Faculty – Sunbridge Institute – Waldorf Teacher Education

Elementary Faculty

Our Waldorf teacher education faculty are experienced professionals and leaders in Waldorf education and related fields. They include master Waldorf teachers and mentors, accomplished artists and musicians, Waldorf school founders, published authors of books and articles on Waldorf education, and sought-after speakers on Waldorf education and related topics.

The following are our Waldorf Elementary Teacher Education program faculty:

Rebecca Hays Nelson ’07

Director; Geometry

Rebecca, who was appointed Elementary program director in 2024, currently teaches eighth grade at the Waldorf School of New Orleans, where she has taught since 2010 and is a middle school specialist. Prior to joining that school’s faculty, she took a class from sixth-eighth grade at Green Meadow Waldorf School. In recent years, Rebecca has also been an instructor in and leading force behind Sunbridge’s Summer Series middle school grades courses. A graduate of the College of William and Mary, where she majored in English and anthropology, Rebecca discovered Waldorf education while studying Mayan archaeology at Tulane University, from which she earned an MA in anthropology. She also holds an MSEd in Waldorf elementary education from Sunbridge College.

Jana Hawley

Core Faculty; Music and Chorus, Inner Development

Jana began teaching in Sunbridge’s Elementary Teacher Education program in 2002 and directed the program from 2009-2022; she is also on the faculty of our Early Childhood program. Since 2006, Jana has also been on the faculty of Green Meadow Waldorf School, where she has been a class teacher, music teacher, Lower School chair, member of the GMWS Teacher Development Committee, and co-chair of the Festival Committee. Previously, she spent 14 years on the faculty of the Whidbey Island Waldorf School, teaching music and main lessons.

Jana has been a visiting faculty member at several Waldorf teacher training institutes in the US as well as at institutes abroad, including China and Australia. She has led workshops in movement, singing, and composition, and is a contributor to The Mood of the Fifth: A Musical Approach to Early Childhood, a WECAN publication. Jana earned her BFA in Music from Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA, and her MSEd in Waldorf Elementary Teacher Education from Sunbridge College.

Stephen K. Sagarin

Core Faculty; Education, Fine Art, Color Theory, School Governance, Inner Development

Steve, who has been teaching at Sunbridge since 2000, founded and directs our High School Teacher Education program and is also co-founder and faculty chair at the Berkshire Waldorf High School, where he teaches history and art. He is also a former teacher and administrator at the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School and the Waldorf School of Garden City, the high school from which he graduated. From 2019-23, he served as a trustee on the Sunbridge Board. Steve has taught history of education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and human development at the City University of New York. He is the former editor of the Research Bulletin of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education; the author of The History of Waldorf Education in the United States: Past, Present and Future; and writes, lectures, mentors teachers, and consults with Waldorf schools on teaching and administration. Steve has a PhD in history from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in art history, with a certificate of proficiency in fine art, from Princeton University.

Brigida Baldszun

Eurythmy

An independent working eurythmist and therapeutic eurythmist, Brigida was born and educated in Europe, where she began her career. She has taught eurythmy in Waldorf schools in Europe, the US, South Africa, India, China, and Russia. She currently teaches on the East Coast where she also performs, both as a soloist and with a eurythmy ensemble. In addition to holding a BA in performing arts from the University of Oslo, Brigida earned diplomas in eurythmy and eurythmy therapy from the Goetheanum in Dornach and a certificate in pedagogical eurythmy from Stuttgart Waldorf Teacher Training.

Will Crane

Spacial Dynamics

Following a 30-year career at Green Meadow Waldorf School as a class teacher (1986-1991) and as Director of Physical Education and Athletics (1991-2016), Will is broadening the spectrum of his work in movement education to meet the growing needs of our time. His current endeavors include bringing Spacial Dynamics® movement to complement adult education at Sunbridge as well as at the Fiber Craft Studio’s Applied Arts program, “Uncovering the Voice” (Werbec singing/voice training), and the Christian Community Seminary, among others. He also works with individual clients in movement therapy, is a teacher and movement therapist at the Otto Specht School in Chestnut Ridge, NY, and is a long-time contributor to the trainings at the Spacial Dynamics Institute. As a professional movement educator, Will brings his skills in mentoring and consulting to help developing teachers in Waldorf schools worldwide. He received his Foundation Year education and teacher training at Rudolf Steiner College.

Elizabeth Doshi

Language Arts

Elizabeth is a faculty member at the Ashwood Waldorf School in Rockport, Maine, where she has taught grade one for the last five years, either as a stand-alone class or a combined grades one and two class. Before coming to Ashwood, she was a grades three-six class teacher at Cape Ann Waldorf School (now The Waldorf School of Moraine Farm); taught grades two, three, and four at the Lexington Waldorf School; assisted in grade four at Pine Hill Waldorf School; and, at the Waldorf Steiner School in Singapore, taught parent-child classes, parent education workshops, and enrichment for grade one. Elizabeth, who is also a Sunbridge Summer Series “Grades” instructor, studied theater and philosophy at Bard College, has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, and completed her Waldorf training at Antioch New England.

Meggan Gill ’10

Anti-Bias Education

Meggan has served as Sunbridge’s director of education and organizational culture since 2021. A member of Alma Partners, and a specialist in diversity, equity, and inclusion, she is also a trained Waldorf early childhood educator and a member of Sunbridge’s Early Childhood Teacher Education faculty. She is also an active committee member and workshop presenter for AWSNA and WECAN, and, along with Dr. Linda Williams, led a workshop at the 2023 World Teachers’ Conference. Meggan’s teaching experience includes serving as lead toddler teacher at City of Lakes Waldorf School from 2020-21 and, from 2009-2020, serving on the faculty of the Brooklyn Waldorf School, where she led parent-and-child and kindergarten classes and was active on the Faculty Council. Prior to joining BWS, she taught kindergarten at the Olympia Waldorf School and parent-and-child and nursery classes at the New Amsterdam School. Meggan, who originally hails from the Pacific Northwest, earned her undergraduate degree in health sciences from The Evergreen State College, her MEd in curriculum and instruction from SUNY Empire State, and her certificate in Waldorf early childhood education from Sunbridge.

Elizabeth Hall

Language Arts, Humanities

Liz is the eighth grade teacher at Green Meadow Waldorf School where she has been a class teacher since 2006 and is a member of the school’s Collegium and the Teacher Development Committee. Prior to joining the Green Meadow faculty, she was a class teacher and lower school chair at the Waldorf School of Baltimore. Liz is a longtime member of the Sunbridge Elementary faculty and also teaches anthroposophical studies in our Early Childhood program. She holds a BA from Earlham College, where she double-majored in English and Spanish and minored in Art History; an MA in Education and Waldorf Certificate 1-8 from Antioch New England Graduate School; NH certification 1-6; and a Certificate of Curative Education from Camphill Special Schools, Inc.

Mary Lynn Hetsko

Handwork

Mary Lynn is the lower school handwork teacher at NYC’s Rudolf Steiner School, where she has been a member of the faculty since 2009 and sits on the College of Teachers. Prior to that, she taught handwork for several years at Green Meadow Waldorf School. Mary Lynn has also taught handwork workshops for the Fiber Craft Studio and at AWSNA conferences. She holds a certificate in Applied Arts from Sunbridge College.

Kemal Lowenthal

Woodwork

Kemal teaches woodwork and clay in the middle school and applied arts in the high school at Green Meadow Waldorf School, the school from which he graduated and where he has taught since 2017. Prior to coming to Green Meadow, he was on the faculty of the Maine Coast Waldorf School for five years, where he served as the elementary faculty chair and sat on the Leadership Committee and the College of Teachers. Kemal’s subjects have also included high school math, literature, art, 6th grade geology, 7th grade algebra, and drama. He holds a BFA in ceramics and sculpture, with a minor in art history, from the School for American Crafts, Rochester Institute of Technology, and an MEd in Waldorf elementary education from Antioch University of New England.

Jennifer Kleinbach

Art of Speech

Jennifer is a eurythmist and speech artist. She currently teaches the art of speech (also known as “Speech Formation” or “Creative Speech”) in the Eurythmy Spring Valley School of Eurythmy and in part-time programs at Threefold Educational Foundation. She also performs with the Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble.

Calisa Tucker

Math

Calisa has been a class teacher at the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor since 2002. Prior to becoming a Waldorf teacher, Calisa worked on an Organizational Learning and Lean Manufacturing internal consulting team for Ford Motor Company. Lessons learned in the automotive industry inspired her to seek out an education that nurtured systems thinking, creativity, and a love of learning. In 1999 during her Montessori teacher training, Calisa rediscovered Waldorf education; after completing her Montessori training, she completed her Waldorf teacher training through the Waldorf Institute of Southeast Michigan. Calisa also received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and completed her studies through the Engineering Global Leadership Honors program.

Mac Mead

Gardening

Mac has been the director of the Pfeiffer Center since 2007. He has farmed and gardened biodynamically for more than thirty years, working with the land on every scale from hand work to field-scale vegetables, tending an orchard to managing dairy cows. He was the resident farmer at the Fellowship Community’s Duryea Farm from 1997 until 2005 and a co-worker at the Camphill Village in Copake, NY, from 1972 to 1974, where he did therapeutic community work and also taught nature and games at the fledgling Waldorf school there. As a co-worker in the Fellowship Community beginning in 1975, learning biodynamic methods directly from former co-workers of Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Mac helped start the third grade farming block at Green Meadow Waldorf School and taught that block for 15 years; he also helped initiate the Pfeiffer Center’s public school outreach program, The Outdoor Lesson. Mac graduated from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania with a degree in psychology.

Tommi Sue Morgan

Circle Work; Language Arts; Science

Tommi is a longtime Waldorf educator and teacher trainer who has been teaching in Sunbridge’s Elementary program for over a decade. She is a former faculty member at Whidbey Island Waldorf School, where she served as a grades teacher between 1997 and 2007 and then a middle school block teacher. She was also on the faculty at Sound Circle Teacher Training and formerly directed Waldorf teacher training in Xi’an China. She travels widely, teaching main lesson blocks, mentoring teachers, and stepping in as a long-term substitute. Tommi studied at the University of Washington where she received a BA in English, a Washington State teaching certificate, and an MAEd; she also attended Waldorf teacher training at Rudolf Steiner College.

Emily Remensperger ’16

Art

Emily returned to Green Meadow Waldorf School, which she attended from kindergarten to twelfth grade, as a class teacher in fall 2024. Previously, she served as a class teacher at Housatonic Valley Waldorf School from 2013-24. Emily, who is also a Grades instructor in Sunbridge’s Summer Series, holds a master’s degree in art education from Pratt Institute and received her Waldorf Teacher training at Sunbridge.

Winnie Stern ’14

Practical Work

Winnie served as director of our Elementary program from 2022-24, when she stepped back to focus on her role as high school history teacher at Green Meadow Waldorf School, a role she acquired in 2021 after earlier taking a Green Meadow class from first through eighth grade. A former substitute teacher, Winnie initially became interested in exploring the foundations and goals of education through a philosophical lens, and discovered Waldorf education while seeking to answer the question “What kind of education helps to create a happy and healthy human being?” She holds a double-major BA in philosophy and education from Brooklyn College, an MA in philosophy and education from Columbia University Teachers College, a NYS teaching license in grades 1-6 education, and her Waldorf teacher certification from Sunbridge Institute.