Grades Teachers

First Grade - Eighth Grade

First Grade Teacher

Marina Taylor

Marina was born and raised in southern Oregon. When it came time for her to begin first grade, her parents joined a pioneering Waldorf movement. Ashland High School came next, and the University of Oregon followed. She graduated with a double major in Art History and Political Science in 1996, and graduated from the Waldorf Teacher Education, Eugene in 2005.
Marina worked in the school administration and taught handwork and art classes for seven years before joining the school as a full-time class teacher in 2012.
She enjoys camping and hiking , playing soccer, gardening, and playing games with friends. Working in Waldorf education gives Marina a chance to be an active learner, to stay playful, and to help students find their place in the world.

Second Grade Teacher

Jen Bosch-Fahl

Jen moved to Eugene and completed the teacher training program in 2000 just before her daughter, Avery, was born. She worked as the first grade assistant in 2002 and her son, Zane, came along the following year. She spent many years focused on raising her children and being an active EWS parent volunteer as both of her children took their joyful journeys through Waldorf education.
Since her children graduated from EWS, Jen has worked at the school in many capacities, assisting in first grade, handwork classes, kindergarten, and aftercare.
She loves spending her free time with her family and enjoys snowboarding, hiking, dancing, and yoga.

Third Grade Teacher

Ben Mew

Ben grew up in semi-rural Massachusetts where he went to a small public school that was a short walk away from home. He loved his elementary school experience and continues to feel a close bond with his old classmates. In middle school, he was lucky enough to partake in a sister-city exchange program with families from Kanegasaki, Japan. After hosting students in his home, he got to travel to Japan and spend a few nights with the students’ families there. Ben enjoyed doing school musicals, choir, soccer, basketball, and Ultimate frisbee all through high school. His Ultimate team even won the national championships in 2004!
After high school, he lived in student cooperatives and studied Biology and Environmental Studies at Oberlin College. He took a semester off to travel in Ecuador, which opened his eyes to the diversity of the world and what poverty and privilege can look like.
After graduating, Ben has worked at a Waldorf farm-education program in Ghent, NY; worked at a micro-dairy in Nevada City, CA; farmed for two seasons at Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm in Santa Rosa, CA; completed his Waldorf Teacher Training in Santa Rosa, CA; taught math, science, and P.E. for six years in Summerfield Waldorf’s upper grades and high school; and got married and became a father.
Ben loves to sing, dance, and play with his wife, Chelsea, and daughter, Linnea. He also likes to go hiking, camping, and kayaking. He is very happy to be settled in Eugene!

Mario Chavarin

Fourth Grade Teacher

Mario was born in Eugene/Springfield and raised in the McKenzie area, the sixth of seven children. Living in an outdoor recreational paradise, he spent most of his childhood outdoors exploring the Willamette national forest. During this time, Mario nurtured a reverence and deep spiritual connection to nature and our planet. After graduating from McKenzie High school, Mario followed his passion of the arts and moved to Portland, OR to attend Portland State University to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. In Portland was where he had his first child, Rowan.
After some years working various jobs in Portland, Mario decided to work in the technical field, and moved to the scenic gorge area to study in The Dalles, where he graduated with an Associate of Science degree in Renewable Energy. It was in The Dalles where he had his second child, Gwendelynn.
When it came time to choose a school for his children, Mario’s eye was caught by the beautiful simplicity of Waldorf Education. After doing some investigating, a campus tour in Eugene Waldorf School, he was confident that Waldorf would be the best education for his children. It was in these first encounters with Waldorf education, that the seeds of becoming a teacher were planted.
The artistic and spiritual nature of Waldorf Education then led him to Eugene Waldorf Teacher Training in 2017, where he developed and strengthened his relationships with the arts, with community and with the inner life of the child.
His many years of various life experience and enthusiasm for Waldorf education give him a unique lens with which to view the world. He is very excited to bring his experience, wisdom, and love to the class room.

Fifth Grade Teacher

Suzanna Didier

Suzanna feels most at home in the outdoors; the spirit of nature renews her. She enjoys biking fast, walking slow, cross-country skiing and traveling. While she has taught at the elementary and college levels, and co-founded a non-profit that provides after school enrichment programs to youth, Ms. Didier finds herself most inspired by the Waldorf approach of carefully tending to each child's unique spark. She values a caring classroom community and bringing lessons that meet children's natural joy for learning.
Ms. Didier came to Waldorf Education through her daughter, who is a Waldorf alum. The lively and artful teaching, calm and caring atmosphere, high ideals, and rigorous education she encountered enkindled her desire to become a Waldorf teacher. She holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and German, an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction, and has nearly completed Waldorf teacher certification through the Great Lakes Waldorf Institute.

Sixth Grade Teacher

Jelena Jaehnig

Jelena enjoyed being a Waldorf student in elementary school, and was drawn early to the idea of becoming a Waldorf teacher herself. She completed a bachelor's and master's degree in history from the University of Colorado at Denver. In 1993 she moved to Eugene to teach in the Eugene Waldorf High School, and to attend classes at the Waldorf Teacher Education Eugene. When the high school closed, Jelena moved into grade school teaching. She has guided three classes through the eight year journey of the grades and is now working with another class. Jelena assisted at a Waldorf School in Guanajuato, Mexico for a year. She has taught seminars in Waldorf Teacher Education Centers in the US, Canada and Mexico. Jelena helped raise her stepchildren, both of whom are now young adults.

Seventh Grade Teacher

Ian Stearns

Ian was born in Camarillo, California, where he spent the early part of his childhood with his parents, an older sister, and a lovely Old English sheepdog named Sweet Rosie McDuff. When he was in second grade he moved to a town on the Merrimac River in semi-rural Missouri. He lived there, enjoying the forests in summer and the hills in winter until his family moved back to California. After high school Ian went to college at UCSB where he majored in political science.
After college Ian hopped around a bit before landing in Eugene, where he has worn many hats: culinary student, care provider, baker, cook, husband, and papa. He completed the Teacher Education Program in Eugene in 2003, and spent a year tutoring at the school before starting as a grades teacher. He loves teaching and studying anthroposophy, as well as painting models, reading, and playing games with his children in his spare time. He lives with his wife Cameron, their two sons William and Paul, their 100-pound lab, Angus.

Eighth Grade Teacher Profile Coming in 2027