EveLynn Debusschere

EveLynn Debusschere has been teaching in the grades for many years. She is a native of Canada, living first on a farm in Saskatchewan and later in a small town in British Columbia. It was in that small town that she raised her daughter and two sons, who all attended the local Waldorf school. She was involved in that school in many capacities. She also spent a year in Calgary, where she helped found the Calgary Waldorf School, and a year in Australia, where her daughter completed her Waldorf high school education. While in Australia she attended some Waldorf Teacher Training classes. As part of her studies she was reading the Aeneid and remembers coming to the part in the story when Aeneas travels to the underworld to speak with his father. There he sees a line of his descendents, future creators of the history of Rome. “I never enjoyed history when I was in school, and I found myself thinking, ‘If I could teach history like this, I would be a teacher’.’ Thus she decided to continue her studies and become a Waldorf teacher. She went on to earn her BA from Rudolf Steiner College and in September of 1998 she stood before her first class at our school and has been teaching here ever since.

Alecia Dodge

Alecia Dodge is one of our class teachers, as well as a handwork instructor. She began as a Waldorf teacher in 1992, teaching Handwork at our school for fourteen years. She then taught Handwork for four years at the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, before returning to our school as a teacher in the grades. In 1999 she was part of the first graduating class of the Applied Arts Program at Sunbridge College, Spring Valley, New York. This was the first training ever offered to Waldorf Handwork teachers in the United States. In 2003 she was invited to help found and coordinate a training for Handwork Teachers at Rudolf Steiner College. She continues to lead the program today. She holds a BS degree in Home Economics from the University of California at Davis. Prior to becoming a Waldorf teacher she was an entrepreneur, owning and operating her own dressmaking/design shop in Berkeley, California for ten years. She is currently enrolled in a Masters Program in Waldorf Education at Rudolf Steiner College. She is married with two children, both of whom attended the Waldorf School of Santa Barbara from Kindergarten through the eighth grade.

Diana Estep

Diana Estep has been teaching our grades classes for more than seventeen years. She also spent several years teaching at the York Steiner School and the Eugene Waldorf School. She was born and raised in England, earned her BA (Honors) in Sociology and her MA in Education from York University, England and was accredited as a Waldorf teacher from North East Steiner Training (NESTT). As she tells it “My inspiration for becoming a Waldorf teacher was my eldest child who ‘found’ the Waldorf school in York and was a student of its first class. I will never regret a minute of these years!” Prior to teaching she served for ten years in the British Diplomatic Service in Cyprus, Ottawa and Jamaica. She is married with three grown children of her own, all former Waldorf students, as well as three grandchildren.

Lisa Huebner

Lisa Huebner is a teacher in the grades, and is also a handwork instructor. She was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico. She also spent some of her childhood in Munich, Germany. It was there she began learning handwork, starting in the second grade, and also had the chance to travel extensively. Following high school graduation Ms. Huebner attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, earning a double degree in Art Studio and Art History. Since then she has taught at several local schools. She has three children, two of whom are graduates and one who is a current student at our school. Experiencing the school through them inspired her to become a teacher here herself, so she could share even more in the experience. In preparation she attended Waldorf teacher training and continues to attend Waldorf training courses on a regular basis.

Carolyn Kaster

Carolyn Kaster has been teaching at our school since 2000, starting as a Preschool assistant, then Kindergarten teacher and now as a teacher in the grades. She was born in England and lived there her first sixteen years. She then moved with her family to Santa Barbara where she attended high school, college and graduate school. Ms. Kaster earned a BA in psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an MA in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. She has also attended Waldorf teacher training and continues taking related, ongoing courses. Prior to teaching at our school she ran a home-based, Waldorf-inspired child care program, worked as a family counselor, and also was a teen counselor and advocate for several local agencies. She has two children who are both graduates of the school. She tells us “I was fortunate to learn about Waldorf Education very early on. My own children brought me to our Waldorf School, and sharing their experience inspired me to become a teacher.”

Angela Mietzke

Angela Mietzke teaches Preschool. Her two children attended the Waldorf school in Tacoma, where she became an involved parent and started down the path to becoming a Waldorf teacher. As she says, “The Waldorf community changed my life and the life of our family. I feel a deep call to be a part of this work in the world. I love my role in the classroom. I enjoy creating an environment where the magic of the imagination can come to life. As educators and caregivers of the young child I believe we are called to encourage learning through the modeling of love and healthy living and through the creation of a safe and nurturing environment in which children have the freedom to grow and foster a deeper connection with the world around them and their unique place in it.” Ms. Mietzke studied art, education and social work at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington and studied to be a Waldorf teacher at the West Coast Institute for Studies in Anthroposophy in Vancouver, B.C. She has spent time in Guatemala doing service work and she and her family recently lived at and volunteered for an ecumenical retreat center in the Cascade Mountains called Holden Village. She is also a doula and is trained in the healing art of Reiki.

Kathy Neely

Kathy Neely teaches our Nursery classes, as well as handwork classes for adults. She has been involved in our school since its first beginnings back in 1984, both as a member of the founding group of parents and as the handwork and assistant Kindergarten teacher for the very first class. Later Ms. Neely taught in the grades for fourteen years, graduating two classes. She has long been interested in handwork activities and had been spinning and dying fibers and weaving textiles for many years. She is also an avid biodynamic gardener and grows many roses and flowers in among her vegetables. Her children were both students at the school and her grandson attends the Waldorf School on Vancouver Island in Canada. She has lived in Santa Barbara most of her life. She attended Santa Barbara Community College, received her teaching certificate from the Waldorf Institute of Southern California and continues her studies at Rudolf Steiner College.

Jeannie Reardon

Jeannie Reardon has been teaching in our Parent-Child Circle and Nursery class in recent years. Prior to that she taught for many years in the Preschool.  Ms. Reardon grew up on the Atlantic coast, on Long Beach Island in New York. Her parents still live in the same beach house where she and her two brothers and two sisters were raised. When asked about choosing to become a Waldorf teacher she says, “Having not had children of my own I wanted to work with children and I love the Waldorf philosophy, which I first heard of as a teenager. In my thirties I heard a holy woman from India, whom I am a follower of, talk about the importance of being with children. She said in order to keep our hearts open we must be with children for at least one hour each day. That inspired me to go back to school and become an early childhood teacher.” She earned degrees in Early Childhood Education from both Santa Barbara City College and Rudolph Steiner College.

Heidi DeBra

Heidi DeBra teaches Math to our middle school students. She grew up in Northern California and then came to Santa Barbara to attend college, earning her BS in Marine Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She has traveled far and wide, including time doing research on whales and dolphins in the Bahamas. She has been teaching and tutoring students throughout her adult life in math, chemistry, physics and biology and she also coached swimming for many years. She began teaching at our school in 2010. Her three children are all Waldorf students. Her love of teaching and passion for the Waldorf curriculum inspired her to join the faculty. “I love the Waldorf curriculum and the opportunity to prepare children for their transition to the ninth grade.”

Daniel Grabenheinrich

Daniel Grabenheinrich teaches physical education to the grades students as well as woodworking to grades four through eight. He was born and raised in Germany and has lived and taught all around the world, first in Germany, then Scotland, New Zealand and now here in the United States. He earned his BA and his teaching diploma from the University of Vechta (Germany). In addition to teaching he has had many, varied jobs including work as a lifeguard, kayak instructor, forklift driver and teacher’s aide. He also spent the last several years devoting his full attention to raising his children. Daniel first learned of Waldorf Education through his interest in beekeeping. He took classes at university about Waldorf education and visited Waldorf schools in Germany. He says, “I am grateful to return to my teaching career at a school that truly believes that Physical Education is an important element of the holistic learning process.”

David Malvinni

David Malvinni teaches Strings and Orchestra to the middle and upper grades classes. He is a professional classical guitarist and owner of Malvinni Stringed Instruments. In addition he teaches at Santa Barbara Community College and is director of Music Education Outreach for the Community Arts Music Association (CAMA). He joined our school in 2001, seeing it as a “great opportunity to direct an entire strings program at a school where strings are a part of the curriculum.” He was born and raised in Massachusetts and has lived in Santa Barbara since 1995. Dr. Malvinni earned his BA in Philosophy from Rice University, MM in Musicology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He also completed additional studies in Philosophy and Musicology at the Universität Heidelberg, Germany.

Luba Mitsuk

Luba Mitsuk teaches Choral Singing to the upper grades. She was born and raised in Ukraine. She earned her BA in Chorus Conducting, Piano and Voice from the R.M. Glier Kyiv Institute of Music in Ukraine, her MA in Special (Biblical) Studies from the Moody Institute in Chicago, and her DA in Chorus Conducting and Piano Performance from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. She received her teaching credentials in Music from Azusa Pacific University in California. To quote her, “As a Greek philosopher said: ‘When we speak our brain is talking, but when we sing our soul is talking.’ I am very glad to be a part of the Waldorf School, where I can teach singing and so teach souls to talk, which I have great passion and love for.” Dr. Mitsuk has now lived in Santa Barbara for many years, teaching at several local schools, colleges and churches. She has been teaching at our school for many years.