Our Staff

Sally Carless:
   The founding director and Chief Visionary Officer of Global Village School, Sally has more than twenty-five years' experience in alternative education including administration, teaching, curriculum development, American Indian Education, outdoor education, and program development. Along with her administrative duties, Sally teaches many of our students, and writes curriculum as well. She is the primary author of our K8 Whole Child Healthy Planet curriculum, and has also written several of our high school courses. Sally has a Masters Degree in Education (Curriculum and Instruction), a B.A. in Wilderness Recreation, and a California Teaching Credential. She also completed a year's graduate study in Depth Psychology and studies dream tending at Pacifica Graduate Institute.
    Passionately committed to a vision of a more just and peaceful world, Sally believes that education is a key component of progressive social change. Sally has given presentations on peace education, homeschooling, learning styles, and educating for a better world at various locations in the U.S. as well as in Thailand, India, and Australia. Also a musician, photographer, and writer, Sally is a regular contributor to the Ojai Post. She has also published articles on Commondreams.org and in Paths of Learning and Hopedance.

Tanya MacGumerait:
    Tanya graduated with a degree in Political Science and History from Drake University where she was in the political science, history, and sociology honor societies.  At around age four Tanya could be found on the couch poring over Webster's Dictionary as often as playing outside with the neighborhood kids, and she has developed a wide variety of interests as the result of experience and study.  During her high school years Tanya was politically awakened around LGBT rights and multicultural/bi-racial youth issues. She is an enthusiastic researcher of different cultures, religions, and political systems while also being the kind of geek who has been learning about technology since her grandpa replaced the computer running on a cassette player with one that read floppy disks the size of her five year old head. 
    Tanya joined Global Village in 2002 because her Secular Humanist values are very much in line with the educational philosophy of GVS. She delights in the opportunity to create, teach and learn from material that inspires inquiry, encourages communication, and fosters cooperation. Tanya thinks that the most important activities we can engage in are those that support the development of thoughtful, compassionate, critical thinking people. She has worn a variety of hats during her years at the school, including: Technical Advisor, Outreach Coordinator, Webmaster, Curriculum Writer, Internet/Social Marketing Manager and Teacher. As the Assistant Director of Global Village School, she continues to be a jack of all trades while supervising the Administrative Office staff.
  Tanya resides in a southern Californian mountain valley with her wife and three kitties who possess a stunning array of super powers.  Her hobbies include: reading, writing, games of all sorts, exploring sonic landscapes, surfing the web, creating and supervising online communities, straddling cultural borders and imagining new worlds. She misses her mohawk but eases the pain through regular Dance Dance Revolution and Settlers of Catan therapy.

Gretchen Buck:
   Growing up in Berkeley in the late 60's and early 70's made Gretchen a social activist at heart, and in high school she began a lifelong love-hate relationship with computers, which has provided more financial support than her B.A. in Sociology from UCLA. She believes that these powerful tools can and should be used to help people simplify the complex and often tedious tasks of our information-driven society. Her activism lay dormant for many years, until joining the Unitarian Universalist church. Its emphasis on tolerance, diversity, social justice and personal growth led to a renewed desire to put her skills to work in furtherance of those ends.
    Serendipity, karma, or something brought those dreams and the growing needs of Global Village School together, where Gretchen is happy to be doing work in support of something she truly believes in. She is active in her church, especially the Religious Education program, and in her spare time enjoys crocheting and other crafts and reading fantasy and science fiction. She lives in a rural section of the beautiful Ojai Valley with her husband, daughter and 4 cats.
   Gretchen serves as the Office Manager for GVS.

Wendelin Wagner:
   Growing up in the 70’s and fortunate to have attended an alternative public elementary school and a small, progressive independent high school, Wendelin appreciates the value of freedom and fun in learning. Drawn to study biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz, it was there that Wendelin's passion for neuroscience, and curiosity about the nature of mind was ignited. Since dissection of the brains of live young people was still illegal in California, Wendelin decided to study the minds of students by becoming a science teacher at the Santa Barbara Middle School. For 11 years she explored with students the mysteries of nature and the physical laws by launching rockets, combining chemicals, making machines and catching creatures.
    In 2002, Wendelin moved to New Zealand and co-founded the School Down Under, a study abroad high school combining travel, scholarship, self-introspection and service. After 3 adventurous years in NZ Wendelin moved back to the U.S. and currently resides in Virginia. She and her husband Francis travel yearly to France for work and family occasions.
   Wendelin is a long time student of Buddhist philosophy and maintains a daily meditation practice. She is still trying to figure out how the mind works, but now analyzes her own mental activity and has renounced the idea of using students as experimental subjects (as long as they keep up with their school work).
Aside from a love for: all creatures fuzzy and slimy, scrambling across wild lands and swift waters, climbing trees, laughing and eating ice cream (on the cone!) Wendelin is rather uninteresting--but regarded as friendly enough to keep around.

Meaghan Guernesy Conrad:
   Born and raised in Ojai, Meaghan finds herself at home in the valley and feels privileged to have had a caring upbringing in such a pleasant and beautiful community. After dabbling in the business world Meaghan went back to school to find a career that would satisfy her need to “feel good” about her job at the end of the day. Her caring nature and desire to help children led to her decision to earn her M.A. in Education with an emphasis in educational counseling. Meaghan has worked in several school settings including public, private and charter schools. Working at a progressive school such as Global Village is enlightening for Meaghan as she hopes to continue to grow and contribute to the school and its students.
    In her free time Meaghan enjoys running, hiking, snowboarding, water skiing, reading, traveling, and baking. Meaghan serves as the Office Assistant for GVS.

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Our Teachers and Curriculum Writers

    Our teachers and writers are highly qualified; they are chosen for their commitment to our vision of promoting peace, understanding, and respect for all  and for their flexibility, caring, compassion, and commitment to academic excellence. All are experienced in distance education, and know how to make participating in Global Village School a personally satisfying and deeply rewarding experience for each student.

Mary K. Blackmon:
   Mary Kay attended first and second grades in rural New Mexico in a small two-room school for grades 1-7. She attributes her success in school and her interest in special education to this experience. After earning a BA in Special Education from University of Denver, she taught special education at the elementary level. These two experiences influenced her appreciation for alternative and individualized education. Mary Kay also taught at the elementary level in the Peace Corps in Philippines and Eritrea. Later, participating in a parent toddler group with her daughter led Mary Kay into the field of early childhood education. She has over 20 years of experience working as a teacher and administrator in early childhood education. She earned an MA in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, California. Her Master’s Project, Toward Equal Rights for Lesbian Mothers, resulted in a resource pamphlet to accompany a film on the subject.
    Travel and cross cultural experiences also contributed valuable educational opportunities. Mary Kay traveled from the Philippines to Japan, and from Eritrea to Ethiopia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. More recently she benefited from another cross cultural experience while studying Chinese medicine with Chinese teachers in Santa Cruz, California. Mary Kay is a Licensed Acupuncturist in the State of California.
   Mary Kay enjoys walking, reading, listening to music, and spending time with friends and family. She recently moved to Ojai Valley in southern California, to live closer to her children and 3 young grandchildren. She is a student of Chinese Medicine, Zen meditation and Non Violent Communication (AKA: Compassionate Communication).

Michelle Blumberg:
    Michele has been an educator for close to two decades. She has both her BA and MA in education, as well as Montessori certification. Her strong interest in alternative types of education has led her to train and work in both Montessori and Waldorf schools, to previously direct her own small school, and to work as an educator in a social service agency. Currently, along with her work with Global Village School, she has several tutoring and homeschool students and works with teachers seeking their Masters degree in education at Naropa University. Michele also has four adult children and two grandchildren. She spends her time keeping up with her large family, traveling, reading, and pursuing her interest in meditation and philosophy. 

Mary Kate Considine:
    Mary Kate has been active in the field of education since her own children were small. She has taught in the classroom and as an independent study teacher for 7-12 grade students. She has coached seniors for Academic Decathlon Competition and Knowledge Bowl. Mary Kate has written curriculum for several online English and history courses and has almost finished studies for a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has served as a parent representative for site-based management teams at the elementary level. She has served on a review committee to pick worthy students for college scholarships. A strong believer in a humanistic approach to education, Mary Kate spends a great deal of time adjusting, personalizing, and rewriting courses so that they can fit all of her students' needs as well as meeting course standards and requirements. Aware of the great impact that the Internet has had on education, Mary Kate's goal is to provide the best curriculum at the highest standards for all levels of students.

Christina Covelli:
    Christina is a state-certified teacher with an M.A. in Waldorf education earned while residing in a Franciscan friary. She is a certified TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign/Second Language) teacher and a trained ‘Creating Your Life’ instructor in a program developed by Robert Fritz. Christina has two decades’ experience in alternative education, including teaching, administration, and curriculum development. Christina enjoys coaching learners to shape their educational and life experiences around their values, aspirations, talents, and goals. She is drawn to subjects with spiritual and social content, and works in an atmosphere of freedom, creativity, and love. Christina loves flowers – in nature, beeswax candles, healing essences, and drawings and paintings. She also loves animals and is currently enrolled in programs leading to practitioner certification in Bach flower essences for people and animals. Christina is fond of drama (which, she says, comes naturally to an American-Italian), classic films (mostly in black and white), music (she plays piano and organ), and crafts (she hand-dips beeswax candles). She also enjoys cultural festivals, yoga, cycling, sailing, hiking, and volleyball. Christina lives in Tuscany, where she is savoring the culture, the beauty, the language, and, of course, il cibo!

Phil Diskin:
    Born and raised in New York City, Phil is an animal lover, an avid follower of current events, and a fan of challenging crossword puzzles.  After studying Biology in college, he planned to become an ornithologist. But when he discovered that he would have to work far from civilization in order to study birds, he decided to pursue a career closer to urban life.  During the Vietnam War, he served as a medical technologist in the Army and then worked in the ladies' knit goods business.  But he never lost his love for science and earned a B.S. in Zoology with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Arizona, in Tucson. Phil lives with his wife and two children in a ninety-year-old house in Los Angeles.  He has done a lot of restoration, remodeling, and refurbishing (of the house, not the family.)  He really enjoys fishing with his son and, when the fishing gods occasionally smile down on them, actually catching some trout!  Although they don't play very well, he and his son also like to go golfing together.  Phil and his family like to see plays and attend classical music concerts.  A former home schooling dad, Phil is an experienced independent studies high school math and science teacher, and is happy to be part of the Global Village School family.

Meg Easling:
    Meg lives in Ojai with her kitty, Paco. Her daughter has a masters degree in Forensics and lives in Oakland, but they get together as often as they can. Meg has major interests in ecology, history, art and teaching. She also loves to garden organically and grow herbs and orchids. She is a jewelry designer and gemologist. She has a masters degree in art and loves to sculpt and paint. Meg can't imagine life without music. Folk music (especially Celtic and Peruvian), jazz, reggae, blues, boogie woogie and soft rock are her favorites.
Meg loves to travel, meet people and learn about different cultures; it is one of her greatest joys. She feels we are always learning from and about the world and the people around us. One of Meg’s favorite trips was eleven days on a fishing boat, whale watching in Baja California. She also really likes snorkeling, exploring jungles in Central America and visiting the fascinating, ancient places of Ireland. Meg has been to many countries, including Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scandinavia and Russia, most of Europe, Turkey and Iran.

Ann Gelsheimer:
    Ann has an Honors B.Sc. specializing in psychology and majoring in religious studies, a Masters Degree in Education in the area of Applied Psychology, and has partially completed her Masters of Divinity degree. She is also a licensed Interfaith Minister, and is President of the Board at Gaden Choling Mahayana Buddhist Centre in Toronto. Ann is a faculty member at Seneca College in Toronto, where she developed and coordinates a transition program for students with physical disabilities. Lately she has been teaching introductory psychology, English, and career development at Seneca, and is responsible for developing her own curriculum for the courses. She also developed curriculum and taught courses in wellness and sexuality, creativity and spirituality, contemporary issues, study skills, etc. Ann has also taught and developed Web-based courses for high school students as well as serving as principal at a Jewish private school for students with special needs.

Victoria Kindle Hodson:
   Victoria Kindle Hodson was born and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. She attended Western Washington University and holds a Masters degree in Psychology and a Bachelors degree in Education. She is an educational consultant and has taught, developed educational programs, and conducted workshops for parents and teachers for more than 25 years.
   Victoria has worked in many diverse educational settings that have provided experience with the needs of widely different kinds of learners. She has trained in special education, parenting, communication skills development, and Montessori education. Over the last 30 years she has been developing an alternative way of viewing children as learners. The learning techniques and strategies she encourages are based on her research, insight, and experience in psychology and education.
   Victoria has worked with and spoken to thousands of children and parents as well as homeschooling families and classroom teachers, assessing learning styles, diagnosing school problems, designing customized curriculum plans, and teaching techniques and strategies that help children learn. She has written several books for parents and teachers. With Mariaemma she co-authored and published A Self-Portrait^TM Learning Style System and Discover Your Child's Learning Style.
   Victoria currently lives in Ventura with her husband, Stan. She enjoys reading, cooking, yoga and walking at the ocean.

Lisa Kalechstein:
    At heart Lisa is a community builder and youth advocate who wants to bring back the joy of learning into young people's experience of school. She holds California Teaching Credentials in Single Subject Biology and Multiple Subjects. For Lisa, the beauty of teaching science lies in the combination of hands-on lab work with inquiry style lessons, which encourages students' own critical thinking and curiosity, and lends itself to a more engaging andinteractive learning experience.

Michelle Muntz:
    Michelle Muntz is a Southern California native. This genuine pioneer of alternative education was instrumental in developing a now nationally recognized homeschooling network. Although Michelle’s educational background is in psychology and early childhood education, her 20 plus years as an educator runs the gamut from homeschooling mother to preschool classroom teacher to a K-12 independent study instructor. Michelle is also a Master Learning-Success Coach, one of a select group of people certified by the Learning-Success Institute to customize curriculum based on individual Learning Styles. Michelle has worked with hundreds of families, often with complex educational needs, to help provide meaningful, enriching learning experiences that address both the academic and emotional needs of their children. Michelle coaches adults as well, focusing on goal setting, personal motivation, and understanding their unique Learning Style profile. Her hope for all of her students is that they find their passion in life and become lifelong learners. In her spare time Michelle enjoys reading nonfiction, spending time with her four children and two grandchildren, and hiking in the Chatsworth hills.

Sunita Palekar:
    Sunita Palekar graduated from Wellesley College with a major in peace and justice studies and a minor in psychology in May of 2003. She received her Master of Public Administration in International Public Policy with a concentration in gender and conflict from New York University's Wagner School of Public Service in May 2006. Her work as a policy and research associate at Care International in New York took her to their office in Sudan from July to October of 2006, where she worked on a project to combat gender-based violence.  
    Sunita's other experience includes work on Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) for the Council on Health Research for Development and field research in Mozambique for Africare on food security programs. She has interned at the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in New York and IDC: Mobilizing Generations for Development in Washington, DC.
   Sunita is currently working in Sudan for a humanitarian relief organization.

Mariaemma Pelullo-Willis:
    Mariaemma Pelullo-Willis, M.S. is an educational consultant and Learning-Success^TM Coach. She holds a Masters Degree in Education and California Life Teaching Credentials for Regular and Special Education. She has been teaching, developing educational programs, and conducting workshops for parents and teachers for more than 20 years.
    Mariaemma helps homeschooling families customize the curriculum to fit students' individual needs and interests. She has worked with thousands of children and parents, as well as home schooling families and classroom teachers, assessing Learning Styles, diagnosing school problems, designing customized curriculum plans, and teaching techniques and strategies that help children learn. She is the author of What To Do When They Don't Get It and Homeschooling the Child With "Learning Problems"; co-author of A Self-Portrait^TM Learning Style System and Discover YourChild's Learning Style; and co-founder of the Learning-Success^TM Institute.   

Jodi Tharan:
    Jodi Tharan studied at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she earned her B.A. in Feminist Studies and is a proud "Slug"! She then had her children before starting at Holy Names University. HNU was a great adventure for Jodi because she had a chance to learn from committed educators who truly value social justice and the sacred. Jodi earned her Masters in Education with a concentration in Special Education in 2006. Learning as a Delet Fellow (a teacher leadership fellowship) gave her a chance to apply theory to practice. This spring Jodi will receive her Master of Divinity degree from Starr King School, an innovative graduate theological school. Many of these educational settings offered emerging distance learning tools and Jodi found that she likes being "multilocal." Designing, developing and delivering curriculum to a wide range of folks brings Jodi great joy. She has taught everyone from infants to elders. Presently, Jodi and her two great kids are writing a young adult, fantasy novel, bird watching whenever and wherever they can, and living with a sweet peep of chickens.  Jodi thinks teaching is in fact learning and is very excited to be involved with Global Village School. She likes changing the world! 

AJ Wolff:
    AJ Wolff was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from San Jose State University, and a Masters Degree in Art Education at Piedmont College in Demerest, Georgia. She has California Teaching Credentials, and over twenty years of experience teaching art and Special Education. She has worked in both public and private schools. She has been instructing online classes and working with homeschoolers in distance learning programs for the past five years. AJ is also a professional artist and art therapist. She is a videographer and the editor of a small independent film company. She has had her paintings and drawings exhibited internationally. She is also the author of three meditation coloring books: In Peace, Peace Be Still, and Touch The Sky; Meeting and Healing Your Inner Child. AJ is currently living in Cleveland, Georgia with her two tabby cats Willy and Nelson, and her two dogs, Hershel and Shirley. She enjoys mountain hikes and exploring the local folk culture and arts of the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

Our Advisors

Mark Franco:
    Mark Franco, Winnemem Wintu, is the Keeper of Ceremony for the Winnemem people. Married to Caleen Sisk, he is the father of two children, Mike (23) and Marine (15). Mark is deeply involved in assisting his life partner in maintaining the Winnemem Wintu culture and ceremonies and acts as the government liaison for the Winnemem's tribal recognition efforts.
 

Caleen Sisk-Franco:
    An educator for over 25 years, Caleen Sisk-Franco, Winnemem Wintu, is the great-niece and appointed successor of Florence Jones, Spiritual Doctor and Leader of the Winnemem Wintu tribe. Married to Mark Franco, she is the mother of two children, Mike (18) and Marine (10). Caleen is deeply involved in maintaining the Winnemem Wintu culture and ceremonies and is the focal point for the Winnemem's tribal recognition efforts.
Caleen concentrates her time on managing the task of resolving the recognition issue for the Winnemem Wintu as well as directing the Winnemem's charter school, "Lubeles Academy." She is also now carrying forward the spiritual obligations of her role as leader of the Winnemem Wintu. Caleen is deeply rooted in her spirituality, her family, and her devotion to her tribal people.
 

Nancy Hart

Louise Perry

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Accredited by NALSAS
Global Village School® is a project of Community Partners. We are a non-profit organization.

For more information, send an e-mail or call 805-646-9792

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