Our Staff

jenny@pcrest.org The director and co-founder of Pacific Crest, Jenny brings a commitment to youth and education that spans a 30+ year career. She values the collaborative approach among students and teachers at Pacific Crest and enjoys facilitating these collaborations. She loves teaching math and Shakespeare, cooking and playing music. “A lot of kids are used to taking a passive role in their education. It’s important to get them out of that role so they can take ownership of their learning. We’re good at giving kids some direction so they can take the wheel.”

jblumenstein@pcrest.org

Jordia’s passion for teaching language arts is firmly grounded in her equal passion for learning, creativity, and in her conviction that there is “adventure to be found in reading and writing.”

In the classroom, she encourages students to mobilize their curiosity, and desire to explore the world, through a variety of literary studies and writing projects.

Outside the classroom, she set up volunteer opportunities for students to share the adventure by working with S.M.A.R.T. In addition to classroom teaching, Jordia leads the PCCS Service Learning Program, which offers students yet another way to explore - and shape - their world through a range of service learning projects connected with Habitat For Humanity, Tryon Farm, Oregon Food Bank and City Repair, among others.

lcleland@pcrest.org Lizzy DeLacy has over 15 years of teaching experience spanning two countries (the US and Japan) and four states. Lizzy started as a history teacher but soon learned that math, with its concrete answers and dorky jokes was where her heart truly lay. Math is a subject often despised by students and Lizzy’s quest has been to convince every last math hater that they are both capable of doing math, and can learn to enjoy it. She also teaches Japanese and has taught a variety of science classes including a class on climate change, a topic she’s particularly passionate about. Lizzy is a denizen of the coffee shops around Pacific Crest and will always set aside her work to answer a math question.

jdieringer@pcrest.org

Julie loves to organize and enthusiastically jumped at the opportunity to serve the creative, funny, collaborative team of teachers at Pacific Crest. More importantly, she thrives on helping the students with anything they need; printing reports, un-jamming the copy machine, using the paper cutter, applying band-aids, offering tissue, listening to stories, etc.

Prior to joining the Pacific Crest staff Julie worked as a merchandiser and buyer at Nordstrom for 30 years.

Julie has twin high schoolers and loves the perspective working at Pacific Crest brings to her understanding of them. When she's not making life for the students and staff at Pacific Crest easier, Julie can be found camping, reading or digging in the garden.

kmaier@pcrest.org With over twenty years of experience as an educator, and a heritage of education in both parents (also teachers), Kurt says he’s “genetically engineered to be a teacher” and it shows. Teaching for Kurt is all about relationship building, collaboration and the moment-by-moment epiphanies that go with “building knowledge together” with his students.  He calls it “emergent curriculum,” which is the art and practice of identifying what each student needs to learn, and then designing an approach that creates understanding, but also teaches students how to take charge of and facilitate their own learning. Maybe that also explains why Kurt loves teaching West African drumming in his spare time.  Whether it’s in the classroom or in a drum circle, there is joy and discovery when everyone’s in synch and adding to the rhythm.

London is an actor, sound designer, producer and teaching artist who has spent the last several years teaching classes for teens at Oregon Children's Theatre. He believes theatre skills are life skills and strives to show how dedication, ensemble-building, empathy, listening, and confidence can help students succeed both in the classroom and out in the world.

When not teaching, London can be found creating & performing with his theatre company, Trick Pony Theatre, or playing guitar with his band, Frecks. He enjoys foraging for mushrooms, learning about space and, newly, playing tennis.

tpeare@pcrest.org Tigerin has over 25 years of teaching experience with Pacific Crest and directs the science program at using a hands-on approach that includes projects, field trips and natural resources service work. Her classes emphasize solid scientific skills combined with a strong sense of ethics and community service. She also offers natural sciences classes at the Youth Employment Institute, and enjoys canoeing in her rare moments of free time. “I would like kids to learn that in order to achieve something, you have to work hard. As a science teacher I think it’s important for students to question things, develop analytical skills and build their knowledge base.”

owen@pcrest.org Owen Heh is a teacher of sciences at Pacific Crest. Their philosophy of teaching includes the following: “I teach to engage students in authentic inquiry which empowers them to question, investigate, and act throughout their lives. The classroom is a space of community, where students and teachers enter partnerships in discovery and curiosity, where one’s identity is nurtured.” Outside of the classroom, Owen enjoys mountain biking all around the Pacific Northwest and competes in mixed ultimate frisbee across the west coast. In the classroom, they prefer to let their silliness shine with their students, encouraging everyone to bring their full self to the learning space.

draish@pcrest.org

Having spent two years living and teaching in South America (Ecuador, Chile), David brings a real-world, cultural perspective to his work as Spanish teacher.

His holistic approach to language teaching includes music, films and special projects designed to bring Spanish to life for students.

“It’s important to see Spanish as a real language people use everyday. If you’re motivated to have fun and learn and do creative things, this is a good place.”

jstruck@pcrest.org

A passion for literature-based Continental philosophy, a writer’s enthusiasm for the power and potential of the written word — and a wacky sense of existential humor (if that’s even possible) — that’s our Jeff.

Oh, and he’s a pretty good bicycle racer, too. That’s what he says anyway.

“The small class sizes at Pacific Crest eliminate many of the barriers between teachers and students so that it’s much closer to the ideal collaborative model where you can be creative and personal and an advocate for students.”

cconway@pcrest.org

Teeny wants to invite students on the journey to discover what it means to be an artist and how we can use our intrinsic creativity to heal ourselves and the world around us. Christine “Teeny” Conway has spent most of the last 10 years working as a public elementary school teacher, initially in San Francisco, and now in Portland. In those years, Teeny witnessed in her students an inherent desire to play, create, and build off one another’s ideas.

Teeny is thrilled to bring her skills as an educator and what she knows about developing creative minds into Pacific Crest’s unique school environment with its small class sizes, inspired and original curriculum, and a culture so deeply enmeshed in community building.

csimmons@pcrest.org

Connor believes that any student can learn math and have fun doing it. If you peek into his classroom you might see students locked into a gimkit, working together on whiteboards, or trying to figure out what a 100x100 cheeseburger would cost. He works to employ open ended math problems where the path or the answer aren’t always clear.

Outside of the classroom you can find Connor obsessing over his newest bouldering project, playing beach volleyball, or hanging at the park with friends.

justin@pcrest.org

Justin has a passion for empowering students to create change outside of the classroom in the real world. He works to make classroom material relevant to students' lives in the moment, not just in the future. He focuses on creating a classroom environment where students feel both valued, and empowered to help create their own educational experience.

When he isn't working he enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, and everything coffee.