KARINA Hinojosa zavala

Sunshine Garden Assistant, Aftercare Coordinator

Ms. Rina was born in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and has dedicated herself to children's development through various roles, including as a tutor and nanny. Karina studies Early Childhood Education and Occupational Therapy Assistance at Milwaukee Area Technical College, with the goal of becoming a pediatric occupational therapist.

Karina has received a Scholastic Arts Award for her work in photography and has written and directed plays during her high school years. In her free time, she enjoys training for marathons, going to musicals, writing, and practicing piano.

Karina values the diversity of Tamarack Waldorf School's student body. She believes that students from all backgrounds deserve an education that nurtures the body, heart, and mind in harmony.

Danielle Lohuis

Butterfly Garden Teacher

Danielle grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin spending most of her time in the theatre, dancing and singing. She is a company member with Wild Space Dance and enjoys music, sewing, creative writing, woodworking, and anything art related. 

Education: BFA in Dance and minor in Somatics (mind/body connectivity) from UW-Milwaukee. Certified Energy Mastery practitioner. 

“The approach I take to movement and physical education is to make optimal functioning the priority by supporting the inner connectivities of an individual. It is my goal to have every student excel at any physical endeavor they choose to embark on. For each child to have an immersive understanding of both their inner and outer worlds.”

Sam Lopez

Butterfly Garden Assistant

Halle Luksich

Lavender Garden Teacher

Teacher Halle grew up in Milwaukee, and in her spare time, she enjoys Irish dancing with the Milwaukee Irish Dance Company, hanging out with her dog Frankie, playing in a band, and crafting.

Education: B.A., Elementary Education, University of Wisconsin Madison, Certificate, Scandinavian Studies, University of Wisconsin Madison, pursuing Waldorf Teaching Certification through Great Lakes Waldorf Institute

"The fun we have in the Waldorf kindergarten brings so much joy to the children and me. There are so many opportunities to build confidence in these young people through play and real-life experiences. There's nowhere else I would rather teach!"

Sara Martinez

Sunshine Garden Teacher

Ms. Sara grew up in West Bend, Wisconsin. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Whitewater, Wisconsin and then after becoming certified in Teaching English as a Second Language, Sara spent years in Thailand, South Korea and India teaching English and studying the healing arts including yoga, Thai massage, energy work and meditation.

Sara now lives in Bay View with her family. She loves spending time in nature and she especially loves the beach!

"I feel that a Waldorf kindergarten is the most healing, beautiful place that a child could possibly be.
I am honored to be a part of the village that helps each child to grow and to feel loved and supported."

Leah Neterval-Quiel

Lavender Garden Assistant

Ms. Leah grew up in Milwaukee but enjoys getting out of the city in her spare time.  She loves crafting, hiking, foraging, baking, and gardening with her four kids whom she homeschooled with a Waldorf approach for several years.

Education: B.A. Global Studies and International Affairs, minors in Philosophy and Spanish; a handful of courses in Elementary Education at Alverno College in Milwaukee.

“The space that Waldorf education gives a child to fully embody a connection with nature; their own hands, hearts, and minds is priceless. It is a unique gift to have the opportunity to guide children in this environment as well as see my own children grow in it.”

ALLISON PEOPLES

Butterfly Garden Assistant

Molly Wardius

Lavender Garden Assistant

Ms. Molly has worked at Tamarack since August 2024 and started out as the Marketing and Events Coordinator. She fell in love with substituting in the classrooms, and specifically found she enjoyed the beautiful, healing energy of Waldorf kindergarten. Molly decided to pivot to working in the Lavender Garden starting August 2025 and is looking to pursue a secondary degree in education in the coming years, so she can inspire her own love of learning in students.

In her free time, Molly enjoys spending time outdoors, crocheting, reading, baking, and spending time with her loved ones.

Education: B.A. Graphic Design, minor in Sociology, Spanish language certificate; St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI.

DOROTHY KULKE

Lower Grades Chair

Ms. Kulke has been working at Tamarack since 2019. She has taught in the MPS for 11 years as a Dance Teacher as well as a grades teacher. She taught at Urban Waldorf for 6 years. She also owned and operated Seedlings to Sprouts Day Care. She was previously the Enrollment and Outreach Coordinator at Tamarack for 6 years.

Ms. Kulke has both a Waldorf and Traditional teaching certificate as well as a Waldorf Early Childhood certificate through LifeWays North America.

Education: M.A. Education, Mt. Mary College, Milwaukee, WI; B.F.A.  Dance, UW Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI

“Waldorf Education is such a wonderful and all-encompassing pedagogy. Having worked in both traditional public school settings as well as in a Waldorf school, I have seen firsthand how healing, developmentally appropriate and academically rigorous this education can be in comparison to traditional education. I have two children currently enrolled and they have been deeply nurtured and cared for by their teachers. The time and effort that they spend truly understanding each child, infused with the developmental knowledge that they possess makes this such a profoundly personalized learning environment.”

Chet Garrett

4th Grade Teacher

Mr. Garrett grew up in New Orleans and developed an appreciation for theater, the arts, and his fellow human beings. This has fostered a deep sense of compassion and learning that he is delighted to cultivate in others, especially in children and their families. Alongside spending time with his family and friends, Mr. Garrett enjoys nature, learning and philosophy, reading, and music.

Education: B.A., Psychology (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), pursuing M.A., Education (Mount Mary University), pursuing Waldorf Teacher Certification (Great Lakes Waldorf Institute).

“Each child carries with them a hope that is nurtured in Waldorf education. This childhood hope shapes the development of that child, as well as the community of children in the classroom and the school, continuing ever outward to carry this hope into the world. It is this hope that impels the child to discover what it means to be human in their individuality and to be a part of a community.”

LaVondra Ham

1st Grade Teacher

LaVondra ‘Lava’ Ham is a dedicated and passionate educator. Ms. Ham was an Elementary and Preschool educator for over 20 years in Pennsylvania and South Carolina. She also helped to enrich youth through teaching theatre arts, yoga, and mindfulness practices. She relocated to Milwaukee to attain her graduate degree in English and recently achieved this dream. She is looking forward to discovering more about Milwaukee, especially the arts and poetry events. Ms. Ham is excited to be joining the Tamarack Waldorf School Community!

Hodna Nuernberg

2nd Grade Teacher

Ms. Hodna was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, and has lived and worked on three continents.

She holds a BFA in Art Education and taught elementary art at the Milwaukee French Immersion School before coming to Tamarack.

Hodna also holds an MFA in Comparative Literature - Translation and an MA in Francophone World Studies and has worked as an editor, literary translator, and university lecturer in France and Morocco.

In her spare time, Hodna enjoys reading, hosting friends, gardening, and biking to the beach. She lives in a former rooming house built in the late 1800s, has three cats, and loves summer best of all the seasons.

Hodna draws inspiration from the motto artist Corita Kent borrowed from the Balinese: We have no art. We try to do everything as well as we can.

Brooke Ogierman

1st Grade Assistant

Ms. Brooke was born and raised in the Midwest and has devoted her life to creating and educating. Brooke studied illustration, design, graphic design, writing, and fine art at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Since then, she has found work in all kinds of areas farming, baking, nannying, and art. Since being welcomed into the Tamarack community, Brooke has found pure joy and passion in education. 

In her free time Brooke can be found somewhere out in the back country, exploring all that nature has to offer. Brooke is an herbalist, forager, and a mushroom grower. She has a love for music, art, and community and she can’t wait to see where Tamarack takes her. 

Sonja Schlesner

3rd Grade Teacher

Ms. Sonja is a native of rural southeastern Wisconsin, largely residing near the Geneva Lakes area. She has spent the last 18 years raising 4 beautifully precocious children, 2 of whom have joined the student body here at Tamarack. During those years she ran a 3-acre certified organic vegetable and fruit market garden during the summer months and substituted all grades in the local schools during the winter months. During the gardening months, she coordinated outdoor education programs on her farm with a local camp that served students from Chicago schools. She also worked with the Field Museum of Natural History in the Mycology department when she trained high school students in field identification, collection, and cataloging of mushrooms for a larger pollution project.

In June 2019, she was published in the General Science Journal: Gravitational Dynamic Equilibrium: A Mechanism for Gravity with a Non-Mathematical Approach to Quantum Field Theory. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997 with a degree in Conservation Biology and a Botany emphasis. After graduation, she sought further inorganic and organic chemistry studies at William Rainey Harper College in Palatine. After her time at Tamarack, she began her graduate studies in Waldorf education with Cardinal Stritch College. She hopes to pursue completion of this degree in the coming years. 

Ms. Sonja enjoys dancing, kayaking, camping, playing the tenor saxophone and flute, learning the cello, and spending time with her children.

Flora Wytch

2nd Grade Assistant

Ms. Flora is so excited to be a part of the Tamarack team. She is a Milwaukee native and loves traveling with her partner to explore unique museums and attractions; their favorites include the Precious Moments Chapel in Missouri, Funeral History Museum in Texas and House on the Rock in Wisconsin. Flora takes deep pride in being the cool aunt to her niece and nephews and is always first in line to help when they need costumes made. Recently she has been teaching herself how to make chainmail. Flora loves to learn, often filling her spare time with movies and reading, preferring things that really make her think. 

Flora’s constant curiosity is a large part of what drew her to Waldorf education; she deeply resonates with how much children are encouraged to wonder. 

Eliza Klunk

Upper Grades Chair

Grades 5-8 Applied Arts

Eliza grew up in and around the Milwaukee area. She first came to Tamarack as a parent and volunteer. In addition to handwork and woodwork, she enjoys reading, baking, games, hiking, biking, and movies.

Education: B.S., Elementary Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. M.A. Education with Montessori Certification, Loyola University Maryland. Completed the Applied Arts Training Program, Threefold Educational Center, Chestnut Ridge, NY.

“Applied Arts in a Waldorf school reaches something within the student that few other subjects can - it shows them the strength they have within themselves, both spiritual and physical, to work towards the creation of something beautiful and useful. It is a therapeutic and joyful experience.”

Derek BarnetT

Grades 5-8 Language Arts, Cyber Civics

Derek grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  In his spare time, he enjoys eating vegan snacks, playing drums in bands, reading, gardening, traveling, and hanging out with his two dogs Scrappy and Anarchy, and cat Ophelia. 

Education: B.A., English Literature, University of Colorado—Boulder; M.A., English Literature, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee; PhD, Philosophy, University of Western Ontario.

Maya Kaspar

7th Grade Homeroom, Grades 5-8 History/Geography, Urban Hike

Ms. Kaspar is so excited to be back at school! Born and raised in Madison, WI, Ms. Kaspar moved to Milwaukee in the fall of 2013 to pursue a college degree in education from UW-Milwaukee. Here she fell in love with the diversity, art scene, and abundance of water in Milwaukee. Ms. Kaspar began her teaching career in 2018 and taught fifth grade for Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) before coming to the Tamarack Waldorf Family! She has received training on management, trauma-informed education, Indigenous studies, and a writing workshop curriculum. Ms. Kaspar is super excited to announce that she will be pursuing her Waldorf teaching license and Education Master's Degree throughout the next two school years. 

In her spare time, Ms. Kaspar loves to read, sing, paint, explore, and travel. Over the summer, Ms. Kaspar tries to read as many books as she can from a variety of genres. Some of her favorites include Harry Potter, The Diary of a Young Girl and Circe. Growing up, Ms. Kaspar was in several musicals and even two operas! She often brings singing wherever she goes. Painting has also been a strong outlet for Ms. Kaspar. From painting on canvas to her apartment walls, she loves the artistry and creativity paint has to offer. Exploring and traveling are Ms. Kaspar's passions. Some of her favorite places include London, England, Portland, Oregon, and Sedona, Arizona. She hopes her passion for community building, theater and history will be palpable to each and every student when they leave her classroom.

Brandon Oaks

5th Grade Homeroom, Movement Grades 1-8

Brandon grew up in Minneapolis. After graduating with a B.A. from Augustana college, he traveled to learn different permaculture and farming techniques, and experience a multitude of teaching opportunities. He taught at the Waldorf high school before coming to Tamarack.

Mr. B lives with his family in RiverWest. He enjoys nature hikes, music, art, reading, traveling, and martial arts. 

"I feel blessed to have been so immersed in Nature, and gardening before becoming a teacher. The lesson in every seed is the same lesson in every child; that whatever grows on this earth has its own unique set of needs to thrive, and our job as a gardener of souls is to help every child bloom."

Ms. Peterson

6th Grade Homeroom, Mathematics Grades 5-8

Ms. Peterson is a Wisconsin native and enjoys cooking, crafting, reading, the arts, history, and mathematics. She has been at Tamarack since its inception. Ms. Peterson has taken two of her own classes from 1st through 8th grade, worked at the Tamarack Waldorf School High School for two years, and was in the Firefly Garden kindergarten as an assistant for three years.  

Education: She received her Waldorf Teacher certification from Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Teacher Education in Chicago, Illinois; is certified in the Lifeways Early Childhood Program, and has her B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in writing and editing and a minor in Art History from Alverno College.

Emily Bertran

Handwork Assistant Grades 1-4

Ms. Emily has lived in Milwaukee for most of her life, until she moved to Chicago for school to attend Roosevelt University. There she received her degree is hospitality & tourism, minoring in special event planning. Ms. Emily is also an alumni of Tamarack and now has the pleasure to send her two girls here. She also had the pleasure of being taught by Ms. Duncan many years ago, creating a true full circle moment.

“I am grateful to join the Waldorf community as an Assistant in Handwork, where I can support children in developing creativity, patience, and confidence through the art of working with their hands. I hope to encourage each child’s unique expression while helping foster reverence for beauty, rhythm, and purposeful work.”

Mackenzie Cote

Environmental Education Grades 1-4

Ms. Mack loves writing, going for runs by the river, bird watching, and learning guitar. She is an amateur chess player and an alto in her choir. Having worked seasonally with the National Outdoor Leadership School for the past four years, Ms. Mack is landing in Milwaukee for the first time. She graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in Wildlife Ecology and a certificate in American Indian & Indigenous Studies. In the summer season, she works with horses in Wyoming as a NOLS Field Instructor and Horsepacker. 

Ms. Mack is excited to be teaching environmental education through a Waldorf perspective. She hopes to foster in her students their own senses of wonderment, curiosity, and reverence to the natural world through observation, reflection, and play. 

Marcia Duncan

Handwork Grades 1-4

Mrs. Duncan has taught handwork at Tamarack since 2001. Throughout life she has maintained a love for working with her hands: handwork, cooking, and gardening. It was her family’s involvement in a Waldorf initiative in Connecticut more then fifteen years ago that started her on this rich path. Marcia has two adult children.

Education: Applied Arts Program, Sunbridge College (Spring Valley, New York). B.S. in History, Charter Oak College (Hartford CT)

“There are infinite reasons for children to do handwork: from the sacred, to the intellectual, and to the practical. To make ordinary things beautiful is my current favorite.”

Adam Fisher

Music Grades 1-8

Mr. Fisher grew up in Sheboygan, WI. As a child, he played sports, read books, and made a lot of music with family and friends. He attended UW-La Crosse and earned his BS - Music Education degree, where he developed an affinity for hiking and ballroom dancing. Immediately after graduating, Adam moved to Milwaukee to attend UW-Milwaukee and earn a Master's in Music in Trumpet Performance. He fell in love with the city, and has happily made it his home. In addition to Mr. Fisher's work at Tamarack, he also teaches trumpet lessons, both at the Wisconsin Conservatory and in his home, and plays trumpet in local orchestras and theaters. Away from music, he enjoys spending time in his garden, baking bread, woodworking and carpentry.

Stephanie Schrader-Lawson

Applied Arts Grades 5-8

Stephanie grew up in the Lake Country area. She graduated from UW-Madison with a BS in Human Development and Family Studies. Since graduation Stephanie has been a preschool teacher, the leader of a parent education group, a doula, a stay-at-home mom to her three children, owner and head seamstress of a boutique toy store, and the leader of the Tamarack parent group. She also served on the Tamarack Finance Committee for seven years.

Stephanie has always loved quiet crafts and hobbies. She learned embroider, cross stitch, and crochet from her mother; machine sew in high school; knit after her first son was born, and is honing her woodworking skills now. She enjoys reading science fiction, is probably the only staff member at Tamarack who does not love nature, and her most favorite thing in the world is napping.

Meg Simmerling

Visual Arts Grades 5-8

Ms. Meg was born and raised in the city of Chicago. She attended Edgewood College in Madison and Columbia College Chicago, where she earned her BA in Art and Design. Meg has years of experience teaching middle and high school art in independent and public schools in IL, as well as private and group art classes at local arts centers in the Chicago area. Meg was naturally drawn to a career in art, as her father was a painter, art gallery owner and Chicago architecture preservationist. Meg is thrilled to share her talent and experience with the Tamarack community.

Meg’s passions include watercolor painting, cooking, gardening, camping and world travel. Meg is new to Milwaukee and looks forward to exploring the city’s lakefront, festivals, museums, farmers markets and much more. Meg is proud of her three grown children who join her in creative activities and outdoor adventures.

SUMMER SULLIVAN

Environmental Education Assistant Grades 1-4, Urban Hike Assistant Grades 5-8

Ms. Summer grew up in Wisconsin and has lived in Milwaukee for the past 10 years where she has worked as a server, organic farmer and house remodeler. In her free time, she enjoys playing a variety of musical instruments, traveling, and expanding her knowledge on herbalism. Her love of nature, philosophy, and children has drawn her to Waldorf education, and she is finding her time here to be very rewarding. Ms. Summer is currently completing her bachelor's in sociology.

Duncan Martin

Learning Support

Deborah Schermer

Speech Language Pathologist

Ms. Deb has been working with students at Tamarack Waldorf school since 2019. She is the parent of two young adult sons. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, dancing, traveling, and enjoying the outdoors.

Education: B.A. Northeastern University, Boston. M.S.Sp. Emerson College, Boston. Certificate in Clinical Competence - ASHA 1993. Clinical Fellowship, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA.

“Communication is where human interaction lives, and verbal expression is the tool we all use to show the world who we are. It is a privilege to be able to help and support students with the development of their communication skills so that they can engage with the world and share themselves to the best of their abilities.”

Kate Zamudio

Learning Support

Ms. Kate grew up in Lake Mills, WI on a dairy farm. As a child, she was involved in 4-H where she participated in the county and state fairs. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Cardinal Stritch University and later completed her teacher’s license through CESA. She loves being outdoors, gardening, crafting, singing, playing music and spending time with her family. She is excited to expand her knowledge of Waldorf education at Tamarack.