Our Staff

jenny@pcrest.org
 
The director and co-founder of Pacific Crest, Jenny brings a commitment to youth and education that spans a 25+ 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 Cleland has 10 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.

jrouse@pcrest.org   Jason Rouse is an actor/director/teacher who spent seven years as an announcer and writer for PRI’s Live Wire with Luke Burbank. He’s appeared in feature films (Lean on Pete, Timmy Failure, Netflix’s upcoming Metal Lords), television series (Trinkets, The Perfectionists, Angie Tribeca, Portlandia, Grimm, Leverage), and in a bunch of commercials for the Oregon Lottery and various other totally legitimate “businesses.” With the sketch comedy groups The 3rd Floor and SWEAT, he’s performed around the country and headlined festivals in Portland, Chicago, and New York. He lives happily with his wife Jessica, and the smallest dog in the world, Goldie.

rfraser@pcrest.org
 
Driven by a passion for experiential learning and intellectual curiosity, Rich approaches the sciences, mathematics and live action games from a practical point of view. ‘How’ and ‘why’ are two of his favorite words. Whether delving into physical phenomena, the art of constructing foam swords or how to best remove a stump, he strives to relate learning to life. To Rich, authenticity, imagination and creativity are essential both in and outside of the classroom. Aside from more traditional curriculum, Rich is also a maker, a gardener and wilderness survivalist.

kmaier@pcrest.org
 
With nearly 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.

tpeare@pcrest.org
 
Tigerin directs the science program at Pacific Crest 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.”  

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.”  

lettiejane@gmail.com
 
Lettie believes that all of us have a creative drive and anyone can turn this into art. “The desire to make things and engage in creative dialogues is a uniquely human trait and I’ve been really enjoying cultivating these qualities in my students at Pacific Crest." Lettie has been a working artist and illustrator in Portland for the last ten years. She attended Rhode Island School of Design and holds a BFA in printmaking from the San Francisco Art institue.

ssorenson@pcrest.org Sara is quick to describe herself as “a straight shooter who values expressing truth through humor.” This comes naturally from her mother’s proud roots in Zaragoza, Spain, where people are fond of saying that Castilian Spanish is quite simply the “language of God.”  Add to this, Sara’s All-State high school softball honor, her punk rock band called the Ünïcörnz and her love of games (digital, analog, table-top, you name it), and it’s easy to understand her approach to teaching. “Kids learn when you build a relationship with them and when they’re having fun.”  She says her goal, whether it’s teaching Spanish or technology, is to capture as many skills as possible in a given lesson - speaking, writing, organizing information – and to show students how to add artistry to it that will engage them at every level. Sound bold, busy and energetic? That would be a yes.

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.”  

jmarvin@pcrest.org
Jack Marvin (they/them) joins the PCrest Community every Tuesday to support student and community mental well-being. They work with Jory Mental Health Collective, an organization that provides mental health support throughout the Portland community, as a private and school-based therapist. Additionally, Jack has worked with youth and families for several years as school-based mental health support throughout the Metro area, including at Riverdale High School, Reynolds Middle School, and REY Academy. Jack is committed to fostering youth power, self-efficacy, independence, and a sense of community through an anti-racist and anti-oppressive mental health practice. Jack's self-care includes skiing, throwing and sculpting clay, playing and rarely winning at board games, and soaking up as much vitamin d as they can find in Portland.

dtodd@pcrest.org
Daren Todd is a Portland-based creative whose artistic practice includes painting, mural, and digital design. Daren is the owner of Art Larger Than Me Studios, which aims to uplift communities through fine arts and art merchandise. He also serves as curator for The Downstairs Gallery, which centers the works of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled artists. Daren believes in the power of the arts to inspire change, uplift communities, and share lived experiences to ultimately beautify and better our land. Daren is so excited to be joining the Pacific Crest art department, and is looking forward to learning from the students just as much as teaching them.

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.