Our School Community
The SelfDesign-International School of the Kootenays feels fortunate to have a diversity of people involved in the vitality and functioning of our school.  Our school community displays a true passion for education, community spirit, and the benefits of engaging learning experiences. 

As a liberal arts school, our staff are knowledgeable in many areas and have great interest in different approaches to learning.  Our Board of Directors is made up of volunteers who are committed to a liberal arts approach to education. They come from varying professions and provide the guidance for our school as we continue to grow and develop.

Community volunteers are welcomed at SelfDesign-ISK, and are an important part of our school community. Over the years they have dedicated many hours in support of our educational vision. If you are interested in volunteering some time with the school, please refer to our contact page and we would be happy to return your email and/or phone message.

Mentors

Deb Andrews – Fine Arts Program
Deb is a painter with a studio practice in Nelson who loves to teach and encourage creative process. After graduating from the Fine Arts department of Algonquin College School of Applied Arts and Technology in Ottawa she moved west and has lived most of the past 30 years in the Columbia River Basin Region of BC. She is a continuing faculty member at Kootenay School of the Arts Centre for Craft and Design at Selkirk College, has taught fine arts at the Nelson Waldorf School, and has been conducting regional workshops for over ten years.

Bo Conlan - Music/choir
Bo brings 25 years of teaching experience in workshop leading, personal vocal coaching and choir directorship to the choir directorship. She also brings a shining presence, infectious humour, and an ethic of working hard while you are having a good time. Bo has taught at the Kootenay School of the Arts, and has lead and been a part of many community based arts initiatives in the Kootenay region.

Jude Davison - Music
Jude has been writing, recording, and performing original music for over 24 years in BC?. He has taught high school and adult students in the Nelson area, and has taught music at the Nelson Waldorf School. Jude’s compositions have been heard on radio, and featured on television shows and films around the world. He has co-authored two screenplay projects with poet, Blake Parker – both featuring soundtrack albums, and they have recently released the Terminal City Trilogy a three CD collection of spoken-word & music. In 2003 he scored his first Broadway-style musical called Cybersoul and as a recording artist he has recorded four CDs which have been released in Canada, USA and Germany. He has been a resident of the city of Nelson, BC since 1995, where he lives with his wife, children and cat.  www.judedavison.com

Ariah Desilets – Fine Arts Program and Cooking Instructor
A local business owner specializing in wholesale organic savoury foods, Ariah creates nutritious, tasty food. Art is the other passion in her life, and working with youth is an equally exciting adventure for her. Ariah brings with her a strong sight and intuition into each student’s hidden ability, and a confidence in drawing that out, and a positive outlook and energy for the excitement of discovery. Her training and experience include: Commercial Art as a trade; teaching painting classes in Edmonton Art Gallery; painted a series of panels depicting a history of life in Alberta in the past 100 years, painted 150 original water colours for awards at a national sporting event; has taught Nelson Waldorf School class nine fine arts.

Jamie K. Donaldson - Peace Studies
New to Canada for reasons of conscience, Jamie has been involved in peace and justice activism, community development, non-profit management, and education for three decades. She holds a Masters of Arts Degree in Latin American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and hosts a bilingual Spanish-English radio show on Kootenay Coop Radio in Nelson.

Angela Fitzgerald - Math
Angela's formal training and education includes a BA in Math and English, a BEd in Secondary education, and a DipEd in Counselling Psychology. With the birth of her first child almost ten years ago, Angela began a more intensive hands-on 'training' with a focus on the concept of all learning being relative to the development of peaceful and healthy human relations. Since then Angela has shifted her focus to supporting learning in the context of a loving and nurturing relationship, with the relationship prioritized as integral to the learning. This stage of Angela's professional development is ongoing

Amy Forget - Science
A relative newcomer to Nelson, Amy holds two degrees from Nipissing University in Ontario with a BA (teachable in geography) and a Bachelor of Education. Her progressive approach to learning supports a student centred and enquiry based techniques that encourage individual expression and diversity. Along with course development Amy has been providing SelfDesign-ISK staff and students administrative and learning support.

Miriam Green - Math
When not playing around with mathematics, I love to be outside skiing or hiking or biking or playing with my kids and enjoying this beautiful country. I’ve been lucky to live and teach and learn in and around Yellowknife (NWT), Ottawa and Vancouver, before landing in the lovely community of Nelson. Hope to see you around.

Earl Hamilton - English
Earl is eclipsing a life long career in public schools with a sortie into teaching 'unfettered' at SelfDesign-ISK. He owes his love of Waldorf schooling to the devas in his wife's garden. With a BA from the University of Michigan and his BED from the University of British Columbia, Earl brings diversity of educational and world experience to his workshops.

Norma Kilpatrick - English and Theatre
With a BA in Theatre and a Master's degree in English Education, Norma has over 25 years of experience teaching English, writing and drama to people of all ages and abilities.  She is especially interested in individual learning styles and alternative methods of learning. Norma was a member of the Theatre Energy collective, the director of The Light and Power Theatre Company, and still produces the annual Big Lip-Sync Contest at the Capitol Theatre in Nelson. She is a passionate teacher, learner, performer and outdoors enthusiast.

Barbara Kingsland - Fine Arts
Barbara was born into a family of teachers and artists. Twenty years ago she began to focus her love of handwork to basket making, which she later discovered was the art of the Abenaki Indians in her heritage.  Copper has always attracted Barbara, and she and her husband are enjoying the creation of copper items such as baskets, frames and bowls.   Much of the pleasure comes from experiencing the colour and texture possibilities that live within the metal.

Kris LeDrew - Music
Kris Ledrew has over 20 years of experience as a musician, which began long before he attended the Selkirk Professional Music Collage and learned the theory and fundamentals of arrangement, ear training, composition, as well as music history and an understanding of jazz concepts in the modern world. He is or has played with the following bands: Mushana Marimba, The Afriques, Malicounda African drum and dance, Moving Mosaic Community Samba, What it is and My attorney Bernie. Kris has also trained with some of the very best percussionists and musicians including his mentors, Chris Berry, Joseph “Pepe” Danza, and Alex Acouna.
www.krisledrew.com

Anita Levesque - Fine Arts and English
Anita Levesque is a scaffolding. She travels the ring of earth with versatility at her side. She wears life lessons like suspenders. Her life is built around colour and creativity.

Michael Maser - Sustainable Resources 11 and Planning 10( Learning Your Way)
Michael has worked as an alternate-innovative educator for 20+ years, co-founding both the 'Virtual High' program for teens in Vancouver (1993-1997) and SelfDesign Learning Community (2002-present). His educational strengths include personal development, language arts and science, drawing on professional experience as a writer-researcher-journalist and scientist (geologist). Additionally, Michael enjoys playing guitar, hiking and camping and he is a passionate advocate on behalf of environmental and sustainability initiatives. Michael has a permanent professional teaching certificate (BC).

Barbarah Nicoll - Humanities, Peace Studies
Barbarah Nicoll has been involved with Waldorf Education for 20 years.  As the past School Coordinator for the Nelson Waldorf School, Barbarah has created the foundation and vision for the development of the International School of the Kootenays.  Barbarah holds a Bachelor of General Studies Degree, a Waldorf High School Teacher Diploma and a Masters of Arts in Integrated Studies from Athabasca University. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding The Heart in Connection to Learning and Education, By Barbarah Nicoll

Jake Pauls - Visual Arts
Jake Pauls (and his partner Suzanne Tompkins) recently collaborated as SelfDesign mentors for the Comics, Cartoons and Graphic Novels conference in the SelfDesign Learning Community 'Village'. Jake has a BA in Studio Arts from the University of Guelph and now works as an illustrator. Jake and Suzanne look foward to mentoring a fascinating new approach to learning about, discussing and practicing art using online technology.

Amber Santos - Art & Dance
Kootenay-raised Amber Santos is an educator and artist who loves to dance and paint on the streets. Her formal education includes studying photography at Concordia University and Fine Arts at Universidade Estadual de Santa Catarina in Brazil. However, she considers her greatest university to have been the communities of Recife together with street educators and youth, transforming it in a positive way through art and community media.

Alison Talbot Kelly - Humanities, Peace Studies
Alison came to Nelson from Montreal where she was a teacher at college level for 8 years in the Humanities, Philosophy and Religion departments. She has degrees in Philosophy (McGill) and Religious Studies and a Master's in Anthropology/Religious Studies (MacMaster). Along with sporadic engagements teaching at Selkirk College Alison has been involved with SelfDesign-ISK developing curriculum and administration/PR work. The questions lurking behind much of what interests Alison are "What do we need to know? " and "What influences how we know?"

Suzanne Tompkins - Visual Arts
Suzanne Tompkins (and her partner Jake Pauls) recently collaborated as SelfDesign mentors for the Comics, Cartoons and Graphic Novels conference in the SelfDesign Learning Community 'Village'. Suzanne is a SelfDesign Learning Consultant and she is currently completing her Masters in Educational Technology at UBC. Suzanne and Jake look foward to mentoring a fascinating new approach to learning about, discussing and practicing art using online technology. Suzanne is certified by the BC College of Teachers.

Paul Tosney - Math & Physics
Paul gained his degree with the Open University by distance learning, while teaching various subjects at the Royal Air Force Technical College in England. He then went to night school and gained a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from Wolverhampton University. Paul is also the administrator for the SelfDesign-ISK Moodle course management system and our website. Paul has many years of experience of distance learning, both as a student and as a tutor. He has taught night classes in Math & Physics and was a student counsellor.

Jeff Tsai - Geography
Jeff was born and raised in Taiwan. His initial foray into geography began when he picked up his first map as a little kid; this began his unbroken exploration into how nature and people interact and into understanding the critical issues that affect our lives and our planet. Integrating his passion for geography into a career, Jeff also holds a teaching degree from the University of British Columbia.

Diane Walters - Earth Sciences, Astronomy and Practical Arts
Diane Walters is a trained Waldorf teacher who holds a BC Independent Schools Certificate and a Masters Degree in Liberal Arts with a focus on adolescent participatory learning styles. She has had a lifelong interest on the subjects of geology, ecology, geography, astronomy, agriculture, education and the practical arts. Diane’s 30 year relationship with stone and clay is one she plans to share with SelfDesign-ISK students and community members.

Learning Consultants

Lisa Housden - SelfDesign Praxis, Independent studies Lisa was born and raised in Montreal and has worn a variety of hats over the years. Her post secondary education includes a BA English from McGill University; formal actor training at Dalhousie University, the Circle in the Square in New York and the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts; and a B Ed from Queens University. She worked as a professional actress and toured educational puppet and live theatre shows in English and French to schools in Ontario. Her teaching experience includes high school level English and Drama, ESL, Social Studies and Life Skills in public and independent schools. She was the Children's and Youth Librarian at the Gibsons Public Library where she planned and implemented programming for children and youth (ages 2-18), developed and toured puppet shows to the schools and provided readers' advisory and reference services to patrons of all ages. Most recently, she joined the SelfDesign team in September 2007 and has enjoyed two very rewarding and inspiring years as a Program assistant and a Learning Consultant. Lisa's personal and professional interests lie in the area of fantasy literature, writing, arts and crafts, play and storytelling. She has also been known to dabble in puppetry and painting! Lisa holds an Independent School Teaching Certificate for the province of British Columbia. In addition to being a Learning Consultant, Lisa is also a mentor for Language Arts and Drama.

Michael Maser - Learning Consultant, available for SelfDesign Praxis.
Michael has worked as an alternate-innovative educator for 20+ years, co-founding both the 'Virtual High' program for teens in Vancouver (1993-1997) and SelfDesign Learning Community (2002-present). His educational strengths include personal development, language arts and science, drawing on professional experience as a writer-researcher-journalist and scientist (geologist). Additionally, Michael enjoys playing guitar, hiking and camping and he is a passionate advocate on behalf of environmental and sustainability initiatives. Michael has a permanent professional teaching certificate (BC). (accepting 1-2 learners: full)