Faculty and Staff
Teaching Staff
Judy Bowman – Dog Training Program
Judy Bowman joined the
Orion Dog Program in the spring of 2006. Ms. Bowman has long been
interested in languages and communication. She holds a BA and an MA
from UC Berkeley, both degrees in Oriental Languages, and has lived in
Thailand and Taiwan, where she taught English as a second language. She
worked in both marketing and engineering, and has published 3 books --
two on SQL, a database language, and one on database topics. After the
dot-com crash in the 1990s, she got a puppy and became interested in
dog language and cross-species communication. She studied dog training
at the SF SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers in 2002 and has since attended
many seminars and workshops on dog topics. Ms. Bowman is a Certified
Pet Dog Trainer (CPDT) and a Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator. She
currently teaches public classes at Piedmont Adult School, Tony
LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation, and the East Bay SPCA, as well as
offering private training. She walks every day in the regional parks
with her tuxedo mutt, Spikie-Rose, who attends Orion classes with great
pleasure and claims to be co-teacher.
Laurence Carew - Digital Arts
Mr. Carew is graduate of San Francisco state with a degree in 3D
art and animation. He has worked with Internal Drive for the past
3 years, teaching 3D character modeling and 3d architectural design. He
also has experience in sound engineering and has worked with
several musicians in the Bay area, producing albums and developing the
logos and graphics. He is back for his second year, teaching
Digital Art at Orion, as well as coordinating the after-school
interactive media program.
Rebecca Field - Careers and Transitions
Ms. Field, a native San Franciscan, holds degrees from Vassar
College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is in
the process of completing her Certificate in College Admissions and
Career Planning at UC Berkeley. Ms. Field has worked as a teacher
and an administrator and is currently Director of Rebecca Field
Consulting, an independent educational consulting business. In her
private practice as well as in her work at Orion Academy, Ms. Field
works with students and parents as they navigate school
transitions. Her aim is to help students find a place to thrive.
Mark Goodenough – Literature II, Literature IV, and Film
Mr. Goodenough comes to Orion with experience teaching at public high
schools and in diverse settings including charter schools, English
Language Development programs, and incarcerated reading
programs. He grew up in the Bay Area and British Columbia,
and is a graduate of the highly-regarded Nueva Day School in
Hillsborough, CA. He was trained in the English Education
department at the University of Georgia, and taught high school English
in Georgia before going back to school to get his Juris Doctorate
degree at Vermont Law School. After law school, he worked in
conservation real estate for regional and national land
trusts, preserving and protecting threatened lands for public use and
enjoyment. Upon moving back to California, he received his
state teaching certificate and began to once again teach high school
English and Humanities.
Allan Hauskens - Botany, Biology
Shannon Kilcourse – American History, Advanced Topics, Government/Economics
Mrs. Kilcourse has been an Orion staff member since the school’s
founding in 2000. In addition to teaching American History,
Government/Economics, and other social science electives, Shannon is
the advisor for the Student Council at Orion. She earned her BA
in History from UC Davis and her Professional Clear teaching credential
in Social Science from St. Mary’s College in Moraga. Shannon has
also completed classes in Special Education from Holy Names College and
St. Mary’s College. She was a participant in the 2005-2006 UC
Berkeley History-Social Science Project.
Michael Kucz – Language Arts, IEP Coordinator
Mr. Kucz joined Orion Academy in 2005. He holds a BA in English
Literature from the University of Connecticut. After being inspired by
tutoring Burmese refugee children, he attended Notre Dame de Namur
University in Belmont, CA and earned his teaching credential and
Master’s Degree in Special Education. Before becoming a
teacher Mr. Kucz was for many years a cabinetmaker in the Bay
area. He operated his own shop and, for 13 years, was worked in
the cabinet shop of the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate
Park. Mr. Kucz brings the precision and patience of this previous
profession to his teaching at Orion.
Christie Olstad - Literature I, Literature III, Journalism
Ms. Olstad graduated
with an English degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter,
MN. After receiving her B.A., she moved to Oroslany, Hungary,
where she lived and worked as an English teacher for a year and
developed her love of both travel and teaching. Upon returning to
the U.S., she obtained her teaching credential and completed a Masters
degree at St Cloud State University. She then taught for five
years in Minnesota, working as an eighth through twelfth grade English
/ Language Arts high school teacher. Before coming to
Orion, she worked in publishing for two years and then taught high
school English for three years at Thurgood Marshall High School in San
Francisco.
Alan Phillips - Drama, PE
Mr. Phillips has been been active in the performing arts as an actor,
mover, and musician for many years, graduating from Sonoma State in
1981 in music with extensive theater and movement studies. He continued
to perform and train in San Francisco with Bob Ernst, Sara Shelton Mann
and John Lefan in acting, theater improv, movement theater and contact
improv. He has also worked in special education for the last twenty
years, with a teaching credential from San Francisco State and is
excited to be able to creatively use all this experience at Orion.
Sarah Ruvolo– Botany, Physical Science, Forensics, Anatomy
Ms. Ruvolo began working at Orion Academy in the spring of 2001 as a
teaching assistant. After working at Orion for a year, she
left to complete the teaching credential program at CSU
Hayward. In the fall of 2002, she returned with her teaching
credential to Orion to teach science classes. She developed
the botany program at Orion including outdoor laboratory that is the school
Organic Garden. The garden was named in her honor by the
school in 2005. Ms. Ruvolo
attended Cal Poly where she received her BS in biological sciences.
Cindy Schulmeister – Algebra, Educational Therapist>
Ms. Schulmeister joined Orion Academy in the Fall of 2004. She is an
Educational Therapist and graduate of the U.C. Berkeley Extension’s
Educational Therapy Program, where she was the supervisor for the
Program’s New Learning Clinic. As an educational therapist, she has been
trained to combine educational and therapeutic approaches for
evaluation, remediation, case management and advocacy on behalf of
children and adolescents with learning disabilities. She has extensive
experience in providing remediation services for individuals and small
groups utilizing multi-sensory techniques such as the MakingMathReal
program. She has a private practice in Kensington and Moraga.
Elena Vlahu Scott - Latin
A graduate of UC
Berkeley with high honors in Classical Languages with emphasis in Latin
and Greek. She continued her studies in London, United Kingdom
and received her M. Sc. in Cultural Anthropology with emphasis in
minorities, education and human rights. She taught in elementary,
middle schoolsand public and private high schools. She holds a
Latin Club for the Orion Academy students and brings Roman culture,
history and life into her teaching of Latin. She published in academic
journals and she a McNair and Marie Curie Scholar. She is born
and raised in Greece.
Joshua Senge – World History, Psychology, Health and Transitions
Mr. Senge joined Orion in the fall of 2006.
Lee Ann Williams –Registered/Licensed Occupational
Therapist
Ms. Williams has been practicing Occupational Therapy since
1981. In past years, she has contracted with several
public school districts to provide Occupational Therapy
services throughout the East Bay. In 1991, she
opened a private practice in Orinda, Max-Ability, where she
continues to work with children and adolescents to maximize
their functional skills and potential. She received her BA in
Psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and
her BS in Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern
California. Ms. Williams joined the Orion teaching staff in
2002 to teach the Alert Program to the freshman and sophomore classes.
Sheldon Winter- Algebra, Algebra II, Intro to Calculus, Physics
Administrative Staff
Kathryn Stewart, Ph.D. –Executive
Director, Clinical Psychologist
Dr Stewart is a licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in child,
adolescent and family therapy. She has a background in Special
Education, as both a teacher and administrator and brings that
experience, along with her interest in dog training to the program at
Orion. In 2000 she founded the Orion Academy, dedicated to quality
education and self-development for NLD and AS teens. Dr.
Stewart’s first book on NLD and Asperger’s was originally released in
March of 2002 and the second edition is now available. It is titled: Helping Children with NLD or Asperger’s Syndrome: A Parents Guide, available from New Harbinger Press.
She is a frequent speaker both nationally and internationally for
parent and professional conferences, an adjunct professor at The Wright
Institute in Berkeley and teaches a graduate course for UC Berkeley
Extension Educational Therapist certificate program on Neurocognitive
Disorders and various courses on child treatment and neurocognitive
disorders for JFK University. She is past board member of the Contra
Costa Psychological Association and the California Psychological
Association MCE (Mandatory Continuing Education) program.
Kyle Nash – Vice Principal/Dean of Faculty
Mr. Nash joined Orion Academy in 2003 at a Literature and Language Arts
teacher. He received his BA from U. Mass.-Amherst, and holds teaching
credentials in three states. He has post-graduate and teacher training
experience from Salem State College, U. Mass.-Dartmouth, and the
University of Southern Maine. He is presently pursuing further study at
California State University. Mr. Nash’s work with the National
School Reform Faculty lead him into teacher training and curriculum
development. He is a trained NSRF faculty coach and has many years
experience in business management, and used this experience in his work
as an Educational Consultant. Mr. Nash joined the administrative team
in the Spring of 2006.
Susan Wiltsek, PsyD – Psychologist
Dr. Wiltsek, is a licensed psychologist who joined the Orion team in August
2006. She graduated from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA
with an emphasis in adolescent treatment. She has worked in both
in-patient and outpatient settings, providing crisis intervention,
short/long term treatment and psychological assessment. She has also
taught course work in Adolescent Development at Sonoma State University
in their Education Department.
Andrew Schlegelmilch, Ph.D. - Psychologist
Dr. Schlegelmilch has a degree in clinical psychology with a specialization
in children and family therapy and research from Kent State
University. He has trained in several areas of psychology,
including psychological assessment, instrumentation, program assessment
and development, and group and individual therapy. Dr.
Schlegelmilch’s research interests include parent-child attachment
relationships and community arts education. He just recently
moved to the Bay Area from Cleveland, Ohio.
Meg Muyskens – Executive Administrator
Ms. Muyskens joined Orion Academy in 2001 after working for many years
in asset management running large real estate investment
portfolios. She is a loyal Oregon State U. alumnus with a BS
in Political Science. As Orion’s administrator, Ms.
Muyskens does all billing and accounting, maintains school district
contracts, coordinates all aspects the school’s special
events, supervises the smooth running of the Orion Academy physical
plant and many other tasks. She also serves in her community on the
local board of a national parent organization and has been a parent
volunteer at her daughter’s school over the years.
Alicia Bone - Front Office Administrator
Tom Neale –Technology Director
Mr. Neale joined the Orion staff in April 2003 to provide computer
support services for the students and staff. As a consultant,
he spends two days a week at Orion. Mr. Neale has worked with
computers for over 30 years and with Macintosh computers since
1987. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from
Worcester Polytechnic Institute and has worked as an engineer and
manager in Silicon Valley for over 20 years.
