SAN FRANCISCO EXPEDITIONARY - Key Persons
Hannelore Romero is the co-teacher at SFE, working with small groups and individual students in the morning academic curriculum. Hannelore has worked both as a classroom teacher and as a private educational consultant for over sixteen years; until 2005 she was an elementary grade teacher in Albany, California, where she taught for eight years. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Education from the University of California, Berkeley as well as a Multiple Subjects Credential and a Master's Degree in Educational Psychology from UC Berkeley. For the last five years in her classroom she was a Master Teacher for UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education, training graduate students to become classroom teachers. Hannelore has also served on an advisory board for Development Studies Center, assisting in the creation and implementation of a reading program focusing on comprehension. After leaving the classroom in 2005 Hannelore became an Educational Consultant, tutoring children in reading, writing, math and organizational skills.
Joel Romero is the lead teacher at SFE, coordinating all aspects of the daily program. Joel has over twenty years of experience teaching children and teachers. He has a BA in Economics and Political Science from UC Berkeley and received his California Teaching Credential from the University of San Francisco. After leaving UC Berkeley, Joel joined Teach for America and taught at elementary and middle schools in Oakland, California for seven years. Following his tenure as a classroom teacher, Joel worked for Reading Revolution for five years where he was instrumental in designing curriculum and materials, opening and running a the reading center, and training teachers across the country. For the past eight years he has worked in private practice with children and their families, providing individualized instruction, coordinating students' various services, consulting with teachers and schools, and creating support plans for families.
Laney Thornton lives in San Francisco where he is a diversified private investor and Trustee of the Thornton Foundations. Laney owns and manages office buildings in San Francisco and invests in public and private equity, including direct venture capital. For twenty years, he as been Co-Founder and Chairman of the Eileen West Clothing Company which also owns Lanz of Salzburg. Prior to that he was Vice-President Finance of one of Northern California's largest apartment developers and before that Assistant to the President and Loan Officer at Transamerica Mortgage. He has also been a Redevelopment Agency real estate consultant and a strategic management consultant at the Cambridge Research Institute.
Laney's community activities have included being a committee member of the Harvard Committee on the Environment, a member of the Art and Architecture Accessions Committee of the San Francisco Modern Art Museum and Trustee of San Francisco University High School, Pacific Primary School, and The San Francisco Day School. He is a Trustee Emeritus of the San Francisco Fine Arts Museum and a current Trustee of the Bay Area land use planning organization Greenbelt Alliance, where he is Chair of the Sonoma Leadership Council. Laney is a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Business School.
Michael Sturtz is the founder of the The Crucible and former Executive Director. Michael established The Crucible in 1999 as a venue to teach industrial arts in a truly creative and noncompetitive learning environment. During his 12 years as Executive Director, Michael nurtured what began as an idea and $1,750 seed grant into the largest nonprofit industrial arts educational facility in the nation.
Michael grew up dissecting road kill and then observing his father, an orthopedic surgeon, in the operating room. Michael also spent time tinkering with machines and rebuilding cars in his stepfather's auto body shop. As a result, he developed a fascination for the hidden mechanics of everyday forms. Michael found early success as a sculptor, architectural metal worker, and product designer, earning his BFA from Alfred University School of Art and Design and his MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Additionally, he studied stone carving at Studio de Sem Ghelardini, Pietrasanta, Italy.
Currently Michael teaches at Stanford's design school applying the design thinking process to spearhead a new artistic genre of live performance appealing to the 21- to 35-year-old demographic. Michael also teaches electric motorcycle user experience design at Stanford's Automotive Innovation Facility.
Pasha Thornton is the Head of School of San Francisco Expeditionary and is also a diversified private investor and Trustee of the Thornton Foundation. Pasha graduated from Hampshire College (B.A. '91) and Princeton University (M.S. '94), where she did her graduate work in physics and environmental science. She subsequently taught Environmental Chemistry at Hampshire College. In her role as Foundation Trustee for the Thornton Foundation, Pasha focuses on environmental issues, wilderness conservation, land use planning, environmental education and population, including international reproductive health and domestic immigration reform. Pasha believes meaningful academics, authentic projects with social/emotional components and outdoor experiences create long lasting knowledge and important skills for children. Pasha believes that the best learning environment is a welcoming one where the students are willing to take risks and make mistakes.
Job Titles:
- CEO and Founder of Pension Dynamics Corporation
Stephen Butler is the CEO and Founder of Pension Dynamics Corporation. He is a graduate of Harvard College and attended the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Business Administration. Steve Butler is best known as a leading advocate of retirement plans. He has worked with the Department of Labor to assist in establishing guidelines to ensure full disclosure of fees and services to plan sponsors. He is the author of 2 books on 401(k) plans, The Decision-Maker's Guide to 401(K) Plans and 401(K) Today. He is the originator of the "Butler Index", an index of total costs of 401(k) plans that has been featured in articles in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He has also co-produced a retirement investment pilot program, which was aired on National Public Television stations throughout the country.
After receiving his B.A. from Dartmouth College, William R. Scott taught middle school humanities for seven years in Inglewood and San Francisco Public Schools. He received his Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006. From 2006-2010, he served as Assistant Professor of History at the University of Delaware, while also serving as the Coordinator of the Social Studies Education credential program. Since 2010, he has worked as the Managing Director of Teacher Leadership Development at Teach For America, Hawai'i.
Job Titles:
- Science Teacher and Field Trip Coordinator
Tristan Sinclair is teaching P.E. at SFE. Tristan enjoys being active with kids and getting them outside to exercise. He has experience with cross-country, soccer and basketball as well as extensive summer camp work. He loves to play and watch all sports, as long as they are fun and not taken too seriously. Tristan believes sportsmanship is the key to having a good time while competing. Tristan graduated from USF with a theater degree, and will complete his teaching credential and masters in multiple subjects this fall. He completed his student teaching at Sherman Elementary and West Portal Elementary in San Francisco. Music and theater are also two of his passions and he enjoys playing in his band, The Dreamers, and writing and performing short musicals with his friends. He hopes to implement these passions into his P.E. class to help make it a fun, safe, creative, and active experience.
Xochi Batlle is the outdoor science teacher and field trip coordinator at SFE, planning and leading expeditions while also supporting students in the daily academic program. She graduated from the University of Florida in 2011, with a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and a B.A. in Anthropology. Xochi's passion for outdoor education began in college and she has since worked for multiple environmental education nonprofits, including Hidden Villa and Slide Ranch. Most recently Xochi served for two years as a Corps Member through the nonprofit, Education Outside. During her service Xochi worked at Fairmount Elementary where she managed a thriving garden, taught science lessons, and facilitated school-wide sustainability initiatives. Xochi also developed scaffolded units of science curriculum as part of Education Outside's Curriculum Working Group. Xochi is thrilled to be working with SFE as she strongly believes in the power of experiential learning and environmental education to connect students to the world around them.