Middle School Faculty/Staff

I am excited to be joining the Headwaters' community as the River Campus Manager. I have a bachelor of science degree in Architecture Studies from the University of Texas. I had a home remodeling and design business for many years, which comes in handy managing the old buildings on the River Campus. I also have managed several popular restaurants in Austin.

 

I live close to downtown with my husband, two teenage children, and my mom. I grew up in the Northwest Florida panhandle on a small farm. I have brought the small farm mentality to the city. I have chickens, cats, dogs, and grow a lot of my vegetables. I enjoy reading, cooking, and running; in fact, I am running my first half marathon in January 2020. 

 

What has drawn me to Headwaters is the community. I began substituting across the campuses and was impressed by the commitment of staff and administrators to help the students think and speak up for themselves. I believe those are valuable lessons to teach our kids today, and I am proud to be part of a community that cultivates values.

I graduated in 2010 from Texas State University with a degree in Sound Recording Technology; not the most typical route to get into teaching but glad I found my way.  I started my teaching career at an International Baccalaureate school called Iduma Elementary in Killeen, Texas and was granted the Teacher of the Year award my third year there.  I’m in my fourth year at Headwaters and had the honor of being the middle-school student choice Teacher of the Year my first year here. I love my job and it’s a gift to enjoy coming to work each day.

My wife Sara is a pediatrician and recently finished her pediatric residency at Dell Children’s Hospital!  Outside of school, I like to make videos, run, swim, lift weights, do freelance voice-over work, and learn new cooking ideas. I also enjoy reading up on the topics of faith, education, sociology, and some fiction every now and then.

I come from a long line of teachers, but it wasn’t until I moved to New York City that I became one myself. I taught Humanities, Spanish, and Music Appreciation at high school in Manhattan. I got my Master’s in Social Studies Education from New York University, and became an affiliate of the School Reform Initiative. Since moving to Austin several years ago I have been an instructional coach, a tutor, and a volunteer.  I return to NYU each summer to teach a Facilitative Leadership Seminar for school administrators and teacher leaders.

My brain changed when I became an educator, and now I can’t stop thinking (and talking) about teaching and learning! My experiences living in Brazil, Spain, and Egypt attuned me to the challenges of language learners.

My years in project management help me think about lesson planning, data, and outcomes. I am constantly looking for creative ways to make teaching more effective and efficient, and to make learning engaging and equitable for all kinds of students. As the parent of dyslexic children, I am especially attuned to the needs of those who may not succeed in a traditional classroom–I even became trained in Dyslexia Therapy at the Rawson Saunders Institute to better understand and support their learning. As a graduate of an International Baccalaureate program myself, I felt a connection to the Headwaters School. I am so happy to be the Learning Specialist at the River Campus, collaborating with thoughtful teachers in ways to meet the needs of our diverse students.

When I’m not talking about education, you can find me reading, cooking, leading a robotics team, or on the greenbelt with my husband, our two children, and our energetic dogs. Please stop and say hi!

I am an artist and art educator originally from Ireland who has been living and working in Austin for the last 20 years. I have been teaching art for 25 years and this is my 11th year at Headwaters where I teach studio art in the IB program, the high school and middle school.

Teaching art in collaboration with young people at Headwaters School has been my most rewarding and inspiring experience in education.I graduated from the College of Art, Design and Print in Dublin, Ireland with a Fine Art degree, and I also have a degree in art and design education from the Crawford College of Art in Cork, Ireland. As an artist my work has been shown in Ireland, the UK, Germany, and the U.S. I was featured in the 2009 Texas Biennial and was nominated for best artist in the 2009 Austin Visual Arts Association awards. I was a founding member and editor of Cantanker, an art magazine and non-profit art organization and am a regular participant on the East Austin Studio Tour.

I live in east Austin with my wife, Monique, and our two sons, Henry and Cormac, who are students at the Creek Campus.

I come from a family of teachers, so maybe my love for teaching runs in my genes? Who knows? I absolutely love the energy involved in working with kids and I’m a scientist at heart, constantly asking questions and observing the world around me…so teaching science just made sense!  Best decision I’ve ever made…behind choosing the right husband, of course. 

Long before falling in love with Headwaters and this holistic approach to education, I graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Biological Sciences. Why Rhode Island? Well, I was offered a full-ride athletic scholarship for volleyball. After university, I found myself back in my home state of California, but in Northern California this time, where I taught 7th Grade Life & Health Science as well as 9th Grade Biology at a top-ranked high school in the heart of Silicon Valley. After a few years of teaching in public schools, my husband and I made the decision to soul-search a bit and travel the world. I traveled through Southeast Asia and Europe for 2 years with my husband, immersing myself in different cultures, eating a plethora of different foods, and getting certified to teach yoga in Bali.

 

I love mindfulness, yoga, sports (obviously volleyball), cooking, farmer’s markets, and flea markets, and I’m passionate about health & nutrition.

I strive for my classroom to be a safe space where students can learn through exploration and curious inquiry without judgment. I want to show my students that the world is their classroom… Sigh, as I’m writing this, I can’t wait for them to walk through these doors!

I’m so grateful to be a part of this Headwaters family and look forward to teaching and coexisting with this community in a way that is so closely aligned with my personal beliefs.

I am from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and while I spent most of my childhood there, I also spent time in Monrovia, Liberia. My years growing up overseas taught me to appreciate and value a broad cultural experience, which I seek to impart upon my students by teaching social studies. I received my BA from St. Edward's University in 2008. Although I knew from an early age that I had to become a teacher, I got sidetracked for the better part of a decade in aviation. I am a commercially-rated pilot, and before pursuing a career in education, I got to fly people around and teach other aspiring pilots how to fly planes. Although teaching is my second career, it was always my first choice.

My family has been part of the Headwaters community for a very long time. My husband, Joe Sokolik, has taught history at Headwaters for twelve years, and our daughter is in her fourth year at the school. I started working at Headwaters nearly four years ago as the high school volleyball coach, and am very excited to have taken on this new role teaching middle school social studies.

As a 9-year-old, I watched a 6th grader named Dave Coniglio play “Wipeout” on the drums in the school concert, and I was hooked. Dave later became my first teacher, college roommate and best friend. After realizing as a middle schooler that playing shortstop for the New York Mets probably wasn’t in the cards, I focused on music. Growing up an hour north of NYC, I was lucky enough to get to witness and perform a lot of music there. After high school, I decided to further my passion at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where I earned a BA in Music Education in 2005. While in Boston I shoveled a lot of snow, played a lot of music, and met the woman whom I would marry. In Boston, I found my passion for bringing the same excitement and inspiration Dave and other teachers brought to me, by teaching music to students of my own. I was able to work as an outreach teacher for Community Music Center of Boston, co-teach percussion at a Puerto Rican cultural center with one of my professors, work with kids at a Boys and Girls Club, as well as lots of private instruction. I also got the the opportunity to join a great band and tour the country for the better part of two years. After pretending to be a rock star for a bit, my wife and I decided to completely uproot our lives and move to Austin in 2011. The snow literally followed us as far south as Memphis but we finally made it. I had the great honor of joining the amazingly talented staff at Armstrong Community Music School in 2011, and for the last 6 years have taught there, been involved with some of their many outreach programs, and joined the Austin music scene. In October 2015 my wife and I had our first child, Elliot. I will very likely show you pictures of him whether you ask or not.

I am extremely grateful and excited for the opportunity to be a part of the Headwaters community, and can’t wait to share my passion for all things musical with students and teachers alike.