Camellia Waldorf School

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Parent Toddler Teacher BERTIE COMBS

Mrs. Combs has a Certificate in Early Childhood Education from American River College and has studied Early Childhood Education at Rudolf Steiner College . At Camellia Waldorf School she has worked in the After Care Program, assisted in the preschool, and taught parent toddler classes. Bertie has two grown children in college.

Preschool Teacher MAIJA BEATTIE

Ms. Beattie is the mother of two children at Camellia. She holds a B.A. in History with highest honors from University of California, Davis and an M.A. in Theology from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley. During her years at the Theological Union Maija worked as an Administrative Assistant and Coordinator at the Faculty Grants and Projects Office as well as Assistant Dean. She is currently enrolled at Rudolf Steiner College in continuing courses in Waldorf Early Childhood Education.

Kindergarten Teacher SIOBHAN HUDSON

Mrs. Hudson was born of Irish parents in London , England where she grew up and attended the North London School of Arts. She has lived in Turkey and Spain , where she taught English. In the U.S. , Siobhan attended Southern Illinois University and earned her Certificate in Waldorf Early Childhood Education from Rudolf Steiner College . She taught kindergarten for 12 years at the Davis Waldorf School before joining the Camellia faculty this year. Her grown son is a Waldorf graduate, currently attending college.

Kindergarten Teacher DAVID GILMAN

Mr. Gilman was born in Encino, California. He received his B.A. in Human Ecology (with studies in ecological human-centered landscape design and music) from College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. David has taught environmental education since 1990 and Jewish education since 1996. He became intrigued by Waldorf education thanks to a rabbi who was a school principal. David completed his foundation year at Kibbutz Harduf, Israel, during 2000-01, returned to California to the Rudolf Steiner College’s Summer Grades Teacher Education Program and the full-time Early Childhood Program; he graduated from Rudolf Steiner College in May, 2002. David has been teaching kindergarten at the Corvallis Waldorf School for the last three years and is currently enrolled in Spatial Dynamics training. He is also a certified accupressurist and loves rivers, cooking, language and handwork.

First Grade Teacher JENNIFER YATES

Mrs. Yates was born in Philadelphia and grew up near Kimberton Waldorf School. She earned a B.F.A. from Tyler School of Art where she majored in ceramics and was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Scholarship award from Temple University, Philadelphia. She attended Penland School of Crafts and design workshops at Moore College of Art and Design, also in Philadelphia. Jennifer completed the Waldorf Teacher Training program at Rudolf Steiner College in 2003. During the 2003-2004 school year, she traveled around the world with a family as teacher for their second grader and kindergartner. She had the unique opportunity of teaching at Waldorf schools in the countries she visited. Jennifer joined CWS in 2004 to teach our Sixth Grade until they graduated in June 2007.

Second Grade Teacher KAREN ROOS

Ms. Roos was born in Pacific Grove and spent her childhood and much of her adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received a B.S. in Business with a minor in Psychology from San Jose State University. Karen spent time in West Africa with the Peace Corps, and the following 12 years growing a successful marketing career. She completed a year of Eurythmy training at Rudolf Steiner College as well as the Grades Teacher Education program. Karen has twin boys and a daughter. Her life philosophies and skills include building community, respect for the individual, and passionate creativity, particularly relating to performance art, music, and story-telling.

Third Grade Teacher KATHLEEN TISCHER

Ms. Tischer grew up in Alaska where her family homesteaded. She did undergraduate work at the University of Alaska and Shasta College. Kathleen earned her Waldorf Teacher Education Diploma at Rudolf Steiner College. She has a background in office management and administration in the medical world. Her teaching experience includes developing and running summer programs and after school programs, teaching at Sacramento Waldorf School, and most recently taking a class at Davis Waldorf School from First through Seventh Grade.

Fourth Grade Teacher STEPHEN ROSS

Mr. Ross earned a B.A. in English from the University of Pittsburgh. He spent the next 22 years in various fields of consulting. His son attended the Marin Waldorf School where Stephen was very active and began to have an interest in Anthroposophy. They moved to Sacramento so his son could attend high school at the Sacramento Waldorf School. Mr. Ross completed the Teacher Training program and the Goethean Studies program at Rudolf Steiner College where he also has taken courses in Anthroposophy. Stephen came to Camellia in 1993 when he joined the Board. He joined the faculty in the fall of 1996 and graduated his first class from Eighth Grade in 2004.

Fifth Grade Teacher MUFFET NATURA

Ms. Natura was born in Fresno, California. She began piano lessons at age 6. Although her family moved frequently to various rural communities around the state, her piano studies and love of singing, drawing, painting, and nature were constant companions. Muffet entered college at CSUS as a Piano Major but graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences. After working for a short time at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, she was hired by the State of California Department of Food and Agriculture as an electron microscopist and laboratory technician. Her interests in understanding the environmental impacts of farming and pesticide use resulted in her transfer to the Department of Pesticide Regulation, where she worked as both practitioner and manager in the areas of environmental monitoring, enforcement, licensing, and information technology. She separated from this fulfilling, twenty year career to pursue her belief in Waldorf education and revitalize her artistic and spiritual interests. She completed her Teacher Training at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California.

Sixth Grade Teacher MIKI HIGASHINE

Ms. Higashine was born and raised in Japan. She studied English and Teaching English as a Foreign Language at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies. She studied Anthroposophy at Gradalis College in New Zealand. After living in Canada for four years she came to Sacramento where she completed the Goethean Studies Program and the Waldorf Teacher Training Program at Rudolf Steiner College. Miki has taught English for over fourteen years from kindergarten age children to senior citizens. She also tutored grades and high school children one on one and in small groups. Miki has worked as an English Japanese translator and also organized and led tours in Hawaii and the Red Sea.

Seventh Grade Teacher JACQUELINE COX

Ms. Cox was born in Casablanca, Morocco and grew up in many locations overseas and in the U.S. She received her B.A. in Anthropology from Newcomb College of Tulane University in New Orleans, and her J.D. from New England School of Law in Boston. She practiced law for approximately 10 years in Massachusetts, Florida, and overseas in Scotland. Jacky had attended a Waldorf school in Ireland for a year as a child and pursued her interest in Waldorf education and Anthroposophy after her daughter was born. She completed her Waldorf Teacher education at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California, and taught first grade at the Waldorf School of Louisville, Kentucky, prior to moving to California and joining the faculty of Camellia in 2002.

Eighth Grade Teacher JUDITH MATTSON

Ms. Mattson has a degree in Psychology from Hartnell College. She taught in a variety of positions in public school and for recreation departments before she discovered Waldorf education. After her son joined the first class at the East Bay Waldorf School, she became very active substituting, managing the office, teaching, studying and training. Upon earning her Waldorf Teacher Education Diploma at Rudolf Steiner College, Judi became the founding teacher of the Davis Waldorf School where she taught for a decade (Kindergarten and all eight grades). During a sabbatical year Judi mentored other teachers and taught science, social studies, and physical education at Wings, a local private school. Ms. Mattson then joined the faculty at Sacramento Waldorf School where she took a class through the sixth grade before coming to Camellia in 2003.

Eurythmy Teacher RUTH BUCKLIN

Ruth Bucklin was born the second of five children in a southern family. She was raised in England through age 16, then attended an American high school for one year and received her diploma. Ruth went on to earn a B.A. in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara and to do graduate work in Comparative Literature (French, Italian, Spanish, and English). An interest in providing a healthy education for her two sons led her to Rudolf Steiner College where she completed the Waldorf Teacher Training program and the Eurythmy program. Ruth taught various subjects at Cedar Springs Waldorf School before joining CWS this year. Her interests include gardening, singing and playing music, reading, writing, traveling, hiking, speaking foreign languages, and enjoying gorgeous sunsets from her river-view porch in Fair Oaks.

Movement Teacher INGE RING

Mrs. Ring was born and raised in Southern Germany. She studied educational science at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. In 1987 she immigrated to California, where she completed her training as a Registered Nurse. After working as an assistant nurse manager for many years, she decided to follow her calling to teach children. She completed the Goethean Studies Program at Rudolf Steiner College and entered the 5 year part- time Spatial Dynamics Program, which she will complete in 2005, at the Spatial Dynamics Institute in New York. Inge and her family spent a year in Germany where she had the opportunity to co-teach movement classes at local Waldorf schools. She gained experience in gymnastics and circus work and helped organize a Pentathlon. Her hobbies include playing the piano, craft work, fishing, painting, enjoying nature, and playing with friends and family.

Spanish Teacher CECILIA SANCHEZ

Ms. Sanchez is a graduate of Sawyer Business College and has completed courses in Spanish teaching at Rudolf Steiner College. She has worked as a child care provider and has taught Spanish at Camellia since 1997.

Music Teacher PETER NEWTON

Mr. Newton earned a B.A. in Black Studies from San Francisco State University, an M.S. in Special Education from California State University-Hayward, and a Waldorf Teacher Certificate from the Rudolf Steiner College San Francisco program. He has been Musical Director, composer, and performer for Construction Crew Theater since 1980. Before becoming a Waldorf teacher, Peter was an artist manager and tutor for a severely disabled painter. Peter has worked as a Waldorf class teacher in grades 1-4 in addition to building and carrying musical and dramatic programs at Waldorf schools in California, Oregon, and Hokkaido, Japan.

Strings Teacher JUBAL FULKS

Mr. Fulks earned both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from North Carolina School of the Arts and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Violin Performance from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His teaching experience spans the Vermont Youth Orchestra, Kinhaven Music School, SUNY at Fredonia and at Stony Brook, Great Neck Community Music Center, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, The Stony Brook School, Pre-Collegiate Music School, North Carolina School of the Arts, Killington Music Festival, and his own private studio. Jubal’s performance experience includes recitals, chamber music ensembles, and orchestral work. He was a violinist with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, the New York String Orchestra, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Western Piedmont Symphony, and the International Music Program Orchestra. He was principal violin for the Stony Brook Baroque Ensemble, assistant concertmaster and concertmaster for the Greensboro Symphony Pops, and concertmaster for the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra.

Administrator MEREDITH JOHANSON

Ms. Johanson received her B.S. in Mathematics from the University of California, Davis and a Master of Library Science from UC, Berkeley. After 18 years in various special and medical libraries in Sacramento, and several years as a parent and Board member at Camellia Waldorf School, she became the school's first administrator in 1993. She has completed a course in Waldorf school administration at Sunbridge College in New York. Her daughter graduated from Camellia Waldorf School and from Sacramento Waldorf High School; she is now enrolled at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

Director of Admissions DEIRDRE JOHNSON

Ms. Johnson graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Scripps College with a B.A. in Classics and from Indiana University with an M.A. in Classical Languages and Literatures. She has a California Teaching Credential, an Indiana Teaching Credential, and a Certificate in Waldorf School Administration from Rudolf Steiner College. Before coming to Waldorf Education, Deirdre taught at the elementary, high school, and university levels and was a systems engineer in Silicon Valley. She served as Admissions Director, special subjects teacher, class teacher, and faculty chair at the Waldorf School of the Peninsula and as Enrollment Coordinator at Sacramento Waldorf School. Her two sons are Waldorf alumni.