Waldorf School of Orange County - Where Education Comes Alive!

Early Childhood through High School

Grade 1: Brooke Trudeau
Brooke Trudeau first learned about Waldorf education in 1997 and became involved with an Arizona Waldorf charter school in 2002 after having her own children. She holds a B.F.A. in Theatre from Arizona State University and moved to Northridge, California in 2006 to pursue her Waldorf teacher training. Brooke completed both her Waldorf Teaching Certificate with the Waldorf Institute of Southern California, and her California teaching credential with California State University, Northridge in May 2011. Her two daughters attend WSOC, one in 3rd grade and one in 5th grade.

Grade 2: Andrea Hubert
Andrea was born in Austria and raised in Germany where she earned a master’s degree in business management before moving to the United States in 1992. The search for a rich and meaningful education for her two – now teenage - sons brought her to the Waldorf School of Orange County where she has been an active parent for over 10 years. Andrea has worked in the early childhood department and handwork program, served as a board member, completed the anthroposophical foundation studies in 2005/2006 and re-enrolled in the teacher training program in 2009 in in order to become a teacher.

Grade 3: Chris Bennett
Chris Bennett has had a varied career in Waldorf Education for 36 years, as a class teacher, foreign language teacher, and high school teacher in Austria, England, Hawaii and Canada. Chris' work in teacher training began in London, continued in Russia, Greece, Australia, India and Taiwan. Until recently Chris had been teaching high school in the Honolulu Waldorf school and leading Kula Makua, the Honolulu Waldorf Teacher Training Program.

Grade 4: Ms Beka
Ms Beka was born in Anchorage, Alaska, where as a child she volunteered at a Waldorf-inspired preschool. As a young adult, she taught music and theater in the public school system in California, and worked briefly in the entertainment production industry. Beka completed her Waldorf teacher training in 2007 through Waldorf Institute of Southern California. She joined the staff of WSOC in 2005, teaching pre-kindergarten for three years before becoming a class teacher.

Grade 5: Kimberly Telfer-Radzat
Kimberly Telfer-Radzat has been with WSOC for eight years. Formerly the extra lesson and remedial support teacher, she took on the role of class teacher in 2007. Kimberly graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a bachelor's degree, earned her California teacher credential through the University of California, Irvine, has special training in the Slingerland method of working with children who have learning differences, and completed the Extra Lesson training at Rudolf Steiner College. Her interest in the unique challenges of each individual child has also led her to attend the Child Study course with Christof Weichert. Her two daughters attend WSOC, one in 6th and one in 10th grade.

Grade 6: Miriam Whiteley
Miriam was born in Argentina and grew up in San Diego, California. Several years working as an entrepreneur in the world of franchising came between her start at the University of Chicago and the completion of college at California State University, Long Beach, where she earned a BS in finance. The first of her three children brought the family to WSOC. In July 2003, she completed the high school teacher training at Rudolf Steiner College. Miriam was the administrator at WSOC for two years, subsequently taught 7th and 8th grade and then began at grade one with her current class. A desire to deepen WSOC's approach to meeting the diverse needs of our students led Miriam to join with two colleagues to do intensive work with Christof Weichert in child study over the last two years. She has been teaching at WSOC since 2002.

Grade 7: Nancy Mitchell
Nancy Mitchell grew up in Southern California and earned a BS in business at California State University, Northridge. She has two sons who graduated from WSOC. Since 1991, Nancy has worn many hats at WSOC, serving as a volunteer, Board member, admissions director, school store organizer, registrar and now a grades teacher. She graduated from Rudolf Steiner College with her Waldorf teaching certificate in June 2006.

Grade 8: Jenell Carlson
Jenell Carlson was born and raised in Southern California. She received a B.A. In literature at San Diego State, and her Waldorf teacher training certificate through the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training. She has also completed the Spatial Dynamics program for movement instructors and the Consciousness Studies program at Rudolf Steiner College. Jenell has been teaching for 12 years: as a kindergarten teacher, a movement instructor, a high school humanities teacher and now as the teacher of the eighth grade.

Eurythmy: Elisabeth Beck
Elisabeth Beck teaches eurythmy. She was born and raised in Stuttgart, Germany. "Miss Elisabeth," as she is called by the children, attended the Waldorf School in Stuttgart and received her MA in business management and motor vehicle science from Stuttgart University. After working in business for two years, Elisabeth attended the Waldorf Teacher Training in Mannheim and completed the Eurythmy Education program at the Eurythmeum Dornach in Switzerland. She taught eurythmy for 12 years in Germany and joined the faculty at WSOC in the fall of 2000.

Eurythmy: Kurt Faerber
Kurt Faerber teaches eurythmy in grades 1, 4, 6, 7 and 9 and math in grade 7. Born and raised in Southwest Germany, he completed his civil service at the Institute for Children and Youth. He studied art therapy/pedagogy at the School for the Arts in Northern Germany and completed his class teacher and eurythmy training at the Institute for Waldorf Education in Witten. Kurt toured with eurythmy ensembles throughout Germany, Egypt and Italy for one year. He taught eurythmy to all grades at the Rudolf Steiner School near Zurich in Switzerland for 15 years and was a high school sponsor for several classes. Before joining the faculty of WSOC, he spent five years developing the eurythmy program at the Honolulu Waldorf School for Kindergarten through grade 12. The students call him "Mr. Kurt."

Therapeutic Eurythmy: Truus Geraets
Truus Geraets teaches Special Eurythmy to individual children. She was born in Holland and was one of the founders of a Waldorf School in a black township in South Africa. Her background is in Special Education (Anthroposophical Seminar in Germany) as well as Eurythmy and Therapeutic Eurythmy for which she was trained at the Goetheanum in Switzerland. She has taught Eurythmy and Therapeutic Eurythmy in many Waldorf Schools throughout the United States.

Japanese: Masami Inoue
Masami Inoue, called Masami sensei (teacher) by the students, teaches Japanese in grades 1 through 8. She was born and raised in Kobe, Japan. After she earned her BA from Kobe City University of Foreign Studies with her middle and high school teaching certificates, she became a full time high school English and class teacher in Amagasaki City in Western Japan, where she worked for five years. In 1991, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to do her graduate study in the U.S. She earned her MA degree in foreign language teaching with a miner in intercultural communication from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, VT. She has taught Japanese and English as a second/foreign language both in the US and in Japan since then. In her soul search as a teacher as well as a mother of two children, she encountered Rudolf Steiner’s educational philosophy. After her family's relocation to San Diego from Connecticut in 2003, she started her Waldorf teacher training at the Waldorf Institute of Southern California (WISC), and completed the program with certificate in the summer of 2007. She has been teaching at WSOC since 2006.

Strings: Debora Wondercheck
Debora Wondercheck is the orchestra director and instructor of string techniques. Debora taught string courses for several years as a Master teacher for the Irvine Unified School District. She also served on the district's Arts Assessment committee designing standards for strings that have been piloted and instated throughout California. Debora obtained a BA in music education with an emphasis in cello performance from Vanguard University in 1994, and in 2000 received a master of science in education administration from California State University Fullerton. Noted as an experienced elementary string specialist with a background in conducting youth orchestras and serving as an adjunct professor of music in string pedagogy, Debora believes that all children have the ability to grow and excel in music. In addition to her education career, she is a freelance cellist, teaches privately and performs chamber music for special occasions. "Mrs. Wondercheck," as she is known by the children, has been conducting.

Pianist/Choir Accompanist: Daniel Pitts

Art: Joy Hill

Woodworking: Michael Knauss
Michael Knauss teaches woodwork. He was born in Fuessen, Germany, and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. He became acquainted with Waldorf education through working with handicapped children in the Camphill School in Hermanus. Michael completed his Waldorf teacher training at the Lehrerseminar in Stuttgart, Germany. He has taught in England, the US and Germany. Before joining the WSOC faculty in 1995, Michael completed an eight-year cycle as class teacher at the Freie Waldorfschule Engelberg in Stuttgart, Germany, and in 2002 graduated his class at WSOC.

Handwork: Angelika Meier
Angelika Meier, known to the children as Miss Angie, is in charge of our handwork program this year. Born in Manhattan, she was introduced to the art of handwork in 4th grade at a public school in Switzerland. She completed her undergraduate schooling in the United States, then returned to Switzerland to complete a degree in culinary servicing. After meeting her husband, she returned to the United States with him and started a family. She first volunteered in WSOC's playgroup, then in kindergarten and began assisting the handwork teacher in 1997. She recently completed the foundation year of Waldorf teacher training.

Drama: Kathy Paladino

Pre-Kindergarten: Catherine Averett
Catherine Averett teaches pre-kindergarten. She grew up in Southern California earning a BFA from California State University, Long Beach in Visual Communication Design. While in college she taught English as a Second Language for three years to children in Kindergarten through 3rd grade. After graduation she worked as a Creative Director for a New York-based publishing company for twelve years. In 1994, through her father and family she learned about Waldorf education and the work of Rudolf Steiner. Her own two children brought her to WSOC six years ago where she has been a dedicated volunteer and most recently a kindergarten assistant. She has completed a two year Anthroposophical Foundation Studies and has biodynamic gardening training. She is currently enrolled in the Waldorf Teacher Training program at Antioch University, New England.

Pre-Kindergarten: Barbara Cubanski
Barbara Cubanski teaches pre-kindergarten. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois, where she taught young children in a variety of settings. The birth of her son rekindled her love and interest in working with young children and she began assisting in the kindergarten at WSOC in 2000. She completed her teacher training at Rudolf Steiner College and joined the WSOC faculty in 2003.

Kindergarten: Holly Richards
Holly Richards teaches kindergarten. She was born and raised in Pasadena, California. Holly completed her certification of Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Training at Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, and holds a Core Certificate in Early Childhood Education from UCLA. Holly is married and has a son in college who graduated from WSOC. She has been teaching since 1995 and loves working with the young children and her colleagues here at WSOC.

After Care Supervisor: Hillary Mayne
Coming Soon...

Kindergarten: Terri Webster
Terri Webster teaches kindergarten. She was born and raised in Costa Mesa, California, where she attended Orange Coast College. Terri has been teaching her own class for five years after assisting for four. She also ran a summer kindergarten program for five years. She has finished her early childhood teacher training, a two year Anthroposophical studies program, and is finishing the three year remedial training at Rudolf Steiner College. "Ms Terri" especially enjoys handwork and taking her class on long walks. Her hobbies include family hikes and camping trips, as well as cooking and traveling. She has two children, a son that graduated from WSOC and a daughter in 6th grade. This is Terri's ninth year as a teacher at WSOC.

Assistant: Deborah Parrish