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.”

Chloé Schlesner

Sunshine Garden Assistant & Aftercare Assistant

Chloé currently lives in Milwaukee with her mom, three siblings, two dogs, four cats, and lizard.

During her free time, Chloé enjoys spending time with her loved ones, practicing yoga, gratitude, and mindfulness, going on road trips, traveling abroad and moments alone in nature.

Despite her short time working in Waldorf, she has learned so much about child development and community.

Attiyya Summerise

Butterfly Garden Teacher

Ms. Attiyya grew up in the Napa Valley, in the small town of St. Helena, CA. She now lives in Glendale with her family. Attiyya enjoys arts and crafts, reading, baking, exploring in nature and playing baseball with her family.

Working in a Waldorf environment has shaped Attiyya’s parenting style. The same gentle approach that she learned fro

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

3rd 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.”

Danielle Lohuis

1st Grade Assistant

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.”

Hodna Nuernberg

1st 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.

Brandon Oaks

4th Grade Teacher

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 it's own unique set of needs to thrive, and our job as a gardener of souls is to help every child bloom."

Sonja Schlesner

2nd 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 Waldorf. 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.

SUMMER SULLIVAN

3rd Grade Assistant

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.

Kate Zamudio

4th Grade Assistant

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.

Eliza Klunk

Upper Grades Chair

Applied Arts Grades 5-8

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. Pursuing completion of 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

8th Grade Homeroom, Language Arts

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

6th Grade Homeroom, History/Geography, Cyber Civics

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.

Ms. Peterson

5th Grade Teacher

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.

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.

Natalie Stehly

Movement Teacher Grades 1-8

Natalie is a mover, maker, and educator. She grew up in La Crosse, WI, where she was first introduced to Waldorf education as an early childhood student. Her passion for expressing though movement was fostered from a young age while dancing at La Crosse Dance Centre. Natalie attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign earning her BFA in Dance. Following graduation, Natalie moved to New York City where she had the opportunity to dance and teach. She primarily taught in studios and in public schools through outreach programming. She is passionate about Brain Compatible Dance Education (BCDE) and recently completed the Summer Institute for Teachers with the founder of BCDE, Anne Green Gilbert. In addition to teaching dance, Natalie is a 200-Hour Yoga Teacher and Certified Children’s Yoga Instructor. In her spare time, Natalie enjoys riding her bike, rock climbing with her husband, and cozying up at home with her cat. Natalie is thrilled to be part of the faculty at Tamarack Waldorf and looks forward to learning alongside her students while exploring movement and athletics.

Alex Wyszewiański

Mathematics, Urban Hike Grades 5-8

Mr. Wyszewiański grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he developed his love of science, team sports, nature, and gaming. He studied Mechanical Engineering and Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan and then received his BS in Elementary Education - Mathematics from Eastern Michigan University. He has spent the past five years teaching sixth-grade math during the school year and serving as the eighth-grade supervisor at the Wayne State Math Corps summer program in Detroit during the summers. He has brought his experience and enthusiasm for mathematics education to the upper grades since the 2022 school year.

Samantha Lewis

Learning Support

Ms. Lewis grew up in Rockton, Illinois. She moved to Milwaukee in 2017 to pursue her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Ms. Lewis is certified to teach 1st-8th grade and comes to Tamarack with two years of experience in teaching 5th grade. She is also in the process of completing her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

Ms. Lewis will be working with the Learning Support Team as an Academic Interventionist.

During her free time, Ms. Lewis enjoys reading, painting, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Deborah Schermer

Speech Language Pathologist

This is Mrs. Schermer’s fifth year working with students at Tamarack Waldorf school. 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.”