Jennifer Roderick - Director

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Jennifer believes in the mission of making a difference in the world one child at a time.  She has a BA in Art History from the University of California Santa Barbara, holds an English Language Learning certificate from ESL International, Vancouver, BC and received her degree in Elementary Education from Fort Lewis College.  Jennifer has an MA in Educational Technology and Leadership from Pepperdine University.  She has devoted her professional career to education and has spent the past 11 years in elementary schools.  She has experience teaching music, physical education, leading third, fourth and fifth grade classrooms, facilitating a gifted education program, curriculum and assessment design and was a district educational technology facilitator. Jennifer has facilitated educational workshops locally and regionally in southwestern Colorado and had been a presenter at two national conferences.  Jennifer comes to La Tierra with Expeditionary Learning experience and passion for the EL pedagogy. As the new Director of La Tierra Community School Jennifer hopes to continue to develop an educational model that inspires citizen scholarship. Outside of Directing LTCS, Jennifer may be hard to find as she loves being deep in the wilderness surrounded by the essence of nature either rock climbing, backcountry skiing, riding her dirt bike, or whitewater kayaking.  She also may be found nestled up with a fantastic novel or somewhere or frolicking about with her two dogs and new husband.

Cyndi Reynolds - Special Education Teacher / Intervention Specialist

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Cyndi is enthused to be the new Special Education Facilitator at La Tierra Community School. Her love of Expeditionary Learning began at Northpoint Expeditionary Learning Academy in Prescott, where she taught special education at the high school level. A California native, she earned a Bachelor’s in English, a Master’s Degree in Applied Psychology, and a teaching degree in Special Education, before making the move to Arizona. She has over 15 years of experience serving people of all ages with unique needs through, social skills training, pre-vocational skills training, early intervention services, behavior modification/therapy, and teaching. Cyndi is passionate about working with the students, families, teachers, and administration, to make La Tierra Community School a positive learning environment that accepts and praises the uniqueness of all students.

 Mary Layman - Kindergarten Teacher

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Mary spent the first 12 years of her teaching career as a traveling environmental educator and then Director of Willow Bend Environmental Education Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. She did science and social studies presentations in kindergarten through adult classrooms throughout Coconino County, and designed and faclitated field experiences around the southwest for learners of all ages. After re-locating to Prescott she taught in a public school setting as well as in multi-age classrooms at two Expeditionary Learning Schools. She believes people of all ages learn best through play, and designs learning experiences that spark imagination, encourage creativity, and foster safe exploration. She is the mother of three young men and enjoys hiking, exploring, reading, and learning more about the world we live in.

Jennifer Iadevaia - Kindergarten Teachers Assistant

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Jennifer Iadevaia recently graduated from Prescott College with a degree in Theater and Dance. She is excited to become a new member of the La Tierra community, and will be a kindergarten aide with Mary this year.  She previously worked with La Tierra as an undergraduate student in its first year co-teaching dance and movement.  She enjoys backpacking, dancing, laughing and has an overall love of animals, bugs and the natural world. Jen believes that witnessing children grow is a profound experience. She is honored to continue mentoring young students and guiding them towards their passions.

David McNelly - 1-2 Teacher

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David is a native Arizonan who spent most of his childhood in Tucson. He graduated from Prescott College in 2006 with a BA in Elementary Education and has four years of EL teaching experience. He enjoys teaching children to appreciate themselves and the world around them. David brings his love of reading, music and the outdoors into his classroom.  His free time is spent playing guitar, carving wood and gardening.

Clare Ellis - Paraprofessional Teachers Assistant 1-2 grade

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Clare recently joined La Tierra as a one-on-one teacher’s aide in the 1^st and 2^nd grade classroom. After graduating with a B.A. in English in December of 2011 she traveled to India where she fell in love with Chai and long train rides. Clare recently moved from the Midwest to Prescott because she loved the mild climate and beautiful landscape, which she tries to explore often. Outside of school Clare enjoys hiking, coffee, books, writing, attempting to bake, friends and family, and hanging out with her loveable pug-mix Lucy.

Jessica Sult - 3-4 Teacher

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Jessica Sult chose to become an educator out of a desire to make a difference in the lives of children. She earned her B.A in Elementary Education from Prescott College where she was trained in experiential, multicultural and environmental education teaching practices. Jessica feels fortunate to be part of the Expeditionary Learning network and has received over 80 hours of specialized 'EL' training in the last year alone. She is a proud mother of two and enjoys traveling, snowboarding and reading.

Peter Dorsey - 5-6 Teacher

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Peter grew up in a family of educators, partly in the tiny nation of Paraguay. After earning a B.A. at Prescott College he worked as a firefighter and traveled, including time as a volunteer teacher at a boarding school in the Himalaya. He has a M.A. in Elementary Education from Northern Arizona University and enjoys reading, backpacking, learning languages, and spending time with his family.

Mima Bonnett - Spanish Instructional Aide

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Mima Bonnett was born in Mexico in the state of Coahuila and has a Bachelors degree in dentistry.  Through her connection and love for La Tierra Community School she recently began pursing a degree in education.  As a native Spanish speaker, her passion, dedication and love of young people brought her to La Tierra Community School as our Spanish language teacher.  She invites her diverse cultural up bringing into the rich context of her language classes.  Mima will be working with students from K-6 as they become more conversant in Spanish as well as knowledgeable about music, folkloric dances and culture of Spanish speaking countries.

Beth Cottle - Operations Manager

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