Faculty And Staff

Daisy Barnard

Daisy Barnard teaches high school humanities and directs the high school choir, as well as the ninth grade class sponsor. She was born and raised in Colorado, then earned a B.A. in Religious Studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. She received her Waldorf certification from Emerson College U.K. in 1999. She has a California State Teaching Credential from Antioch University and an M.A. in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Ms. Barnard has taught grades four through eight at Monterey Bay Charter School and Ocean Charter School, both Waldorf-inspired public initiatives. Ms. Barnard's interests include music, theater, reading, writing, and yoga. She lives in San Pedro with her husband, Morgan, and daughter, Lark, who is in Miss Beka's class at WSOC.

 

Elisabeth Beck

Elisabeth Beck teaches eurythmy in the grades and the high school. She was born and raised in Stuttgart, Germany. "Miss Elisabeth," as she is called by the students, attended the Waldorf School in Stuttgart and received her M.A. in business management and motor vehicle science from Stuttgart University. After working in business for two years, Elisabeth completed her Waldorf teacher training in Mannheim and the eurythmy education program at the Eurythmeum Dornach in Switzerland. She was the eurythmist at the Michael Bauer Schule in Stuttgart for seven years, as well as the high school class sponsor there for four years. She also taught eurythmy for five years at the Waldorf School in Heilbronn. Elisabeth has been teaching since 1990 and joined the faculty at WSOC in the fall of 2000.

 

Hugh Brennan

Hugh Brennan teaches high school humanities, physical education and Team Sports. He was born and raised in California and graduated from Edison High School. He completed both his B.A. in History and California State Teaching Credential at California State University Long Beach. He has been involved with the Waldorf School of Orange County since 2003. He has worked as an aftercare assistant, guest teacher, and is the high school basketball coach. Hugh works as a lifeguard II in the summer and enjoys working out, surfing, playing basketball, music, meditation, and learning new things. He is excited to be part of such a great school and community.

 

Jay Chun

Jay Chun teaches high school mathematics, particularly Pre-Calculus and Algebra II. He was born in Seoul, Korea but raised in California. Mr. Chun received his bachelor’s, master’s, as well as his mathematics teaching credential at University of California, Riverside. He is currently working on his doctorate degree in education and is expected to graduate in 2012. Mr. Chun lives in Irvine with his wife, Jenny, and brand new daughter, Melanie.

 

Kurt Faerber

Kurt Faerber teaches eurythmy in grades 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," and he is currently a high school sponsor for grade 12.

 

Ingrid Feck

Ingrid Feck teaches math, chemistry and computer technology. She grew up in a small town in the German Alps, where anthroposophy and Steiner education were an integral part of the community. After receiving a B.S. in computer science and biochemistry from Iowa State University, she moved to California. She completed her master's in mathematics at California State University, Long Beach. During her years at the university, she worked with children in a tutoring service and as a substitute teacher. Ingrid taught math education for elementary school teachers at Cal State Long Beach for several semesters. She came to WSOC in 1992 through her four children, and worked here as a substitute and specialty teacher for several years before becoming a class teacher. Ingrid has been teaching since 1996 at WSOC.

 

Maraia Hoffman

Maraia Hoffman teaches our Physics and Astronomy as well as some Math and other Science courses. She grew up on the Central Coast of California however enjoyed a High School year abroad in Japan. She is a UC Berkeley and Irvine educated Astrophysicist. She worked for years as a NASA/JPL space satellite designer at a premier Southern California aerospace corporation before leaving to start her own educational business. This business was highly successful taking her all over North America to train practitioners of alternative healing modalities while giving her the freedom to set her schedule according to her family priorities. She is a member of the ZeroG flight crew and an active space enthusiast who delights in sharing her love of science and cosmology, especially at the High School level. She is currently enrolled in the Waldorf High School teacher training. She has two children attending WSOC, Su Daerra and Kelvin and is very excited to have joined our community.

 

Mercedes Shaffer

Mercedes Shaffer teaches black and white drawing, color theory and painting as well as calligraphy. She holds a bachelor's degree in architecture and a master's degree in art from the University of California at Berkeley where she also taught drawing, painting, and bookmaking. She is an artist who works primarily with oil on canvas and her artwork is represented by Studio Gallery in Irvine and ArtPic Gallery in North Hollywood. Her paintings have been featured in group and solo exhibitions in both Northern and Southern California and she has had the good fortune to have her art in numerous movies and television shows, such as Friends, Will & Grace, ER, The West Wing and Grey's Anatomy, to name a few.

 

Ania Kubik

Ania Kubik teaches clay modeling and stone carving. Born and raised in upstate New York, she earned a B.F.A. in Sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. She enjoyed a career as a commercial sculptor specializing in theme parks for companies such as The Walt Disney Company and Universal Studios, scenery and prop sculpture for film and commercials, and prototypes for toy merchandising at Mattel, Inc. She maintained her own fine art practice in life drawing from the human figure and drawing from nature. In 2004 she completed her Waldorf teacher training at the Waldorf Institute of Southern California (WISC) in Northridge, California where she currently serves as an adjunct faculty member teaching drawing, painting, and handwork. Ania has been a class teacher and handwork teacher. She currently enjoys supporting students as they put their whole selves into the transformative process of working with sculpture materials and in guiding them to discover the lawfulness inherent in nature and in form.

 

Robin Theiss

Robin Theiss is the lead humanities teacher at the Waldorf School of Orange County High School, and class sponsor for grade 10. She was born and raised in Southern California. She received her BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the University of California, Riverside. After graduation, she was chosen as a student intern at Pendle Hill, a Quaker community in Pennsylvania. Here she studied Quaker life, the philosophy and active practice of non-violence and passive resistance, communication skills, and practical arts such as weaving, pottery, baking, and sewing. After her time at Pendle Hill, she was selected as a scholarship recipient to Claremont Graduate School to study in the Master of Arts program in the School of Theology. Before entering the PhD program, she was presented with an opportunity to buy a local coffee house, Natalé Coffee. Wanting a break from academia, she purchased the coffee house and owned and operated it for 12 years, expanding to another location in Costa Mesa. Natalé Coffee became a community center, offering poetry evenings, political lectures, educational forums, and book discussions. She and her husband married during this time and had 2 children. Her children reaching school age coincided with her desire to return to academics; she found Waldorf education for both her children and herself. She enrolled in the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training in 2001 and completed both the grades and high school training in 2004. Upon graduation, she was hired as the founding teacher at the Santa Cruz Waldorf School. She worked in that pioneering endeavor for 5 years, until she joined the Waldorf School of Orange County in 2009. She enjoys working with adolescents to help unveil their given capacities through rigorous study, deep contemplation, and a love of life in its myriad possibilities.

 

Odalmis Molina

Odalmis Molina studied Spanish and Literature at the Instituto Superior Pedagogico "Jose Marti" in Camaguey, Cuba. She received her degree in 1996 and taught Spanish and Literature in Cuba until 2005 when she moved to California. Since coming to California, Ms. Molina has taught Spanish as a second language at all levels. She has participated in poetry contests and writes articles for a web page about her native city in Cuba. Ms. Molina teaches Spanish in grades seven through twelve. Ms. Molina enjoys dancing and practicing Zumba. She feels a great passion for the Spanish language as well the history and culture of Latin America. Ms. Molina lives in Costa Mesa and is very happy to share her experiences with her students and colleagues. Her son, Jorge, is in Mrs. Whitely's class at WSOC.

 

Justin Wong

Mr. Wong directs the high school string orchestra. He teaches violin and viola privately and also conducts the Southern California Youth Philharmonic Camerata, a youth orchestra for middle school students in southern California. His violin and viola students have won seats in regional and district honors orchestras and have been selected to perform in the top orchestras in their schools. As a violinist Mr. Wong has performed with many local symphonies and currently performs with the Orange County Symphony and the Montage Civic Orchestra. Mr. Wong received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from California State University, Long Beach. He currently lives in Long Beach with his wife, Janet.

 

Mary Pat Anderson

Mary Pat Anderson earned her B.A. in Zoology from Pomona College and her M.S. in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire. While at UNH, she met her husband to be (Ed) and married him in Pasadena in 1960. They settled in Yorba Linda and had three children. She obtained her Life California Teaching Credential in Life and Physical Sciences from Cal State Fullerton and in 1975 became a teacher at Cornelia Connelly School in Anaheim. Mary Pat taught Biology, AP Biology and Oceanography (she worked at Scripps Institute of Oceanography between college and grad school!). In 1998, she retired from teaching and became Connelly’s College Counselor, earning a College Counseling Certificate from UCLA. Mary Pat lost her husband in 2002 and retired from Connelly in June 2010 after 35 years there. Waldorf found her and she has come to love the school as the high school college counselor. She lives in Tustin Ranch, and her children and grandchildren are all close (Corona, Long Beach and Aliso Viejo). Her favorite activity is reading and certain TV shows which she TIVO’s.

 

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