SOMETHING GOOD IN THE WORLD - Key Persons
Anya Steger has been teaching art and crafts for Earth School students and at Turtle Island Summer Camp since 2011. Anya has exhibited her own artwork in numerous solo and group shows in New York City, Chicago, Warsaw, Edinburgh, Paris, Dusseldorf, and Krakow. She has an MFA degree in Painting from Hunter College, NY, and a BFA degree in Painting from School of Visual Arts, NY. She also studied at Warsaw Academy of Fine Art in Warsaw, Poland, and Brighton University, Brighton, UK. She has taught drawing and painting courses at Hunter College Fine Arts Department and at Montclair Art Museum, in Montclair NJ.
Elizabeth worked as a Senior Marketing Research Analyst at the Reader's Digest Association. She has been involved as a volunteer and employee with Something Good in the World since its inception in 2002 and supports the mission of the organization. Elizabeth received a degree in History and Education from Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, NY. She spent several years teaching in a private school and in the public school system and occasionally volunteers as a tutor.
Holly Jett has been teaching inside of a GET dynamic since 2003. She is the Handwriting Without Tears instructor for ages 5 - 7, teaches farm-based crafts and cooking in the Earth School-to-Farm programs, and has been a Turtle Island Summer Camp educator since 2009. Holly graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in Arts and Science, and continued her studies at FIT in NYC, for a degree in fashion and merchandising. She had her own hand-made children's clothing company called "Nolly Designs," teaches sewing privately and at "Groovy on Grand." Holly has attended numerous GET teacher training seminars and workshops, and she is a certified Handwriting Without Tears instructor.
Liz Nolf has been SGITW's music teacher since 2011. Liz has been teaching music in school, camp and private settings for over 8 years, to children of all different ages, abilities, and educational backgrounds. Her greatest love is helping children to experience the joy of making music together. After a career at IBM in software strategy and marketing, Liz switched gears to become a stay-at-home and then homeschooling mother. She holds a Bachelor's degree, and studied music throughout her schooling. She plays guitar, flute and piano, and sings backup for a local singer/songwriter in her spare time. She has experience with special needs children, and also taught preschool for 4 years.
Natascha Sabert has been assisting and teaching Earth School programs since 2011 and has worked as an educator for Turtle Island Summer Camp. Natascha graduated with the "Abitur" from Gymnasium Langenhagen, Germany and went on to teach children ages of 1 to 4 at the "Verein fuer Kleinkindpadagogik Lustige Latzhosen" in Hannover, Germany. She was also very involved in her first son's self-governed, independent "Kinderladen Kornstrasse," a kindergarten co-op that was part of the educational reform movement in Germany. After moving to the United States, she attended Valencia College in Orlando, Florida and worked in an environmental group for water conservation under Dr. Deborah Green. In New York, Natascha continued to work in childcare and started her own dog-walking business. She tutors German, continues her studies at WCC and volunteers for the "Fresh Air Fund.
Ridvan Foxhall is a licensed occupational therapist serving children and youth with special needs, and their families since 2010. She is a Certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator. In 2006, she was responsible for creating a Children's Theatre Company (CTC) in Peekskill, a program that serves a diverse group of children ages 8-17. CTC is dedicated to building character on stage through the performing arts and instilling in children a sense that they can share in the communities interests and be a positive voice of change in the world. In 2013, Ms. Foxhall founded New Era Creative Space, which is now a non-profit organization that offers yearlong creative and innovative programs for children and youth and parenting support. Ridvan has been a lead teacher and teaching assistant for SGITW's Earth School programs, and is a co-teacher for Earth School to Farm programs.
Job Titles:
- Staff Development Consultant and Advisor for Something Good
Sara Garcia has been a staff development consultant and advisor for Something Good in the World and Earth School since 2002. She holds teaching certifications in regular, special education, and bi-lingual education in Spanish, with her special expertise in the area of children with learning differences. Sara has over 25 years of experience teaching at-risk students in Regular and Special Education in Elementary, Middle and High School in Tucson, Arizona, Boston, Massachusetts and the South Bronx, New York. Her teaching experience includes staff development for teachers in low- performing schools as a National trainer for the Efficacy Institute, Inc. as well as developing and delivering culturally appropriate education workshops for parents of diverse populations. Her Doctoral work in Fielding Graduate University focused on identifying Indigenous people's wisdom and worldview on care of planetary resources as part of character education.
Sherri Young: Sherri has over thirty years of professional experience in the design industry. She is currently Senior Graphic Designer at Premium Productions, Inc., in Pleasantville, NY. Sherri studied at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City. She started working professionally while still in school on freelance projects and went on to gain a breadth of experience in the print industry, traditional ad agencies, a greeting card startup, and in direct mail and online/offline publishing.
Siena Siegel: Siena worked as Director of Training Programs at American Ballet Theatre in New York City. She also wrote the book To Dance for young readers, published in 2006. After taking a few years to raise her two young children, she began earning credits towards a master's degree in Dance Therapy and teaching ballet and creative movement classes to children and adults. Siena also worked as a teacher's assistant for Something Good in the World's program for homeschoolers. She earned a BA from Brown University.
Rommy Urrutia: Rommy has been providing bilingual accounting and legal services to the Latino community in Westchester for over 30 years. She is a New York state certified legal interpreter, has a B.A. in Psychology from Pace University, and founded "Hispanos Unidos" in 2014 in Mt. Kisco, NY. Rommy has volunteered for Something Good in the World for many years and serves as a translator for SGITW's educational programs for refugee children from Central America.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- Senior Executive Vice President at Gahagan & Bryant Associates
Witt is a Senior Executive Vice President at Gahagan & Bryant Associates, an engineering firm specializing in dredging projects, including their environmental monitoring. Witt holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, along with a BS and MS in Civil Engineering from Columbia University.