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Maria del Pilar Cumpston, Spanish Teacher, Grades 5, 7 and 8
Growing up in the culturally diverse mecca of New York City, I was exposed to all walks of life. Born to an American Anglo-Saxon father and a Columbian native mother, I learned how to speak Spanish at home. I moved to the Catskill region of New York and attended the State University at New Paltz, receiving a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology. After leaving the hubbub of the city and experiencing the beautiful autumn colors of the Appalachian Mountains, and the crisp clean creeks and lakes of the rural countryside, it fostered a new love for the outdoors and nature.
After a few years of traveling, I relocated to Oregon in 1995. I felt I had found a community filled with creative and kind people, which supported my wishes to have a life based on environmentally conscious living, organic gardening, and self-sustainability. After completing the teacher training program in 2009 I am pleased to be part of the Waldorf Community and hope to be a part of the school as teacher, parent and friend.
Some of my interests, which our family continues to incorporate into our lives are yoga, hiking, biodynamics, alternative energy, and conservation, promoting peace and community through music events and working with our children for a healthy future. -
Cindy Biboux, Title I Reading Instructor
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Janet Dunham, Title I Reading Instructor
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Jelena Jaehnig, 6th grade Spanish and 8th grade Art Teacher
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Marina Taylor, Handwork Instructor
Marina grew up in southern Oregon, in the beautiful and arid Rogue Valley. She is the older of two girls. When it came time for her to begin first grade in 1979, her parents found a pioneering Waldorf movement and joined in. Marina attended through eighth grade, as the first class to go through the new school. Ashland High School came next, and the University of Oregon followed. There she met her husband, Scott, and graduated with a double major in Art History and Political Science. They have one son, Sebastian. Once he reached school age, Marina returned to her Waldorf roots and realized a lifelong dream by completing the Teacher Education Program in Eugene.
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Alison Kinney, Spanish Teacher, Grades 1-4
Alison grew up in northern California in a loving home tucked between abounding vineyards and a small goat dairy. She moved to Oregon when she was 18 to attend the University of Oregon where she earned her BA in Cultural Anthropology and Spanish. She spent her junior year abroad in southern Chile studying, traveling and farming. After graduating from the UO she spent a few years roaming the Americas until she found herself back in Eugene. Now she has settled into a colorful life of crafting, gardening and singing.
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Keith Hess, Eurythmist
Keith Hess teaches eurythmy for preschool through grade 8 at the Eugene Waldorf School. He is a graduate of the American Eurythmy School in Mt. Shasta, California, and has taught eurythmy at Waldorf Schools in Alaska, Kentucky, and Seattle since 2004. Since 1989 he has explored the wild lands of the western United States, studying and gathering wild medicinal plants. He’s the founder of Spring of Life— a company that makes herbal extracts, salves and elixers, and hosts an herbal apprenticeship program. He and his wife Farrah (also a eurythmist) have a 3-year-old son.
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Atta Turck, Woodwork Instructor
Born and raised in Germany, Atta is a master craftsman who gained his love for woodworking from his grandfather. He earned a master’s in economics at the University of Munich, holds a teaching certificate in adult education, and attended the Waldorf high school teacher training at Rudolf Steiner College. Atta taught in numerous community colleges in Germany. Prior to coming to the United States he lived in Tuscany, where he worked as a builder, started his own woodworking shop, began a biodynamic garden, and worked a small farm with grapes and olives. After moving to Cottage Grove, Oregon, he opened his own wood shop specializing in doors, windows and custom furniture. He also developed wood-turning to a fine art. As operations manager in a small door company in Eugene, he honed his organizational and leadership skills. Also in Eugene, he served as a small claims mediator for the court and eventually branched out to community mediation, human rights advocacy and restorative justice mediation for the juvenile court system. After two years in Vancouver, BC, where his wife, Mary Webb, led a class to their middle school graduation at the Waldorf school, he became the woodwork teacher at the Waldorf School of Garden City for grades five to twelve. He also accompanied two high school classes as adviser to their graduation. In addition to living in Italy, Oregon, and British Columbia, Atta has traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East, India and North America.
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Karen Tyler, Handwork Instructor
Karen enjoys the beautiful outdoors and living in the Pacific Northwest, camping and hiking as much as possible. She grew up in Delaware and spent lots of time traveling the world after graduating from college in Virginia.
She became interested in handwork when her eldest daughter was just a babe in arms. Karen began a sewing business out of her home and quickly expanded her horizons once she learned of all the handmade toys and gifts she could create! Teaching others has been a joy, and a fulfilling experience for Karen. She has held handwork classes for adults at the Eugene Waldorf School for many years. Karen also very much enjoys her work with children at the school. She lives within walking distance of EWS with her three daughters, dog, and two cats. -
Karen Clarke, Handwork Assistant Instructor
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Laurie Leaf Bowman, Aftercare and Handwork Assistant Instructor
Laurie Leaf was raised in Washington, first under the Palouse’s open sunny sky, then under the Puget Sound basin’s quite misty one. She majored in environmental studies at Evergreen in Olympia. She went on to work outdoors as much as possible in all kinds of ways. She was first introduced to Waldorf education and biodynamics via a family of Waldorf graduates and teachers. Tutoring and volunteering in classrooms affirmed that teaching children was an especially suitable vocation for her. Laurie Leaf brings an avid curiosity for nature, history, gardening, art and stories to her teaching practice. She enjoys living amidst oaks and owls with her loving partner.
