Peter Elgie

Peter attended Guilford College, Tulane University and has a master's degree in education from Canisius College. He has been teaching since 1996. He has taught most subject areas in primary, elementary, middle and high school in the private and public systems. In 2000, Peter saw a piece on the Sudbury Valley School on 60 Minutes and had his pedagogical views transformed. Peter left teaching and worked with and ran for parliament for the Green Party in his home country of Canada. Peter always dreamed of working for a Sudbury Model school. Luckily for us, his dream came true when he joined our staff in the beginning of 2007. Peter helped run the MoveOn.org Asheville office last election and campaigns for progressive candidates in his spare time and cares for his daughter Greenleigh "the frog".

Jessica Ward

Jessica is a recent UNC Wilmington graduate with a B.A. in Studio Art and Art History. Having known that art was her passion in life very early on, she only wishes that she had been aware of the Sudbury program as a child. Jessica brings creativity to Katuah through her passion for creating and teaching art.

 

 

founders

Kristin Harling

Kristin Harling is one of the original founders of KSS as well as a current staff member.  Kristin has a degree in Environmental Science from De Pauw University.  Her interests include knitting, native american spiritual rituals, gardening, and writing.  She also works as a freelance editor and proofreader.

Mado Hesselink

Mado is a founder, parent, and volunteer. She works as a free-lance web and graphic designer and creates all of the school's promotional materials. Mado also has a degree in theatre and is a yoga teacher. She spends a lot of time in the dance room with the younger girls doing something that morphs from gymnastics into yoga into creative drama. Mado was drawn to the Sudbury Model because of it's emphasis on pursuing your passions and taking responsibility for your own life. She has the unique perspective of being able to trust the lack of curriculum due to the fact that she "unschooled" (without knowing the term back then) from age 15 until she decided to pursue college. She continues to unschool herself to this day.