Teacher Bios

Chris Riser has taught middle school in the Portland area for 6 years. Riser has had a personal passion for hip hop music, history, and culture since he was in the middle school himself.

Kristen earned her M.Ed from the University of Oregon. As an avid theater fan, she also earned a minor in Theater Arts in college. She has taught elementary school in Beaverton for the past 12 years, and she is excited to join OES for the summer program!

Christa Knox is a Board Certified Holistic Nutritionist and high school teacher who loves creating healthy meals and exploring the great Northwest. As a native Oregonian, she loved to pick sun-kissed berries, hunt for mushrooms, and cook everything from scratch from a very young age.

Mark Combe is an Extension Assistant Instructor with OES. He received a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and is currently studying for a Master's of Art degree in Teaching with and ESOL endorsement.

Laura Harley grew up in Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's in Elementary Education. She has worked with students in K-6th grade and has taught 3rd/4th grade at the Forest Grove Community School for 8 years.

Slick Cntrl’s journey as an artist started at the age of 5 in the West of Africa. Although intimate to him dance is a vehicle to both express and navigate through life. He describes his dance as smooth, intricate and charismatic. He is influenced by West African, Salsa, Hip hop, Pop, krump, Contemporary and more.

Meredith Kruse is an early childhood and elementary educator. She has a passion for art and science, and loves to combine the two areas in her practice. She holds a Bachelors degree in Art and Photography from Pacific University, and a Masters of Teaching degree from Marylhurst University.

Margaret Synan-Russell has been teaching visual art for 27 years, Sha has been teaching at OES since 2006 and is presently teaching First grade through Fifth grade Visual Arts.

My name is Colin and I work as a videographer and filmmaking teacher. I have been teaching at OES for 5 years and have worked in the Beaverton School District for 10 years.

Kara holds a BFA in Painting from Pacific Northwest College of Art. She has privately taught children nationally and internationally for over 25 years. Kara is the founder of INNERSCAPE Art Center.

Lauren is one of the Kindergarten teachers here at OES and has taught the early childhood years for almost twenty years.

I grew up in Vermont and as a kid I was lucky enough to spent most of my days outdoors.

Steve Brennan is a long-time OES teacher and coach. His classroom teaching includes English, History, Contemporary Issues, and Health & Wellness.

Bonnie Brennan has been part of the OES community for more than twenty years. She’s worked as a dorm parent, Service Learning Coordinator, Director of Residential life, and most recently as a member of our OES admissions team.

Eric Dams has been a PE teacher and coach at OES since 2007. Eric currently coaches JV Boys Soccer, MS Girls Basketball and MS Track and Field.

It has been my joy and privilege to work at OES during the school year and for the summer program since 2018.

John Lamb is the founder of Backbeat Music Academy, and is dedicated to setting students up to achieve whatever they set their goals on.

Martina came to America in 2000 from the beautiful countryside of Sweden. Shortly after arriving in Portland, she found herself surrounded by artists and performers, being tossed up in the air and asked to climb on their hands, feet, & heads.

Lauriel Amoroso earned her B.A. in Environmental and Cultural Studies from the Evergreen State College and her Master’s in Teaching from Lewis and Clark College.

Eli Ronick brings over 15 years of teaching and tutoring experience to OES and also teaches at Portland State University.

Jeanna has been at OES for 8 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Portland State University, where she won a scholarship for Drawing, and majored in Art History.

OES All School Experiential Education Coordinator since 2003.

Hello! I'm Jane and this is my second summer teaching at OES. I was a guest teacher at OES during the 2018-2019 school year and I am currently a preschool teacher at Childswork in SE Portland.

Lelia Deykin Seropian is a Lake Oswego resident who has been teaching Kindergarten for twenty years in the Beaverton School District. She has worked with children of all ages in grades K-5.

Currently I am teaching 5th grade at OES. This is my first year teaching at OES and I moved here last summer from Los Angeles.

I am a native Oregonian. I love our beautiful coast and enjoy crabbing, beach combing, sunsets and walks with my family and our Corgi.

Miriam is the Intermediate Years Extension teacher as OES. Miriam has been teaching in Reggio Emilia inspired schools since she was in college for her Early Childhood Education Degree at Arizona State University.

Sylvie G. Jensen is a Kindergarten French teacher at FAIS since 2008. She loves working with children of all ages. Sylvie enjoys helping children grow and learn new things the best way possible.

Clara Baker is an educator, avid gardener, and musician who has over 14 years of experience working with children in schools and camp settings.

Kimie Fukuda has been an early childhood educator at both the American school in Japan, and Opal Charter School for 23 years.

John Becher has been teaching at OES for over a decade and is currently coaching Track and Field and the Head coach for Middle School Cross Country.

Virna Darling has been coaching at OES for over a decade and is currently coaching High School Track Distance and the Head Girls Cross Country coach.

Ashley Ward is a mother of boys who loves science, history and Harry Potter. She received her Masters' Degree from Oregon State and has been teaching in Vernonia for the past 14 years.

Kristen has been at OES since 2008, teaching Music and Service Learning. She has been teaching summer camps, ranging from leadership to Legos since 2009.

TGA Premier Sports combines athletics, academics, and life lessons to create fun and engaging youth programs.

My name is Carl Kiilsgaard and I live in Portland, OR. I've been photographing for a little while now and enjoy everything about it; other than the continual disappointment and frustration it brings.

Lauran Pratt joined the OES staff in 1990 and became a full-time Middle School Physical Education Teacher in 1996. He became the Varsity Men's Basketball Coach in 2011.

Clare McClellan is a first year graduate student at PSU, pursuing a Masters of Environmental Management. She is an OES alum and is excited to be joining the OES summer camps for another year.

Hello Everyone! I was born and raised in here in Oregon and attended Chemeketa Community College where I played two years of Volleyball, after that I went on to to Warner Pacific College where I graduated with my bachelors in sports and recreation management.

Laura Dunn earned a B.A. in English from Northwestern University and a M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Montana. She has taught English, creative writing, poetry, theater, and music at colleges and K-12 schools for 12 years.

Carole Burton received her Masters in Education from Portland University. She was appointed to OES in 2012 and teaches Pre-Kindergarten.

Austin Schock has played D&D since college--which is longer ago than he'd like to admit. He's since turned it into a popular after school class, bringing screenless joy to students all over campus.

Carrie Blank has been teaching for 30 years and is a middle school PE teacher at OES.

Founder of PK4ALL, Noah is a natural born teacher. He is an American Parkour (APK) Ambassador and Level II Certified Instructor and has been teaching Parkour and Freerunning for over seven years.

Coach Dan VanDetta started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training in 2010, but his journey to improve the lives of others started much earlier than that. He earned his M.S.T. in 1999, taught elementary school in inner city Los Angeles for 8 years then moved to Oregon.

World renowned fencing club, Oregon Fencing Alliance, located on the OES campus at S.P.A.R.C. provides the coaching staff for the fencing camps. the coach for all 3 sessions this summer will be Anna Atanassov.

I am an educator, dancer, yogi, mover, thinker, mom, and a lifelong fan of kids! I graduated from Reed, studied childhood social dynamics, became a stay-home mom of three, and now split my time between working in a NE school, teaching barre3, grad school work towards teaching, and of course mommy-ing my (not-so)wee three.

Engineering For Kids of Portland Metro offer STEM focused programs to children of K-8 in the Portland Metro area which include enrichment and after school classes, homeschool enrichment programs, camps, STEM workshops and events.

Sarah Ahl is the owner and teacher of Jump Start Gymnastics. She has over 18 years of experience teaching recreational gymnastics, and a BA in Liberal Studies for elementary school education.

Nate Moreland has over 20 years of training experience. He has worked with professional NFL athletes within the NFL as well as training NCAA athletes.

Ben Smucker grew up outside of Eugene and attended Junction City High School, lettering all four years in high school golf and basketball. In college, he played three seasons at the collegiate level for Northwest Christian University and graduated with a Business Administration degree in 2013.

Raina was born in India, raised in India and Europe. Portland has been her home since 1983. She has 2 grown dual culture children. Working as an artist, teacher and healer, Raina enjoys teaching people of all ages.

Angela Whitebirch is the Chinese teacher at the Middle School and Upper school. She is a graduate of George Fox University with a Masters of Arts in Teaching.

Tina-Marie Baskin, J.D., has over 20 years of experience helping students attain a positive mindset, become well-organized, and discover their unique academic talents. She received a B.A. in English, and Honors in Humanities from Stanford University, and a J.D. from UCLA Law School.