Faculty
GRADES TEACHERS
Bret Schacht, 1st grade teacher
Bret Schacht was born and raised in Nebraska. He earned his masters degree in Education and Waldorf certification by attending Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, NH. After a practicum at Christchurch Steiner School in New Zealand, Mr. Schacht taught second grade at White Mountain Waldorf School in North Conway, NH before returning to the midwest to teach at Prairie Moon Waldorf School in 2006. Mr. Schacht has taken one class from 1st-2nd grade through 5th-6th grade, at Prairie Moon and, in 2011, he will be returning to take the incoming 1st grade class.
Mr. Jim Rome, 2nd-3rd grade teacher
A master teacher with over 30 years of teaching experience in both public and private school settings, Jim’s most recent work has been at New York Elementary, in Lawrence, Kansas. He has been teaching First Grade for the past seven years at New York Elementary, and Second and Third Grade there for the seven years before that. Jim is retiring from public school this year and is excited to begin his new journey in education as a Waldorf School teacher: “I’ve had a career-long belief that each child is unique and should be taught at his or her developmental level. This can often mean that it is better to wait for the child to be ready than to push the child into a preconceived mold. I see this respect for the child as a strong current at Prairie Moon.” He began playing the banjo while still in college and has brought his banjo into the classroom, integrating it into the daily rhythm of his class. Jim has a natural affinity with the Waldorf model and will begin his Waldorf training this summer in preparation for taking the class in the fall.
I find it very exciting to be part of the pioneering years of Prairie Moon Waldorf School in Lawrence, Kansas. After years of working with pedagogical groups and committees I recognize the Prairie Moon faculty, staff and community as exceptional and bringing a phenomenal level of integrity to their work in creating this educational campus. I look forward to the ways we can serve the Lawrence community and the children who are cultivating a love of lifetime learning.
Mr. Jared Coady, 4th-5th Grade Teacher
Jared was born in North Texas, grew up in Oklahoma, and is looking forward to returning to his prairie roots. He has an Associate’s degree in Horticulture and a Bachelor’s degree in International and Area Studies. Jared has been teaching in Taiwan for the past five years and is in his second year of teaching at the Leichuan Waldorf School in Taichung, Taiwan. Jared is fluent and literate in Mandarin Chinese, and his teaching experience includes Games, English, Gardening, Life and Ethics, and Main Lessons focusing on science and history.
Regarding his new position at Prairie Moon, Jared says, “The international exchange of ideas has been an ever-present part of Waldorf education. Until now these innovations have mostly ebbed out from the West, however, it is now time that the tide can flow back. Thus, I look forward to bringing these new methods home to the Great Plains, and to sharing my experiences abroad with the children, parents, and faculty of Prairie Moon.”
Jared has taken part in a number of Waldorf education workshops and school sponsored teacher trainings while in Taiwan and is enrolled in the Waldorf grades teaching program at Antioch University in Keene, NH.
SPECIALITY TEACHERS: GRADES
Rick Mitchell, gardener
During the Fall semester, 4th/5th grade students in Mr. Jared Coady’s class work with gardening teacher Rick Mitchell for two hours each Wednesday afternoon. Students learn about soils, composting, vermiculture, water conservation, flowers, vegetables and herbs. Students will construct bio-dynamic compost piles, establish a raised bed vegetable plot, monitor and feed red worms that produce casings useful in compost, plant herbs in the KU Medicinal Garden adjacent to the school and learn about seed saving.
Lana Maree Haas, Singing Teacher, 1-5th grade
Ms. Lana has the awesome job of teaching singing at Prairie Moon, she also subs and teaches summer camp and teaches private lessons in guitar and singing. She is raising two children, Miranda 15 and Duncan 11. She has made her own CD with her own songs titled “Stardust and Moonbeams” that is for sale in the Prairie Moon store in the office. She has a degree in Textile Design and Psychology. She has taught all ages from preschool-high school and special ed. She loves children, music and Prairie Moon!
Raven Harper, Handwork Teacher, 1-5th grade
David Eichler, Extra Lesson, 1-3rd grade
The Extra Lesson was developed in the 1960’s when a British Waldorf teacher, Audrey McAllen, was asked to develop a series of exercises intended to work with children who experienced challenges in important aspects of sensory-motor development (including body awareness or body geography, spatial orientation – both two and three dimensional, sidedness/dominance, fine and gross motor coordination, and visual/auditory processing) or academic development.
Audrey McAllen’s work was inspired by indications given by the founder of the Waldorf educational movement, Rudolf Steiner, in faculty meetings at the original Waldorf School and in lectures on pedagogical and other themes. McAllen’s exercises are described in her book The Extra Lesson, originally published in 1973 and now in its 6th edition. There are training programs for Extra Lesson teachers across the globe, including the United States, Canada, Australia, India, Brazil, and Europe. David is in the second year of a three-year training program and will be bring Extra Lesson to Prairie Moon Waldorf School as a weekly subject class beginning in the Fall semester, in the lower grades.
The Extra Lesson class includes guiding the students through various exercises and activities, some done sitting at a desk, some standing and moving in the room, and some on a mat or on the floor. The exercises and activities involve bean bags, balls of varying sizes, copper rods, beads, wool, balance boards, and other equipment. There are small and large movement activities, as well as form drawing and specific painting exercises. Some of the exercises involve speaking and moving at the same time to enhance auditory capacities, while other exercises are more physical or visual in nature.
EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS
Kimberli Eddins, lead teacher, Sunflower mixed-age kindergarten
Ms. Kimberli is a native of Kansas City. She has been an early childhood teacher, serving also in an administrative capacity since 1993. Most recently, she has taught kindergarten for three years at the Scuola Vita Nuova, a charter school in Kansas City. Ms. Kimberli has been substitute teaching in the Sunflower and Daisy Garden classrooms this spring. She will be the Rainbow Garden summer camp lead teacher at Prairie Moon this summer, while also completing Waldorf early childhood professional development courses with intent to begin a Waldorf teacher training program in the summer 2010. She will continue into the year with a Waldorf teaching mentor.
Sara Stalling, MA, lead teacher, Daisy Garden (nursery)
Ms. Sara received both her bachelor’s and master’s from Goddard College concentrating on Arts and Education. Her thesis focused on “we teach who we are” and exemplifies Sara’s deep understanding of Waldorf education. She has been teaching since 1996 in one way or another, within preschool settings, as well as working with at-risk youth. Ms. Sara comes to us from Lawrence Community Nursery School in Lawrence, after serving as lead teacher there since 2006. Her teaching experience also includes the Lawrence Arts Center Summer Youth Theater, as well Art Facilitator at GaDuGi Safecenter. Ms. Sara is a mother to two sons – Maya, 8 and Animos, 6 months, and is wife to David Spitzer. The family lives in Lawrence. Ms. Sara will begin professional development coursework this summer in Waldorf early childhood education and will receive mentoring during the course of the year, with the intent of beginning formalized training in Summer 2010.
Ms. Elizabeth Rowley, BA, BFA, Daisy Garden Assistant Teacher
Ms. Elizabeth was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, with creative roots in her linage with an artist/writer father and homemaker mother, her childhood seemed magical. After travel and many work and life adventures, she finished her education at Wichita State University with three undergraduate degrees, including a BFA in painting and drawing. She then pursued a life as a working artist. The journey began at Prairie Moon Waldorf School when she left Wichita and moved to Lawrence. Although it was a relationship that brought her to Lawrence, it was the landscape that beckoned her to paint it. In October 2005, the first year Prairie Moon opened, she began her beautiful journey as the After-Care Teacher. She writes:
“The gardens we planted grew just like the community at Prairie Moon. The vision that this small group of parents had in the beginning was so passionate and still is. Nature is my muse and the thrill of passing this reverence on to children is truly a soulful experience. The prairie surrounding the school speaks to me as I come to work daily – I am home.”
Monika Eichler, LMSW, MEd, teacher of parent-child class, Sweet Pea Gardens
Monika received her bachelors in psychology and moved into a doctoral clinical program at Western Michigan University. Thereafter, her heart longed for a more holistic approach to the helping profession and found herself at home in social work. After receiving her Master’s Degree at KU she began to work for the School of Social Welfare at KU, where she currently conducts research on mental health settings. In the meantime, Monika discovered Waldorf education in the late 90′s and when talk of a school in Lawrence began, she quickly joined forces with others to make a Waldorf school in Kansas a reality. Since 2001, Monika has been either on the board or a faculty member of Prairie Moon. In fact, she was so curious about Waldorf education that she decided it was time for her to receive her early childhood teacher degree in Waldorf education from Sunbridge College. This allowed her to teach the Sunflower classroom for one year, after which time she had her second child. Since 2004, Monika has been leading playgroups, and the parent-child class, now called Sweet Peas Garden.
Sue Nutterfield, Bookeeper
Sue joined Prairie Moon in spring of 2007. Even though Sue’s education is in accounting, she has always been involved in the education of children through volunteering, substituting, being a paraprofessional, and now as bookkeeper. She enjoys the learning environment and being involvedin the process of educating our young.
Melissa Watson, Office Manager
Melissa become the Office Manager (ex-officio member of the board) in Summer 2009, but has served on the board since Summer 2008 as Secretary (pro-tem), and Chair of F & E. What brings Melissa to Waldorf education and Prairie Moon is beauty, art, respect for the children, and reverence for where they are developmentally. Melissa’s background is in art– she earned an MFA degree and has experience with commercial design, layout and publishing. She assists Prairie Moon with publications (flyers, ads, etc.). Melissa is detail-oriented, a good listener, a right-brained thinker and enjoys problem solving. She “doesn’t run with scissors…much” – and has a great sense of humor. Oh…and she always welcomes finding chocolate on her desk.