“Working as a teacher at Woodhaven puts me into contact with a talented faculty group that are regularly striving to tailor curriculum to meet the psychological, emotional, and social needs of individual students. It inspires me to know that my students are growing and broadening at all levels, and I can then tailor my teaching methods and content to meet this growth.”
We get the best and brightest minds (and hearts) to lead our students in their joyous learning journeys.
Michele Sakaguchi (2024 – current) is a dedicated educator with over 20 years of experience teaching math and science across a wide range of grades––from elementary to high school. With a strong belief in the heart/mind connection and a perspective rooted in social equity and justice, Michele designs personalized lessons that encourage students to discover their innate abilities. At Woodhaven, Michele found a school where her intuitive teaching approach can flourish. She supports students in growing not only academically, but also socially and emotionally, while nurturing community, reciprocity, and the intergenerational gifts that arise when diverse ages learn together.
Nancy Schmidt (2024–current) is a longtime educator and communication professor who brings a warm, whole-learner approach to WHS. With an interdisciplinary PhD and a career spanning university teaching, nonprofit leadership, and community education, she created courses like Conscious Communication, Leadership & Service, Intercultural Communication, and School Success Skills to help learners grow in confidence and connection. Guided by her diverse professional and academic experiences and emerging mindfulness work, Nancy encourages learners to see themselves and others with clarity and compassion. In her spare time, Nancy enjoys hiking, yoga, travel, and time in the forest. She currently lives in Clinton with her husband, two amazing teens, and their dog, Chewy.
Claudia Kiyama (2024 – current) Claudia Kiyama (2024-current) teaches World History and Spanish at Woodhaven. She deeply enjoys sharing her culture and language, while fostering connection with each learner and discovering shared passions. Claudia has years of experience teaching history and language through art and culture both as a Waldorf Spanish teacher and as a Design and History of Architecture Professor at Tec de Monterrey, in Mexico. Claudia is a licensed architect in her native Mexico and a graduate of the Master’s in Architecture from ENCRyM, where she focused on archeology, architectural preservation and restoration. As a historic preservation specialist, she has contributed to projects with Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, 4Culture, and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.
Fergus Ferrier (2019–current) has worked formally in education for the past 20 years. He has degrees in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and University of British Columbia, Vancouver. He was the administrator for the Santa Cruz Waldorf School and a teacher in the Santa Cruz County public schools. He is teaching Mathematics this year, with a concentration on the practical aspects of Statistics and interpreting the physical world, using Geometry and Advanced Algebra. Applying an enthusiastic interest in many disciplines, he previously taught Literature, History and Economics at Woodhaven.
Robert Burnett Lee (2020 – current) earned his MFA in Writing as a four-year Michener Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin and his MDiv from Naropa University as a Lenz Scholar. His novel Ain’t Never No Snow in Atlantis (Kallisto Gaia Press 2024) was runner-up for the Joshua Tree Novel Prize and a finalist for the Elixir Press Fiction Award. He works on Whidbey Island as an instructional designer, teacher, writing coach, and book editor. When teaching literature, he enjoys pairing traditional/canonical works with lesser-known selections (especially those from minority authors).
Kent Ratekin (2019 – current) was born in Iowa, to outstanding educators. He earned a college degree in Art Education at the University of Northern Iowa in 1977, and later an MA from Mercy College of Detroit, sponsor of the Waldorf Institute, led by Werner Glas and Chris Schaefer. In 1985 he became the lead teacher/director of the Whatcom Hills Waldorf School in Bellingham WA. In 1999, the Twin Ridges School District in Grass Valley, CA hired him to open and lead Bitney Springs Charter High School, a Waldorf inspired high school program. A family tragedy brought him back to Whidbey Island, and Greg Willis hired him at the Langley Middle School, where he spent many years.
Kent was instrumental in organizing Woodhaven High School and has enjoyed teaching guitar there.
Gretchen Lawlor (2019 – current) bio coming soon
Tristan A.B. Steel (2020 – 2021) studied dramaturgy and comparative literature at Yale University and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London, UK. He holds a degree from Yale University with a special concentration in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, which he studied under the tutelage of Harold Bloom and Heather James. A Puget Sound native, Tristan has studied and performed with Cornish College of the Arts, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Ann Graham and the Northwest Actors’ Studio, Seattle Men’s Chorus, and several fringe companies. He is an alumnus of The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus, the second oldest collegiate a cappella chorus in the nation. At Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, in Langley, WA, he has directed and performed in over a dozen productions during the past decade.
Susan Edwards (2019 – 2021)
Connie LaBrecque (2019 – 2021)
Detmar Straub (2019 – 2020) started his careers in the 60’s as a metallurgical engineer. That corporate immersion necessitated the need for more balance in his life, which led to his second career as a performing juggler. His working theory is that physical balance (juggling), if perfected, will lead to mental balance. Not everyone saw it that way, but the folks at Rudolf Steiner College did, and that led him to his third career in Waldorf Education. He was a full-time Waldorf class teacher for 13 years (8 years in Davis, California and 5 years on Whidbey Island). Since his retirement in 2010, he has been spending sufficient time gardening, walking in the woods, playing guitar, trying to defer the inevitable effects of chronological age, and, oh yes, he’s still working on that mental balance thing too. He appreciates the unique spirit of the Woodhaven High School and is honored to be a part of it.
Mark Wahl (2019 – 2022) has been a math learning specialist for over four decades. After a masters degree in math and post-master’s studies in math education from the University of Maryland, Mark taught in an experimental inner city apprenticeship, experimented in hands-on math curriculum in a wilderness program for at-risk youth, published three books of multi-intelligence learning activities for teacher use, and trained teachers as an adjunct professor at three universities. For several years he ran a business training adults for the Graduate Record Examination. More recently he has further honed his skills by mentoring individual students of grades 2 – 12 who are struggling with math. He also enjoys boosting those who desire acceleration in their math learning. He is a conga drummer, grandpa, political activist and tinkerer in his spare time.
Susanne Schnippering (2020 – 2021) spent her childhood attending German private schools, and became fluent in three languages. Her family lived in Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Canada and Germany. At the age of 18, she moved to Toronto, Canada and attended the University of Toronto, where she received a double BA in Modern Languages and Literature: German & Spanish.
Certified as an Early Childhood Montessori teacher, she taught as an EC teacher for 8 years, and has taught Spanish to hundreds of students, ages 3 through 14.
In 2016, Susanne joined the Whidbey Island Waldorf School as a Spanish teacher. In 2020, the year of the pandemic, Susanne shared her love of language and culture with students at Woodhaven High School.
Heidi Hoelting, (2019-2020) musician, writer, educator, and photographer, has lived on Whidbey Island for 37 years. She has participated in the development of many local arts organizations, schools, and churches, including: the Chinook Learning Center, Whidbey Children’s Theater, Island Dance, Unity of Whidbey, WI Waldorf School, Whidbey Community Orchestra, SW Alternative H.S., UUCWI and LUMC, among many others.
She started with a B.A. in music from UW (Magna Cum Laud, Phi Beta Kappa), then accrued WA State teacher certification in English Language Arts, 5-12, and Drama K-12 from WSU, 9th grade Waldorf High School Teacher Training from Rudolf Steiner College, and an ESL certificate from SPU. She is excited to be a part of the Woodhaven Waldorf High School initiative!
Jules LeDrew (2019 – 2024) is a practicing clinical herbalist, yoga teacher, and owner of Wild Standard Botanicals, a holistic health practice and natural product small business. Her specialties have grown to include an innovative mix of educational and course development offerings with herbal science, mental health, and the mind/body arts and sciences being her focus. She has the great privilege of stewarding the educational, medicinal herb and food garden for the Whidbey Institute, and develops nature-based education for the Waldorf Schools. In addition to a BS in Herbal Science from Bastyr University, Jules has been facilitating integrative holistic healthcare, herbal science and mind/body education for over a decade. The foundation of her work is informed by her expertise and compassion for emotional and spiritual growth through experiential nature-based education.
