Faculty and Staff

Honna Austin

Honna Austin joined our faculty in the spring of 2008 as our Orchestra Director. She received her B.F.A. degree from Northern Illinois University in Violin Performance and Painting. While at Northern, Honna studied under the world-renowned Vermeer Quartet with Mathias Tacke and Shmuel Ashkenasi. She went on to receive her M.F.A. from Cornell University and her Suzuki Teaching Certificate from Ithaca College under Stanford Reuning. Honna has taught privately for over twelve years.

Barbara DuRocher

Barbara DuRocher has been involved at Four Winds since its inception in 1994 as a parent, board member, faculty member, and enrollment director. She currently teaches Parent-Child classes and is part of the administrative staff. With a Masters degree in Public Administration, she worked in university administration for eight years before finding her true life’s work in teaching Parent-Child classes. She has trained at Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program in Chicago and at Sophia’s Hearth Early Childhood Training Center in New Hampshire.

Susan Eggers

Susan Eggers joined our faculty in 2004 and currently leads our fifth grade class. She has a B.S. degree in Elementary Education from Valparaiso University and a Masters degree in Special Education (Learning Disabilities) from Northeastern Illinois University. She is also a eurythmist, with advanced training in pedagogical eurythmy, therapeutic eurythmy, and Eurythmy in the Workplace. Since 1993, Susan has taught eurythmy to the Foundation Year students at the Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program.

Marianne Fieber

Marianne Fieber, Administrator, joined our faculty in 2006 as the first grade teacher. She joined Leadership Council in 2007 and was elected Faculty Chair for the 2008-2009 school year. As of November 2009 she has been working as full-time administrator. Prior to this, she worked as the high school coordinator for the Chicago Waldorf School and earned an M.S. Ed degree in Waldorf School Administration and Community Development from Sunbridge College in New York. With a B.F.A.

Liz Gantner

Liz Gantner joined Four Winds Waldorf School in 2001, after taking a class from grades one through eight at Chicago Waldorf School. She received a B.A. in Education from S.I.U. Carbondale in 1980 and has been teaching in various capacities since that time, including graduating the class of 2008 here at Four Winds. Liz is committed to Waldorf education and brings a wealth of enthusiasm and wisdom to the classroom.

John Keeney

John Keeney joined Four Winds as the teacher of its first grades class in 1997, and is now guiding his second class through the grades. He received his Waldorf certification from the Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program in Chicago in 1998, and since then has served as an instructor there in choral singing and other subjects. John studied music and political science at West Virginia University, and luthiery at The Apprentice Shop in Spring Hill, Tennessee. He is an accomplished artist, musician and actor, and currently serves on the Cultural Arts Commission of the City of West Chicago.

Cynthia Vargas

Cynthia Vargas assists in our early childhood education classes. A native of Peru, Cynthia has an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education, with a minor in Art from Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, IL. She is also enrolled in the Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program in Chicago.

Carlene Mogavero

Carlene Mogavero accepted the position of lead teacher in one of our five-day Early Childhood classrooms in 2006, but has served in many other early childhood teaching roles since Four Winds’ inception in 1994. With an intuitive and deep understanding of young children and their needs for warmth and authenticity, Carlene completed her Waldorf Early Childhood Training Certification at the West Coast Institute in Vancouver, Canada. She has also trained at the Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program in Chicago and the Gradalis Institute in California.

Tami Ordoñez

Tami Ordoñez joined the faculty at Four Winds in 2001 and currently teaches combined grades seven and eight and some  movement education in the grades. She holds a B.A. in History from Allegheny College, a diploma from the Spacial DynamicsTM Institute, and has completed an M.A. degree program in Waldorf Education through Rudolf Steiner College and Touro University. She has also served as a guest workshop leader for the Western Teachers Conference at Rudolf Steiner College.

Daniela Paulius

Daniela Paulius joined Four Winds Waldorf School as the German teacher in 2005. She is a native speaker from Germany and moved to the United States 10 years ago. She has a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Cologne, Germany and taught in Germany for nine years before coming to the U.S. She has been teaching German in this country since 1999 at the Goethe-Institut, DANK School, Montessori Schools, public schools and as a private instructor for children and adults of all ages.

Diane Power

Diane Power joined our faculty in 1998 and currently leads our first grade class. With a B.A. degree in Journalism from Northern Illinois University, Diane taught in the corporate world for 10 years before finding Waldorf education. She earned her Waldorf Teacher Certification from the Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program in Chicago.

Parvaneh Shidnia-Smith

Parvaneh Shidnia-Smith joined our faculty in 2002 and currently spearheads the Social Inclusion Coordinating Group at Four Winds.  Parvaneh has her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and has worked in various mental health roles for many years. She has completed Foundation Year classes for teacher training at Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program in Chicago and is a recent graduate of Kim John Payne’s Waldorf Collaborative Counseling program.

Maryla Sikora

Maryla Sikora has served as lead teacher in one of our five-day Early Childhood classrooms since 1999 and has assisted in other early childhood Waldorf programs since 1993. Maryla has earned undergraduate degrees from the University of Nicolas Copernicus, Poland (Economics) and the University of Illinois at Chicago (Communication Design). She has also taken Foundation Year courses at Rudolph Steiner College and earned her Early Childhood Teacher Certification from Sunbridge College, Spring Valley, New York.

Naomi Harpest Studebaker

Naomi Harpest Studebaker currently leads our three-day kindergarten class, but her long-term involvement and dedication to Waldorf education also includes leading a class through eight grades at our school. Prior to that, she ran a home-based Waldorf Early Childhood program in Oak Park, which gave birth to the initiative which became Four Winds Waldorf School. Naomi also served for 10 years on the faculty of Esperanza School in Chicago, using Waldorf methods to teach special needs children. She holds a B.S. degree in Education, as well as an M.S.