I could hear the bus of 18 singing sixth graders approaching and ran to greet them as they pulled into the dirt driveway of Duyck’s Peachy Pig Farm Saturday afternoon.  We unloaded the bus, had a little welcome meeting and helped one another trek our gear through rows of raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries to set up camp.  With tents set up in the shade of a row of pine trees we fueled up with a snack and  to explore the 6o plus acres of bucolic farmland.  We grazed on berries, figs, plums, filberts, fresh corn, and tomatoes.  We played on an amazing merry go round, and visited Pigs, week old piglets, goats, a llama, a mini horse, a big horse, chickens, geese, ducks, a cow and an Emu! On our way back to camp be collected fresh veggies for our dinner. 

 Back at camp we made personal Calzones.  Each student made their own dough, filled it with fresh veggies, personalized it, and got back a piping hot hand pie full of farm freshness to dip in marinara sauce! 

 Night fell and some of us went to start a campfire, others headed up the hill to play capture the flag in the moonlight. As the full moon rose higher in the sky we all came together to the fire to enjoy, s’mores, jokes, and reflections of the day.   Tuckered out and well fed we retired to our tents to rest up for another fun filled day on Sunday.

 The roosters woke up up around seven, followed by the sound of

giggles in tents as camp stirred to life.    We woke up Gracie in her tent with a cupcake, candle, and a round of “Happy Birthday.”  Early risers grabbed buckets and headed into the berry patch to collect fresh strawberries and raspberries for our berry crepe breakfast.  We worked together to cut the berries and make our crepes.  The kitchen was inspired with left-over using creativity and we were soon pumping out self titled “Berry Blast,” “Original Berry,” “Original,” ”S’mores,” and “Plain” varieties!

 After breakfast we went to feed the animals.  Our hands were tickled by horses lips, we giggled about pig snouts, and had our hears melted by the goats.  We played some more and all gathered around Gracie’s beautiful birthday cupcakes and celebrated.  

 A Scavenger hunt was just the thing to burn off our cupcake energy and we searched the farm high and low for treasures before heading back to camp for fresh veggie pasta lunch.  

 After lunch we loaded up our gear, hung out with our friend the David Bowie Rooster, and headed to the barn where we met Jacinta who let us hold piglets! It was a real highlight to cradle week old pigs in our arms!

We piled aboard our bus at 10am and headed out to the gorge, after less than an hour of hanging out together on the bus we parked, went over the trip and began hiking switchbacks up the gorge through the tall ferns to Ponytail Falls.  This 2.7 mike loop brought us over a bridge above Oneonta Falls (our final destination) where we could peer down into the chasm we would later hike up.  We stopped for snacks where the trail led us behind Ponytail Falls and then snaked back down through the forest, finishing our loop through historic Oneonta Tunnel. 

After a lunch by the river we began our chasm adventure.  The journey starts with a scramble over a log jam.  We helped one another over the massive pile of logs and came to our second challenge: chest deep water with sheer cliffs rising on each side.  Some of us scaled the walls as long as we could to stay dry, some of us waded the river.  Our reward for our bravery was arriving at beautiful Oneonta Falls where we splashed and played until our return to the bus.  

On teh ride home we had a storytelling competition for the best Oneonta folklore.  The winners were Josephine, Emma, and Hannah with tales of horses, turtles, bison, and snakes and how Oneonta Gorge came to be.  They won homemade cookies on Monday at school!

Members of our Upper School robotics team, 1540 the Flaming Chickens, spent all weekend at OMSI's Mini Maker Faire September 15-16 talking to people about FIRST Robotics and Catlin Gabel. They also got up for a early 4:30 a.m. video shoot at OMSI to promote the faire.  Check it out.

Catlin Gabel School has received a grant of $200,000 from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The grant will support instructional technology in the school’s planned Creative Arts Center.

Groundbreaking for the new building will be held October 4. Students in grades 6–12 will experience an innovative use of space for interdisciplinary work in visual and media arts, theater, and music when the Creative Arts Center opens in the fall of 2013. Funds from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust grant will be used for computers and recording equipment for the music laboratory, theater sound systems, and state-of-the-art LED stage lighting that will greatly reduce the building’s energy consumption. Additionally, the grant will support servers, networking, classroom projectors, and advanced theater projection.

The $6.9 million Creative Arts Center was designed by renowned architect Brad Cloepfil, of Allied Works Architecture. Funds for the building’s construction have come primarily from donors to the project, as well as grants. Cloepfil has designed notable museum and creative spaces worldwide, from the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis to the adaptive reuse of Manhattan’s Museum of Arts and Design on Columbus Circle. “Catlin Gabel’s project for the new arts building means a tremendous amount to me,” said Cloepfil. “To build on that beautiful campus, with the legacy of great architecture by John Storrs and Thomas Hacker, is a true gift. We have worked with faculty and students to create a building that will be a beautiful catalyst for creativity, not only in the visual and performing arts, but for the entire curriculum of the school. It truly is a laboratory, one that will encourage the students to develop new ideas and forms of expression.”

CREATIVITY IS CENTRAL TO CATLIN GABEL’S PHILOSOPHY
“The arts are a core of Catlin Gabel’s philosophy and are key to a well-rounded education. In no other discipline do critical thinking, problem-solving, predicting outcomes, analyzing, re-assessing, and creativity come together as they do in the arts. The intellectual challenges posed by visual art, music, and theater facilitate learning in all other disciplines. These vital pursuits help make our children more thoughtful, interesting, and well-rounded—and create a life of more profundity and beauty for all of us.” –Lark Palma, head of school

THE M.J. MURDOCK CHARITABLE TRUST
The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, based in Vancouver, Washington, was created by the will of Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, a co-founder of Tektronix, Inc., and established in 1975. The trust aims to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest by providing grants and enrichment programs to organizations seeking to strengthen the region’s educational, spiritual, and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways.

Beginning School

April Alexander – preschool teaching assistant
April started with Catlin Gabel after the school year started last year. She came to Catlin Gabel with experience in daycares and preschools.

Leondra Brackett – kindergarten studio teacher
We are delighted to announce the addition of Leondra Brackett to the kindergarten teaching team as the studio teacher next year. She comes to Catlin Gabel with an MAT with an art endorsement from Lewis & Clark College and a BA from Whitman College in psychology and studio art. This is really a return to Catlin Gabel for Leondra. She was the 1st grade teaching assistant here for two years and then the assistant teacher in the Lower School Art Barn. Her wide-ranging experience includes teaching preschool, teaching middle and high school art, tutoring young offenders, chaperoning school service projects abroad, working with developmentally disabled adults, and leading environmental education projects with people of all ages. As a working artist, she delights in sharing art with children. “Interesting tidbit about me: I went to Guatemala for three weeks for my honeymoon this summer!”

Briana Britton ’07 – kindergarten teaching assistant
Briana returns to Catlin Gabel with a BS in psychology from Mills College, where she assisted for several years at its child development center. She has also worked at the Peninsula Children’s Center in Portland, where a group of our Middle School students helps out each month. She is interested in child advocacy work. “When the opportunity to work at Catlin Gabel came along, I could not pass it up,” she says. “I am so honored to now experience it as a teacher.”

Alicia Lopez – kindergarten teaching assistant
Alicia comes to us with a BS in human development and family science from OSU. She has been a lead teacher and assistant director at a child care center and interned at Head Start in Corvallis. She is interested in a future in school counseling. “I am a very bubbly and outgoing person who loves watching children learn and be part of the process,” she says.

Lower School

Katie Boehnlein - 5th grade teaching assistant
Katie has been working with elementary age children for the past four years in a variety of positions. Most recently she was the teaching assistant at the SW Charter School and an after-school teacher at the St. Thomas More Parish School, where she implemented a weekly science program. She has worked for Portland Parks as a lead teacher in their Summer Nature Day Camp program and as a naturalist at the Hoyt Arboretum, where she has been developed her skills in inquiry-based experiential teaching. She enjoys writing and is a volunteer for Write Around Portland. “My last name means ‘little bean’ in German. We pronounce it ‘Bain-line,’" she says.

Genevieve Bouwes - assistant head of Lower School
Genevieve has 16 years of experience in public and independent school education. She began teaching 4th and 5th grades at the New Canaan Country Day School in Connecticut, then moved to Riverside Elementary in North Clackamas, where she taught multi-age classrooms (2nd–3rd and 3rd–4th) for several years before moving on to teach 4th grade. While at Riverside she successfully implemented a grant to create a classroom-leveled library, trained colleagues in literature, and used the Storyline technique to integrate curriculum. She then became the professional development facilitator and director of preschool at the Trillium Charter School in Portland. There she designed and implemented professional development for faculty and managed all aspects of the preschool including visionary direction, staffing, and enrollment. After four years she became the school’s interim executive director.

Marcelle Donehower – 3rd grade teacher
Marcelle graduated from Portland State University with a BA in environment studies and political science. She went on to Lewis & Clark College, where she earned an MAT in early childhood and elementary education. Three years ago, Marcelle interned in Catlin Gabel’s 5th grade. Most recently she has been teaching a 4th–5th grade blend at the Springwater Environmental Science School. She also served as a science educator through Americorps. Besides school, Marcelle loves to garden and be outdoors.

Stephen Grant – Beginning and Lower School counselor
Stephen has 17 years of experience as a counselor and therapist. He has coordinated the Schools Uniting Neighborhood program for Lane Middle School, acted as a family support specialist for Buckman Elementary, created a private practice serving children and adolescents, and developed a boys’ advocacy and mentoring program. As part of his advocacy work, Stephen has co-authored a book, trained teachers, and facilitated groups. Several of our faculty members have taken his training, and many members of our community know him through both his group facilitation and private practice work.

Colin Rupp - 2nd grade teaching assistant
Colin has worked with students in kindergarten through high school for the past six years. He tutored students in reading, math, and writing at James John Elementary and worked in the Sun School after-school program. Before that he ran a successful music camp for Ethos Music Center that served hundreds of students. He graduated from the University of Portland with a degree in music education and has been a private music instructor for the past four years. Most recently he has been a long-term substitute PE teacher here at Catlin Gabel.

Student teachers from University of Portland

Sara Etter – 5th & 2nd grade student teacher
Sara will begin her student teaching in 5th grade on Maggie’s side and complete her advanced placement in 2nd grade with John. She recently graduated from Portland State University with a BS in arts and letters with an emphasis in education. Sara did her practicum teaching in 1st grade and 5th grades, where she worked with small groups teaching math, writing, and reading. She has also been a camp counselor at Mt. Hood working with young adults with disabilities. Sara loves living in Oregon, with all the outdoor activities it offers.

Kyle Marie Jolley – 4th & 1st grade student teacher
Kyle will begin her student teaching in 4th grade on Mariam’s side and complete her advanced placement in 1st grade with Rachel. She is a graduate of Oregon State University, where she earned a BS in human development and family sciences with an option in early childhood development and education. Kyle has worked as an assistant teacher in a kindergarten class, helping plan and implement activities, and completed an internship as a camp counselor in Germany working in a child development center. She was also a recreation leader with the Boys and Girls Club.

Colin Laing – 3rd & 5th grade student teacher
Colin will begin his student teaching in 3rd grade on Marcelle’s side and complete his advanced placement in 5th grade with Jordan. He earned a BA in sociology from the University of Oregon. Before returning to school Colin was the arts and culture supervisor with the Boys and Girls Club of Portland, where he was in charge of daily operations, and helped expand the Kids Garden Club and Community Garden Program. He also was the lead staffer in the after-school care program. He spent the last year teaching English to middle and high school students in Thailand.

Emmarose McDermott – 1st & 3rd grade student teacher
Emmarose will begin her student teaching in 1st grade on Mimi’s side and complete her advanced placement in 3rd grade with Herb. She is a graduate of Pacific University with a degree in education. Emmarose worked with the B-Street Permaculture Project Farm developing curriculum for the children’s garden. She was also a teaching assistant in grades 1–8 at Forest Grove Community School, leading reading groups and helping with math and writing.

Lauren Tuey – 2nd & 4th grade student teacher
Lauren will begin her student teaching in 2nd grade on Dawn’s side and complete her advanced placement in 4th grade with Keli. She graduated from Pacific University with a degree in education and learning. While earning her degree she worked as a playroom supervisor at Pacific University caring for young children. She also worked for a local summer garden camp with elementary school children.

Middle School

Natalie Dickinson – physical education teacher
Natalie Dickinson was born and raised in Portland and grew up enjoying biking, hiking, and skiing with her family, and playing competitive volleyball and basketball. She received a BA from the University of San Diego, then spent five years in the wellness field and teaching yoga in Portland before returning to school for a MA in teaching at the University of Portland. “My goal as a teacher is to educate, inspire, and encourage others to lead healthier lives, and to provide knowledge and opportunity for our youth to thrive. I am always up for a new adventure,” she says.

Katie Gunderson – French teacher
Katie Gunderson was born and raised in Portland. After graduating from PSU with a master’s in education, she spent a year teaching English in a small town in the northeast of France. She comes to Catlin Gabel after working for five years at a French immersion school. In her free time Katie enjoys reading and spending time with friends and family. She says she is ecstatic to join the Catlin Gabel Middle School team!

Jesse Lowes – science teacher
Jesse Lowes originally hails from the Green Mountains of Vermont, where he grew up exploring the seemingly infinite woods behind his house. When he did finally meet the end of these woods, he continued his exploration westward to climb mountains, explore canyons, and study biology at Colorado College. The decade since then has been filled with various adventures in education, including working as an environmental educator in California, an ESL instructor in South Korea, and an OMSI outreach science teacher in schools throughout the western U.S. After completing an MAT in education at Lewis & Clark College and teaching at various middle and high schools in the Portland area, he is now thrilled to be joining the Catlin Gabel community.

Yen Ling Wang – Spanish teacher
Yen Ling born in Taiwan but was raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she lived for over 10 years. When she was 13 her family moved to Southern California, where she completed high school and undergraduate education. “Growing up in a Taiwanese household I had always felt that I was not familiar with the history and culture of Latin America, so in college I enrolled in Spanish literature courses and kept up with the study of the Spanish language. I completed my MA in Spanish and education,” she says. “I began teaching in Los Angeles and have been moving north: Argentina to Los Angeles to San Francisco, and now Portland. I love teaching MS students, as they tend to be fearless in their approach. In my experience, students learn best when they are actively engaged and having fun. I love engaging my students in challenging and realistic linguistic scenarios in the classroom.”

Back row, l to r: Chris Mateer, Kenny Nguyen; middle row, l to r: Renee Jenkinson, Tom Hill, Leanne Moll, Wendy Wilkinson; front row, l to r: Charles Walsh, Meredith Goddard, Marion Edens, Shannon Rush

Upper School

Marion Edens – science teacher
Marion and her family moved to Oregon from Australia. Their personal belongings are still en route via a container ship. Marion has a BA in microbiology from New Zealand’s University of Otago and a PhD in biological sciences from Aston University in the United Kingdom. She spent the past seven years teaching high school biology and chemistry in New Zealand and Australia. Her various careers have taken her all over the world. Previous to teaching, she was an opera singer in the U.K and Germany.

Meredith Goddard – history teacher
A move from Illinois brought Meredith to Oregon. She recently taught advanced placement and college prep U.S. history at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Meredith has a BA in history from Carleton College and an MAT in secondary social studies education from Duke University. Meredith lived in Jaipur, India, where she studied Indian politics, economics, and Hindi, and volunteered in the schools.

Tom Hill – library assistant
Tom has worked for the Hillsboro Public Library, the Multnomah Education Service District, and the Reynolds School District. Tom has a BA in journalism from the University of Oregon, and holds both a State of Oregon standard teaching license and an educational media endorsement. In addition to his library skills, Tom plays the harmonica and knows “an alarmingly large number of music-related jokes.”

Renee Jenkinson – outdoor program teacher
Renee comes to Catlin Gabel with 12 years teaching experience and a BS in public health education from Portland State University. Her previous experience includes five years of program development and guiding for a teen girls adventure camp that took trips in Montana, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, and Scandinavia. “For the last decade I’ve traveled the world teaching wilderness medicine and EMT courses for the National Outdoor Leadership School,” she says. “I love games, playing my accordion, working on vintage trailers, participating in triathlons, teaching, and adventure.”

Christopher Mateer – art teacher
Chris, his wife, and their 11-week-old baby packed up and moved to Oregon from New York this summer. Chris has an MFA from Ohio University and a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art. Most recently, he worked as the woodworking teacher at Leman Manhattan Preparatory School and the Children’s Art Institute. He has also worked as art teacher at St. Clare of Assisi School in the Bronx, New York.

Leanne Moll – English teacher
Leanne is currently a PhD candidate at Cornell University. She has a BA in music history and literature from Mills College, a master’s in musicology from Lewis & Clark College, and an MAT in English language arts and literacy from Cornell University. She has been an instructor at Portland Community College and at Cornell, and a visiting professor at Syracuse University. Leanne worked as a literary curriculum developer for Rowe Middle School in Milwaukie.

Kenny Nguyen – math teacher
Kenny comes to Catlin Gabel with a strong background in research and teaching. He was a research associate for the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. Kenny worked as a research assistant with the Diagnostic E-learning Trajectories Approach. He has an MA in learning technologies from the University of Michigan and a PhD in mathematics from North Carolina State University. Kenny wrote, “You can remember me by my proclivity to hum late Beethoven and wear black.”

Shannon Rush – math teacher
Shannon moved back to the Pacific Northwest this summer after teaching math at the Tsinghua International School in China. Previously, she taught math at Bellingham High School. Shannon received her BA in mathematics from Seattle Pacific University and is a National Board certified teacher.

Charles Walsh – music teacher
Charles grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. He has a BA in music from Kenyon College and is completing an MA in choral conducting at PSU. Charles has been a choral teacher at the American Academy, Lincoln High School, and Central Catholic High School. Charles says, “I love jazz, indie rock, and early music a cappella. I bicycle every day and excel at ping pong.”

Robyn Washburn – Upper School registrar
Robyn worked for Catlin Gabel from 1999 to 2010 as Middle School admistrative assistant and as Upper School registrar. She has worked as registrar for the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts. Robyn holds a BA in English literature.

Wendy Wilkinson – French teacher
Wendy has a BA in history from the University of Wisconsin and law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School. She is joining Catlin Gabel after teaching at the Portland French School and tutoring here. Wendy says, “I went to elementary school in French public schools in the outskirts of Paris. We walked to and from school and stopped at the boulangerie every day for a snack.”

Staff

Lari Anctil – compensation and benefits manager
Lari has been involved in implementing payroll, HR, and benefit systems for over 20 years in the construction and manufacturing businesses. She is excited for this opportunity to learn about the education field and to update Catlin Gabel’s sytems. Lari has three grown daughters who attended Valley Catholic School, where they studied music with former Catlin Gabel teacher and alumnus Dan Schauffler ’75.

Marianne Falk – Catlin Gabel Fund officer
Marianne joined the development team this summer. She has been working in development for six years, most recently at Oregon Public Broadcasting and before that at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. She has a master’s in art business from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art and a bachelor’s in art history from the University of Kentucky. As an avid runner, she is excited to assist with Catlin Gabel’s cross country teams.

Susie Greenebaum ’05 – alumni relations officer
Susie is a Catlin Gabel lifer who was a leader on the varsity soccer and track teams. She attended Connecticut College and has a BA in international studies from the University of Oregon. In 2009 she became a member of the Catlin Gabel alumni association, serving as president from 2011 to 2012 and as an ex-offico trustee. In addition to her leadership on the alumni association board, Susie brings experience from Prolifiq Software and the OHSU Foundation School of Dentistry.

Kelley Newman – accounts payable coordinator
Kelley has spent most of her life in Oregon except for the four years she spent in Mexico. She has worked in accounting for more than 20 years with Northwest Electronics, Hanna Anderssen, and Lile International Companies. She has two grown children and three granddaughters. She is really enjoying her new role at Catlin Gabel.

Tracy Williams – human resources assistant
Tracy was the HR generalist for Lanphere Enterprises, Inc., from 2008 until she joined us at Catlin Gabel. Before that, Tracy was the human resources coordinator for the Artz Center, formerly Northwest Hearing and Speech Institute. Tracy is from Melbourne, Australia, and graduated from Frankston College.

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