SFFS New Faces: 2021–2022

NEW FACES AT FRIENDS Welcome to the Newest Members of Our Team!

We’re delighted to welcome a number of new faces to our SFFS community for the 2021–2022 school year!

Ellen Everitt, Director of Human Resources

Phillip Brettschneider, Middle School Humanities Teacher

Phillip immigrated to the U.S. from Germany as a child, and spent their childhood traveling between their home overseas and their new home in the United States. They studied English and Anthropology at the University of Georgia, and earned a Masters Degree in Cultural Anthropology from The Ohio State University. Phillip discovered their love of teaching working with underserved children in an after-school program on the south side of Atlanta, and grew that love teaching Anthropology for Social Justice at a charter high school in Ohio. For the past six years, they have taught Math and English to 7th- and 8th-Graders at the St. John School in San Francisco’s Glen Park neighborhood. Phillip sees education as the means for young people to develop their own voices and feel empowered to use them to change their personal world; they believe education and social action should always go handin-hand. When they are not teaching, Phillip can be found crocheting elaborate lace shawls, biking around town, baking pies, or dancing to loud disco music while handing out groceries at the Quaker Food Pantry.

Ellen holds a BS degree in Human Resource Management from Northeastern University. She brings over 30 years of HR experience including leading diversity and affirmative action programs, benefit administration, talent acquisition, and strategic operational planning. Her vast understanding of HR policy and procedures, recent experience at a peer independent school, combined with a warm and supportive work ethic, assure HR programs and those they serve, are provided with care and professionalism. Ellen enjoys living in San Francisco and takes full advantage of the abundant outdoor activities available in our fantastic climate. On any weekend, you may find her in or on one of the many glorious San Francisco parks and trails.

Subject Teaching Credential and her MA in Teaching. Born and raised outside of DC, Elissa graduated from Bard College with her BA in Cultural Anthropology. After graduating, Elissa followed a love of the outdoors and a desire for new adventures to Jackson, WY, where she began teaching preschool. Her draw towards continually learning and garnering new perspectives took her all around the West, as her passion and drive to create a more sustainable, livable, and equitable future continued to grow. Elissa has worked on a number of small organic farms; done a stint for the Forest Service; worked at a ski resort; and volunteered for nonprofits focused on conservation, environmental education, and food justice. She hopes to bring this appreciation of multiple perspectives and this constant curiosity and love of learning to the classroom and to the students she teaches. Nothing brings her more joy than helping to foster a sense of agency, hope, possibility, and wonder in both children and adults alike. Outside of the classroom, you are likely to find her exploring—either the great outdoors, the rich culture of the city, or the worlds contained in an entrancing piece of music or a good book!

Gracia Garcia, Lower School Teaching Assistant

Elissa Fitterman, Lower School Teaching Assistant

Elissa is brand new to the Bay Area, and thrilled to be here! She is currently a student with the Bay Area Teacher Training Institute, working towards her Multiple

Gracia was born and raised in San Francisco, the oldest sibling in her family and the first to graduate from college after obtaining her BA degree—majoring in Child and Adolescent Development with a concentration in Policy, Advocacy & Systems, and minoring in Criminal Justice—from San SUMMER 2021

Francisco State University. Gracia loves working with kids, helping out, and trying new things, and first arrived at Friends in 2020–2021 as a 2nd Grade Teaching Aide, helping with smaller cohorts during that challenging and ever-changing pandemic / hybrid learning year. Gracia loves rooting for her hometown teams, and is a devoted fan of the 49ers, Giants, and Warriors!

John Grandison, Director of Facilities

munications. After running an awardwinning nonprofit childhood obesity program called CATCH Healthy Habits for three years, Monty relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2014. He has taught Physical Education at both Redwood Day School and The Park Day School in Oakland, where he served on the school’s admissions committee. He has also been a PE consultant at The New School in Potrero Hill and has coached multiple sports, including basketball, cross country, track and field , flag football and ultimate frisbee. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, playing pickup basketball and soccer, reading, cheering for the Knicks, and hugging his two young nieces back home in New York.

Kathryn Keslosky, Director of Development

John Grandison started as our Director of Facilities in the spring of 2021, with over 20 years of facilities experience in both independent and public schools, most recently at College Preparatory Academy in Oakland. John brings a versatile set of skills spanning electrical, plumbing, and construction—all the components we need to keep our beautiful home at 250 Valencia in tip-top shape. Having worked in schools his entire career, John also enjoys getting to know the students and integrating into the daily rhythms of school life. A native of Bakersfield, John is an avid Rams fan.

Monty Joyce, Middle School PE Teacher

A son of Caribbean immigrants, Monty grew up in the New York City borough of The Bronx where he enjoyed playing sports from baseball to basketball to football. He attended Fordham University, where he earned a BA in Sports ComNEW FACES

Kathryn joined San Francisco Friends School as Director of Development in July 2021. She came to SFFS from Oakland School for the Arts, where she served as Director of Advancement for nine years.

Prior to her service at OSA, she worked at UC Berkeley under the College of Natural Resources managing a community forestry nonprofit, hosted underground dinners for a wild and locally foraged foods collective, and was community marketing manager for organic foods brand Annie’s Homegrown. Kathryn received a BA from Villanova University, where she studied Creative Writing & Sociology. She studied Systems Thinking & Organizational Development with the Green MBA program at Dominican University, and Horticulture with Merritt College in Oakland. She lives in North Berkeley with her partner and their many, many plants. An avid hiker, she takes almost every opportunity to adventure into nature and explore the outdoors.

Lily Layman, Lower School Teaching Assistant

Lily became part of the Friends Community in December 2020 as a Kindergarten Aide. She is originally from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a tiny costal town. After graduating from Portsmouth High School, she moved across country to attend the University of San Francisco, where she received her BA in Psychology. Throughout her college years, she held many jobs and volunteer positions dedicated to working with children—one of her main passions.

She volunteered in the playroom at Safe and Sound, a local organization dedicated to providing children and families resources to foster healthy home environments. She also nannied and babysat many local Bay Area families who she still considers close friends today. She worked as an art teacher at Nine Studio, a local art education center that provides after school art classes and summer camps for children of all ages. She has also worked as a behavioral therapist for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In her free time (and much of her time spent with children), she is most always found drawing, with most of her art inspired by the creativity of her students.

She also loves building fairy houses, cuddling her cat Tumi (who also loves making Zoom appearances), and cooking up vegan recipes.

Amanda Mack, Lower School Teaching Assistant

Ashley Mallari, Middle School Teaching Assistant

to SFFS, and has deeply loved nurturing young people to be heart-centered, compassionate, joyful, and creative. When free, Jeremy loves diving into opera; reading history, historical fiction, and science fiction; and fingerpicks on the ukulele. Jeremy also includes sound healing and therapies among their professional passions, and loves hosting sound baths for friends and community.

Gavin Odabashian, 4th Grade Teacher

Amanda is a born and raised Mission District native. She has a BA in Global Studies from San Jose Sate University and is currently enrolled at San Francisco State University to get her Master’s in Education, with a concentration in Equity and Social Justice. Amanda is very passionate about creating equitable change through our education system, and hopes that her time spent at SFFS will be used to foster her craft. In her free time, Amanda enjoys relaxing with her two cats, soaking up the sun at Dolores Park, and traveling.

Vince Mai, Systems Support Administrator

As a Southern California native, Vince attended Mt. San Jacinto College where he received his degree in Advanced Audio Technology. His passion for technology and knack for problem solving brought him to the Bay Area in 2014 where he worked for the San Mateo County Office of Education. Vince arrived at San Francisco Friends School in 2021 bringing along his 5+ years of experience supporting educational and informational technology.

When he’s not working with computers, Vince enjoys spending his time off djing and traveling with his partner.

Ashley joined the Friends School Extended day team in 2015 after graduating from the University of San Francisco where she studied Political Science and Fine Arts. She has since transitioned from being a substitute teacher for lower school and middle school to middle school teaching assistant. Her work with youth ranging from pre-k to high school throughout the years reminds her that she is constantly learning. Ashley lives in San Francisco with her partner and their many books. She enjoys knitting, baking, watching F1 racing, and collecting ephemera whenever she can.

Jeremy Mikush, Lower School Teaching Assistant

Jeremy entered the Kindergarten team of San Francisco Friends School in December 2020. Previously, they’d been involved in community arts programs as a music instructor and performance coach (Hope Academy, East Liberty Presyterian Church, Pittsburgh, PA), and work in Extended Day programs (Epiphany School, Seattle, WA). Jeremy received their graduate degrees in musicology (UCLA) and has loved moving between teaching K–5 music and performing seasonally in cabaret venues across four continents. Jeremy brings their inner light and their inner Kindergartener

Gavin is thrilled to be returning to SFFS! Gavin (she/her) was born and raised in the Bay Area in a LGBTQ family, and she comes to teaching with a background in nonprofit and service-oriented roles, as well as a BA in Sociology from Scripps College. With more than five years of teaching experience, Gavin has honed her vision and practice in classrooms spanning 1st– 5th grades. For four years, she served as a Lower School TA at SFFS, and in that time also received her Master’s in Education and California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from the BATTI Institute/University of the Pacific. Gavin spent this past school year (2020–2021) lead teaching 4th and 5th Grades at Marin Horizon School.

Although she enjoyed and gained much from her experience at MHS, SFFS has always had her heart. As a teacher, Gavin is passionate about social-emotional learning, social justice, and anti-racism in education.

In her free time, she loves hiking, gardening, yoga, reading, and traveling. While English is her first language, she is fluent in Spanish and has spent long periods of time in Chile, Colómbia, and Argentina.

She now lives in Berkeley with her partner Chris and their two cats.

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Jane Rinard, Lower School Music Teacher

Jane is thrilled to be joining the SFFS community and to be living in California again. She recently returned from an amazing eight year stint teaching overseas at the American School in London and at the American School in Bombay. She is passionate about sharing her love of music and movement with young people, and has taught at several local public and independent schools, including Oakwood School in Morgan Hill and San Francisco Day School. In addition, she has conducted choirs at Peninsula Girls Chorus and Ragazzi Boys Chorus and has taught private piano and voice lessons. Jane holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, as well as vocal and choral music.

She received a Master’s in Music Education with a Kodály emphasis from Holy Names University in Oakland and is certified in the Orff-Schulwerk approach to music education. In her free time Jane enjoys practicing yoga, dancing, cooking, hosting dinner parties, and exploring the local trails.

gies and tools, such as making skills, critical inquiry, and problem-solving, to facilitate students to generate creative yet purposeful ideas by exploring possible solutions from local to global scale topics so that they can use these skills to solve their own real-world challenges. Before coming to the Friends School, Bora worked at the Quarry Lane School in Dublin CA, Singapore and South Korea, where she taught projectbased learning in Technology, Design, and IB Visual Art. Bora is also in the process of completing her second MA in Computing in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, to further expand her knowledge and skills in teaching and learning with technology by considering its cognitive, social, cultural, and applied perspectives. Bora has her BFA in Product Design from Parsons School of Design and MA in Teaching from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Bora is happily married to her loving, kind, and understanding husband, Taeg, and they two just moved to San Francisco from the Bay and are excited to start exploring many local cafes and restaurants.

Bora Shin, Technology Integrator

Camilo Villa & Francia Constanti, Lower School Spanish Team We are so lucky this year that we get to experience the wonderful Lower School Spanish team of good friends Francia and Camilo! Both will be extending their expertise in Spanish language and culture, along with their experience in education, with our younger Friends—Francia will first act as a long-term substitute, before Camilo is able to join SFFS full-time as our new permanent Lower School Spanish Teacher.

Bora is an adventurer at heart! Over the last two decades, she has lived in VA, NY, Chicago, South Korea, Singapore, and CA. Divergent thinking is at the core of Bora’s teaching practice! She uses various strate-

Camilo was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, and moved to the Bay Area seven years ago to pursue his career in Education. He holds an MA in Education for Equity & Social Justice from San Francisco

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State University and a B.F.A. in Individualized Studies from the California College of the Arts. Camilo lives in the East Bay with his husband, Sanmit. He is passionate about teaching gender-inclusive Spanish and social justice education. During his free time, Camilo enjoys making art, practicing yoga, reading books, and, most importantly, dancing salsa.

Francia was born and raised in Colombia, in the city of Medellin, which is also known as the “City of the Eternal Spring.”

Francia has a wealth of professional experience in Colombia, primarily in the higher education sector. Francia moved from Colombia to Danville in September of 2015 to live with her husband, Jay. Since moving here, she has worked as a Spanish teacher for students from kindergarten through 5th Grade, and she appreciates that teaching Spanish helps her to stay connected to her roots. In their spare time, Francia and Jay love to hike the beautiful trails around the Bay Area, and both enjoy traveling internationally, to get to know other cultures, other ways of life, and their histories. Francia has recently taken up camping, loves cats, and prizes spending time with her family most of all.