Kathleen Stone-Michael, Nursery Teacher
Miss Kathleen was born in Plattsburg, New York, received her undergraduate degree from SUNY Binghamton and her Masters in Synaesthetic Education from Syracuse University. She taught for several years at all grade levels, from K- College, and then went back to school for a degree in interior design. After working in commercial and residential design for a few years, she decided she wanted to return to teaching and found Waldorf Education. She trained in Waldorf Early Childhood Education at Sunbridge College in Spring Valley, NY, and ran an in-home nursery in Atlanta, Georgia for 7 years. Miss Kathleen moved to Chapel Hill in 2001, enrolled her son at EWS and became our third Kindergarten teacher. In 2004, she started our first Nursery class, and continues as our Nursery teacher. She also spearheads our puppetry program, giving puppet shows at EWS and in the community, and teaches puppetry to the 7th grade. She is a member of the College of Teachers.
Robin Olson, Kindergarten Teacher
Miss Robin has been teaching in our Kindergarten for 12 years, and has two daughters who are alumnae of EWS. She has a BFA in Theater and Education from Arizona State University, and has been a Marketing Director, a freelance writer, and taught theater at High School level. She did her Waldorf Early Childhood training at Sunbridge College in Spring Valley, NY. She is a member of the College of Teachers.
Ameli Fairman-Evans, Kindergarten Teacher
Miss Ameli has been a kindergarten teacher at Emerson Waldorf School for 12 years–her first kindergarten class was our first graduating senior class! She was born and grew up in Germany, where she went to a Waldorf School and then to art college, studying Pottery and Sculpture. She then settled in England and, while her own child was young, ran a home nursery. Miss Ameli did in-house kindergarten training at Michael House and taught kindergarten there for 8 years. She then she taught Kindergarten for 10 years at Kings Langley, and Pottery and Sculpture in the High School there. She was the Early Childhood representative to the Steiner Schools Fellowship, a member of the Steering Group for the Kindergarten teachers in England, and a representative for England on the International Association for Waldorf Kindergartens in Stuttgart. Miss Ameli moved to the U.S. in 1993, and joined the EWS Faculty as a Kindergarten teacher. She is the Regional Representative for the Southeast to the Early Childhood Association of North America. She has also completed the Gradalis Early Childhood Therapeutic Training, and is a member of our EWS Care Group, which focuses on children which may need special support. Miss Ameli is a member of the College of Teachers.
Patricia Cornell, Kindergarten Teacher
Patricia Cornell teaches Kindergarten and has been at Emerson Waldorf School for over 10 years. She brought with her many years of teaching experience in early childhood from traditional schools. Miss Patricia is a graduate of Sunbridge College of NY in Waldorf Early Childhood Education, holds her NC State Credentials from Durham Tech and is currently continuing her training in early childhood development and Brain Gym. Her background includes a degree in design from F.I.T. in NYC and over 20 years experience in design and small business management. Her son attends Emerson Waldorf School High School.
Shannon Wiley, 1st Grade Teacher
Mr. Wiley was born in Berlin, Vermont and educated at Scottsdale Community College, Scottsdale Vocational Technical Center, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts and Antioch New England Graduate School. He taught for five years at the Cape Cod Waldorf School, teaching Grades 1-5, 8th grade anatomy and physiology and serving on the College of Teachers and as Faculty Chair. He has also been a Waldorf Kindergarten teacher, a substitute teacher at Pine Hill Waldorf School, a college anatomy, physiology and nutrition teacher, a massage therapist and an accounts manager. He is married with two children, who are students at EWS.
Eric Boesch, 2nd Grade Teacher
Mr. Boesch has been at EWS since 1998, and carried a class from 1-8th grade, before starting with his current class in 1st grade in 2006. He was born and raised in Rhode Island, graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in German literature, and worked in Boston for a few years before moving to England to attend Emerson College for his Waldorf Teacher Training. There he met his wife, Ingeborg, our German Teacher. After he completed his training, he taught English for a year at the very first Waldorf School, in Stuttgart, Germany, and then took a position at the Edinburgh Waldorf School. He was there 27 years, and took two classes from 1st to 8th grade, two classes 6-8 and one class 4-8. In 1998, he and Ingeborg joined the Faculty at EWS. He is a member of the College of Teachers.
Benjamin Trueblood, 3rd Grade Teacher
Mr. Trueblood joined the EWS faculty in 2006, as the 2nd grade teacher. He was born in Chicago, attended the Chicago Waldorf School from Kindergarten and was a member of their first High School graduating class. Benjamin attended Warren Wilson College in Asheville for 2 years, where he studied “everything”, and then took a break to travel in India for 6 months. Returning to the States, he transferred to the University of Georgia and studied Anthropology, which included fieldwork in Budapest and Transylvania on the Roma people and the interaction between music and the cultural and political position of the Roma. He is also interested in experimental “Music Concrete”.
David Nikias, 4th Grade Teacher
Mr. Nikias joined the EWS faculty in 2005 as the 7th grade teacher. After taking that class through 8th grade, he took over his current class in the fall of 2007 , as their 4th grade teacher. He also teaches art in the High School. He is a graduate of Guilford College, and did Foundation Studies, Teacher Training, and Goethean Studies at Rudolf Steiner College in California. He then taught for 10 years at the Live Oak Waldorf School in Meadow Vista, California, taking several classes through the middle school years. Mr. Nikias spent the 2004-5 academic year working in Waldorf Schools in Mumbai and Hyderabad, India, and continues to train and mentor teachers in Waldorf Schools there.
Judy Grant, 5th Grade Teacher
Ms. Grant was born in New York and attended the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City for thirteen years. She graduated from Brandeis University with a major in sociology and received Master’s degrees in Women’s Studies from Goddard College and Counseling Psychology from Antioch College. She completed the Foundation Year for teacher training in Spring Valley, NY, and taught for 11 years at various Waldorf schools in New York and New England before joining the EWS faculty in 1994. Ms Grant taught one class for grades 1-8, and then started with her current class in 2003 when they entered first grade. Among other things, Ms. Grant is interested in birds, Canada and Inuit art; she combined these interests when she took a boat trip to the Canadian Arctic, visiting bird and Inuit artist colonies, after her last class finished eighth grade. She is a member of the College of Teachers.
Victoria Flynn, 6th Grade Teacher
Ms. Flynn joined EWS as the lst grade teacher in 2002. She was born in New York City, attended the Great Barrington Rudolph Steiner School from 1-8 and graduated from Green Meadow Waldorf School. She attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., majoring in Art Education, and then spent a year in Madrid, assisting in the kindergarten at the Waldorf School there. Ms. Flynn then returned to the US, did her Waldorf teacher training at Antioch New England, and joined the EWS Faculty. She loves to play tennis, run, ski and make art.
Peter Moyers, 7th Grade Teacher
Mr. Moyers joined the EWS faculty in 1992, and took a class from Grade 1-8. He then took a year’s sabbatical in Europe, and returned to EWS to take the 6th grade class through to 8th grade. In August 2005, he began teaching his current class, when they were in 5th grade. Mr. Moyers was born in England, spent his first three years in the Sudan and the next ten years of his childhood in Ireland. He then moved back to England, finished school and University there and in France. He did his Waldorf teacher training at Emerson College. Mr. Moyers has also worked as a carpenter and in a professional theater company. He is married with four children, two of whom are EWS alumnae and two of whom are students at EWS. He is a member of the College of Teachers.
Stephen Beck, 8th Grade Teacher
Mr. Beck is our 8th grade teacher, and has been with his class since 1st grade. He was born and raised in Washington, DC and graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature. After college he did a variety of jobs, ranging from training dogs to pouring concrete. He then taught for three years at a private school in West Virginia, and it was there that he discovered Waldorf Education. He went to Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene N.H. for his Waldorf teacher training, and joined EWS as our Grade 1 teacher in 2000. When he’s not teaching, Mr. Beck loves playing basketball early in the morning and mandolin late at night.
Ingeborg Boesch, German Teacher
Frau Boesch was born and raised in Marbach, Germany, the birthplace of the famous poet, Schiller. She graduated from the “Mother” Waldorf School in Stuttgart, and then from the University of Munich. She did her Waldorf Teacher Training at Emerson College in Sussex, England, where she met her husband, Eric. With Eric, she moved to Edinburgh, where, after a break of a few years at home with her young children, she taught German and Handwork at the Edinburgh Waldorf School. She also took a class as Class Teacher for Grades 1-8, and at another time taught Class 6 for one year. During this time she was also teaching in the evening teacher-training course in Edinburgh Waldorf School, and acting as a mentor and advisor to Steiner Schools throughout the UK. Frau Boesch moved to the US in 1998, and began teaching German and heading up our Foreign Languages Department. In 2001-2 she stepped in as the Class Teacher for Grade 5, and in 2003-5, she was the Class Teacher for Grade 5-6. She now teaches German in the Grade School, is the Chair of the College of Teachers, and continues to mentor other schools in the Southeast USA. She has two children, both graduates of the Edinburgh Waldorf School.
Kim D’Angelo, Spanish Teacher
Senora D’Angelo grew up in Montana near Yellowstone Park. She graduated from Montana State University with a BA in Modern Languages. She has lived in Venezuela, Mexico, Peru and Ecuador, where she served as principal flautist with the Cuenca City Symphony. She taught ESL in Peru and flute, piano, English, and Spanish in various schools in Florida. After marrying and having children, Kim spent 5 years teaching private language and music lessons, writing children’s stories, importing Peruvian handcrafts, performing on the flute and being home with her baby daughter. At the same time, she was one of the founding parents of a Waldorf initiative in Florida and began Waldorf teacher education intensive training, which she completed in the the spring of 1999. In December 2005 the D’Angelo family moved to North Carolina, enrolled their children in EWS, and in the Fall of 2006 Kim began teaching Spanish in grades 1-8 and woodwinds in middle school.
Carol Kubik, Handwork Teacher
Ms. Kubik is our Handwork teacher for grades 1-8. She was born in Florida, and attended the University of Florida, studying humanities and art. She then worked in a retail establishment and taught handicapped children for a few years, until she had her own children and discovered Waldorf Education. She did her Waldorf teacher training at Sunbridge College in Spring Valley New York, studying child development as she was experiencing the development of her own children. She did Waldorf Handwork training with Greta Frolich, and Early Childhood Training, also in Spring Valley. She joined the faculty of EWS in 1988 as the Handwork teacher, and taught EWS’s very first graduating class. Ms. Kubik took a break from teaching for a few years when she had her third child (but continued mentoring the Handwork program), and then picked up full time teaching again as her daughter entered school. Her three children are all alumnae of EWS. Ms. Kubik was instrumental in starting our Children’s Woodland Shop, many years ago, on the deck of the current Kindergarten. She is also our 1st delegate to AWSNA, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America.
Whitney MacDonald, Physical Education Teacher
Mr. MacDonald was born in Charleston, SC and grew up in Massachusetts. He graduated from Antioch College and worked in various jobs including professional chef, political organizer for the environment, sailing instructor and in a research lab. He then went back to school and received a Master’s Degree in Education with a certificate in Waldorf Education from Antioch New England Graduate School, and joined EWS as the 1st grade teacher in 1996. He took his class through 8th grade, while also studying for his certificate in Spatial Dynamics. In 2004 he became our first full time Physical Education teacher. He also has 15 years basketball coaching experience, and 5 years baseball coaching experience.
Jason Child, Music Teacher
Our Music Director, Jason Child, has been teaching at EWS since 2005, and has over 12 years experience teaching music to kids from 6 months old through 12th grade. He grew up in Virginia, has a BA in Music from Earlham College, a Master’s in Music Education from Florida State University and has done Foundation Studies coursework through the Center for Anthroposophy, Wilton, NH. He began teaching music in 1988 and became a fulltime music teacher in the public schools of Philadelphia in 1994. He has also been a professional singer, and plays the guitar and the trombone. Immediately before coming to EWS, he was teaching music, language arts and social science in a private school in Tallahassee, Florida. Mr Child teaches music classes 1st – 8th, chorus 5th – 12th and beginning brass. He is the Vice-President of the Association of North American Music Educators, and has three children at EWS.
Dennis Hagerman, Practical Arts Teacher
Mr. Hagerman came to the Emerson Waldorf School in 1993, to be the class teacher of grade six. After this class finished 8th grade in 1996, he established a full practical arts workshop and program. He received his B.A. degree in 1963 from Carthage College in sociology, with a minor in music and an M.Ed from Duns Scotus College, an affiliate of the then Waldorf Institute of Detroit — now known as Sunbridge College in New York. He went to Germany in 1971 and taught music, English and practical arts in three Waldorf Schools for twenty-two years, mostly at the high school level. While in Esslingen, Germany, he received his qualifications, papers and title as a Master Craftsman. Mr. Hagerman is included in the 2000, 2004 and 2005 editions of “Who’s Who among America’s Teachers” and the 2002-3 edition of the “International Who’s Who of Professional Educators”. His hobby is playing the pipe organ. He and his wife, Brigitte, have five children, all of whom attended Waldorf schools in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Hagerman also have six grandchildren, here and in Germany.
Liz Levitt, High School Humanities
Ms. Levitt is an enthusiastic new member of the High School faculty, where she teaches literature and theater. She received both her B.A. in English and M.A.L.S. in Arts from Wesleyan University, in Middletown, CT. Though Liz is new to teaching, she has six years of experience working with young people as an Earth Guide and Camp Counselor at The Center for Education, Imagination, and the Natural World in Whitsett, NC, and also co-led a student literature forum within Wesleyan’s s English Department in the Spring of ’06. Liz also brings experience with a variety of different traditional and avant-garde theatrical techniques to her theater classes. As a North Carolina native, Liz is thrilled to return to her home state and deepen her long-standing interest in Waldorf Education through her commitment to EWS.
Lisa Krough, High School and Middle School Math
Bio coming
Nancy Balasubramanian, High School History Teacher
Nancy Balasubramanian teaches history and American studies and is the High School Faculty Chair. She received her B.A. from the College of William and Mary, and her M.A. from the University of Maryland. Her professional experiences include teaching at two private high schools in California and at the North Carolina School of Science and Math. She joined the EWS Faculty in 2005.
Andrew Levitt, English, Literature and Dramatic Arts
Andrew Levitt teaches English, literature and dramatic arts. He received his undergraduate degree in English from Yale University and a masters and Ph.D. in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania. He has performed with numerous groups as well as working solo as a performance artist. Andrew has been an artist in residence in six states and has taught at every level from pre-school to graduate school, including serving as assistant professor of theatre at UNC Greensboro. He was one of the pioneer teachers at EWS High School, joining the faculty in 2002. He is a member of the College of Teachers.
Rob Rich, High School Mathematics
Rob Rich joined the EWS Faculty in 2003, and teaches math in the High School and Grade 8. He previously taught in the suburban Boston area. Mr. Rich has a B.A. in anthropology from Dartmouth College, and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University. He has nineteen years of professional engineering experience designing, manufacturing and testing high precision electro-mechanical devices for spacecraft. He is a member of the College of Teachers.
Lisa Damian, Life Science, Earth Science and Movement
Ms. Damian teaches life science, earth science and movement. She also manages the 11th grade Internship Program and the 12th grade Senior Projects. She has two B.A. degrees in biology and environmental studies from East Stroudsburg University, and general and therapy certificates from the Spatial Dynamics Institute. She has worked as an environmental educator, Waldorf class teacher, movement educator, and as a life science teacher at Spring Hill Waldorf School in New York, and Green Mountain Waldorf School in Vermont. She joined the EWS Faculty in 2002, as one of the pioneering teachers for our High School.
Jill Baldwin, Percussion and Improvisation
Ms. Baldwin teaches percussion and improvisation as part of our World Music program. She is an experienced teacher, performer, writer, and director of world music and music for theater.
Robert Mays, Chemistry
Mr. Mays received a BS degree in chemistry from MIT and worked for many years in software engineering at IBM. He received his certificate in Waldorf High School Teacher Education in the physical sciences from the Center for Anthroposophy in Wilton, NH, and has taught chemistry and physics blocks at Waldorf school in Colorado, Massachusetts, Vermont, Illinois and California. He was one of the founders of the Emerson Waldorf School, his daughter is an alumna and he served on our Board of Directors for many years. He teaches Chemistry in the High School and Middle School.
Bruce Wieland, High School Physics
Mr. Wieland, the high school physics teacher, is an experienced research scientist. He has B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering and biomedical nuclear engineering and has worked at university and national laboratories, most recently as Associate Research Professor in Radiology at Duke University Medical Center. Bruce trained with veteran Waldorf science instructor Jim Kotz and completed the Waldorf High School Teacher Training program in Wilton, N.H. His daughters are Emerson Waldorf alumnae.
Nathaniel Williams, High School Art Teacher
Mr. Williams is the high school art teacher and coordinator of the high school handwork program. He completed studies in painting, art and Anthroposophy at the Neue Kunstschule in Basel, Switzerland, and studied drama and marrionette theater with Thomas G. Meier. Mr. Williams taught at the Linden Corner Waldorf School in Nashville, Tennessee, before joining the EWS faculty in 2006.
Melissa Lage-Michael, Life and Earth Science and Spanish
Ms. Lage-Michael teaches life and earth science as well as Spanish in the high school. She received a B.S. in Biology from the University of Cincinnati, a M.A. in Biological Sciences with a focus on plant ecology and land-use history from Smith College and a Ph. D. from Brown University in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, where she focused on the role of microorganisms and their interactions with salt marsh plants in the natural environment. In addition, she has spent time teaching science in under-resourced schools through the Teach for America program and as a mentor for students in the public school system.
Roy Bradley, High School German, History and Administration
Bio coming
Administrative Staff
