Eckhoff and Urbach, Early Childhood Education Journal, v36 n2 (2008), p. 185.
A lifelong educator with a passion for nature education, Melissa has taught in several educational settings, including traditional teaching, homeschooling, teaching in foreign cultures, at the university level, and currently as a forest school educator. A mother of three grown children, she left the traditional classroom for twenty years to teach her own children, raising them on twenty acres in the mountain wilderness next to Glacier National Park, Montana where they grew up with nature and wildlife, exploring the out-of-doors and learning essential skills for successful adult life, such as independence, resilience, and creativity. It was also here that Melissa learned the value of nature on education.
She holds a B.A. in education, an M.A. in teaching, a certificate in TESOL instruction, a certificate in forest kindergarten instruction, and is a part-time academic editor. Melissa has also enjoyed creative endeavors such as running her own natural fiber clothing business. She and her husband Clyde have traveled extensively worldwide, enabling her to bring a broad perspective of life to her teaching. In addition to travel, she also enjoys gardening, reading, sewing, cooking, and hiking.
Katie has recently returned from living outside of the United States for the past thirteen years on various international assignments with her husband Jack. A mother of four, Katie has lived and worked for many years in foreign cultures and speaks a second language. A lover of nature and children, Katie brings a broad perspective of life to her teaching. She holds a B.S. in elementary education. Katie also enjoys traveling, hiking, and camping with her family and looks forward to serving her new community and the Cottage Forest School families.
Heather was raised in the deep woods of Montana where her passion for nature and developing resources on hand was born. She has used this in her 18 years of professional youth ministry, including two years teaching internationally in Hong Kong and most recently through the founding of Three Match Creations, a creative collaborative that used creativity to spark community while supporting artists, makers, and doers.
Heather is the mother of twin girls who have taught her more than anything else. She is a passionate maker and artist, a hobby survivalist and homesteader, an endurance athlete, and a lover of beauty. She is grateful to be part of something that she strongly believes in at Cottage Forest School.
Ashley developed a love of nature while growing up near the mountains, waterfalls, and rugged coastlines of the Pacific Northwest. After working for nine years teaching in Special Education in Oregon, she and her family moved to Michigan in 2015. A mother of three, Ashley had the privilege of homeschooling for six years, including many hours spent outdoors discovering the wonders of Creation and tending to the family garden. In her free time, she finds joy in painting and other art projects, camping, hiking, and exploring state and national parks with her family.
Whether homeschooling, working one-on-one with students in special education classrooms, or leading her church’s youth group with her husband, Ashley enjoys kids of all ages. She is passionate about the mission of Cottage Forest School loves to teach our first and second graders as they learn together from nature, God’s second book.
Lydia grew up in the Middle East with her parents and three siblings. Home-schooled from an early age, she was instilled with a deep appreciation of nature and spent most of her childhood hours playing in the woods. In her free time, Lydia can be found taking walks with her husband, painting, reading, and spending time with her family.
After working in a public daycare, Lydia recognized the need for a non-traditional way of educating children. She strongly believes in the principles that Cottage Forest School is founded upon, and is thankful she is able to belong to an organization that allows children to be immersed in nature as they learn and grow. She is currently working on her associate’s degree in elementary education and plans to go on to get her bachelor’s degree. Lydia assists Teacher Ashley with our first and second graders.
Madalyn grew up in Oklahoma on a family farm, learning valuable life lessons through hard work and living close to nature. A lover of music, she studied piano and cello for many years, eventually playing in orchestra and teaching piano lessons. She loves creating things, especially food, and looks for ways to use her gifts and talents to serve others, whether at summer camp or other events like the Pathfinder Camporee in Wyoming this past summer. In her free time, Madalyn enjoys spending time outside camping, canoeing, and hiking.
After attending Southern Adventist University, Madalyn served in Senegal as a student missionary, teaching children and providing support to a missionary family. Madalyn is a Certified Forest School teacher, and shares her love for God and His creation with our fifth and sixth graders at Cottage Forest School.
Cindy was born in the Pacific Northwest and decided early in life that she wanted to be a missionary. God opened the door for many mission opportunities in Cindy's life, beginning first in Rwanda with her parents from age 6-11, and in her adult life as well, serving all over the United States and abroad with her husband Darryl and five children. She has lived in Nebraska, California, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Maine, Michigan, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Switzerland, and Spain. As soon as she could talk, Cindy wanted to become a teacher, and that's just what she did.
In the past 40 years of her teaching career, Cindy has taught all subjects in grades K-8, ESL, Reading, and Spanish, and has worked in all different environments including public schools, private schools, charter schools, home school, and even taught courses at the college and university level. Cindy holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and Spanish, an M.A. in Reading Diagnosis and Remediation, and is an EdD candidate in Curriculum and Instruction. She considers it a privilege to teach young ones about their mighty Creator God as they explore nature together in Kindergarten at Cottage Forest School.
