Helen Brinkel (Lead Kindergarten Teacher)
Helen was Born in The Netherlands in Voorburg near Den Haag. She has also lived in Switzerland in the French speaking city of Neuchatel; after marrying she moved to the United States. Helen speaks four languages! Dutch, French, German, English
She has an Early Childhood degree and Elementary degree from St. Maarten College and her Masters degree in Waldorf Early Childhood Education from Sunbridge College in New York. Helen says, “I believe that the early childhood is the most important foundation for a happy life, so I take my work very seriously. I’m trying to surround the children with many positive influences in a calm warm homelike atmosphere, so that they can step into the world with confidence and trust.” She realizes after after her many years teaching children of all abilities and many nationalities, that all children are the same. They all need warmth and love.
Helen is a talented handwork artist and has an ongoing interest in art, music, theater, and cooking. Her next project is learning to play the piano! Her greatest hope is that her own children Dave (24), Daniel (21), and Martin (17) have happy and fulfilling lives.
Lauren Whaley (Assistant Kindergarten Teacher/Lead Nest Teacher)
Lauren was born in Australia and within the year her family relocated to Austin, Texas. In a few years they found the property of their dreams; a small plot adjacent to the Austin Waldorf School where all four children would attend for various numbers of years. Her childhood and that of her three siblings was deeply rooted in Waldorf and its philosophy. For a few years Lauren got to experience the public education system, but missing the sense of community and the arts, she went back for her last years at the Austin Waldorf High School. Between high school and college, Lauren took a gap year and did seasonal work for the school – as an assistant basketball coach, production assistant for the 10th grade play, and assistant to a Waldorf family.
In the summer of 2006 Lauren spent a month backpacking Australia and learned many things about herself. She received her B.A. in International Studies focusing in East Asian Studies as well as a Chinese Studies minor from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. For the past five summers she has worked for the Austin Waldorf School Summer Camp, primarily in their kindergarten camp – The Summergarden – where she has filled every position; Assistant, Co-Lead, and Lead Teacher for the program. It was here in the summer camp where Lauren realized her love for teaching early childhood education.
For the young child, the greatest work is play. Grinding rocks into flour, sailing a pecan through the roughest of seas, blowing a dandelion until it’s hat is entirely gone… is the effort of a hero and a scholar, a fairytale come to life and an imagination set free to explore. As a teacher, she aims to regard all actions of the child as an effort towards integrity, with kind, yet certain social consequences. Singing songs with sweet actions, creating natural crafts that endear a connection to the earth, and fostering a naptime that reveals the need for balance in one’s day; are what Lauren enjoys most.
Aria Pyburn (Parent-Child Teacher)
Aria was born and raised in Latin America. After high school she dedicated a few years to be of service to her home community and abroad. She received a training in Colombia from the Ruhi Institute. This training enabled her to help children and youth discover the inherent gems of their character, tap into their vast potential and help them channel their energies toward the betterment of the world.
She volunteered as a Kindergarten teacher on a rural island off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and later lived in Israel for a year, volunteering at the Baha’i World Centre. These years were a confirmation in her belief that the highest achievement in life is service to others.
It was during this time that she discovered her passion for education. She moved to the United States to pursue a degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Massachusetts. Along the way she met her husband, James, and now has two lovely children, Sasha and Oliver. It was her pursuit of a creative, child-centered, nurturing, and reverent environment that led her to the Waldorf philosophy and to Great Oak School.
Keri Tegtmeier (Parent-Child Teacher/Co-Director)
Keri grew up in North Texas and has a B.A. in Theatre and a minor in Photography from Stephen F. Austin State University. She has worked as a photographer, a medical assistant, and now has fallen in love with the role of teacher and Co-Director of Great Oak.
Keri is the mother to two little boys – Owen and Elliot who challenge her everyday to grow as a mother and person. Her role at Great Oak School brings so much affirmation and fulfillment – she loves working with families to mentor their journey through parenting. Keri feels that one of the unique gifts of Waldorf education is not only the nourishing environment for the children, but the nourishing and supportive environment for the parents as well. The community created in a Waldorf school is one like no other.
Keri values whole foods cooking, and spends her spare time enjoying handcrafts such as quilting, sewing, felting and knitting. She also enjoys any time she can get outside with her family to explore nature and enjoy the sunshine. She has a special interest in continuing her knowledge of homeopathy and educating herself further in order to support and mentor mothers of young children.
Keri, her hardworking, woodworker extraordinaire husband, Dave and their two beautiful, energetic boys live together in a sweet little house filled with the love of handmade goods.
Devin McQuaig (Parent-Child Teacher)
Devin was born in Sulphur, LA. She started working with children in 2001. She feels that children are amazing little beings – so full of energy, creativity, and light. They don’t hold any limits in their imaginations and feel they inspire her to let go of preconceived notions and enjoy the wonder in everything around her.
Devin is an avid knitter and crafter. She is very interested in traditional living and homemaking. She also loves babywearing, and leads the central Houston chapter of the Houston Babywearers; there she helps mamas, daddies, and other caregivers learn to wear their babies near to their heart. Most people are surprised to know that she was a diesel mechanic in the Army National Guard. In 2000, she went to Kaiserslautern, Germany to rebuild HMMWV engines.
Her love of Waldorf education comes from meeting the child where they are developmentally. Devin loves to see the children learning how to knit, sew, chop, cook, and become confident in what their own two hands can accomplish.
Devin hopes to become a certified Waldorf teacher and see Great Oak School continue to be nourished and grow. She also aspires to travel on a regular basis to experience the life and history of other cultures and keep her eyes open to the wonder of the world.
Her goal as a parent-child teacher is not only to relate to the parents, but also the children; for them to feel as if they are visiting a member of their extended family when coming into our homelike classroom. She honors the children by listening to whatever they would like to say, letting them show off their talents, and listening to their sweet voices rise up with confidence during their time together. Devin feels truly blessed to spend her mornings with the families who choose Great Oak as their home away from home. Devin feels that she and the parents never fail to find common threads and our community becomes a better one with the uniqueness that each family brings.
Devin and her husband are happily married with two little boys, Aidan and Oliver. Her dream for them is that they will continue to be close their whole lives.
Melanie Davis (Nest Assistant)
Melanie has her Associate of Arts from Lone Star Community College. She says…I have various childcare experience I can share, but have gained the most experience in being a mother to my own little one. I volunteer at my son’s school and at Panther Creek Inspiration Ranch with children who are doing Equine Assisted Therapy.
I teach children because I love being a supportive caring adult in the child’s life, hoping I will make a positive impact in some way. I also love supporting the parents through a growing relationship that allows me to gain their trust so they have peace and joy about leaving their child with me during class. I have had countless teachers leave an impact on me and make a difference in my life and I hope I can do the same. I love that Waldorf trusts the child as an individual and a human that is created to thrive at their own pace, and to their own beat. I love that there can be no mold or cookie cutter child and that they are free to develop their own sense of self. I love that the natural is encouraged, and I love that the Waldorf school environment is one that is nurturing and caring to both the child and parent.
I am a dancer, a writer, a cook, a healthy living pursuer, a developing seamstress, a crafting goddess, an accepting human of others, a special needs informative library, a delightful personality, a spiritual seeker and connector, and a lovely homemaker, wife, sister, daughter, mother, teacher, and friend.
My little boy will be 4 on September 29, 2012. He is the light in our lives and shows us the way if we will stop to follow him. He was born with Trisomy 21 and I love to gush about him so feel free to ask me about our journey. He is beautiful and has brought so much, joy, inspiration, direction, and meaning to our lives!
I have a husband who I adore, love, and respect. We have been married for 4 years. He is a brilliant musician with the sweetest and coolest voice! He is an incredible father, husband, and provider. He hangs the moon and stars in our sky!
I was born in Houston, TX and have traveled a good amount. Though I have found nothing that I love more than Tomball, TX…..true story 
Sara Moon (Co-Director)
Sara graduated with a B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Texas at Austin (hook ‘em horns!) and became a public school teacher to 3rd and 4th grade students for six years in both Houston and San Antonio. She found it so very easy to love and connect with her students. She was happy as a teacher for each of those years but decided to become a stay-at-home mom, the world’s most difficult and demanding job, in 2005 with the birth of her first child.
While searching to incorporate simplicity and reverence into her growing family’s lives, Sara stumbled upon an interesting and completely new (to her) philosophy of education called Waldorf. After visiting a live and in person Waldorf school, Sara was smitten and can think of no better way to educate her children. Her passion is to bring the beauty, reverence, and education she herself dreamed of to the children of Houston with an accessible Pre-K through Grade 12 Waldorf school.
Sara loves rainy days, music, art journaling, photography, reading magazines of all kinds, being in nature and animals. She is focused on living more simply and finding good health and well being in the process. Born in Buffalo, NY, Sara has been in Houston for 30 years now(wow, that’s long.) She has also lived in Spain for 6 weeks, San Antonio, Portland, Oregon and Austin.
Sara has two little girls who are her biggest inspiration and they both attend Great Oak. Lily, 6, and Natalie 3. Sara’s husband is her perfect balance. He reins her in when she gets in a little over her head and supports her wild and numerous pursuits. He teaches math in a local public high school.
Sara would love for you to join the Great Oak community and become part of a movement to enrich our children’s lives, our city and our world.
Dana Fleming (Great Oak School Mentor)
Dana completed her three-year Waldorf Class Teacher Training at Sunbridge College while earning her Foundation Studies Certificate in Austin. She took a group of wonderful children from first through fifth grade at a start-up school in the area, and fondly remembers every moment with the children as she tried to balance their time inside and outside the active classroom.
A German teacher since 1987, she pours a great deal of energy into every type of lesson. Dana thrives on the versatility and flexibility teachers must demonstrate at a young school. She needed to learn to carve wood and play three kinds of flutes, invent new cooperative games, new ideas for math and German in motion, new knitting projects, and of course the storytelling that forms the core of elementary instruction–to name only a few subjects!
Dana enjoys teaching adults as well as children, offering workshops to help people bring ideas from Waldorf education into a variety of different teaching situations.
She is married to a theoretical physicist who cooks like a chef and invents astonishing things. Conversations at home are never dull. Their only child, a recent graduate of the Austin Waldorf School, just began her college adventure. The family was delighted to discover that admissions officers are now actively courting Waldorf students.
Gap year in Hamburg and West Berlin
B.A. with high departmental honors, UC San Diego (and Junior Year in Munich)
M.A., M. Phil., and ABD, German Literature, Yale University
Waldorf Class Teacher Certificate, Sunbridge College
Foundation Studies Program Certificate, Austin Waldorf School
