Alisha grew up in Denver, CO and was a student at the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning (RMSEL). She received her BA and MA from the University of Colorado. She received her teaching certification from the Stanley Teacher Preparation Program. Alisha worked at Odyssey in 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 as an assistant and a 7th grade Literacy teacher intern. In 2010, she planned and co-led the 7th and 8th grade trip to Israel and the West Bank. She’s returning to Odyssey after six years of leading a 4/5 crew at RMSEL.

Alisha has a love for life. Her spirit and empathy for all people is palpable.  During the student interactions she had on the day of her interview,  kids wanted to keep engaging with her long after their allotted time.  In Alisha’s spare time, she loves to read and write.  Alisha has also become an avid proponent of green building, recently remodeling her kitchen, living room and dining room using many green building techniques.  Alisha brings a talent for leading adult learning. In 2014, she presented at EL Education’s national conference and has regularly served as a classroom lab teacher and mentor.  She comes us hoping to grow her own teaching practice even more!

Hi! My name is Willa and I am so excited to be joining the K/1 team this year. This will be my first year teaching at Odyssey, but I attended Odyssey as a student from 1998-2004, so it feels like coming home. I love the Odyssey community and remember my time as a student there fondly. I will never forget sleeping under the stars for the first time, working on an expedition with my crew, and all of the wonderful Odyssey traditions that still remain today. I feel so fortunate to be working with such an incredible team of teachers here. I recently finished my intern year through the Stanley Teacher Preparation Program where I taught at two different elementary schools, and have worked with children my whole life as a camp counselor, nanny, and theatre director. I majored in theatre during my undergrad and spent some time living in Barcelona after I graduated, working and acting with a theatre company over there. I am currently working on my masters in Education and Human Development and I love learning about how kids develop, grow, and best learn. When I am not teaching, I can be found hiking with my new puppy (Pepper), trying out new recipes in the kitchen, attending a local theatre production, or simply hanging out in the backyard with my family and friends. I am a Denver native and love everything about our beautiful state. I cannot wait to spend 5 days a week discovering, laughing, learning, and growing with my Odyssey crew!

Billy was born in Rhode Island and grew up in Virginia.  After graduating from Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!) with a degree in music, he moved to Denver (where his father and grandparents spent much of their lives) to enjoy all that this wonderful city and its surroundings have to offer.  In 2005, Billy began working at the Odyssey School of Denver as a teaching assistant.  After returning to the role of student at UC Denver and earning his Master's degree in education, Billy gratefully accepted his current role as a lead teacher of second and third grade in 2010.  He is thrilled and proud to be a part of this committed, driven, adventurous, and compassionate crew of staff members.  Some of Billy's favorite ways to pass the time outside of school include playing, listening to, and dancing to live music, and perhaps above all, skiing through heaps of powder with dear friends (many of whom are also Odyssey staffers)!

I am originally from Evergreen, CO, where I learned to hike, camp, and ski at a young age with my mom, dad, and sister. Early on, I also developed a love of reading, and learned that you can travel to any time period and meet the most incredible people through books.

My love of learning brought me to the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, studying History and Asian Studies. Some highlights of my time at UPS include working as a trip leader and coordinator with the Outdoor Programs club, leading backpacking and canoeing orientation trips in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and traveling through nine different Asian countries on a year-long study abroad program. After graduating, I moved to Phoenix, AZ where I taught seventh and eighth grade English Language Arts for two years. I love working with middle school students, and I am thrilled to combine my passions for History and Literature as the new Humanities teacher. My hobbies include reading voraciously, long-distance running, cooking, traveling, and all things that involve being outdoors.

I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, but growing up I spent my summers on a sandbar in Lake Erie and my winters on a snowboard in Keystone. When I was 9 my family moved to Warsaw, Poland, for 3 years, and the international community left a lasting impact on my love for new experiences and appreciation for perspectives different from my own.

The start of my journey with Odyssey marks the beginning of my 9th year as an educator. I have taught in Mexico, Chile, Michigan, and Colorado. I received my undergraduate and graduate degree from the University of Michigan, and during that time I spent two and half years studying, teaching, and living in Santiago, Chile. In Chile I worked for an outdoor education company where I planned and led academic and adventure based trips into the Andes Mountains and throughout the Patagonia. After returning to the states I taught 5 years in Denver Public Schools, and then embarked on a 2 year adventure in Sayulita, Mexico where I taught 5th/6th grade and worked as an assessment coordinator and interventionist. My background in outdoor and adventure education has given me the skills to facilitate students in taking risks and breaking academic and personal barriers. Literacy, and love for literature is at the core of every multidisciplinary unit I’ve developed and implemented. 6th graders will transform as readers and writers as we study mentor texts, and experiment with our own voices as writers. We breath life into fiction and non-fiction as we move throughout the year. It is my commitment to each and every one of my students that they internalize and know that they are an integral member of our classroom community. Real world excursions have always provided the foundation for the thematic interdisciplinary units that I have built upon over the past six years. While much my work has been through the lens of Education For Sustainability standards, I am beyond excited to grow my craft as I learn from the Expeditionary learning community.  As an educator at Odyssey I am committed to engaging all students and preparing them with the tools they need to address global and environmental problems and implement sustainable solutions. Let the adventures begin!

I've been Odyssey’s Physical Education Teacher since the Fall of 2005.  I have a BA in Kinesiology from the University of Northern Colorado, with an emphasis in Outdoor Physical Education and K-12 licensure.  I am also WFR (wilderness first responder) certified and am always thrilled when I get to lead/co-lead, support, or accompany crews on Adventure outings.  I love (and greatly connect with) Odyssey's experiential-based and adventure-based learning philosophy -- with our great bend toward character & habits education.

My personal loves and passions (besides my family & teaching) are biking, motorcycling, camping, hiking, climbing anything, rollerblading, baking, writing, reading, exploring, traveling, languages, music, grilling, coffee & craft beers, campfires, and building stuff.

I was born in Ft. Madison, Iowa in February of 1970 (both sets of grandparents being 2nd generation mid-west farming families of English/German descent) but I was raised in NW Denver from the age of six.  I graduated from North High School in 1988.  I spent three years in the U.S. Army (stationed in Mainz, Germany and then Ft. Campbell, KY), from 1990 to 1993.  I spent most of the next decade doing all sorts of lovely and hard stuff (mostly marriage, kids, working, and finishing college).

My first real career job out of college was landing the Odyssey Physical Education position under Nelson Chase (a previous director), after a year of substitute teaching in Greeley Colorado.  I have been married to my wife, Anita, since 1995.  We have two children. Our daughter Zoe graduated from Odyssey in 2012 -- at Odyssey since 2nd grade.  Our son Max graduated in 2015 -- at Odyssey since Kindergarten.

Although I am not crew leader, I wear a few different “hats” at Odyssey.  In addition to teaching 6th grade math, I also work as an interventionist for grades 6-8.  This means that I support a variety of students in literacy and math when they need extra support or extensions.

I grew up on the east coast, in a town just north of Boston, where my family still calls home.  I visit them often and when I do, I love spending time boating, swimming and playing in the ocean.  Although I love Colorado’s mountains, and have been here for 15 years, I’m definitely an ocean girl at heart.

As for my teaching path, I started teaching at Odyssey in 2000, when I was an intern teacher in a 3^rd& 4^th grade classroom.  I then taught 5^th & 6^th grade at Odyssey for the next 4 years at both the Elm St., and Stapleton locations.  After a stint teaching 6^th grade at an EL school in California, and 5 great years teaching 4^th & 5^th grade at RMSEL (Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning) in Denver, I found my way back to Odyssey in 2011.  In addition to teaching, I’ve held other roles in the schools in which I have worked.  I served on the Odyssey board, the RMSEL leadership team, and I’ve been a mentor teacher to three intern teachers.  Currently, I am on Odyssey’s instructional leadership team.   All in all, I’m enthusiastic about teaching and learning and I feel lucky to be part of such a strong and vibrant educational community here at Odyssey.  It’s an honor and a gift to teach alongside such talented and driven educators.

Outside of my teaching life, I ride my bike as much as I can, I love to ski, I read a lot, I enjoy playing Scrabble and all sorts of games, I try to sew and knit and be somewhat crafty, I cook when I’m not too tired, and I practice a lot of yoga during the school year.  This summer my wife and I spent a few weeks camping in our VW van, exploring our favorite places in Colorado, like Crested Butte, while also adventuring to new spots, like Silverton as well.

I grew up in the heart of Chicago, and have been strongly influenced by my childhood there surrounded by the lake, the museums, and the diversity of a large city.  My family had a love for skiing, and I feel in love with the mountains through family trips out West.  I completed my BFA in Art and Anthropology at the University of Iowa, which was sprinkled with travels through Latin America.  I moved to Fort Collins where I played completive ultimate frisbee, hiked, camped and ran the Poudre Canyon regularly.   I returned to Chicago to complete my Masters degree at the School of the Art Institute, and completed my teaching certification at Colorado State University.   I met my husband playing ultimate here in Denver, and together we have three beautiful kiddos - KJ (Jason's Crew), Scarlet (Emily's crew) and Etta Jo (Kindergarten class of 2020!).   I feel so fortunate to be at Odyssey where my passion for both art and the outdoors are central values!