TUCSON WALDORF SCHOOL - Key Persons
Ms. Bettina was born and raised in Germany where she studied pre-school education and training before obtaining her Abitur (university attendance authorization). She later became a licensed physical therapist. These diverse areas of training enable her to address both the critically important intellectual and physical elements of child development (as recognized by Waldorf education founder, Rudolf Steiner, and peer Waldorf educators). Ms. Bettina has been involved with Tucson Waldorf School for many years as both a parent and an assistant and lead teacher in the early childhood program.
Cynthia Hovland was born in Los Angeles and grew up primarily in Washington State. She considers Tucson her hometown, even though she wasn't raised here. While living and working as an English teacher near Stuttgart, Germany, the site of the first Waldorf school, she discovered Waldorf education. After learning more about Waldorf education she knew that working as a Waldorf teacher would be her professional path. Cynthia was the teacher for a Tucson Waldorf School class from first through sixth grade in 2003-2009. After a few years living in Alaska she returned to Tucson and taught her 2nd class in 2014 and graduated them in 8th grade in 2022. She taught her 3rd class of first graders in the 22-23 school year. So the journey continues…
She has two grown children, and two grandsons, and in her free time Cynthia enjoys hiking, dancing, cooking, astrology, reading, writing, and traveling.
Emma Maruska was born in Missoula, Montana. As a child, she lived in the Bitterroot Valley, attending the country school, helping in the family nursery business, and getting spoiled with fantastic outdoor adventures. Most of Ms. Maruska's adult life has been in Portland, Oregon, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Communication from University of Portland and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Craft from Oregon College of Art and Craft.
Ms. Maruska's love of the classroom was ignited while teaching English to middle school students in rural Japan. Combining all of her loves - craft, kids, and school - Ms. Maruska began pursuing Waldorf teacher training in 2016. She holds certification as a Grades Teacher from the West Coast Institute in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Ms. Maruska loves Waldorf education because it connects children not just to their intellect, but also to their realm of feeling and willing. When young individuals are able to stir up and balance these forces within themselves, they expand their capacity for acting out of kindness and service for the world.
Ms. Maruska served Cedarwood Waldorf School in Portland, Oregon, for four years as Upper Grades Support Teacher, Math Support Teacher, After-School Program Director, and Practical Arts Teacher. She comes to Tucson from Santa Fe Waldorf School where she taught as a grades teacher.
Ms. Maruska enjoys hiking with her dog and friends, cooking one-pot wonders, and making and appreciating anything in the realm of craft. Her own art practice includes paper making, fabric dyeing and stitching, and clay handbuilding. She loves to roll up her sleeves and put her hands to task at Tucson Waldorf School!
Eviana Robinson is a native Tucsonan and grew up admiring the beauty of the Sonoran Desert. She has fond memories of her early childhood - from tasting her first tomato out of her family's backyard garden to spending hours making elaborate houses for her dolls. She began her introduction to Waldorf education in the first grade. This launched her love of learning and sprouted the seed of determination to one day be a Waldorf teacher herself.
Eviana has a robust background in caring for children. She began volunteering in childcare at Tucson Waldorf School when she herself was a middle school student at TWS. She then continued to provide childcare through independent work with families (many of whom she knew through TWS). In 2019, Eviana began working as the extended-day Red Rose teacher. Each day she stepped on school grounds was a reminder of her love for TWS and the community that encapsulates it. Seeing the children that she was now teaching explore the same playground that she once did as a student was both nostalgic and joyful.
Eviana was a long-term sub throughout TWS during the pandemic. Then she moved on to being an assistant teacher in Early Childhood - first with Leila Lopez in Marigold Garden, then with Nicole Williams in Rosemary Garden, and is now working with Jennifer O'Brien in Red Rose Garden. Eviana has immensely enjoyed learning from and collaborating with each teacher she has worked with. She goes to work each day with an open mind filled with admiration and love for each child. She spends the day laughing beside them while exploring together. When reflecting on her day she often smiles to herself thinking of moments she shared with her class while holding them in her heart.
Eviana is eager to attend training at the Westcoast Institute in British Columbia this summer and to continue cultivating her love of Waldorf teaching. She is currently living with her sister and her sister's family where she gets lots of snuggles from her 2 ½-year-old niece and 7-month-old twin niece and nephew, which allows for many fun stories to be brought to her class.
Enrollment Director, Jade Hines, 520.529.1032 ext.100: Send mail to enrollment@tucsonwaldorf.org
Jade Hines is from Alexandria, VA where she worked diligently with families during the application and admissions process as the Director of Enrollment and Admissions at Potomac Crescent Waldorf School (PCWS). She also worked in accreditation with AWSNA, development and relocation efforts for PCWS, and as a parent representative for her children's two classes. During her previous tenure in Tucson, she was the U.S. Air Force Key Spouse volunteer at Davis Monthan Air Force Base for the 55th Rescue and 563d Operations Support Squadrons. Before that, she was a Sr. Executive Assistant at the University of Arizona to the SVP for Health Sciences. She has already started working in support of Enrollment & Development here at TWS, and her children are now in the Early Childhood program and Grade 1.
Jade was born and raised in Oklahoma City, OK where she earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Oklahoma. She has held a number of professional positions, including Political Lobbyist and Client Services Associate, representing major institutions throughout the legislative process and during political campaigns. Jade was also a D1 Collegiate Athlete on the University of Oklahoma softball team from 2003-2007. Finally, Jade is respectful and proud of her Native American lineage and graciously respects her Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and Hopi heritage. She had the great honor of being the Sat-Tainte (White Bear) Clan Princess for the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma.
Jen has been involved with Waldorf Education since the early 90s when she discovered a dedicated group of Anthroposophists that were endeavoring to start a Waldorf school in St. Louis, MO. A few years later, she became one of the first kindergarten teachers at the Shining Rivers Waldorf School in St. Louis. Soon after that, she enrolled in the Antioch NE Waldorf teacher training program with the goal of becoming a grades teacher.
She began class teaching in 1995 and continued class teaching up until 2019. She has taught each grade 3 times at various schools including the Waldorf School of Baltimore, The Waldorf School of Princeton, the Rudolf Steiner School in NYC, and the Mountain Laurel Waldorf School in New Paltz, NY. She has been an instructor at Sunbridge Institute where she taught summer week-long prep courses to class teachers. As the pandemic began to take hold, she shifted to working with homeschooled students and with Waldorf schools around the country in an administrative role.
Additionally, she is a Waldorf parent whose child attended Waldorf schools from kindergarten through high school.
Jen joined the Tucson Waldorf School community remotely in January of 2021 and felt an instant kinship with our faculty. In December of that year, she visited Tucson and fell in love with our campus and the greater Tucson area and joined us in person in January of 2022.
She and her husband have been enjoying all Tucson has to offer including hiking, biking, and taking in live music whenever they can.
Maestra Moreno was born in a small town in Catalonia, Spain. She obtained a Bachelor degree as a movement education teacher at the University of Granada Spain and a Master's degree in Psycopedagogy from the University of Valencia. She did her Waldorf teacher training in the Centro Antroposofico in Cuernavaca México. Since 2021 Maestra has been a member of the Emergency Pedagogy group in Mexico, supporting communities, schools, and families that have been through traumatic events, with art and movement.
Since she was young, she was involved with social work. Maestra Moreno lived in Thailand, and worked as a voluntary in an orphanage with refuge kids from Myanmar. The project was to teach them English and movement but what it morphed into was a full community fundraiser to build them a playground. These children really needed to have the opportunity to be kids. When she worked as a movement teacher in Chile, she traveled to Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina. After that she got a scholarship to live in Australia, and later she moved to Canada, where she had the opportunity to learn English. The last place where she had lived was in the Oaxaca Coast, Puerto Escondido Mexico. She worked as a class teacher at the Papalotes Waldorf School for three years. When working with a combined class that was surrounded by a beautiful community she found herself falling in love with the Mexican culture.
For her, teaching Spanish is not just about grammar is about teaching another way to see the world. She teaches more than language. She teaches to feel, to love, to respect and embrace different cultures, and their beauty. Because she had the opportunity to see and experience many countries, now she invites the students and the Tucson Waldorf Community to open their hearts to these diverse cultures. She loves dancing, singing, travelling, learning new things, and her passion is to help others, and share her love for the world.
Job Titles:
- Secretary of the Board of Trustees
Job Titles:
- Marketing & Communications Director
Ms Nicole spent her childhood in the small town of Shaftsbury, Vermont. She attended Emerson College in Boston where she received her BS In Communications.
In 1999 she moved to the desert and it was there she discovered Waldorf Education. The foundation and principles of the early childhood program resonated with her nature-based upbringing in VT. Stepping into the EC classroom felt like home and she immediately decideded to begin her studies to further her education and become a teacher.
Nicole received her Certificate in Waldorf Early Childhood Education in 2003, from Antioch, New England, and shortly after that her MEd.
Additionally, she has enhanced her studies by attending many conferences and seminars throughout her tenure at the school, including the 3 year advanced therapeutic course, Nurturing the Roots, and many pedagogical storytelling and puppetry programs with Nancy Mellon, Suzanne Down and ALMA partners.
Nicole enjoys yoga, baking, gardening, traveling with her wife and taking her dog for long walks. She shares her time between the Oregon coast and the Tucson desert.
Job Titles:
- Finance Director
- Entrepreneur
Finance Director, Norma Fregoso, 520.529.1032 ext.110: Send mail to accountant@tucsonwaldorf.org
Norma Fregoso is an entrepreneur and businesswoman. She is originally from Freeport, Illinois and has a BA degree with honors from Columbia College in Chicago. For the past 15 years she has been the Owner and Chief Financial Operator of Mauricio Fregoso Salon in Tucson. Norma started MFS from the ground up and succeeded in garnering many awards, including being named one of the Top 200 Salons in the U.S. for three years in a row. MFS was selected as a Top 200 Salon for their best business practices in Sales Growth, Compensation & Benefits, Customer Service and Marketing. Her salon's work has been seen in many national magazines, including Vogue, Elle, American Salon, Teen Magazine and Salon News. Norma also owned and operated NJ Distribution, a Gruma Mission Foods distribution company. Before selling her business, Norma owned the Oro Valley territory and her company distributed to the 9 major grocery stores in that area. Early in her career, she spent 13 years in the motion picture film and television industry where she worked as a Production Manager and Production Coordinator. She executed and coordinated the flow of work between different departments, oversaw department budgets and worked with Producers to set up and manage schedules, logistics and travel for production completion.
Norma and her daughter, Violetta, came to the Tucson Waldorf School in the first grade. Violetta is currently in Ms. Hovland's seventh grade class. Norma has expressed her gratitude for discovering the Waldorf parenting philosophy and for TWS in particular, explaining how it has made her a better parent. She enjoys connecting with the many dear friends she has made at TWS and is appreciative for the close-knit community. She has volunteered over the past seven years as a Room Parent and also on the M.O.R.E. Committee. Norma and Violetta enjoying spending quality mother-daughter time together by cooking, baking, chilling with their dog Luna, hanging out with their friends, traveling, camping, reading and of course, eating! Norma is thrilled to be joining the amazing team at Tucson Waldorf School.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- President of the Board
Job Titles:
- Administrative Director
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Administrative Director - College
Administrative Director, Rebecca Briamonte, 520.529.1032 ext.103: Send mail to director@tucsonwaldorf.org
Job Titles:
- Vice President of the Board of Trustees
Job Titles:
- Administrative Coordinator
- Office Coordinator
Office Coordinator, Tessa Swanson, 520.529.1032 ext.101: Send mail to gradesadmin@tucsonwaldorf.org
Job Titles:
- Governance Committee Representative
Job Titles:
- Parent Council Representative