The Winkler Center for Adult Learning

Meet Our Faculty

Diane Caracciolo, PhD. Creative Speech	Diane Caracciolo earned an Ed.D. in Art Education from Teachers College, Columbia. She is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Adelphi University, where she teaches prospective educators educational theater, creative speech and curriculum development. She also coordinates a series of "Exploring the Arts" courses. She has published in the areas of Indigenous educational partnerships, research ethics, narrative inquiry, and arts education. She is interested in exploring ways in which to integrate the imagination in curriculum and instruction through arts-based learning. She is a former Waldorf secondary school English and theater teacher and holds a professional diploma from the London School of Speech Formation.

Diane Haley, Adult Educator Biography Studies, Evolving Consciousness, Visual Art	Diane Haley and her family have been associated with the Waldorf School for over twenty years. She spent many years volunteering on committees, representing her children’s various classes, and co-chairing the Parent Association along with her husband, Joe. She currently teaches both painting courses and Biography Studies in the Foundation Studies. Diane is a graduate of the first Foundation Studies class at the Waldorf School of Garden City in 1997. She began teaching in the Foundation Studies program in 2005 and currently teaches; How to Know Higher Worlds, Phases of Biography, The Evolution of Consciousness and The History of Consciousness Through Art. Diane is an artist whose works have been donated to many organizational fundraisers. She has studied with Christian von Grumbkow, Edna Kurtz Emmet, and Ulla Neigenfind-Bossert.

Nancy Mellon, M.S. Storytelling as a Therapeutic Art	As a storyteller, writer, therapist and teacher, Nancy Mellon works to support family and community expression through the arts. She has been connected with the international Waldorf School Movement since 1976 and regularly gives storytelling workshops and trainings in the UK, South America and the United States. She is the author of Storytelling with Children, Storytelling and the Art of Imagination, and her newest award-winning book, Body Eloquence: The Power of Myth and Story to Awaken the Body's Energies.

Jeanette Resnick, MA. Director of the Waldorf Chamber Players Music: Singing and Recorder, History of Music with Eurythmy	Jeanette Resnick, pianist and teacher, graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio and has studied subsequently at the Salzburg Mozarteum and privately. Her 40 years teaching experience at the Waldorf Scool of Garden City rewarded her not only with extensive experience with young children, but also with a knowledge of Waldorf educational philosophy and the work of Rudolf Steiner. Currently pianist and director of the Waldorf Chamber Players, Jeanette welcomes the opportunity to work with the adult students in the Winkler Center programs. A firm believer in the essential need for music in a healthy life, it is her hope that everyone can find the innate ability to take active part in musical activity, bringing joy, peace and energy to their busy lives Although she now teaches privately and is director of (and pianist with) the Waldorf Chamber Players, the opportunity to work with adults in the Winkler Center is a welcome opportunity to share the fruits of her years of Waldorf music teaching.

George Russell, PhD. Beginning Studies, Topics for Discussion, Natural Science and Goethe	George K. Russell is a longstanding member of the Biology faculty of Adelphi University with a strong interest in Waldorf education. He chairs the Board of the Winkler Center and currently teaches biochemistry and genetics at Adelphi and zoology at the Tara High School for Performing Arts in Boulder, CO. Dr. Russell’s degrees are from Princeton and Harvard Universities. He has written and lectured widely on the ethics of animal use in the teaching of Biology, including a ground-breaking college text on Human Physiology that uses no animal experiments.He served as Editor-in-Chief of Orion magazine for 20 years. In his first year course in Foundation Studies he helps the students work through Rudolf Steiner’s fundamental work, Theosophy, as well as the writings of other authors such as Viktor Frankl and Franz E. Winkler. George’s second year course deals with contemporary issues and the attempt to bring spiritual insights and understanding to them. In this course Rudolf Steiner’s ideas on the need to reconcile the ideas of biological evolution and a spiritual worldview is examined in depth.

Leonore Russell, MA. Director of the Winkler Center Eurythmy, History of Consciousness through Music/Art	Leonore Russell, MA. is Director of the Winkler Center for Adult Learning, works with teachers, schools, businesses and organizations. She has consulted and taught eurythmy in Sweden, Germany, Canada and Mexico, as well as across the United States. She is an adjunct professor at Adelphi University and a member of the Waldorf High School teacher Education Faculty at the Center for Anthroposophy in Wilton, NH. She has been a teacher training specialist for Family Literacy working with programs across New York State.

Sara Walsh Administration	Sara Walsh, BA Business Administration, International Focus, also did a two year program at Emerson College, Centre for Social Development in Forest Row, UK. She has held positions as Business Manager, Administrator, and Admissions in Waldorf Schools in Toronto, Santa Cruz, Garden City and Atlanta. She is currently consulting with a new initiative school in Atlanta and will shortly join the staff as Director of Operations at The Garden School. She has done facilitating and team accreditations for AWSNA as well as workshops at Toward Healthy Waldorf Schools conferences on the ‘inner’ life of administration. Sara has taught Foundation Studies courses in Garden City, in Manhattan for Sunbridge College, and in Atlanta.

David Sobel Writing	David Sobel is Senior Faculty in the Education Department at Antioch University New England in Keene, NH and he consults and speaks widely on child development and place-based education. He has authored seven books and more than 60 articles focused on children and nature for educators, parents, environmentalists and school administrators in the last 25 years. His most recent book is Wild Play: Parenting Adventures in the Great Outdoors published by Sierra Books. He has served on the editorial boards of Encounter, Community Works Journal and Orion and writes a regular column for Community Works Journal. His articles and essays have appeared in Orion, Encounter, Sierra, Sanctuary, Wondertime, Green Teacher, Play Rights, Harvard Education Letter, Yes! and other publications. He has contributed chapters to Father Nature, Education, Information and Transformation, Stories from Where We Live-The North Atlantic Coast; Place-based Education in a Global Age; and The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion published by The University of Chicago.

Jennifer Kramer Writing	Jennifer Kramer is the 6th grade teacher at the Guilford Central School in Guildford, VT. She is a graduate of Middlebury Collage and Antioch University New England. She was recently awarded the Vermont VFW Teacher of the Year Award for middle school civics education. She specializes in creating real world, place-based education projects that engage students in learning about and contributing to the ecological preservation, history, economics, politics and cultural traditions of the community.

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