Understanding Waldorf Education
2025-26 Instructors
Click instructor photo or name for full bio.
Stephanie Skinner, M.A.
Early Childhood
Coming from a background of permaculture and sustainable, grassroots development, Stephanie Skinner, MA, has been working within Waldorf education for 25 years. She is currently teaching at Live Oak Waldorf School.
Cristina Drews, M.S. Ed.
Grades One & Two
Cristina has been an educator since 1975 & has taught in public and private elementary & Waldorf schools, adult literacy programs, and teacher trainings. She did her Remedial Training at RSC and completed her Master’s in Curriculum/Instruction, Reading & Children’s Literature.
Catalina De Luna Garza, M.Ed.
Grade Three
Catalina was born and raised in Mexico. She moved to the USA in 2010 with her two daughters. She has been an educator for over 30 years, 20 of those in Waldorf Schools, including Atlanta Waldorf School, as a Class Teacher as well as teaching foreign language.
Sandra Kirschner, B.A.
Grade Four & Field Mentor
Sandra led two classes (1-8) at Shepherd Valley Waldorf School. She is currently teaching at Shining Mountain Waldorf School.
Thesa Callinicos
Grade Five, Handwork, & Visual Arts
Born and raised in South Africa, Thesa attended Johannesburg Teachers’ Training College before graduating from Emerson College in Sussex England. She’s been a Class Teacher & mentor for 35 years.
Karl Johnson, M.A.
Grade Six & Field Mentor
Karl has been a Waldorf educator since 1986. He is currently the Pedagogical Director of Pedagogy at the Mountain Song Community School in Colorado Springs and also offers mentoring support to teachers in schools throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Karl teaches science and music in the Gradalis training program and is an active Gradalis Field Mentor.
Vernon Dewey
Grade Seven
Vernon moved to Hawaii in 2022. He taught for 14 years at The Denver Waldorf School, first as an assistant, then serving as a class teacher for two classes, one from grades 1-8 and another from grades 6-8. He then served as Education Director for the 2021-22 school year.
Roel Op’Tende
Grade Eight & Philosophical Foundations
Roel began teaching in 2011 at the Rudolf Steiner College in Rotterdam. His dedication to Waldorf education transcended borders, leading him to teach at the Wasatch Waldorf Charter School in the United States. Having previously served as a social science teacher at Credo High School, Roel now holds the position of Education Director.
Martina Simunek-Suarez
Foreign Language
I have been a class teacher at Boulder Valley Waldorf School in Niwot for 7 years and a foreign language teacher since 2004, though currently I only teach German to middle school students; well, and enough to my second graders to satisfy their curiosity about my mother tongue.
Nationally accredited anthroposophically based training.
Gradalis Professional Development Training is a nationally accredited institution. Gradalis Training Programs qualify across state lines for required hours to maintain teaching certifications.
WECAN Associate Member Institute.
The mission of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America is to foster a new cultural impulse for the work with the young child from pre-birth to age seven.
“Receive the children in reverence, educate them in love, and send them forth in freedom.”
–Rudolf Steiner
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info@gradalis.edu
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