Eckhoff and Urbach, Early Childhood Education Journal, v36 n2 (2008), p. 185.
A lifelong educator with a passion for nature education, Melissa has taught in several educational settings, including traditional teaching, homeschooling, teaching in foreign cultures, at the university level, and currently as a forest school educator. A mother of three grown children, she left the traditional classroom for twenty years to teach her own children, raising them on twenty acres in the mountain wilderness next to Glacier National Park, Montana where they grew up with nature and wildlife, exploring the out-of-doors and learning essential skills for successful adult life, such as independence, resilience, and creativity. It was also here that Melissa learned the value of nature on education.
She holds a B.A. in education, an M.A. in teaching, a certificate in TESOL instruction, a certificate in forest kindergarten instruction, and is a part-time academic editor. Melissa has also enjoyed creative endeavors such as running her own natural fiber clothing business. She and her husband Clyde have traveled extensively worldwide, enabling her to bring a broad perspective of life to her teaching. In addition to travel, she also enjoys gardening, reading, sewing, cooking, and hiking.
Katie Bowers has homeschooled and raised four children overseas, while she and her husband served as missionaries and field directors with AFM. This will be her seventh year working as a classroom teacher and Head Teacher with Cottage Forest School. She is passionate about helping kids love learning, connect with their Creator and thrive in their educational journey through hands-on experiences, diverse learning styles, great literature, and time in nature. With a B.S. in Elementary Education and over six years of involvement in Cottage Forest School, Katie is energized by the meaningful growth she sees in her students. Originally from Northern Virginia—where she grew up rafting the Shenandoah—and having spent 12 years in the mountains of North Carolina running her small farm, she now enjoys community-building, the outdoors, and relaxing at her off-grid cabin in Northern Michigan.
Jack Bowers grew up in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and is a naturalist at heart. His youth was filled with building forts, fishing, spelunking, and exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains. Those explorations led him to NW North Carolina, where he lived for over a decade.
While mostly rock climbing, he earned a BA in History/Secondary Education and later an MA in Special Education. He has worked with at-risk youth, taught in schools, and helped raise four awesome kids. He also served as a missionary, Field Director, and International Field Director with Adventist Frontier Missions for 19 years.
Jack is married to our lead teacher, Katie. He loves to read, play guitar, work in the garden, and fly fish.
Ashley developed a love of nature while growing up near the mountains, waterfalls, and rugged coastlines of the Pacific Northwest. After working for nine years teaching in Special Education in Oregon, she and her family moved to Michigan in 2015. A mother of three, Ashley had the privilege of homeschooling for six years, including many hours spent outdoors discovering the wonders of Creation and tending to the family garden. In her free time, she finds joy in painting and other art projects, camping, hiking, and exploring state and national parks with her family.
Whether homeschooling, working one-on-one with students in special education classrooms, or leading her church’s youth group with her husband, Ashley enjoys kids of all ages. She is passionate about the mission of Cottage Forest School loves to teach our first and second graders as they learn together from nature, God’s second book.
Lydia grew up in the Middle East with her parents and three siblings. Home-schooled from an early age, she was instilled with a deep appreciation of nature and spent most of her childhood hours playing in the woods. In her free time, Lydia can be found taking walks with her husband, painting, reading, and spending time with her family.
After working in a public daycare, Lydia recognized the need for a non-traditional way of educating children. She strongly believes in the principles that Cottage Forest School is founded upon, and is thankful she is able to belong to an organization that allows children to be immersed in nature as they learn and grow. She is currently working on her associate’s degree in elementary education and plans to go on to get her bachelor’s degree. Lydia assists Teacher Ashley with our first and second graders.
Madalyn grew up in Oklahoma on a family farm, learning valuable life lessons through hard work and living close to nature. A lover of music, she studied piano and cello for many years, eventually playing in an orchestra and teaching piano lessons. She loves creating things, especially food, and looks for ways to use her gifts and talents to serve others. In her free time, Madalyn enjoys spending time outside, camping, reading, and crocheting. After attending Southern Adventist University, Madalyn served in Senegal as a student missionary providing support to a missionary family. Madalyn is a Certified Forest School teacher, and shares her love for God and His creation with our fifth and sixth graders at Cottage Forest School.
Nataliia is originally from Moldova and has been happily married for thirty years to Yuri Drumi who teaches at the seminary at Andrews University. They have three wonderful adult children.
Nataliia earned her BA and MA degrees in Moldova and obtained a Doctor of Arts from the Conservatoy of Moscow, Russia.
She says, “ I have been working with children for 35 years, teaching music (piano, vocals) and art. I love watching children’s joy when they come into contact with music. I write music, songs, and children’s Christian books. I love nature and traveling. I enjoy growing plants and watching birds and animals.”
Nataliia will be the home room teacher for Grades 1 and 2, and will also teach music to all the grades.
