Advisory Board (Coming Soon)

Educational Background

BS in Biology from The College of Charleston, Master Gardener Certificate from NC State Agricultural Extension Department

Teaching Experience

One year teaching biology in Charleston and decades of volunteer assistance teaching reading, math, science and art in the Horry County School system. I served 2 years as PTO president and 8 years on the Horry County Superintendent's Council.

Personal Background

My mother was raised on a farm in the Netherlands and I was born in Brazil while my parents were living on my paternal grandfather's farm, so my desire to plant and grow runs deep. Conway has been my home since 1992. I have 3 grown children and four very active grandchildren!

Teaching Philosophy

Although all my children went to public school I hope my grandchildren will be attending a Waldorf style school. I believe that the more exposure children have to the natural environment the healthier and more intelligent they become. Our bodies have developed over millennia to be moving and surrounded by the flora that produces oxygen we need to feed our brains. Sitting and staring at a flashing screen is proven to cause poor mental and physical health.

Special Interests and Skills

My special talents are cooking, gardening, singing and composing limericks! Also, I love reading and sharing stories with the children.

Connection to Mindful Journey Academy

When I opened my small farm to table cafe one of my goals was to be able to educate children to the life cycle of the food they eat. I met Marie and realized she was doing exactly that, so I asked to join her team. Together our impact is amplified.

Educational Background

I have a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with a Minor in Sociology. I have a Master's Degree in Occupational Therapy.

Teaching Experience

I have been an assistant kindergarten teacher at Mindful Journey Academy since January 2024. Prior to that, I have over a decade of experience as a pediatric occupational therapist specializing in treating children with sensory processing differences and nervous system dysregulation. Most of my pediatric OT experience has been in outpatient therapy but I have some part-time experience as a school-based occupational therapist.

Personal Background

I'm originally from Minnesota but moved to South Carolina in 2015. I ran my own occupational therapy business in Florence from 2017 - 2022, but I made the decision to close my occupational therapy business to focus on my family and start homeschooling my children when we moved to North Myrtle Beach. We started seeking out complementary education and community as homeschoolers, which brought us to MJA and started my role as a teacher.

Early on into my role as assistant teacher at MJA, I realized that I had been implementing many of the philosophies of Waldorf as an occupational therapist, so it was an easy transition into a teaching role. I grew up on a farm and often when I'm at MJA I feel like I get to re-live some of my childhood, while also sharing it with my children and the children who attend MJA. I know that aspect of my childhood instilled a strong work ethic and it joys me to witness children getting to experience that and watch their self-esteem grow when they are proud of work they do.

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that children learn best when we meet them where they are and spark their curiosity, rather than trying to force them to learn. Encouraging a love of learning helps keep them motivated and makes learning enjoyable for both the child and the teacher. Whenever possible, learning should engage all the senses and allow children to be fully immersed in the experience. It should be tailored to their developmental needs, rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach.

Special Interests and Skills

I love outdoors and nature and spend as much time as possible outside. I love building things and physical work and getting kids involved in learning how to use their hands to make things that they are proud of. I believe in a holistic, natural lifestyle and love sharing that knowledge with children so they can understand how to fuel their minds and bodies.

Connection to Mindful Journey Academy

As a pediatric OT, I witnessed so many children and families struggling with traditional schooling and I knew that when I had children that I wanted something different for my children. We started homeschooling in 2022 and I struggled to find the right fit for our family. I am an assistant kindergarten teacher while my children attend MJA part-time, which allows our family to participate in the amazing educational and community opportunities MJA has to offer, while also homeschooling.

Mindful Journey Academy is the perfect complement to our family values and our homeschool philosophy. What I love most about MJA is the encouragement of child development through natural experiences outside. As a pediatric occupational therapist, I've worked with so many children that experience sensory challenges and lack confidence and MJA naturally combats these issues through natural experiences. I've seen my children develop and heal some of their own challenges exponentially since they started attending MJA.

Educational Background

I took a semester at Boulder Community College in CO, and am currently enrolled in the Steiner College of Canada Foundation Studies in Anthroposophy which is the base foundation for the classes needed to get a Waldorf Teaching Certificate. Besides that, I attended The Academy for the Arts, Science, & Technology as a theatre major my last two years of high school, as well as receiving multiple scholarships to attend the CCU Summer Camps, 3-week intensives in collegiate-level study of theatre essentially compressing the sum of a semester into a few weeks.

I have also learned from every interaction, job, and life experience- taking whatever information I can from everywhere to be a better human overall, let alone a teacher.

Teaching Experience

I have been working with children and in childcare ostensibly all my life; my mother was first an English teacher then in Special Ed, and from a young age I helped her and my great grandparents with various Sunday School and after-school classes and meetings. Included in the many jobs & hats I've worn throughout the years are my experiences as a Painting Instructor for Painting with a Twist (A paint-n-sip establishment) as well as spending the ballpark of a decade as a children's entertainer.

Personal Background

My life has been a wild and interesting ride. Never spending more than 4 years in any one location, living all over the country due to my father's involvement in government, and then moving all over inside of the Grand Strand for one reason or another. I've always held a deep passion for the arts, the written word, all that can be done with needle, thread, and some fabric, & above all becoming stronger, softer, and kinder with each new day. I have always been considered an "old soul" and have always seen the value of sitting at the knee of those who were older and wiser than me (and found the most wisdom often from the mouths of babes). There is always more to learn, always progress to be achieved, always beauty somewhere to be seen.

Teaching Philosophy

Children, to me, are and always will be the very best of humanity. They are always our best chance at making tomorrow a day worth seeing, making the hard work and hard days possibly amounting to something of meaning and matter. Above all the tenements that I believe a child needs to learn and grasp (beyond, of course, intellectual growth and basic movement and cognition abilities) are those of how to be kind, how to solve problems confidently and independently- including when, where, and how to ask for help- and how to discern what their passions are and then feel confident to go out into the world, contributing their verse to the song, setting off a chain reaction of more kind, confident, and capable humans- ideally, each one being better than the last.

If I can be a part of that change, that best chance for a child to grow into a fantastic adult- I find myself constantly humbled and honored as the opportunities present themselves, treating them & the wards within my charge with reverence.

Special Interests and Skills

I am a lifelong self-teacher. I have essentially taught myself how to read, ride a bike, dance, sing, body art (including but not limited to face/body paint, special fx makeup, tattoo design, henna/jagua tattoo artistry, beauty/performance makeup). I also draw, paint (any medium), sculpt, needle felt, craft.

I learned to sew at a young age from my great grandmother and have held it close to my heart in my love for fashion, my experience in costuming in theatre, and my belief that everyone deserves to feel comfortable and confident in their clothes. I am known for my calm, even temper and my ability to seem cool and collected amidst most any storm of chaos. I pride myself on my ability to explain things in terms for ease of understanding across most any age and being neurodivergent myself- combined with an intense ability for empathy, can easily understand most anyone else in kind.

Connection to Mindful Journey Academy

I met Marie circling in our local Sacred Sister Circles. I had known about her school in the periphery of my world and thought it a wonderful idea from the start. One day we were talking, and I shared my passion for helping children, theatre, and interest in being involved and she responded with a job offer. I hope to make a residence here and offer tools allowing each child to grow into their best selves, and in turn take what I learn from them to alchemize the same for myself.

Educational Background

M.A. Elementary Education, Adams State University, Alamosa, Colorado. Applied Waldorf curriculum to a grades 1-5 special need classroom.

B.A. Special Education, University of Northern Colorado. State teaching license for Colorado + Nebraska. Student teaching program completed at Camphill School, Glenmoore PA, a Waldorf school with special need emphasis.

Personal Background

Retired from Denver, Colorado school district no. 1, 25 years credited. Also taught in county jail, and residential homes for youth and adult. Active member of Denver chapter of the Anthroposophical [Steiner] Society, 1992-2007.

Native of New York (City). First discovered Waldorf education in the introduction to ed class with a visionary city college professor. "Go West, Young Man" — this I did, and completed college training, again with a Waldorf-Steiner focus.

Teaching Philosophy

The child before me always teaches me the best way to bring a topic before him.

Special Interests

I am just a civilian, yet have a special interest in supporting ex-military. And also, classic cars!

Connection to Mindful Journey Academy

Few schools permit their staff to follow Mindful Journey's way: to remain focused on the children, and on the other beautiful Creation, nature.