SUSAN WEBER brings many years of personal work as a mother and professional work with children and families as a public school teacher and administrator, Waldorf early childhood teacher, Waldorf early childhood teacher training coordinator at Antioch New England Graduate School, and adult educator. She has completed the RIE level I training in Los Angeles and continues her dialogue and visits with her RIE instructors in southern California. She also represents North America on the Working Group for the Very Young Child, a function of the International Waldorf Kindergarten Association. She regularly presents the work of Sophia’s Hearth as well as themes relating to the very young child, at local, national, and international conferences. Locally, she teaches Sophia’s Hearth’s “Joyful Beginnings” Parent Infant classes and shares her experience with various topics at our speaker series.Susan completed her undergraduate work at Vassar College and received a master's degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania where her major field of study was the teaching of reading throughout the curriculum, including remedial reading. She earned a certificate in Waldorf education at Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene. She has completed a RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) Level I training in Los Angeles, and has completed an English language study course at the Pikler institute in Budapest, Hungary in June 2005.

Recent presentations include the Gateways Conference for parents and teachers at the Toronto Waldorf School in Toronto, Canada in April 2004 and the the international conference, "The Dignity of the Young Child" in Jarna, Sweden in July 2004. She has also presented at the Keene Rotary Club and the Roundtable Presentations of the Cheshire network for Children and Families. In January 2005, she was the featured speaker at the Cheshire Medical Center's Mom's Club.

Jane Swain

Playgroup facilitator NANCY MACALASTER has many years of experience with young children and families. She presently teaches a playgroup in her
Hancock home for toddlers and preschoolers. She holds a degree in Child
Development from Connecticut College and a master¹ s degree from Antioch New England Graduate School in counseling psychology. She is also a graduate of Sophia¹s Hearth¹s training program for early childhood rofessionals, "The Child in the First Three Years". She is also a member of the board of directors of Sophia's Hearth Family Center.

STACEY LONDON-OSHKELLO, MS, RD is a holistic nutritionist who promotes a diet based on locally grown, whole foods. She comes to Sophia's Hearth from Acworth, NH, where she lives with her husband and young children. As a mother of young children, she has first-hand experience in feeding children healthy food in a busy world. Stacey has a Master of Science degree in nutrition from Bastyr University with a focus on whole foods and a specialty in food allergies. She studied with Cynthia Lair, well-known author of Feeding the Whole Family, during her graduate studies, and completed a dietetic internship at Keene State College. Her classes for Sophia's Hearth focus on nutritional elements in feeding children, meal planning and preparation, and practical issues around food. She specializes in issues with feeding young children. She supports parents during the entire continuum from conception through the early childhood years.

BONNIE CHAMBERLIN is our office manager. Mother of three children, she cares for our bookkeeping, course and conference organization, mailings, and fund raising management.

PRESENTERS FROM AFAR INCLUDE :

HELLE HECKMANN from Copenhagen, Denmark, founder of Nøkken, her child care program. Helle is active in teacher education throughout the world, visiting classrooms and supporting teachers in North and South America, and Europe. Her book, Nøkken, has inspired many early childhood teachers.

Connie Manson

UTE STRUB from Berlin, Germany joins our professional development work to bring experiential learning from her long time work in Budapest at the
Pikler Institute. As a child, Ute was a student at the first Waldorf school
in Stuttgart, Germany and was educated by some of the founding Waldorf
teachers. She has developed the movement work of Elfriede Hengstenberg for many years and brings this work to movement therapy with children. She
travels worldwide as an adult educator. At home in Berlin, Ute is engaged
in developing initiatives for childcare, for residential nursery care of homeless children, and parent-child groups.

SUZANNE DOWN is the founder and director of Juniper Tree School of Story and Puppet Arts. She has worked with all ages in puppet theatre. She trains
teachers, parents, librarians, therapists, and puppeteers in colleges
internationally, as well as in her own school. She is Co-Chair of the North
American Association for the Renewal of Puppetry Arts, a member of the
educational committee of Puppeteers of America, Director of Puppets for
World Change Institute, Founder and International Chair for the
International Puppets for Peace Day, The Hope Puppet Project, and Youth
Voices Project. She has written four resource books on puppetry and story,
with another book on the way! Her three year puppetry training began its
first summer in Keene in July 2005.

NANCY MELLON is known internationally as a storyteller and author. Since 1984 Nancy has worked primarily with adults who are striving for spiritual development in their personal, family and professional lives. Her sessions often include drawing, painting, drama, music and movement therapy. She has worked with a broad variety of people of all ages and many different backgrounds and professions. She has a special interest in intuition, imagery and the transforming power of creativity. She has developed a practical, spiritually oriented approach to personal development through the art of storytelling which she offers through courses, workshops, residencies and private consultations for caring professionals, parents, teachers and artists. Nancy has been interviewed on the theme of storytelling on NH Public Radio. Her books include Storytelling and the Art of the Imagination and Storytelling with Children. Both books are available through local bookstores.

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