Faculty Profiles
Catlin Gabel teachers are wise, dedicated, expert, approachable, and supportive. In a word, they are amazing. Our teachers are more than the sum of their credentials and previous work experience. We asked our teachers five questions that would reveal something about our their personalities. Each teacher chose one question to answer.
What was a great Catlin Gabel experience you've had lately?
What is your favorite movie, play, book, or pastime? Why?
What brought you to Catlin Gabel (if you are new to the school), or why do you like working at Catlin Gabel?
What is one surprising thing about you?
Who was an influential teacher?
| Chris Bagg, US English teacher & US admission associate, at CG since 2008. Bachelor's in English, Vassar College. Master's in creative writing, New York University. |
| Cindy Beals, US math teacher, at CG since 2004. Bachelor's in mathematics, Michigan Tech University. Master's in mathematics, University of Michigan. I am fascinated by people and cultures from around the world and as such have been an intrepid traveler. I have been lucky to the opportunity to explore the world extensively, including a 15-month trip around the world. I have traveled to all 50 states and 42 countries. My goal is to travel to at least as many countries as the number of years I have been alive, to keep me exploring. |
| Milledge Bennett, US history teacher, at CG since 2005. Bachelor's in fine arts, University of California, Santa Cruz. Master's in ethnic studies, University of California, Berkeley. Doctorate in ethnic studies, University of California, Berkeley. My two influential history teacher mentors at UC Berkeley, Ronald Takaki and Gerald Vizenor, taught me her/history is beautiful, moving, tragic, inspiring, and funnier than anything one can make up. |
| C. Glenn Burnett, US music teacher & choral director, at CG since 1996. Bachelor's in music, Pacific Lutheran University. Master's in education, Portland State University. My father (with whom I also share the name of Coyne Glenn Burnett) taught choral music for more than 30 years. Ever since I first joined his choir as an 8th grader I knew I wanted to be a choir director – just like him. Obviously, he was my most influential teacher. I saw him change the lives of young people by helping them experience the beauty, grace, and power of choral music. |
| Laurie Carlyon-Ward, US art teacher, at CG since 1986. Bachelor's in fine arts, University of Washington. Bachelor's in education, Western Washington State University. Master's in curriculum & administration, University of Rochester. A surprising thing about me is my passion for exploring the geology and history of eastern Oregon. Along with reading about Malheur County and Lake County comes my love of fishing, hiking, and photographing the region. |
| Veronique de la Poterie, US French teacher, at CG since 1986. Bachelor's in French, Portland State University. I feel very lucky to be in charge of my own curriculum. I have created nearly all the texts that I use and I continue to feel blessed that I have the freedom to be as creative as I can - the sky (and time) is the limit! Working with high caliber students who, by the time they graduate from our honors program, are nearly fluent fills me with enormous joy and pride. I have learned so much about children and teaching from the competent, intelligent, and dedicated teachers I work with. |
| Paul Dickinson, US science teacher, at CG since 1969. Bachelor's in biology, University of Connecticut. Master's in education, Portland State University. |
| Nancy Donehower, co-director of college counseling, at CG since 2008. Bachelor's in psychology, Sarah Lawrence College. Doctorate in psychology, Univ of St Andrews Scotland. |
| Aline Garcia-Rubio, US science teacher, at CG since 2004. Doctorate in medicine, LaSalle University Mexico. My greatest Catlin Gabel experiences usually have to do with students thinking about their learning and growth. I had one such moment in class recently when a freshman made the connection between the concepts of energy transformations and entropy. He said, “Oh, I get it, this is why no machine can run forever!” I wanted to scream, Eureka! He came to that conclusion on his own. That kind of interaction makes every minute of my day at Catlin Gabel worthwhile. |
| Madeleine Girardin-Schuback, US French teacher, at CG since 2005. Master's in education, College de Mirecort, France. Catlin Gabel teachers are equipped to engage students in analytical reading, speaking, listening, and writing-whatever the event, the topic, or the enduring social question. The Upper School is intellectually vibrant. It is a school in which each of the students feels himself a part of the whole. |
| Kate Grant, co-director of college counseling, at CG since 1997. Bachelor's in American studies, Smith College. Master's in psychology, Harvard University. |
| Peter Green, dean of students, at CG since 2005. Bachelor's in psychology, Williams College. Master's in ecology, University of California, Davis. Somewhere in the far distant past I found myself responsible for groups of teenagers as they explored the wilderness of the North Cascades. I was just 18 years old and had no idea what I was doing, except that I was supposed to return everyone home safely. Now, 30 years later I do know better what to do. The basic rule to return the kids home safely hasn’t changed. I’ve learned the second rule: don’t bring them home quite the same; make the experience worthwhile for each student. |
| Daniel Griffiths, US science teacher, at CG since 2007. Bachelor's in biology, Oxford University. Doctorate in zoology, University of Cambridge. My A level biology teacher, Paul Gainey, started me on my convoluted journey. His enthusiasm and passion for the natural world, combined with his unique teaching style and humour, inspired me and many others. An amazingly high number of students who took his class ended up studying biological sciences at university. He also instilled in us a sense of personal responsibility, allowing us to learn that ultimately the stimulus that drives you to success must come from within. |
| Molly Grove, US administrative assistant, at CG since 2008. Bachelor's in biology, Oberlin College. |
| Michael Heath, upper school head, at CG since 2007. Bachelor's in English, James Madison University. Bachelor's in history, James Madison University. Master's in history, Magdalen College, Oxford University. Doctorate in theology and moral philosophy, Edinburgh University. |
| Beining Hu, US Chinese teacher, at CG since 2006. Bachelor's in Chinese, University of China. Master's in Chinese, University of Oregon. I enjoy my life here every day and appreciate that Catlin Gabel gives me such a great chance to grow in my profession. It is wonderful to work with the caring and thoughtful people here. As I teacher I also learn from my students and my colleagues. Teachers can be guided by their own interest or be led by the students’ interest. The students are encouraged to do their best and extend their own personal limits with a variety of possibilities. |
| Yoko Iwasaki, US Japanese teacher. Bachelor's in agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture. Master's in English as a second language, Portland State University. |
| Bob Kindley, US math teacher, at CG since 1968. Bachelor's in mathematics, Reed College. Master's in mathematics, University of Oregon. I was born in Portland and have lived most of my life in Oregon with the exception of three years, during my first three years of high school. My freshman year was in Rapid City, South Dakota, my sophomore year was divided between Littleton, Colorado, and Memphis, Tennessee, and my junior year was in Independence, Missouri. Upon returning to Portland I spent my senior year at Grant High School and graduated from Grant. |
| Ginia King, US English teacher. Bachelor's in English literature, Yale College. Master's in English literature, University of North Carolina. Doctorate in English literature, University of Pennsylvania. Three teachers inspired me most: Giuseppe Mazzotta with whom I first read Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch, R. Allen Shoaf who taught Chaucer, and R. Howard Bloch who taught me Old French and introduced me to twelfth-century romance. I still remember the awe I felt sitting in Harkness or Linsly-Chittenden listening to them speak about the texts they loved with passion and authority. An hour would fly. Sometimes we would burst into spontaneous applause at the end of a lecture. They were witty and approachable, generous with their time, happy to talk to undergraduates outside of the classroom, advocates of their students for graduate school and careers. Bloch and Mazzotta continue to inspire students at Yale, and Shoaf teaches at the University of Florida, Gainsville. For better or worse, they were the reason I went to graduate school.
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| Mark Lawton, US math teacher, at CG since 2005. Bachelor's in electrical engineering, Syracuse University. Bachelor's in television production, Syracuse University. Master's in electrical engineering, University of California, Berkeley. Master's in liberal arts, St. John's College. I’m an expert napper. Beat this: I once mentally scheduled a nap, on a chairlift, and woke up fully refreshed, on schedule, three minutes later. At St. John’s College I pulled off the nap of all time. I had an afternoon Shakespeare class. Henry V was on the table, a seminar table of course. But I couldn’t stay awake. I left the room, lay down on the cement—yes, cement—didn’t even have a pillow. Woke up and was back in class quoting old Will within 7 minutes: I never nap while rock-climbing, mountain-biking, or kite-boarding, and certainly not while teaching. |
| Veronica Ledoux, US science teacher, at CG since 2008. Bachelor's in biochemistry, Mercyhurst College. Doctorate in neuroscience, Northwestern University. |
| Art Leo, US English teacher, at CG since 1995. Bachelor's in English, Williams College. Master's in English, University of Texas at Austin. On August 27, 1995, I agreed to visit the Catlin Gabel campus for the first time to chat with a distinguished gentleman named Clinton Darling, head of the English department. Clint and I talked genially about minor league baseball. Somehow, roughly 40 hours later, on the first day of fall faculty meetings, Clint was leading the Upper School staff in a brisk rendition of “Happy Birthday” to me before I had been introduced to a even a single new colleague. I could figure out neither how Clint knew the date of my birth nor how I had been bamboozled into leaving a job I loved for a new adventure in new school. . . . In my time at Catlin Gabel, my roles as a Catlin Gabel father and Catlin Gabel English teacher have always been intertwined. For example, on my first day of teaching, my wife called me in my office with the news that my daughter Casey was going to have a little sister. This year I’ll have children enrolled in the Beginning, Lower, and Middle schools while I’ll be rushing off to my classrooms for my 15th year in the Upper School. |
| Nance Leonhardt, US art teacher, at CG since 2007. Bachelor's in fine arts, Evergreen State College. Master's in teacher education, Seattle University. |
| Brett Mathes, US English teacher, at CG since 2007. Bachelor's in English, Dartmouth College. |
| Robert Medley, US theatre teacher & theatre director, at CG since 1981. Bachelor's in education, University of Portland. |
| Andrew Merrill, US computer science teacher, at CG since 1999. Bachelor's in mathematics, Swarthmore College. |
| Sue Phillips, upper school librarian, at CG since 2004. Bachelor's in English literature, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Master's in English literature, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Master's in library science, Portland State University. |
| Joan Piper, US math teacher, at CG since 1999. Bachelor's in mathematics, Bates College. Master's in mathematics, University of Wiconsin, Madison. I have really enjoyed working on the senior project committee for the past several years. I love to see what students choose to pursue when given pretty unlimited options at the end of their senior year. Everything from flying airplanes to baking bread, to participating in political campaigns to working in a cancer research lab, has sparked someone’s interest lately. My role as a facilitator of these opportunities has been extremely rewarding and I am looking forward to lots more creative projects this spring. |
| Chris Potts, outdoor education teacher, at CG since 2008. Bachelor's in English literature, University of Washington. Master's in creative writing, University of Washington. My favorite movie is Federico Fellini's "8 1/2," the pinnacle of both Italian cinema and a work by the Maestro at his strongest. Shakespeare's "Tempest" is endlessly fascinating, I can turn to any page and find a meditation on the temporal nature of our existence. Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" seems to somehow combine every issue of imperialism and be thrillingly relevant today. I live for the Seattle Mariners, which is obviously (especially lately) problematic. |
| Lauren Reggero-Toledano, US Spanish teacher. Bachelor's in education, University of Miami. Master's in Spanish, University of Salamanca, Spain. My maternal grandfather was Greek and I was raised in a very proud Greek-American family. I began the formal study of Modern Greek during the spring of 2007 when I spent the semester in Spain. My husband and I had classes twice a week with a Greek exchange student. I had to start from zero while my husband could pull from his memory of the Ancient Greek class he took in college. Our classes with Fotini prepared us well for our first trip to Greece that spring. After returning to Portland, we found a wonderful teacher and we take independent Greek with Erna once a week. Learning Greek has made me appreciate nuances of the culture in which I was raised. It has made me a more empathetic Spanish teacher. I have also recently joined the programming committee for the Hellenic-American Cultural Center of Oregon and Southwest Washington.
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| Bob Sauer, US science teacher, at CG since 2001. Bachelor's in physics, Whitman College. The strong sense of community, academic enthusiasm, and integrity of the students at Catlin Gabel, and the care, compassion, and competence of the faculty and staff alone would make this a marvelous place to work. But on top of all that there are so many fascinating opportunities outside the classroom, in which I immerse myself (and my kids) as much as possible. I’ve enjoyed participating in overnight class trips; hiking, skiing, canoeing, rafting, climbing, and backpacking with the outdoor program; traveled with students to Turkey and Peru; and restored the environment in the Mt. Hood National Forest for one week each summer with the Elana Gold ’93 Memorial Environmental Restoration Project. It has been a fun adventure learning to drive a school bus, which allows me to drive for my own geology, astronomy, and physics class field trips. I greatly appreciate that my own kids are able to attend Catlin Gabel. They are currently in the Lower School, having a great educational and social experience, in which I am more fully able to participate, as I’m in the same location. It will be especially thrilling when they come to the Upper School! |
| Lauren Shareshian, US math teacher, at CG since 2010. Bachelor's in mathematics, New York University. Master's in mathematics, Duke University. |
| Peter Shulman, US history teacher, at CG since 2003. Bachelor's in history, Haverford College. Master's in history, University of Michigan. It’s 3:15 p.m. and I’ve just completed a long day of teaching, but I feel exhilarated and grateful. My 7th period U.S. history students continue to amaze me with their intellectual curiosity and depth of engagement with the texts. The questions are sophisticated and interesting; there’s no showboating, but a pure desire for learning in effect. A student stays after class, curious about the veracity of charges leveled at President Lincoln over the abuse of civil liberties. Every day, I walk out with the same thought: I am incredibly lucky to work at Catlin Gabel. |
| Kathy Sloan, US math teacher, at CG since 1996. Bachelor's in mathematics, Middlebury College. I am a risk taker. I look for opportunities to step outside my comfort zone both physically and mentally. This can take the form of joining the outdoor education program for a midnight climb up Mt. Hood in freezing rain, to joining a high school Winterim, to learning how to swing dance at a public dance in downtown Portland. In my classroom I am not afraid to stray from the perfect lesson plan to entertain a thoughtful question that takes us off topic. Sometimes the thoughtful question comes from me, and I interrupt the class flow to put it out there for the students to ponder. I find myself often saying, " I wonder what would happen if...." I always find things interesting when I step outside the box, physically and intellectually. |
| Ron Sobel, US Spanish teacher, at CG since 1977. Bachelor's in political science, San Jose State University. Master's in Spanish, Middlebury College. Homework Club is a wonderful service program where our students mentor younger Latino students after school in their apartment complex. Watching our students interact, as well as participating myself as a tutor, reinforces in me the importance of this special type of community outreach. |
| Tony Stocks, US English teacher, at CG since 1999. Bachelor's in English, Oberlin College. Master's in English, Cornell University. |
| Karen Talus, US history teacher, at CG since 2008. Bachelor's in history, Smith College. Master's in history, University of Chicago. I was returning to one of my afternoon classes after many days of canceled school because of snow. When I walked in the door, a great chorus of “Hello, Karen!” rose up from 13 throats in unison (obviously carefully rehearsed). What a lovely welcome back to school, even if we all then had to knuckle down to an analytical essay with footnotes. |
| Dave Tash, US math teacher, at CG since 2004. Bachelor's in computer science, University of Utah. Bachelor's in mathematics, Lewis & Clark College. |
| Nichole Tassoni, US English teacher, at CG since 2007. Bachelor's in women's studies, Wesleyan University. Master's in education, Columbia University Teachers College. My favorite book of all time is "Bread and Jam" for Frances by Russell Hoban. What could be better than a story whose moral is "I think eating is nice"? Yes, it's still my favorite book. And "King Lear." |
| George Thompson, US counselor, at CG since 1989. Bachelor's in history, Colorado College. Master's in counseling psychology, Lewis & Clark College. Master's in history, University of Washington. I have come to rely on my love of music to enrich my life and inform my work. I belong to a singing group that performs in the Portland community on an occasional basis. I sing and play guitar, mandolin, and drums. Recently, I've been teaching guitar classes in school, and I absolutely love it. Every year, Tom Tucker, fellow Catlin Gabel alumnus and colleague, and I take a gaggle of kids to the beach in Neskowin for a guitar playing retreat. In the years since we began doing this, it has become a weekend both of us ardently look forward to. I have to say that an avocation like music makes the work I do here all the more worthwhile, enjoyable, and easy to sustain. |
| Roberto Villa, US Spanish teacher, at CG since 1984. Bachelor's in French, Pacific University. Master's in French, Portland State University. Since 2001 we have been fortunate to send three student groups to Cuba despite many roadblocks and government restrictions. In our role as ambassadors we toured the island, visiting schools, hospitals, medical facilities, and churches, where we made humanitarian donations on behalf of our country. In March 2008, given the political climate of the island and the transition of power, our 25 students witnessed history in the making. Every day the government announced a new law or lifted a restriction (such as the ability to buy a DVD or stay at a tourist hotel). These actions seemed to give the Cubans a sense of hope and economic optimism. During our short stay in Cuba we met hundreds of people from Pinar del Río to Trinidad. In every case, we were treated graciously and with respect, despite the differences between our two governments. I am proud of my students, who represented our school and country with dignity and respect. |
| Pat Walsh, US history teacher, at CG since 2006. Bachelor's in art, University of California, Berkeley. Master's in history, California State University, Chico. Doctorate in history, University of Texas. When I was a kid, there was a low-rent movie house in the warehouse district of Berkeley that showed Marx Brothers movies each winter right around my birthday. I don't know how many times I watched "Duck Soup" or "Horse Feathers" with a bunch of friends in lieu of a "regular" birthday party. Thirty-some-odd years later, I still watch them regularly. Harpo and Chico and especially Groucho are like favorite uncles, old friends who help me with what it means to be a grown-up. |
| John Wiser, US history teacher, at CG since 1970. Bachelor's in history, University of California, Riverside. Master's in history, California State University, Sonoma. |
| Becky Wynne, US science teacher, at CG since 1998. Bachelor's in architecture, Portland State University. Bachelor's in chemistry, Swarthmore College. Master's in education, Cornell University. I attended kindergarten in Moscow, USSR, during the Cold War. My parents are mathematics professors, and we would go on sabbatical to visit and work with mathematicians in other countries. When I was 5, we spent six months in Moscow. I remember going to kindergarten, learning Russian, learning to cross country ski and play chess. I remember the cold of the winter, but also how warm and welcoming the Russian people were. My experiences living in foreign countries when I was a child (we also lived in Warsaw and the West Bank of Israel) made me a global citizen at an early age. I believe in the basic goodness and humanity of people in this world, no matter where they are from. |
| Dale Yocum, robotics program director, at CG since 2007. Bachelor's in computer science, Univ of California, Santa Barbara. |
| George Zaninovich, PUPLI director, at CG since 2008. Bachelor's in environmental studies, University of Pennsylvania. Bachelor's in political science, University of Pennsylvania. Master's in urban and regional planning, Portland State University. |