New Faculty
and Staff Megan Barlow (1) is teaching Lower Sch ool Music (g rades 1 and 2) and Middle School Choral Music. Megan has a Bachelor of Music in Education from Virginia Com monwealth University. Most recently she was a teacher in the Hanover County Schools at Cold Harbor Elementary School. Fun fact about Megan: She has a secret love of video gamesespecially Zelda Windwaker and Lego Star Wars . Nancy Bellafante (2) is the new Middle School Information Technology teacher. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Commun ication from the University of Delaware and has done graduate work in Secondary English Education there as well. Most recently, she was an instructional assistant at Short Pump Middle School in the Henrico County School System. Fun fact about Nancy: She is a board-game fanatic-and a very competitive one at that- whose favorites are Scrabble and Pictionary. Jason Berry (3), our new English 11 teacher, moved to Richmond from the Boston area. His studies include a Bachelor of Arts in English from Furman University, a Master of Arts in English from Clemson University, and doctoral work at Northeastern University. His previous position was teaching at EF International Language School in Boston. Fun fact about Jason : An ardent supporter of Clemson and Michigan , Jason , as a child growing up with grandparents from Michigan, had to sing the Michigan fight song before he could open his Christmas presents. Years later, while at Clemson ,
Jason taught Keith Adams, now with the Miami Dolph ins, and Vinny Ciurciu, now with the Carolina Panthers. Pat Caron (4), our new Accountant working with Accounts Payable , recently moved to Richmond from Atlanta, Georgia. She attended the University of Maine and has 35 years of accounting experience, including as co-owner of the largest construction distributorship north of Connecticut for 25 years . Pat's most recent job in Atlanta was office manager and accountant, working for an entrepreneur who owned six businesses in metro Atlanta. She has been married for 31 years and has two sons who are attorneys. Fun fact about Pat: She has a tambourine in her office and uses it as stress relief occasionally (thanks to fellow newcomer Nancy Bellafonte). Juan Chavez (5 ) is teaching Middle School math and Upper School Spanish. He has degrees in education from EI Salvador and from Holland in Educational TV Directing . He most recently taught at Benedictine and Luther Memorial Schools in Richmond. Lynn Define (6) rejoins Steward after a brief hiatus working at the Learning Center in Charlottesville. She is cha ir of the English Department and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy from Boston College and a Master of Arts in English from the College of William and Mary. Fun fact about Lynn: She ran the bulls in Pomploma, Spain . Nancy Dorman (7), our new receptionist in the Administration Building , previously was a real estate paralegal at Kerns, Kastenbaum & Reinhardt , PLC for approximately three years . Most recently, Nancy worked at The Martin Agency in Richmond. She is currently working on her degree in Accounting from VCU when not
doting on her adorable two-year-old daughter. Fun fact about Nancy: She has been skydiving! A word to others, though-Nancy warns that it was "terribly boring to fall for 5-6 minutes," and fou nd only the first 30 seconds of fre e-falling "thrilling ." "I would never recommend such a thing ," she says. Jennifer Gnapp (8), a graduate of Hollins College (now University), joined the Development Department as a part-time Development Assistant this fall after running Steward's old lunch program for four years. Jennifer is the mother of two boys at Steward in 4th and 7th grades, both of whom have been here since Kindergarten. Fun fact about Jennifer: She is self-proclaimed "addicted to tennis:" on her two days off each week, she plays about 4 hours of tennis each day. Jennifer Haar (9), our new kindergarten teacher, has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Radford University. She was most recently a teacher at Fox Elementary School in Richmond . Fun facts about Jenny: She loves peanut butter, Barry Manilow, and her twin sister. Margaret (Meg) Heyssel (10) joins us as our new Upper School Coordinator of the Center for the Advancement of Learn ing . She will be teaching Freshmen and Sophomore Seminars in Writing. In addition to her Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English from Hobart and William Smith Colleges , Meg has pursued graduate studies at Princeton University and the University of Virginia . She was most recently a faculty member in the Chesterfield County Schools. Fun fact about Meg: She found her first (ten) gray hairs when she was 14. She started dyin\ her very gray hair at twenty, and now, at