Why Waldorf...
"Waldorf education places the development of the individual child in the focal point, convinced that the healthy individual is a prerequisite for a healthy society."
~The International Conference on Education of the United Nations Educational & Scientific Cultural Organization

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
~William Butler Yeats

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William Dolde
Parent-Tot/Nursery
William grew up in Pittsburgh and Connecticut and received a BA from
Yale. In addition to receiving early childhood credentials at the
University of Maryland and Waldorf certification at Rudolf Steiner
College, William has taken RIE I training in Los Angeles. William has
taught workshops for parent & child teachers at Sophia’s Hearth in
Keene, NH. In addition to teaching kindergarten in Maryland and
Monterey, William has taught nursery and parent & child classes at
the Waldorf School of Baltimore. He works as a parent coach and
curriculum consultant for an adult education institute. He finds work
with infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families rewarding and
just right. His greatest teachers are his sons Liam and Crispin.
Dyanne Harshman
Kindergarten Dyanne
was born and raised in the maritime Pacific Northwest. After receiving her B.A. in Psychology from Central Washington University in 1985, she enjoyed a brief hiatus in Tuscon, Arizona where where she met her husband and continued her quest for a child-centered career. She gained useful experience working in home, daycare and preschool settings as well as co-creating summer programs for “at risk readers.”
After then 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 M.S. Ed in Waldorf Early Childhood Education from
Sunbridge College, NY.
She serves as adjunct faculty for Sound Circle Center for Anthroposophy in Seattle and is actively involved in the regional Waldorf Early Childhood movement as a mentor and consultant. Dyanne loves living on this beautiful Island with her family and friends where she enjoys gardening, cooking, singing and playing marimba.
Kim Dunkley
Kindergarten
Kim
was born in Manchester, England. She spent her childhood acting, swimming and singing. After graduating with a B.A. in Drama and English
Literature from the University College of Ripon and York St. John, she traveled independently, acting here and there all over the world. She finally unpacked in Seattle three years later after discovering that the Pacific Northwest is the most beautiful place on earth and meeting her spouse, Joe!
Kim and her family moved to Whidbey Island so their girls could attend Whidbey Island Waldorf School. Kim began working at our school as a lead Kindergarten teacher in 2004. Kim is a trained Waldorf teacher, having graduated from Sound Circle Center for Anthroposophy in Seattle, Washington. Kim loves being alive, but especially enjoys traveling, walking in the woods, loves the beach and ocean, handwork, scuba diving, and all performing arts mediums, including theater, good movies, singing and dance. She loves singing and acting in plays when she has extra time. She also enjoys a good cup of English tea and eating at fine restaurants. It also feels good to laugh out loud! Kim feels privileged to spend her days with young children.
Grades 1-8 for the 2011-12 School Year:
Kat Farwell
1st Grade
Katheri ne (Kat) Farwell was born in a small Kansas community one month after her Brazilian mother arrived in the United States. Raised by a elderly farming couple, her youth was filled with sewing, baking, writing, woodwork and learning the ways of the land and its animals. She thus developed strong interests in science and the arts, and a wonder and reverence for the natural world and all living things.
Kat went on to earn her B.A. in education from Emporia Teachers College and began teaching at the School the of World in Lawrence, Kansas, providing whole-child education to children from over 30 countries. During this time she developed a fascination for anthropology and the multi-dimensional aspects of being human. From there she joined with a few other dedicated families to found the first Waldorf school in Kansas.
Fourteen years after first becoming a teacher, Kat began her Waldorf teacher training at Rudolf Steiner College and became a Grades teacher at Prairie Moon Waldorf School in Lawrence. Now heeding the winds of change, Kat brings her love of teaching to Whidbey Island Waldorf School. She is happy to root herself in the natural beauty of the island and its exceptional community with her son, Will and daughter, Cassidy.
Susan Maloch
2nd Grade Susan (Sage) Maloch was born in Utah, and spent her time hiking and rafting amid the red rock and sagebrush of the Southwest (hence her nickname, "Sage"). She studied at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and at the University of Utah where where she received her B.A. in English Literature and a B.F.A in Modern Dance. She also earned a Teaching Credential in both subjects. Since then she has taught for over 30 years in Utah, Idaho, Oregon and California. She has also toured and performed with a professional dance company, directed and acted in plays, and served as a Children's Librarian. In 1990 Sage returned to school to study Waldorf education and earned her Waldorf certificate in 1993 from Rudolf Steiner College. Since has since taught for 16 years in private and charter Waldorf Schools.
Ms. Maloch has two adult children: Duncan, 25, who graduated from Willow Wood Waldorf School and enjoys bowling, fishing and bluegrass mandolin; and Sierra, 22, who graduated from Summerfield Waldorf High School and is now studying Anthropology. When she is not teaching, Sage likes to walk with her Australian Shepherd, Sunny, or curl up with a good book and her two Irish cats, Shannon and O'Malley. She also enjoys biking, singing and performing in plays.
Sage holds a California Single Subject Credential in both English and Dance, as well as a California Multiple Subject Credential. She recently obtained her CLAD certification, and her NCLB "Highly Qualified Teacher" Endorsement.
Laura Berkley Boram
3rd Grade
Laura was born in Glendora, a small town in southern California, to parents Maureen and Elger Berkley, who were married for over 50 years. Laura was surrounded by love and concrete and spent much of her youth at the swimming pool or roller skating.
A graduate of St. Lucy's High School and congressional nominee to the U.S. Air Force Academy, Laura shifted her course to theater and graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 1989. She moved to the Pacific Northwest and worked for many years in Seattle as a Lactation Consultant. She lived for two years in Songaia Cohousing. In 2002 she moved with her family to Whidbey Island and began her connection to WIWS first as an Early Childhood Assistant. She also worked for many years at the Whidbey Institute at Chinook and still has a deep connection there.
Inspired by the excellent WIWS faculty, Laura pursued her Waldorf teacher training at Sound Circle Center, graduating in 2009. Laura especially enjoys her work with local theaters and living in cohousing.
Evan Ragland
4th Grade Main Lesson Teacher
Raised in the Pacific Northwest, Evan Ragland has always held reverence for the mountains, water, trees, and all creatures of the natural world. Immersed as a child not only in a natural environment, Evan was also raised in a dual-language environment. He attended a Spanish/English bilingual school, and has familial ties to Latin America.
Evan graduated from The Evergreen State College with a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts, focusing on Bilingual Education, Visual Arts, Humanities and Science. The diversity of his studies has facilitated his world travels and grants a basis of reference that allows him to connect with people on a number of levels, including tutoring in Spanish and teaching English as a Second Language (ESL).
Evan has spent the last four years in New York City earning his teaching certificate in Waldorf Education from the Sunbridge Institute, and is thrilled to begin a new chapter of life here in Washington working, growing and contributing to a caring community here on Whidbey Island.
Karol White
5th Grade
Karol 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 32 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 Lindstrom
6th Grade
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. Angela also has a M.Ed. from
Antioch New England University. Angela resides in Everett with her husband and
five children, ranging in age from high school to third grade.
Patricia Relles
7th Grade Patricia was born and raised in northern California. She met her husband, Gary McDanniel (see below!) both were attending California State University, Sacramento. Patricia graduated with a double major in English and Fine Arts, After college, Patricia moved with her husband to Michigan and then Wisconsin while he pursued Doctoral studies. During Gary's second year of law school, Patricia gave birth to unexpected twins, Dylan and Candis and the family moved back to California. Patricia and family eventually moved to Hawaii when Gary accepted his first position at Haleakala Waldorf School. As the children grew more independent, Patricia also began teaching, first handwork and art and expanding the after-school sports program. In 1985, she accepted a fifth grade class teacher position there, and spent summers in Waldorf teacher training. They continued to teach on Maui until coming to WIWS in the fall of 2009. During their time in Maui, Patricia guided two classes from fifth through eighth, and one from sixth through eighth. Additionally, Patricia spent her last ten years at Haleakala as a full-time Upper Grade specialist.
Gary McDanniel
8th Grade
Gary grew up in Tulare, in northern California. He attended California State University in Sacramento, where he met and married Patricia Relles (see above!). With his degree in Philosophy in hand, Gary then accepted a fellowship to the Doctoral Program in Philosophy at Michigan State University. He later transferred to the University of Wisconsin in Madison to pursue his doctoral studies, and, later, entered Law School.
The birth of Gary and Patricia's twins shifted priorities and sent the family back to California. Having discovered the work of Rudolf Steiner, Gary then did his teacher training and, in 1981, took the helm of his first 1st grade class at the Haleakala Waldorf School in Maui, Hawaii. Gary has taken three classes all the way from 1st through 8th grade. He came here with his wife, Patricia, to take over a 5th-grade class here at WIWS (this year's 7th grade class!) and is now stepping in to teach our 8th grade this 2011-12 school year.
Raquel Espinoza
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.
Natasha Zimmerman
Handwork Teacher

(bio coming soon...)
Frances Kenney
Music
Frances grew up in the Midwest in a very musical family. She attended the School for Creative & Performing Arts in Cincinnati, majoring in vocal and instrumental music. She went on to major in oboe performance at Indiana University, during which time she fell in love with working with young children.
Frances took a break from music to explore this work further, which brought her to Waldorf education and, eventually, to Sound Circle Center in Seattle. She earned her certificate in Waldorf Early childhood Education from Sound Circle in 2008. Since then, Frances has re-kindled her interest in music She now plays oboe with the Saratoga chamber Orchestra and teaches music part-time at WIWS. She loves living on Whidbey island with her husband, Nick, and daughters Gabriella and Sonja.
Karen Benson
Educational Support Teacher,
Movement & Games  Karen grew up in southern California, loving the outdoors and playing teacher with her dolls. She received a B.S. in Wine Production Management from U.C. Davis and worked as an Assistant winemaker from Napa, CA all the way to western Australia. She left winemaking to pursue a public teaching credential at U.C. Santa Cruz in Physics and Chemistry. She also holds teaching credentials in K-8, Biology and Environmental Science. The birth of ther son, Luc, led her on a quest for an authentic, arts-based education which nurtures the soul--a.k.a. Waldorf Education! Karen studied Waldorf teaching at the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training with Dorit Winter for two years, and completed her certification at Sound Circle Center in Seattle, WA. She is the mother of two energetic children and is currently in Spacial Dynamics training, lead by Jaimen McMillan. Karen serves on the faculty of WIWS as the remedial tutor, specializing in reading and math. She appreciates the focused work of her students, the relaxed pace of the island, its natural beauty, and the warm and supportive community of this Waldorf school.
Cordula Hetland
Extended Day Coordinator
Cordula was born in Hannover, Germany, the second of four children of Gerhard and Gertrud Ott. She began her own Waldorf education in preschool and graduated from a 12-year program at the Stuttgart Waldorf School in 1980.
She then pursued her Waldorf Teacher training and received her certification in 1984. In 1986, Cordula rounder the first Waldorf Kindergarten in Lower Austria. In 1996, she married Robert Hetland. Their son Lars was born in 1998, and the family moved to Whidbey Island in 1999, where Robert had previously lived.
Cordula enjoys working with children and supporting parents in discovering the gifts a Waldorf education brings to the whole family.
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