Faculty
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Tim Allen has been an elementary teacher since 2002. The experience of guiding two cohorts through eight-year cycles has given Tim a thorough understanding of academic and child development in elementary school. He has a depth of experience in handling individual learning needs, and delivering a strong academic program to diverse learners.
Tim has experience teaching music, instrument building, woodworking and other crafts at both high school and adult levels. He has served on numerous administrative committees, managing and mentoring teachers, as well as on a nonprofit school board.
Tim is excited to combine his love of teaching and his passion for nature in the new endeavor of Sonoma Earth School!
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Nací en México, vine a los Estados Unidos a los 17 años, soy madre de 6 divertidos hijos. Mis gustos son que me encanta cocinar, la ciencia en historia y aprender cada día. Mis pasatiempos son tomar caminatas, jugar, cantar y bailar. Mis metas con ustedes es aprender y enseñar, mejorar mis habilidades de enseñar y hacer el aprendizaje divertido y efectivo para cada estudiante. Espero ser mejor cada día y mejorar para dar lo mejor a cada estudiante y familia, es un honor ser parte de este único, educativo y divertido programa, espero poder conocerlos pronto.
My name is Lupe Dominguez. I was born in Mexico and came to the United States at the age of seventeen. I am the mother of six funny children. I love cooking, science, history and learning everyday. My hobbies are taking walks, playing games, singing and dancing. My goals are to continue learning and growing as a teacher, and to make learning fun and effective for each student. I hope to give the best to each student and family. It is an honor to be part of this unique, educational program!
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chiin tha 'eh. (How are you?) My name is Rose Hammock and I am Pomo, Wailacki, and Maidu. I am an enrolled Tribal Member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes. I am also Pomo from the Big Valley Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. From (2016-2020) I was a Youth Worker for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria's Tribal TANF Program. In December 2016 I received my Associate Teacher Certificate, followed by my Teacher Certificate in May 2017. Later in August 2020, I graduated with two Associates Degrees: one in Early Childhood Education, and one in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Since then, I have worked for a Native non-profit called Redbud Resource Group where I learned how to do grant writing, workshop facilitation, and recently attended training around trauma-informed care. I am also the current Chairperson for Ya-Ka-Ama Indian Education and Development, Inc. - which is the land that Sonoma Earth School sits on.
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Andrea is a Bay Area native who has been recently drawn to the beauty and community of Sonoma County after years of traveling and living aboard in the UK, The Netherlands, Australia, Gabon and Qatar. She has a strong background in science, with a PhD in Molecular Medicine (Erasmus University, The Netherlands), a Master’s in Animal Biology (UC Davis), and a Bachelor’s in Animal Science/Genetics (UC Davis). Andrea gained teaching and mentoring experience as a science camp instructor, horsemanship and riding instructor, volunteering as a Smithsonian Institute nature club instructor, and teaching college lab students.
Andrea enjoys hiking, wildlife and documentary photography, yoga, spending time with her family, and all that Sonoma County has to offer. She hopes to inspire students with her insatiable curiosity and love for learning, nature, and science!
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Michelle Sauceda is a loving mother, naturalist, auntie and mentor to youth of all ages in connection to nature, self, community and place. She carries a love of life, love of this beautiful creation, love of friendship, and a knowing that youth are magical beings.
Drawing on her life experiences she connects youth of all ages deeply with nature through the sharing of stories, play, laughter, games, music, herbal medicine making, wild edibles, in balance with the rhythms of nature.
Michelle also facilitates youth and adults in marking key transitions of life through rites of passage work. She has been blessed to spend years being mentored by a number of indigenous elders, who have helped guide her into the facilitation of potent and loving rituals that support introspection and vulnerability needed for transformations to occur.
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Hi, my name’s Envi! I’m a Pomo and Mexican nonbinary person, born and raised in Santa Rosa. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and minored in women’s and gender studies at Sonoma State University. I also enjoy making art, writing, and reading, as well as teaching within these areas.
As a transgender person of color, I recognize the need to teach (self) respect and understanding between people of all identities, starting with the youth. I want to be there for the children who are often left behind in a typical educational and social setting so that they can succeed in the future. Every child deserves a classroom and community that accommodates them and fosters a high self esteem, so I’m honored to be a part of this school’s mission!
Board of Directors
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Rose has worked in the field of education and mental health over the past 10 years. They have always had a passion for working with diverse communities and helping to connect students, teachers, and families to the support they need to be successful. They have an BA in Social Work from Whittier College and MA in Urban Education for Loyola.
For the past several years, Rose has served as the Community School Directors in Richmond, CA, public schools. In their current role they facilitate training for educators and staff around trauma-informed care and classroom management, support families with finding appropriate services for their children and help students learn and thrive in the loving welcoming environment.
Growing up in Sonoma County and attending Waldorf school from preschool to 12th grade, they have seen firsthand how essential nature and the outdoors are to the learning experience. They are excited to integrate their professional and personal experiences to support the Sonoma Earth School community.
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Leila Allen has been teaching speech and drama in Waldorf schools at the middle and high school level since 1999. She has worked as a consultant to many Waldorf schools, mentoring teachers and helping new high school initiatives. She has taught in Waldorf Teacher Education programs for over 20 years. Leila has been the Administrative Director at Center for Educational Renewal’s Teacher Training Program for 13 years, and has served on multiple non-profit boards.
She sees that a new impulse is needed in education, and believes that many children in this generation will benefit from a nature-based education rather than a conventional or even Waldorf classroom.
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Kristin brings over 20 years of experience in management, product, and operations within the technology industry, having worked at Google, United Online and Quantcast. She has successfully led and scaled product, people, and operations teams from the first to the hundredth hire across 11 countries, ranging from Japan to Latin America. She is an empathetic leader with a passion for mentoring and coaching.
She lives in Santa Rosa with her husband and son and is excited to integrate her professional experience, along with her love of camping and outdoor adventures, to help SES become the best school it can be.
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Per has been working with young people since 1996. He has taught, facilitated, and provided counseling for people of all ages. He is interested in innovative education, nature connection, and in creating transformational spaces that support human development. He has served on the boards of various nonprofit organizations, including the Lake Champlain Waldorf School, Champlain Valley Cohousing, and Art Everywhere, and he has also held numerous positions in the Anthroposophical Society. Over the course of his professional life, Per has been a Waldorf teacher, a special educator, an outdoor educator, and a movement educator.
For the past seven years, Per has served as a mental health counselor at the Counseling Services of Addison County, in Middlebury, VT, where he works with youth and families. In his current role, Per facilitates therapeutic and social-skills groups using eco-therapy, role-playing game therapy, and play-based therapies. He also practices Open Dialogue family therapy and engages in crisis work with children and families.
Per holds a BA from Oberlin College, an MA in Education, and an MS in Counseling. He also holds certificates in Laban/Bartinieff Movement Analysis, Open Dialogue, and the Kamana One Naturalist Training. Per enjoys canoeing, reading, hiking, adventures with family and friends, and facilitating group processes. He lives with his wife and two children in Shelburne, VT.
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Terrence Wood is a San Francisco Bay Area native, devoted husband, and proud father of four. A member of the Archbishop Riordan High School Athletic Hall of Fame, Terrence brings over 30 years of experience in football as a player, coach, and mentor. He is a Big XII Champion with the University of Colorado (Class of ‘01) and went on to play professionally in both the Arena Football League and Canadian Football League. As the grandson of Pro Football Hall of Famer Willie Wood, Terrence has carried forward a family legacy of excellence in football and leadership.
Terrence is the founder of Before You Go Pro, the first online mentoring and college recruiting program designed specifically for high school, junior college, and prep school football players. Since 2015, the program has helped secure over $8 million in college scholarship funding for student-athletes nationwide. He is also a self-published author, corporate sales leader, and expert in social media marketing, branding, and fundraising. Terrence is a former Sonoma Earth School parent and currently serves on its board, continuing his passion for youth development both on and off the field.
Advisory Board
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Robin has been teaching and mentoring children, teens, and adults in Deep Nature Connection, survival skills, bird language, and tracking since 2004. Through his unique approach to mentoring, he inspires participants to connect with nature, themselves and community. His own love for the wilderness led him to visit and learn from the Nharo Bushmen of Botswana, live in the stone age without modern items in Washington and Idaho with Lynx Vilden’s Four Seasons Stone Age Living Project, and complete the Kamana Naturalist Training Program by Jon Young. Since 2014, he has been learning from Martin Prechtel in Bolad’s Kitchen. He has also completed many solos in nature with minimal gear, and brings inspiring stories and skills from these experiences into his teaching. Robin is a Waldorf graduate, and received his BA in Bioregional Studies with highest honors from UC Santa Cruz. Also a blacksmith, fiddler, and music teacher, he lives in Southern Oregon with his wife and their three sons.
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Magdalena McQuilla lives with her family in Southwest Santa Rosa and is fluent in English and Spanish. She was raised mostly in the Roseland neighborhood of Santa Rosa, where she grew up eating fresh herbs, vegetables, and eggs from her backyard. She always loved the outdoors, but other than occasional hikes with her parents or visits to the beach, did not spend much time in nature as a child. She was unfamiliar with how to access the abundant local outdoor space in Sonoma County until her mid-twenties, when she was given the opportunity to work for a local land-based non-profit. As a part of that work, she became aware of just how important access to and relationship with natural spaces is for everyone, and she was honored to help develop Spanish-language programs to further that goal. Although she is now an attorney, her passion for the outdoors has not waned.
Magdalena believes firmly in the power of the earth to heal our bodies and spirits, and believes everyone should have the chance to form a deep relationship with the natural world. That is why she is passionate about Sonoma Earth School, because the model is so unique and the benefits to children so exceptional. She serves on the Advisory Board to help facilitate the school's goal to engage with and serve under-resourced communities in Sonoma County, so that the benefit of such an awesome educational model can reach all who may need it. Time in the outdoors can be transformational for children not well-served by the dominant educational model, and she hopes children of all backgrounds will have the chance to access this wonderful opportunity.
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Born in Los Angeles in 1956, John had the good fortune to work in many different crafts. Motorcycle mechanics, ceramics, woodwork, cell animation, 3D-stereoscopic photography, computer motion control, and directing and editing documentary films about music worldwide. As it turns out, his heroes were not the expert specialists in life, but rather the generalists like Bucky Fuller and Charles Eisenstein whose holistic insights give them unique access to problem solving.
In 1993, in the wake of the LA unrest, John developed a non-profit project called Offspring Urban Farms, a garden training program funded by the USDA in cooperation with the LA Probation Department. Through the program, hundreds of third time offenders of serious crimes earned the title of Green Thumb by demonstrating the parallels of nurturing plants and nurturing themselves and others. In the process, they overcame rival gang affiliations to work side by side with their enemies.
Currently, John and his wife Bella co-direct the nonprofit project called the BirdHouse, an urban hub that provides workshops and classes for folks of all ages to share know-how of regenerative arts and ecology, for people and place. The BirdHouse has become the first urban based Ecosystem Restoration Camp, a global network of land restoration projects. John continues to bring together private, public and nonprofit sectors to build coalitions to have fun while being of service to each other and the places we call home.
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I am Maria Cardenas, mother of two young children, an AOD counselor, and a student at Humboldt State University for social work. I have served as the Ya-Ka-Ama chairwoman, and volunteered my time on the land in various capacities.
I see the role of education in our community as helping shape and guide our children to the people they are going to be in the future. Education is more than just books and history; it's about developing relationships with peers, teachers, and the world around us.
I applaud Sonoma Earth School for knocking down barriers that would otherwise limit children within a confined environment. Being in nature allows students to develop a relationship with the world around us, and to learn that caring for our environment is more beneficial than destroying it.