of WIWS as both a parent and a faculty member. Each year Raquel coordinates the Day of the Dead celebration at WIWS, which has become a favorite school activity.  She brings to her classes her interest in puppetry, flamenco dance and music, the native cultures of Central and South America, and authentic Spanish/Latin cuisine.