Staff Directory

Jessica Castleberry, Environmental Science Teacher

Jessica grew up in southwestern Virginia, where she learned to love the outdoors at a young age by exploring the New River and the Blue Ridge Mountains with her brothers and sisters.  She attended Earlham College, where she was first introduced to Quakerism, and earned a BA in Biology and Psychology.  Won over by Quaker educational philosophy, she continued on to get her Masters in Teaching from Earlham.  Since that time, she has taught in a variety of different environments including rural Indiana, Catalina Island, and Ithaca, New York.  She loves nothing more than traveling and experiencing new places; adventures have taken her across the world to places such as Tanzania, Israel and Palestine, Italy, and Costa Rica.  She also enjoys dancing, biking, hiking, ultimate Frisbee, good food, and music of all sorts. 

Elizabeth De Sa, Garden Manager

Elizabeth grew up in London, in the UK. She graduated from the University of Oxford with a Masters degree in Biology, and completed further postgraduate studies in Math and Science Education at Kings College, London, and the University of South Australia. She has taught
at schools in England, Japan, and Australia, where she became involved with Quakers. Deciding to immerse herself in spiritual community, she joined the Resident Student Program at Pendle Hill for the academic year 2004-05, where she further explored her interests in meditation, arts, theology, and Quaker faith in practice. She has worked at Opequon Quaker Arts Camp for a few summers, and has explored intentional communities and organic farms in New Zealand. Her hobbies include playing the flute, dancing and writing. After a year as The Woolman Semester's Environmental Science teacher, she has now moved into the garden. She is a permaculturist who loves growing food, connecting with nature and figuring out how to live sustainably given current local and global issues. She is passionate about connecting with people on a deep level, listening to the truth of self and
others, and working out how to make real change in the world.

Doug Hamm, Maintenance, Garden & Orchard Supervisor

Having grown up as a nature lover in Ann Arbor, Michigan in a family with strong Quaker connections, Doug started shifting his interests while attending Scattergood, a small Quaker boarding school in Iowa.  Doug graduated from the University of Michigan with a major in psychology and minor in philosophy.  Alternative education at the upper elementary level filled the majority of his first 20 career years. He began working in construction full-time while living in Seattle where his wife had taken a position with the Nursing School. Bill Mollison’s Permaculture work came more seriously to Doug’s attention during this time.  Since arriving at Sierra Friends Center, Doug has been a steady proponent for the appropriateness of sustainability as a piece of the work of peace and justice.

Lara Jablon, World Issues Teacher

While studying Ecology and Environmental History at Macalester College, Lara found a job on an organic farm in Northwestern Wisconsin that changed the path of her life forever.  Now thirteen years later, she has farmed commercially for ten years, raising organic vegetables, working on dairy farms, and consorting with goats, taught outdoor and agricultural education, received a BA in History and a MA in Teaching, and had countless adventures in and out of the country.  Lara is deeply committed to teaching and mentoring that focuses on relationships with people and the environment, artistic expression, and positive, solution based frameworks.  When not teaching, Lara is at a dance class or playing some kind of organized sport, playing with clay, or making things out of wood.  Her favorite moments are spent deep in the woods, sitting by a river and experiencing the beauty of being human in the world.

Benjamin Kessler , Teaching Intern

Ben recently graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with an eclectic BA in Biology, Visual Arts, and Education.  He spent the summer studying permaculture and ecovillage design at Lost Valley, in Oregon.  Ben grew up attending Sandy Spring Friends School in rural Maryland, assimilating Quaker attitudes and philosophy, running cross-country, and mucking about in the woods.  Since then he has maintained an avid interest in gardening, bird-watching, drawing and painting, feminism, anti-racism, and environmental activism, cooking, the sociology of science, and catching newts.

Susan P. McGuire, Office Manager

Susan has a B.A. degree in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  She arrived at John Woolman School in 1989.  After 6 years as the kitchen manager she moved into the office where she has been at home at the front desk, answering phones, greeting guests and tracking a lot of paper.  When not at the hub of Sierra Friends Center, Susan volunteers at the local community radio station, KVMR, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Foothills Swing Dance Society.  To nourish her soul, she practices and performs taiko drumming with Grass Valley Taiko.

Ted Menmuir, Ceramics Instructor

Ted received his BA degree from Whittier College in 1960. Further studies included graduate work in Philosophy of Religion at Southern California School of Theology, and Sociology at The University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Ted's teaching career began with a five-year assignment in Colton California elementary schools. In 1969 he joined the John Woolman School faculty as a Social Science teacher. In subsequent years, he has held positions as Principal, Director of Development and Art Instructor, among others. He is currently semi-retired while continuing to supervise the ceramics program.

Benjamin Rose, Kitchen Manager

Benjamin received his BA in English from The Union Institute.  He is also certified in Waldorf Education and Massage Therapy.  He loves the outdoors – cycling, kayaking, and swimming in the Yuba River. He focuses much of his time on the garden, the sheep, the chickens, and the kitchen.  He has a keen interest in developing sustainable community that feeds the body, soul, and spirit.  

Lisa Rose, Course Manager

Lisa Rose was raised in Nashville, Tennessee, the home of country music.  She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she dabbled in everything from photography to fiber arts.  Way back when, she worked as an artist in watercolor and handmade felt. Nowadays, Lisa is the mother of two lively, creative daughters. In addition to working to create an inspiring environment at Sierra Friends Center, she teaches fiber arts to children, is learning to play the fiddle and is remembering how to find the muse.

Bob Runyan, Executive Director

Bob has been Director of Sierra Friends Center since October of 2005. Prior to taking the helm at the Center, Bob developed educational and scientific computer software.  He is the author of Real Lives, a simulation of life in any country of the world.  Prior to his software career Bob taught high school mathematics, computers, and social science, including a 2-year stint in the Peace Corps in Seychelles (Indian Ocean).  Bob is married to Admissions Director Kathy Runyan.  They are the parents of three energetic teen-age boys.  Bob spends whatever free time he finds with the family and occasionally finds time to pursue his hobbies of running and music.

Kathy Runyan, Admissions Director

Kathy has been involved in education on one level or another since earning a Bachelor's degree in Human Services from California State University at Fullerton. Kathy taught pre-Kindergarten and 1st Grade for 6 years prior to homeschooling her own 3 sons for 10 years from a self-directed learning perspective.  Throughout those years Kathy also volunteered as a teacher and coordinator of children and teen programs in local and regional Quaker meetings. Kathy's ideas of relaxation include reading, drawing, gardening, camping and hiking. However, more than anything, she enjoys just hanging out with friends or family for a nice chat over a cup of tea.

Casey Selden, Sierra Friends Camp Director

Casey first went away to summer camp when she was 8 years old. She's never looked back. She has been working at different camps on both coasts of the U. S. for 11 years now and at Quaker wilderness adventure programs for 8 years. In between these summers, she's earned a bachelors degree in Geography and Geology from Mary Washington College and spent 3 years working as a teacher naturalist and director for an outdoor education program in Northern California. She also spent a year-and-a-half traveling and living abroad and will spend this year leading a group of young adults to the southern hemishphere. She has been co-directing Sierra Friends Camp since it's first summer, in 2005. Casey counts among her camp-related skills a working knowledge of wildrness first-aid, a passion for building communities, expertise in the artform of getting dirty and a gift for cooking gourmet food over a camping stove.

John Springsteen , Maintenance and Grounds

John grew up in the Bronx hiking, playing football, skiing and working for his dad’s automotive business.  He backpacked through Europe and Northern Africa as a teenager, learning about their cultures and meeting interesting folks. He studied liberal arts at a two-year college, has owned several businesses and is a brilliant salesman. He came to work at Sierra Friends Center maintaining the buildings and grounds, animals and orchards and was enthralled with the community and its values. John has two sons who he loves to take skiing, hiking and fishing, and is expecting a third child soon with his partner Cyndi.

Coleman Watts, Peace Studies Teacher

A lifelong member of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Coleman grew up in a Quaker Community near Richmond Virginia.  He graduated from the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program at Guilford College, and went on to study peace and social justice at Pendle Hill. Coleman has produced several documentary films and videos, and also teaches movie-making workshops at Opequon Quaker Camp.  His wide range of interests includes activism, sustainability, gardening, photography, politics, solar power, cooking, and simple living.