Ann grew up in Johannesburg (South Africa), Lusaka (Zambia), Lawrence (Kansas) and Austin (Texas). Chance took her to Germany for twenty years where she fell in love with the countryside, music, dances and language and lived in a big old house in a tiny village in the Franconian meadows of Northern Bavaria. There she taught ESL and English and Humanities at a local high school and raised three children who attended the Freie Waldorfschule in Erlangen before immigrating to the USA to graduate from the Austin Waldorf School where Ann taught German and Humanities. She is a rusty musician playing piano, cello and Hackbrett and loves folk dancing, gardening, reading, and doing genealogy.

Christopher grew up in northern Maine and spent most of his child learning to play musical instruments, playing in the woods and working in the potato fields. It was around fourth grade that he began teaching, starting with his fellow classmates on recorder and later on saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, and later the bass and guitar. Christopher is also a local musician and performs in a variety of musical settings ranging widely from rock 'n roll to Bluegrass, from Vivaldi trumpet concertos to the Beatles. Chris's position at MCWS draws from his love for shaping and harmonizing young voices, arranging music, and performing all types of music.

Growing up, Chris attended a small progressive school in Melbourne, Australia. Similar to Waldorf in its philosophical approach to childhood development, Preshil provided the foundation for Chris’ student-centered, experiential education philosophy. Chris went on to spend 16 years teaching in outdoor education. There he facilitated experiences that provided opportunities for reflection, critical analysis, and synthesis. It became clear to Chris that students needed more than a short immersion program; they needed these principles to be woven into their daily lives. In the classroom, Chris brings his passion for teaching to bear over the course of a year and in the context of a greater community and progression of experiences. Chris’ objective is to assist students to become engaged, informed, and conscientious members of society.

David discovered the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy through work as a Biodynamic farmer in California. His desire was to change the world and he felt that first Biodynamic agriculture and later life in Camphill Village and in Waldorf Education was the way to marry his professional, political and spiritual life. David loves to sing and play music as well as being outdoors, reading fantastic books and spending as much time as possible with his family. He still believes in the power of Waldorf education to change the world!

David taught at Green Meadow Waldorf School (NY) for 25 years before joining MCWS in 2006 as a founding high school teacher. He also helped to launch the Shining Mt. Waldorf High School in Boulder, Colorado. He has authored three books: Stages of Imagination—Working Dramatically with Adolescents, Life Lessons—Reaching Teenagers through Literature, and a poetry collection entitled, The Irresistible In-Between, as well as several articles for Renewal magazine. David is a faculty member of the Center for Anthroposophy, teaching humanities in the Waldorf high school teacher training summer program. He is also enjoying life's latest delight: grandfatherhood!

Ellen has been an active explorer of the living world since childhood. Working with others to understand the intrinsic connection between human beings and their environment inspires her work as both an experiential educator and ecologist. Her favorite fieldwork has included mountain meteorology, coastal wetland ecology, and most recently her thesis research on the population genetics of alewife in Maine rivers. Ellen is an avid naturalist, citizen scientist and homesteader. You can find her outdoors in all seasons with her husband and sons.

Jeff grew up six miles south of Freeport in Yarmouth. Jeff has been teaching high school math and science since 1987. He is a founding faculty member of MCWS's high school and has been teaching math and phenomenological science since its inception. Prior to that he taught at North Yarmouth Academy, The Academy at Charlemont, Northfield Mount Hermon School, and The White Mountain School. He also plays bass and sings in an adult "garage band". At one time he was a fly fishing guide in Montana.

Johanna grew up on the island of Bermuda and had an active and creative childhood. She moved to Maine in 2001, along with her husband, to restore a 225 year old house, a place to live out their artistic ambitions. She has shared her joy of painting with children and adults for over a decade, teaching in many different private schools and institutions, both in Maine and Bermuda. She loves working with the high school students at Maine Coast Waldorf School, inspiring them to look deeper into the beauty of the natural world. She feels passionately that art-making is a vital skill of communication and self-expression for young people. She has two young children of her own and spends her time with her family cooking, playing, painting and in nature as much as possible.

A Denver native, John joins Maine Coast after eleven years teaching at the Denver Waldorf High School, where he was also a student for 14 years. Through teaching, John rediscovered the joys of writing poetry. In poetic circles, John describes his teaching work as arson after Yeats’s sentiment that ‘education is not the filling of pail, but the lighting of a fire.’ This collaborative act of breaking down walls and building anew from the flames is what gets John fired up in the classroom. When not at school, John immerses himself in stories, music, tinkering, and exploring the outdoors with his family.

John toured in Tony Montanaro's Celebration Theater Ensemble. He is a resident guest artist with the Portland Ballet Company and has performed for over 20 years as Drosselmeyer in the Nutcracker. He is a past host of the Portland Symphony Kinderkoncerts. He taught for many years at the Rudolf Steiner Institute, and presently is an instructor at the Spacial Dynamics® Institute. He is a founding boardmember of Seeds of Independence, where he continues to facilitate in their Jumpstart program for first-time youth offenders. He performs a duet show with his wife.

Throughout her life Julie has always been a maker. She is motivated most when using her hands to create, She has worked in many media including wood, clay, glass, metal, stone, painting, drawing Teaching has always allowed her to learn and share her enthusiasms. Julie will always seeks out the opportunity to make something over buying it. She finds her greatest inspiration spending time with her family in the outdoors actively engaging in every season. She also loves to cook and share meals with friends, xc ski, and pick blueberries. Julie considers Maine her home where she lives a busy life with her husband and their daughter in a house they built on a little farm they created.

A native of Michigan, Kali spent most of her adult life bouncing across the country, and the Atlantic, in pursuit of adventure and unpasteurized cheese. An undergraduate fascination with French cinema quickly evolved into a life-long obsession with all things French. From teaching in the South of France, to gathering chestnuts in the Cevennes, to running the streets of Paris with a local running club, Kali has worked, traveled, and jogged extensively throughout France. Her love of the language is matched only by her passion for teaching, and she is thrilled to share this enthusiasm with her students.

Before moving to Maine, Kali was a French teacher at a boarding school in New Hampshire. She currently lives in Bath with her husband, son, and terrier.

Karyn became acquainted with the MCWS community through her private tutoring practice, and grew to appreciate and admire the values inherent in the Waldorf approach to teaching and learning, as well as the high level of commitment MCWS teachers have to their students. She has been working part-time at the high school as a student support teacher since the fall of 2014. Prior to joining the faculty at MCWS, Karyn taught in a variety of public and private educational settings, worked as a consulting teacher/learning specialist, and lectured at educational conferences about the positive impact of collaborative planning teams on students with unique learning needs and on educational institutions as a whole. In addition to teaching at MCWS, Karyn co-owns a learning cooperative called STARS (Students Taking Action Reach Success) in Freeport.

Katy has been accompanying choirs in the greater Portland area for more than 20 years. She regularly works with several schools in the area, as well as many private choirs, ranging in age from elementary school through high school and beyond. Katy also teaches piano to students of all ages.

Laura was raised in a small steel town in Western Pennsylvania. Laura began her career in Colorado as a high school English teacher. During these early years of her career, Laura developed a strong sense of the potential, budding individuality, and creativity children experience during their adolescent years. Laura’s decision to pursue a career in the mental health field following two years of teaching and one year as an education director was spurred by her desire to go beyond academics and to address the holistic needs of the students and families she encountered. Laura came to Maine in 2015 and has worked as a home-based and residential-based clinician. Laura currently works with adults in private practice with a focus on parenting skills and guidance.

Nancy is a violinist and teaches strings, classroom music and chorus.  She has served as principle violinist for the Maine State Ballet Orchestra and has performed with the Portland Symphony, the Bangor Symphony, the Maine Chamber Ensemble, the Portland Opera Repertory Theater Orchestra and the trio Musica Sorrella. Nancy has served as a conductor with the Brunswick Regional Youth Orchestra, the Southern Maine String Academy and at several District Festivals across the state. Nancy is the founder of the Coastal Youth Orchestra and conductor of CYO's Fiddleheads and Coastal String Ensembles. Nancy is well known for her enthusiasm and sensitivity in working with young string players and for her dedication to music education. In her free time she enjoys running and spending time skiing at Sugarloaf with her husband and two children, Alexandra and Christopher.

Régine, born and educated in Nantes, France, came to Maine as a teaching intern in the 1970s where she met her husband who became a diplomat. They embarked on an international life that took them to Iceland, Morocco, Switzerland, France and Bangladesh in addition to Washington, DC. While teaching for 35 years in International Schools and raising four bilingual, bicultural children, Régine did volunteer work in the slums of Morocco and Bangladesh, where she ran the UN Women's Association Welfare Program. She still helps Buddhist schools in Nepal and India, such as the Siddhartha School in Ladakh, India, where she started MWHS sponsoring of one of their students. It is no surprise that she established our International Exchange Program!

Beginning with her experience as a college senior interviewing prospective first year students, Whitney has spent more than two decades working with students as they make the transition from high school to college. She has worked as a college admissions officer, a high school counselor, and an independent counselor. She visits several dozen colleges each year and is always amazed by the diversity of higher education opportunities available in the United States and abroad. Whitney currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Higher Education Consultants Association.