Faculty & Staff 2011/2012

Kim Wilson - Parent and Child Program Leader

Kim has been drawn to Waldorf Education and Anthroposophy since attending her first Parent and Child class as a new mother. Over the past five years Kim has worked in various facets of Waldorf education. During her time in Ottawa she not only worked as the Administrator and Enrolment Coordinator for a new Waldorf initiative but also dedicated her time to engaging and supporting new parents in the care and development of young children.
Guided by her passion for early childhood development and supported by her work with the Ottawa Anthroposophical Society to deepen and enrich her appreciation for Waldorf education, Kim was drawn to formal studies. She has completed the Child and Family in the First Three Years program from Sophia’s Hearth Family Centre, a Waldorf Early Years training centre in Keene, New Hampshire and has recently undertaken a five-year study in Spacial Dynamics. Kim is honoured to be a part of Sun Haven Waldorf School as the Parent and Child Facilitator.  Kim, her husband and two children relocated to Roberts Creek from Ottawa following their dream to be closer to family, the ocean and to live in this wonderful community.

Janice Hendry-Cote - Pre-School Teacher

Janice is a mother and grandmother. Over the past twenty years she has worked in Parent and Child, Pre-School, home daycare, KinderCare and special care positions and is enjoying her fifth year as Pre-School teacher at Sun Haven. She studied Native and Canadian studies at Trent University and completed her ECE training at Capilano College in North Vancouver. Janice loves storytelling and studied for ten years with a Master in the oral tradition of the Pacific Northwest. She has enjoyed Waldorf training conferences twice yearly for the past five years learning music, puppetry, child development, art and community building. She appreciates the rhythmic quality of Waldorf education and the beauty of the materials. Janice is grateful to all her teachers for sharing the rich spiritual and practical wisdom through the years. Janice has studied healing modalities including Reiki and traditional First Nations techniques for the last twenty years. She has taught workshops on the making and use of Flower Essences and worked as a Flower Essence Practitioner in Canada and the U.S. She tries to bring all these diverse teachings into her daily work with the children. Her hobbies include meditation and singing.

Tone Indbryn - Pre-School Teacher

Tone is a singer/songwriter, poet and visual artist who has performed her music in venues and festivals all over British Columbia. She has her ECE Licence with a specialization in music, visual arts and yoga. She pioneered many current programs in Vancouver community centres, co-wrote and produced a children’s show, piloted a creativity circle for a mental health advocacy group on the Downtown East Side and shared her music in a therapeutic capacity for seniors’ centres in the Lower Mainland. Tone has facilitated art and music classes with children for over 20 years and created installations with children for Public Dreams and the Moon Festival. Tone discovered Waldorf while working at UBC in a Waldorf inspired childcare centre where she learned about the philosophies and found that they rang true for her experience. Her work has been a reflection of her dedication to the creative process with the goal of inspiring personal expression and community in all ages through learning and sharing. She currently manages Serendipity Child Care Centre in Madeira Park and is excited to expand her knowledge by working with the children and teachers of Sun Haven Waldorf School.

Natalie Grambow - Pre-School Teacher

Born in Montreal to a French mother and German father, Natalie moved to the Sunshine Coast in 2002 after living in Ottawa and Vancouver. In addition to her Early Childhood Educator Assistant Licence, she has a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the University of Ottawa and Diploma of Textile Arts from Capilano University. Natalie has been teaching art to children for the past 12 years and is currently the Pre-School Assistant. Natalie became interested in Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy in 1996 while living and travelling in Central America. She attended the WECAN (Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America) NorthWest Conference entitled Birth of the Etheric last year in Bellingham, Washington and also was part of a very specialized training last summer in Portland with Suzanne Down on Therapeutic Early Childhood Puppetry and puppet making. Her daughter, Chloe, has been attending Sun Haven Waldorf School for almost 5 years and is now in the Grade One class. Natalie enjoys cross-country skiing, biking, sewing and felting.

Clarence Deis - Kindergarten Teacher

Clarence has been teaching in different capacities since 1987 when he taught adults at Columbia Academy and ran the recording studio at Capilano College. Previously he had been a recording engineer and has always had a love for music which led him to teach in this field. Coinciding with his child Breanna becoming of school age he began working at Raffi's Troubadour Institute for Child Honouring encountering Waldorf Education and eventually deciding he wanted to be teaching this way. Clarence moved to the Sunshine Coast where he discovered Sun Haven and joined their study group, eventually running it. He enrolled in the Waldorf Early Childhood program on Vancouver Island in 2004 and also joined Sun Haven that year as a volunteer assistant in the Kindergarten making this his 8th year as a Waldorf teacher. Clarence has been reading Rudolf Steiner books for 11 years now which along with music are his main hobbies and interests. What he loves about Sun Haven and Waldorf is that music and the arts are not only considered important but are the way almost everything is taught! The daily singing of every class and later the musical instruments and their value in learning math and other skills bring an element of magic and love of learning not only to the students but the teachers as well.

Anne Beesack - Kindergarten Teacher

Anne has a rich background in dance and the visual arts having attended the Banff School of Fine Arts and Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She worked in theatre as a costumer and props person and taught art to children and adults before becoming an art therapist in 1989. After 12 years working in the social services field, she returned to school and received a teaching certificate from Simon Fraser University in 2002. Anne worked as a learning consultant with SelfDesign before moving to the Sunshine Coast. Her love for children, beauty and the spirit of the Waldorf pedagogy drew her to Sun Haven where she has been working since 2008. She is currently enrolled in the Waldorf Early Childhood Education teacher training based on Vancouver Island. Anne enjoys yoga, meditation, singing, dancing, cooking, swimming, relaxing on the beach and improvisation in all its forms.

Charlles Fox - Grade One Teacher

Charlles has been working in the educational field since 1980 in a hospital school, public schools and especially Waldorf schools. Along his path he has taught at Waldorf schools in Vancouver, Calgary, Duncan (including at the high school level), Qualicum Beach and Portland, Oregon and holds a Bachelor of Waldorf Education from the Rudolf Steiner College in California and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Victoria.  Growing up on the North Shore of Vancouver he is most happy to finally be living in Gibsons where he enjoyed so many splendid childhood summers. Charlles has extensive experience in theatre creation and production and has spent many summers as a kayak instructor and guide.

Michelle Wesanko - Grade One Special Education Teacher Assistant

Michelle grew up between the Gatineau hills and Eastern Ontario lakes and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Philosophy and a Bachelor of Education at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. A grade one class at Stein Valley Nl'akapamux School brought her across the country and she relocated to Roberts Creek where she has lived with her family since 2001. On her first visit to the Coast she found Sun Haven School and has since assisted and mentored with Kindergarten teacher Mary Roche-Leite, led a grade one class, worked with students in the gardens and on a cob shed and been a Teacher on Call. She has attended trainings at Rudolf Steiner College in Toronto and participated in AWSNA conferences at Waldorf schools in Vancouver and Whidbey Island. Michelle is a founding member of Good Earth Builders and loves to throw pots, create fibre arts, frolic in our forest and stroll our rugged coast. Her children have been members of the Sun Haven community since birth and are now in Kindergarten and Grade 3.

JoAnna May - Grade Two/Three Teacher

After graduating from the Professional Development Program at Simon Fraser University in 2000, JoAnna worked with the Vancouver School Board teaching in the elementary grades for six years. Having been brought up with a musical background she enjoyed working as a music teacher, teaching recorder, ukulele, percussion and choir. After moving to the Sunshine Coast and starting a family, JoAnna ran a daycare out of her home for almost four years. Shortly after enrolling her children at Sun Haven, she began working as a teacher-on-call for the school. She is currently in her second year full time with her Grade 2 and 3 Class. She has enjoyed the transition from public education to that of Waldorf and is eager to continue with Waldorf training and mentoring.

Kara Wagner - Grade Two/Three Special Education Teacher Assistant

Kara Wagner moved to the Sunshine Coast from Germany with her husband Kai and their three children, Joshua, Cocco and Tahj, in the winter of 2009. Kara has her Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University and is working toward her Special Education Assistant certificate from Capilano University. Kara began her teaching career in Germany where she started a Parent and Tot and Preschool program teaching English at a local community center. The idea was embraced and she was soon teaching English courses at a local college teaching school aged children, teenagers and adults.  Kara began working at the Filstal Waldorf School in Faurndau, Germany in September of 2004 where she was trained in various areas of Waldorf education and was mentored by two language teachers throughout the five years she worked there. She gained experience through many wonderful training opportunities in chalk drawing, line drawing and storytelling as well as several training seminars teaching English. Kara is presently working as the SETA in Grade 2/3 and subject teacher for Grade 4/5. Her youngest son, Tahj, is currently enrolled in Grade 4/5.

Cary Davis - Grade Four/Five Teacher

Cary has worked at Sun Haven for eleven years and has taken two classes through to Grade Five during that time. She is about to complete her Waldorf Grades training in February 2012. Previously, Cary worked for the Vancouver School Board, primarily as a Special Education teacher. She also ran a licensed family daycare in her home for six years. In her spare time, Cary loves to read, write, dance (all kinds), play piano and spend time with her teenage son, Alexander. (She especially likes beating him at crib!)

Sheila MacLean - Grade Four/Five Special Education Teacher Assistant

Sheila is the teaching assistant in the Grade 4/5 class. She has been a teacher on and off for over 30 years. Now she prefers to work as a teaching assistant and has been doing so for the last 9 years, five of which have been here at Sun Haven. Outside of school, Sheila loves to be active! She cycles regularly, swims in the ocean in the summer and does water aerobics in the winter. She also does Tai Chi, yoga, hikes and enjoys nature. Additionally Sheila has a passion for clear compassionate communication. She has studied (and practiced) Non Violent Communication for over five years now and has just finished a two year intensive training on Facilitation and Consensus Decision Making.

Susan Hatchard - Handwork Teacher

Susan was born and raised on the Sunshine Coast and later moved to Regina, Saskatchewan where she received her Bachelor of Arts Education degree from the University of Regina. She also studied fine arts, majoring in Sculpture, at the First Nations University of Canada.  Susan has dedicated her career to developing alternative Arts Education programs for youth-at-risk and was founder of the Alternative Youth Project Inc. She was invited to join the staff at the MacKenzie Art Gallery to assist with the development of their Urban Outreach Program, the aim of which was to bridge the inner-city community with other communities through the integration of the arts. Susan then went on to teach art and home economics at Scott Collegiate, an alternative high school specializing in innovative First Nations programming.  Susan returned to the Sunshine Coast in 2008 and has focused on her music career for the past three years. Having the opportunity to reflect on her past work, she is now very pleased to be welcomed at Sun Haven Waldorf School where her knowledge and skill can be inspired and challenged in new ways.

Karen Broom - Principal, Faculty Chair, French & Games Teacher

Karen grew up on Vancouver Island, exploring the natural world surrounding her family hobby farm and establishing an early career in competitive gymnastics and coaching. Her diverse experiences as an educator include years as a French specialist, an “islander” at Sea to Sky Outdoor School for Sustainability Education, an English Immersion teacher at a school in the Costa Rican cloud forest, a secondary Spanish teacher, and the class teacher of the second graduating class of Sun Haven. Her passion for the movement arts, literature and languages and her reverence for nature found a home in Waldorf education. She now teaches French and Wild Wednesdays, while holding the position of Principal and Faculty Chair. Karen and her husband Bill are the proud parents of two daughters, both beautifully nurtured by Sun Haven. For inspiration, Karen loves spending time in the wild and dancing to heart’s delight.

Nancy Smith - Office Receptionist

Nancy is new to the Sun Haven community and also to the Coast. She relocated from Woodstock, Ontario in the spring of 2011 when her husband retired from teaching. For the past 22 years, Nancy was also an educator in Ontario where her assignments varied from teaching French to intermediate students to exploring the full curriculum with primary/junior students as their home classroom teacher.  Nancy enjoys travelling, hiking, yoga and listening to music. Favourite quiet moments find her relaxing outdoors with a good book in one hand and a cup of freshly brewed tea in the other! Nancy looks forward to the receptionist position at Sun Haven as an opportunity to learn more about Waldorf Education. She is excited about being part of a community that fosters collaboration and promotes life-long learning.

Alice Coleman - Business Manager

The beauty of the mountains, rainforest and the ocean drew Alice and her young family to the Sunshine Coast over 30 years ago. She has worked in administration for non-profit societies for over 20 years. She is passionate about children and is grateful to have the opportunity to support their growth and development through education in such an ideal setting. She is committed to Sun Haven's success and strives to learn more about Waldorf education and anthroposophical studies. In her free time Alice enjoys time with her family, dancing, gardening and traveling.