OAKLAND STEINER SCHOOL FACULTY AND STAFF
At Waldorf schools, a teacher is chosen for a first grade class and often journeys with this class for a full eight years. The children come to know and understand each other in a deep way. The children, feeling secure in a long-term relationship, are better able to learn. The interaction of teacher and parents also can become more deep and meaningful over time, and they can cooperate in helping the child. Since needs of each class are continually evaluated, sometimes a determination may be made whether to continue with the same teacher or to change.
Highlighted names will direct you to the e-mail of each person.
FACULTY
Star Class Lead Teacher & Parent/Child Lead Teacher - Allyssa Kadlitz
Allyssa Aurellia Kadlitz was born and raised in Michigan and is thankful for its four seasons. She grew up in the Rochester public school systems. After high school she spent years traveling and taking classes in dance, herbalism, art and midwifery. After much searching she came across the teachings of Rudolf Steiner thus leading her to a life long path of Waldorf Education. She has a Waldorf Teacher Certification in Early Childhood from the Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California. Allyssa started as a kindergarten assistant and substitute teacher in the Oakland Steiner Children's Center. Alyssa is enjoying her sixth year lead teaching the Star Class and the Parent Child Classes. She is an active member of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America. She feels honored and grateful to be working with children and their families.
Star Class Assistant - Abigail Gavulic
Sun Class Lead Teacher - Judy Amso-Bassett
Judy Amso was born in Bristol, England. She attended the Bristol Waldorf School, where her mother was also a Waldorf kindergarten teacher. She has two brothers and one sister. She has studied Waldorf early childhood education program in England, and immigrated to Michigan in 1992. Judy joined the Oakland Steiner School in 1994 and is presently the lead teacher in the Sun Class.
Sun Class Assistant - Helen Stormer
Helen was born and raised in England. After leaving High School she attained an Associate diploma from the London School of Music. Before coming to America, Helen traveled to and lived in many countries, including Japan, Sweden and Germany. Helen joined OSS in 2002 and is a Children’s Center Assistant.
Grade 1 and 2 - Kim Greidanus
Grade 1 and 2 Assistant - Emma Gahn
Grade 3 - Marko Smith
Marko Smith graduated from Miami University with degrees in Creative Writing and English Literature. In 2001 he became a second grade teacher at the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences. He discovered Waldorf that same year and began taking courses toward his Waldorf Teacher Certification. He became a substitute teacher at the Detroit Waldorf School in order to deepen his understanding of the Waldorf curriculum. He taught blocks at both the Detroit Waldorf School and the Oakland Steiner School and became a fourth grade assistant at Detroit. He was hired as an eighth grade teacher at Oakland Steiner in 2004, the same year that he completed his teacher training. He has been happily learning and teaching at Oakland Steiner ever since. He graduated two eighth grade classes and is currently teaching the third grade. He has written and staged four class plays for his students. He is the proud parent of a first grader at Oakland Steiner.
Grade 4 and 5 - Elizabeth Kata
Elizabeth Kata started as a parent at OSS, her two sons attended K-8 and are now seniors, one in college and one in high school. She has done significant teaching in the grades at OSS, starting as the parent/child teacher, then on to the kindergarten where she taught for six years. She has taught math and history in the seventh and eighth grades and took her current class as a combined first and second grade beginning in 2009/10. Her Waldorf journey began while on maternity leave from her clinical microbiology job. She discovered storytelling at the Waldorf Teacher Training Institute which at the time was in Detroit. What began simply as parenting enrichment classes, soon became a new path and new love; teaching.
Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry and diplomas in Waldorf elementary and early childhood education. She has a Level I certification from the Spacial Dynamics Institute in New York, a movement education and movement therapy training center.
Grade 6 - ElizaBeth Wildemaan
ElizaBeth first encountered Waldorf Education while reading an article in the Utne Reader in the 1980’s. After finishing her degree in elementary education at the University of Missouri, Columbia, she decided to pursue her next goal of becoming a parent. When her son was young, she worked briefly at a public school. She began to read books about Waldorf education and decided to pursue her Waldorf teaching certificate at Antioch New England Graduate School. She received her Waldorf certificate in the summer of 2001. Her first teaching assignment was at Four Winds Waldorf School in Chicago, where she taught seventh and eighth grade. ElizaBeth joined Oakland Steiner School in 2003 as the first grade teacher.
Grade 7 and 8 - Maureen Shaughnessy
Maureen grew up the middle of five children and in the flower, fruit and vegetable gardens of her four grandparents in Waterford, Michigan. When she re-discovered the fairy folk of her childhood in the biodynamic gardens at the Waldorf Institute in 1981, she knew she had found her way back home. She earned a BA in Education and a Michigan Secondary Education Teaching Certificate from Oakland University (1978) and later completed the teacher training program through the Waldorf Institute in Detroit and Southfield. Maureen was involved in the study group that led to the establishment of Turtle Hollow, a Waldorf Kinder-home, and later to the founding of the Oakland Steiner School in 1989 when she taught the original class or first and second graders. Maureen also holds an MA in Waldorf Education from Antioch New England Graduate School in New Hampshire (1999).
Educational Support - Barbara Patterson
Barbara completed the three-year training program offered by the Association for a Healing Education and worked as the Educational Support Teacher at Great Oaks School in Evanston, Illinois before moving to the Detroit area. She received her Waldorf teacher training at the Waldorf Institute of Southern California and worked for many years as a kindergarten teacher and later as a parent-child teacher. Barbara’s first book Beyond the Rainbow Bridge was published in the fall of 2000 and grew out of her years working with young children. Barbara joined OSS in 2002 and is an Educational Support Teacher.
Educational Support - Lori Cataldo
French - Brigitte Souamy
Brigitte was born in Congo, Africa and raised in Creteil, France. She holds a Masters in Literature and Foreign Languages, from The Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris. Brigitte speaks three languages: French, English and Spanish, plus two African dialects (Lingala and Munukutuba). She has worked in the American Embassy, in Brazzaville, Congo. She is the oldest of a family of nine and has four children. Brigitte loves children and family time and enjoys reading, writing and cooking. She first joined OSS during the 1999-2000 school year as a French Teacher and returned to OSS in 2008 to again teach French.
German - Gabi Meyer
Gabriele Meyer was born in Soest, Germany. She graduated from the Gerhard-Mercator-Universität in Duisburg with an MA in Medieval History and German Literature and worked as a research assistant in the History Department. She also holds a degree for Teaching German as a Foreign Language (by Goethe-Institut in connection with University of Kassel). Gabriele and her family moved to the United States in 2000. She has been teaching German at the Deutsche Schule Bloomfield Hills for several years before she joined OSS as the German Teacher in January 2012.
Gym - Sage Honey
Woodworking - Jack Kobliska
Gardening - Maria Yamasaki
Handwork - Mary Tassone
Mary grew up in Chicago and moved to Detroit to complete her degree work at Marygrove College. She has an Art Ed. certification from Wayne State University and an MAT in Middle School Teaching from Saginaw Valley State University. In the course of her career she taught Language Arts, Social Studies and Art .Currently, Mary is teaching a variety of fiber related classes to adults and children. She also teaches watercolor,fiber dyeing and silk painting. Her artwork can be found in several local galleries and she participates in fiber festivals with her hand-dyed rovings and hand-spun yarns.
Mary enjoys singing with the Gilda's Singers at Gilda's Club in Royal Oak. Music has been a part of her life since she first learn to sing and play the piano as a child. Don't be surprised to hear a ukelele or a guitar with singing about knitting or other handwork coming from the Handwork room. Music and song is a great way to remember the directions!
Mary is married, has two adult children and two very crazy dogs. She lives in Royal Oak. She enjoys teaching and is excited to be working with the young people at Oakland Steiner School. Life is a wonderful gift, we all have much to offer each other and being a learner in life is a great way to live with each other!
Music (Strings, Orchestra, Ensemble) - Lois Richardson
Math Specialist - Danielle Serlin
STAFF
Enrollment Coordinator - Toni Kovach
Toni received her BA degree in Counseling and Psychology in 1985 from The Evergreen Sate College in Olympia, WA and her Masters in Social Work from the University of Illinois in 1993. She was introduced to Oakland Steiner School in 2005 when her daughter started the first grade. Toni has been employed at the school since 2008 and since 2010 has held the Enrollment Coordinator Position. Toni enjoys being outdoors: hiking, biking and walking; sewing, knitting, crocheting; and art of all kinds.
Director of Advancement - Mary Chris Foxworthy
Mary Chris has a BA from Marygrove College in Food Science and Nutrition and Communications from the University of Detroit. She has worked in marketing and fundraising for schools, non-profits, and corporations since graduation in 1974. Mary Chris particularly enjoys working in schools. She says the energy in a school is contagious and that she enjoys seeing the world through the eyes of children. Along with her husband, she enjoys spending time with their two adopted Korean children and their Morgan horses. Her husband and children are often seen at Oakland Steiner events.
Bookkeeper - Anne Smith
Administrative Assistant - Janalee Sehi
Administrative Assistant - Uta Karczewski
After Care - Merlyn Brandon
Merlyn was born in Chicago, raised in Minneapolis and then moved to Detroit. She studied early childhood development and child psychology at Eastern Michigan University, as well as psychology and drug abuse courses at University of Michigan Extension. She has three children, nine grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren, was a foster mother to fifty-one children in her home over a period of ten years, and has taught preschool children in her home. Merlyn was a director for Gerber Children’s Center, retired, and then returned to work as a teacher and assistant director for My School preschool. After retiring once again, she joined Oakland Steiner in 1995 in our After Care program. In addition to staffing the Before and After Care programs, she substitutes in the Children’s Center.
After Care Assistant - Michael Robinson
3976 S. Livernois - Rochester Hills, MI 48307 248-299-8755 info@oaklandsteiner.org
