Randolph School Faculty
      
DIANE BOUJIKIAN
I am one of four team teachers that work with the three, four and
five year old children. I love the creative challenge of finding
the educational experience that will truly touch each child.
It is so fascinating and rewarding to share a child's inner world.
Sign language is one of my special interests. Once a week
I lead the kindergarten through sixth grade in sign language.
We also use some sign with the youngest groups during snack and
song times. Signing encourages us to use our bodies in a total
communication approach; to be expressive with our feelings and with
our language. We also become familiar with some of the options
available to hearing impaired people to facilitate communication.
Our hope is also that the sensitivity we develop around this handicapping
condition will also carry over to other experiences in our lives.
Some of my favorite times at our school are celebrations.
From Halloween to maple sugaring time, the traditions at Randolph
are times of high energy and enthusiasm. I've been at Randolph
for 20+ years. The community of the school has offered me
a place to grow as a person as well as a teacher.
     
ANITA CULVER
For more than 25 years, I have explored literacy from the perspective
of a writer and performer. I toured the West Coast presenting songs
and stories in schools, colleges and at community events. During this time
I developed ways to integrate song and story as a vehicle to entice students
into the richness of language and literature. This background has enriched
my teaching and provided me with unique tools to use in my work today. Anita's
Site
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CREEK IVERSEN
I have always loved tooting, tapping, and plucking on anything that
might sing back as well as changing and arranging sounds.
But most of all I love to sing or play music with others at informal
jams. Since 1993, the Randolph School has been the perfect
outlet for me to share and continue to grow into a love of music
and music making. While I'm teaching and playing music with
the children, I'm enriched by the eclectic talents of the Randolph
community of families and friends. My daughter Luke attends
the school and her mother keeps the parent's group hopping.
Many of the instruments I play were learned independently while
living in places like Egypt, Norway and Sri Lanka. The American
folk guitar and banjo became my favorite instruments during several
years crewing for the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. The joyful,
spontaneous music there was carried on in our after-sloop careers
in the form of the Harmonious Hogchokers, a folk trio in which I
perform at various Hudson River festivals. In 1992 the band
helped organize a Living River Journey, a hiking and peddling exploration
and celebration of the Hudson River from its source in the
Adirondacks to its mouth in New York Harbor. My other music
affiliations include the People's Music Network/Songs of Freedom
and Struggle and the Children's Music Network. When not lost
in music, I spend time coordinating activities for senior citizens.
I also enjoy Native Americana, gardening, botany, making maple syrup,
clowning and telling stories.
     
BRADFORD KING
I started teaching at The Randolph School in 1987. I have always
tried to bring life and excitement to all of my classes. I
enjoy challenging the students with philosophical as well as
academic conundrums. "Math is everywhere!" I tell my
students.
And then we explore our world to discover just how interwoven all
our lives are with mathematics. In science class we explore
the interconnectedness of all life, and the principles that control
our world. The students are integral teachers with, and
for, me. I am very excited by the skills that the students
are demonstrating in Computer class. Along with word processing
skills and multimedia projects, the students are learning about
home pages, researching, and communicating internationally on
the World Wide Web. As the photography teacher, I am hoping
to include their photos onto their home pages. Having
taught for a short time in the Hartford public school system
I have come to consider The Randolph School to be an oasis for
teachers and students alike.
It is always exciting for me to have the freedom to be able to
teach using new and interesting methods. I enjoy the smaller
groupings so that I can really get to know and understand each
of my students.
It was very exciting watching my own son grow in his seven years
at Randolph School. I celebrated my 20th year teaching
at Randolph Scool in 2007. I had a wonderful celebration
with friends old and new, and received a wonderful gift from the
parents, a trip to Alaska. You can see
pictures here.
DEBBIE STONE
I have been a teacher for many years, enjoying my work with parents
and teachers, with all ages of children, adolescents and adults.
I have a tutoring and consulting teacher practice which takes me
from my headquarters at High Valley, a center in Clinton Corners,
all over Dutchess County and sometimes beyond. I am privileged to
spend most days at the Randolph School. Here I focus on a particular
student, or work with large and small groups, benefiting enormously
from a chance to work with colleagues who share my enthusiasm for
an integrated, alternative approach to teaching. This approach demands
a great deal from teachers and students alike. Nothing is cut and
dried; the challenges of cooperative learning are always demanding.
But opportunities for discovery and creativity abound, and the satisfactions
are beyond description. The Randolph community seems to provide
an ethical groundwork that students and teachers can build on as
they interact with the world beyond.
I grew up in Dutchess County and raised my son here.
After graduation from Radcliffe College, I studied at Vassar College.
A Masters Degree from Bank Street College of Education in New York
City and NYS teacher certification in several areas came later,
as well as recent course work in play therapy and in the teaching
of reading. Besides being an educator, I have done writing, editing
and critical reading of fiction and nonfiction books for a number
of writers. I sometimes write poems, and I love to read all kinds
of things, both to myself and aloud to others.
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ERIC TOMLINS
During the last 35+ years of my life at Randolph, I have learned
that there is no end to what children can teach all of us. I am
continually surprised and delighted by children's discoveries and
insights. I started on this journey in the sixth grade when my mother
co-founded the School. I grew as a student and later as an intern
and teacher/administrator guided by the Randolph philosophy of respecting
and valuing children. In the past decade and a half I have co-founded
the hunger organization Harvest With Heart and its sister organization
Kids With Heart. I have also co-founded and serve on the board of
The Children's Media Project dedicated to helping children gain
avenues of self-expression in media and to helping them better understand
the role of media in their lives. I have recently become a board
member of the Erick Hawkins Dance Foundation and helped produce
a film about the company in 2003. My favorite activities at Randolph
School include achieving the height of ridiculousness at Halloween,
helping to build magnificent holiday piņatas, and tapping our maple
trees each spring. I work primarily with Language Arts, history,
drama and film making with the older children. Writing and the creative
process have always been a central part of my life. I love helping
kids open that place within themselves where their creativity is
unhampered by fear of criticism or failure. See
photographs and read about our first graduation and Eric's 30th
Celebration.
JANET PERLES
My experiences teaching and learning have enriched my life
and serve as a constant reminder of my commitment to children and
to the world of possibilities that each child represents. I wish
to help children become well-rounded, thoughtful people who play
an active role in their learning and communities. Students are not
in the classroom to passively absorb information, so the elementary
classroom can and should be a place where students’ natural
curiosity is developed and a community ethic is fostered. I am deeply
committed to an anti-bias, inclusive curriculum that welcomes diversity
and prepares children to be active citizens. To these ends I emphasize
independence together with cooperative and inquiry-based learning
in an effort to guide students toward becoming lifelong learners.
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ALLISON BALDWIN
When I met the faculty and students of the Randolph School
at the Clearwater Revival in 2000, I knew it was something I wanted
to be a part of. After completing my Bachelor's Degree in Elementary
Education and Theatre at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts,
I taught public school in my hometown of Union, NJ for a year and
worked for a summer as an education intern on the Hudson River Sloop
Clearwater. Following a fantastic summer, I took on a new challenge
and moved from New Jersey to the Hudson Valley to be a part of the
Randolph Community. I have a special interest and love for
languages (especially American Sign Language) and the environment,
especially our very own Hudson River. I love the rewards and
challenges that every day brings; exploring the world through the
eyes of a child brings new excitement to every moment.
Our high school students interviewed many of our
faculty members
and wrote the following biographical pieces:
DAN FISHERMAN
Dan Fisherman is a math and science teacher in the Upper School
program . He teaches geometry and algebra to his math classes
and has also taught various other topics at times. Dan started
teaching drums once a week and computer programming at Randolph
in 2001. He then began teaching math and philosophy in 2002.
Since then, he has taught math, programming, philosophy and philosophy
of science to the high school and middle school students.
Throughout his life Dan has explored many different
careers including the medical field and drumming for a professional
rock band. He is now a computer programmer for a small San Francisco
software company as well as a teacher at the Randolph School. His
prior teaching experience includes teaching programming at the
University of California at Berkeley, training many people in computers,
and teaching the drums to kids of all ages for many years. His
higher education started at the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical
Education, but he ended up with a BA in philosophy from the City
College of New York. He then got his Masters in philosophy from
the University of Pennsylvania.
Dan believes that “kids have a life force that
reminds adults what it is like to have unbounded energy.”
His philosophy of teaching is based around helping kids to funnel
this energy into their schoolwork. He tries to excite the children
about the subject matter in order to make them take responsibility
for their work. By showing young people how to apply the skills
he is teaching them he believes he can accomplish his goal.
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GOLDY SAFIRSTEIN
Goldy joined the Randolph community as a teacher in 2003 after being
involved with the school as a parent for two years. She has a bachelor’s
degree from New York University, where she majored in psychology,
and gained her teaching certificate from Marist College in both
elementary and secondary English. She is currently working on her
Masters in Education there. After making the career change to the
field of education, Goldy decided to teach at Randolph because of
the sense of community and the alternative approach to schooling.
She has taught first and second grades as well as science, math,
and humanities in the Upper School. She also spearheaded the effort
to create a chemistry lab for the school. Goldy feels that it is
important to treat each student as an individual and work with each
of them to best serve their unique needs.
     
HELEN SANCHEZ
“I like the kids here at Randolph because they are open-minded,”
says Helen, the Spanish teacher. Helen came to America in April
2003 from Costa Rica and started teaching Spanish here that fall.
In Costa Rica, Helen studied Agricultural Engineering.
Helen has a passion for teaching here at Randolph.
She loves working with kids. Helen's favorite moments of teaching
are when kids ask her what certain words are in Spanish. She plans
on eventually moving back to Costa Rica.
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KATLYN LERNER
Katlyn’s philosophy of education is based on learning
by doing. She says, “Kids are naturally good and curious.
As long as you encourage them they will stay that way,” and
adds, “I don’t believe in grades or testing.”
Katlyn's connection to Randolph started when she was a student here,
and continued when she sent both of her children here. When her
son entered school in 1989, Katlyn began doing the school’s
bookkeeping. Then, in 1994, when her daughter began at Randolph,
Katlyn took over the office work and has now become the school’s
office and business manager, as well as a co-administrator (aka
Super Katlyn!). After Randolph, Katlyn went to The Putney School.
She studied at Bennington College, and then got her BA in English
from Columbia University. Katlyn runs the business side of The Randolph
School like the education side, as personally and with as little
bureaucracy as possible.
     
LIAT RUSEK-SHER
Liat has worked with children for the last fourteen years,
mostly with younger kids. She first came to Randolph as a substitute
teacher, but now she is a full time teacher. All of her children
go to school at Randolph. Liat thinks that children need to be seen
and heard. She said that it is her job as an adult to help with
children being seen so that they won’t feel like they’re
left out. She studied agriculture in Israel. Her favorite story
from her time at Randolph School is the time that one of her students
explained to his mother that Liat was his “kindness teacher.’’
MAUREEN BECK
Maureen came to the Randolph School in 2000. Before she became
the art teacher here, she was heavily involved with the Children’s
Media Project. While leading a filmmaking workshop here, she fell
in love with the energy of Randolph. Later on, when her son grew
old enough to go to school, Maureen came back to Randolph for a
tour. She asked Diane if the parents could come and play, too.
Coincidentally, she’d just finished her degree in teaching
art, though she wasn’t looking for a job. Diane told her
that Randolph was looking for an art teacher. And she’s been
happy here ever since.
OWEN TOMLINS
Owen believes that learning is best accomplished through
interest-based and hands-on tasks so that students have something
“real” to work on. He has taught at Randolph since 2000,
specializing in media arts. Before that he worked at the Children’s
Media Project. Owen thinks that children “are like sponges,
they absorb everything.” Owen said his favorite aspect of
teaching is when he is making movies with students and they come
up with an idea he hasn’t thought of before. He finds that
awesome. Owen not only gets to teach children when making movies,
but he also gets to practice his “craft.”
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