Front Office

Marnie Cooke
Executive Director
marnie@odysseydenver.orgI moved to Denver in 1998 to pursue my Master’s and teaching credential, after working in corporate positions in San Francisco for several years. Soon after beginning my studies at University of Colorado, Boulder I began my student teaching at the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning (RMSEL), where I first learned about the power of teaching academics and character in student-centered and meaningful ways. I was hired a few months later as a Middle School Humanities Teacher and spent the next seven years teaching and planning expeditions, fieldwork, and service learning for middle and high school students, while obtaining my national board certification in Early Adolescent English Language Arts.
After leaving RMSEL, I went on to teach and lead in Denver Public Schools for seven years, where I taught in a turnaround school, served as an Assessment Specialist for the district, and worked as an Assistant Principal at Westerly Creek Elementary. In 2013, I returned to EL as a School Designer, and I supported Colorado schools with implementing EL’s core practices. After a brief stint with the Colorado Department of Education, I served as a Turnaround Support Manager where I coached leaders in struggling schools and districts. In 2016, I became Executive Director at Odyssey, where my son is a student. I am committed to increasing clarity of our mission and vision of our remarkable school, setting measurable and shared goals with staff, board members and parents, and holding ourselves accountable for meeting these student-centered goals.



Kim Neal
Office Manager
kim@odysseydenver.orgI am a proud Denver native. I have been married to my husband, Phil, for 19 years. We have been blessed with one terrific son, Colton, who has recently graduated Odyssey this last spring 2015.
I am honored and excited to be the new Front Office Manager. I have been part of the Odyssey community as a parent for 9 years and have subbed in this position for approximately for 6 years.
I look forward to continuing to be involved in the strong Odyssey foundation, working alongside the amazing staff and to be gifted to work with the children.

Elki Neiberger
Director of Operations
elki@odysseydenver.orgI am a Denver native and graduate of Denver Public Schools. I attended the University of Colorado, Boulder and received a Bachelor's degree in Film Studies. I have two amazing children, Jack & Maggie, who are Odyssey graduates.
I have worked at Odyssey since fall of 1999! The Odyssey community is my extended family and I feel so fortunate to watch and participate in the growth and learning of so many awesome young people!
Teachers/Specialists


Becky Bechthold
Art Studio Teacher
becky@odysseydenver.orgI’m originally from the Midwest, growing up in Minneapolis and spending summers with my extended family in North East Iowa. I have fond memories of catching fireflies on the porch, camping with family, swimming in the Mississippi River, and roaming the countryside. After moving to Colorado, my love of the outdoors has only grown. Escaping to the mountains for a hike or a weekend camping trip are among my favorite activities. I landed in Denver about 9 years ago, and enjoy all the city has to offer. I am constantly inspired by local artists and exhibitions in both my own work and my teaching practice. I love researching contemporary artists and often get lost in their work, like getting lost in a good book.
I received my Bachelors of Fine Arts, with an emphasis in painting and Art Education, from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Through my studies at MSU Denver, I had the opportunity to participate in several arts programs that allowed me to travel as I learned. Some of which included Plein Air Painting at Georgia O’Keefe’s Ghost Ranch, and studying abroad focusing on photography and Renaissance art in Florence, Italy.
I have always had a passion for teaching and sharing my love of art with others. I had the privilege of student teaching at Odyssey, and have fallen in love with the Expeditionary Learning model. I am thrilled to be apart of this incredible community and am looking forward to learning and growing along side our wonderful students and teachers.

Emily Bremer
K-3 Literacy Specialist
emily@odysseydenver.orgHi, my name is Emily and I am a mama to two beautiful souls and I am a passionate educator. After a decade in the K-1 classroom, I began a new chapter with reading intervention. Supporting our readers who need extra practice, confidence, and time has been a beautiful fit and an unexpected gift in my life. This work feeds my soul in countless ways. When not teaching our youngest the foundational reading skills that allow them to crack the alphabetic code and unlock their lives as readers, I am busy playing and laughing with my family. We love skipping stones at our favorite lake, sitting on our porch watching mountain sunsets, and eating too much dough when baking. Parenthood instilled in me the insatiable desire to document my son and daughter’s days, so you may also see me with my camera in tow, trying to capture the unique spirit that is our Odyssey school and community.


Billy Burch
2nd/3rd Grade Teacher
billy@odysseydenver.orgBilly 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)!

Lisa Chin
1st Grade Teacher
lisa@odysseydenver.orgI am beyond excited to join the Odyssey community this year as a first grade crew lead! Though I was born in Denver, I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin where I enjoyed the great, albeit muggier, outdoors through camping and biking trips with my family. After high school, I studied psychology and poverty studies at the University of Notre Dame. Upon graduation, I found the mountains were calling and I moved back to Denver where I took up teaching as an Associate Educator for 3rd grade at Ashley Elementary. Although very challenging, the experience was eye opening and I was hooked on the constant learning and growth the profession demanded. I have taught 2nd grade for the past five years in DPS and I earned my Masters from Relay Graduate School of Education in 2018. I am eager to delve into expeditionary learning and the culture of building life-long learners at Odyssey. The curiosities of our youngest students fascinate me and I look forward to exploring the natural world with them as they make discoveries about our community and themselves. In my free time, which is quite a lot recently, I enjoy hiking with my dog, cooking new food, biking, and stand-up paddle boarding. My newest hobbies are water color painting and sugar cookie decorating! I look forward to traveling again, within Colorado and abroad, and aim to stay busy with camping and bonfires this summer.

Paul Cindric
3rd/4th Grade Math Teacher
paul@odysseydenver.orgGrowing up in OH-IO as the youngest of six siblings I spent a lot of time trying to keep up with my brothers and sisters on all of their adventures. After graduating from Ohio University I spent several years teaching in the classroom, as well as guiding and directing various outdoor programs. As the Director of Adventure Programming at Odyssey I get the unique opportunity to combine my passions for adventure and education. At Odyssey, "together, students and adults discover they can do more than they thought possible and find aspects of themselves that they didn't know were there."

Caitlin Eggimann
7th/8th Grade Humanities Teacher
caitlin@odysseydenver.orgI'm Caitlin Eggimann and am the 7/8th grade Humanities teacher and crew leader! I grew up and went to college in Florida, where I earned my degree in Elementary Education and played soccer at Flagler College. I never thought I could live away from the beach until I discovered climbing and camping in the mountains through a middle school outdoor Experiential Education Science School I worked at in California for a year, right out of college. The love of mountains are what ultimately led me out to Denver, CO. I have been teaching elementary education to grades 1-3 and 6th for the past ten years, with the last five years at an Expeditionary Learning (EL) school in Thornton, Colorado. Once I learned about EL Education, I will never go back to the same old way of doing things. I love teaching character traits and emotional learning in the classroom. I am passionate about equity in education on all levels, and believe education should be engaging, challenging, meaningful, and adventurous! Recently, I earned my Masters of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Texas online and took some time to travel the world, climb in beautiful places, soak up different cultures, and spend time with family. Now, I am excited to teach 7th and 8th graders and help raise world changers! Outside of school, I try to be outside as much as possible. I love rock climbing, mountain biking, snowboarding, soccer, park sports, and playing with my pup, Verde!

Kicha Evans
K/1 Teacher Assistant
kicha@odysseydenver.orgI have been a member of the Odyssey community since 2002! I'm a Denver native growing up in Park Hill mostly. I love watching the learning that happens here every day and seeing children grow. I also love my co-workers! My family is also growing as my husband and I are very excited to have our first child this year!

Liz Fasterling
Kindergarten Teacher
liz@odysseydenver.orgI 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.
After receiving my Masters in Early Childhood Education and teaching both 1st and 2nd grade in St. Louis for 4 years, I stumbled upon some books about EL Education. When I first learned about this approach I was overwhelmed with how well it aligned with my own goals and values as an educator, and knew it was the direction in which I wanted to take my teaching career. I joined the Odyssey community during the 2016–17 school year as the K–2 math specialist, and am so grateful to now be learning and playing alongside Odyssey's youngest learners as a K/1 lead teacher.


Maia Holmes
7th/8th Grade Science Teacher
maia@odysseydenver.orgI am originally from Dallas, TX and loved exploring the natural wonders of the Texas Hill Country while receiving my Bachelors of Science in Environmental Studies from Texas State University. However, my heart has always been in Colorado ever since backpacking through Rocky Mountain National Park in the 8th grade. My passion for education stems from over ten years of experience guiding outdoor adventure trips, planning and directing summer camps, running a chapter of a non-profit in college, and working in schools through various positions such as an AmeriCorps instructor, Assistant Director of an enrichment program, and as a Mild and Moderate Behavior para professional. I decided to make my passion for education more official when I joined Teach For America Colorado in 2017. During those two years of service, I earned my Colorado teaching licence in Science Education (7-12) and received my Masters of Teaching with honorable mention in Secondary Science from the Relay Graduate School of Education. Over the past three years, I have built a middle school science curriculum for grades 6th - 8th that is standards based, rigorous, socially conscious, and allows students to explore. I am thrilled to be returning as a teacher to a school community that values outdoor exploration as not only an educational opportunity, but also as a character building opportunity for our students. In my spare time, you can catch me running or biking the trails in Golden with my husband and our dogs, untangling fly line, day dreaming of powder days, or enjoying a good book with a strong cup of coffee.


Brian Johnson
5th/6th Grade Math Teacher
brian@odysseydenver.orgAs my first year at Odyssey I am looking forward to jumping into a new math curriculum this year and meeting all the amazing staff and students I hear so much about. I love all the opportunities EL presents. I was born in Iowa, grew up in Nebraska, and worked at IBM-Boulder for my first career out of college. I went back to grad school to change careers to teaching math the past 12 years, because I felt successful at IBM but never significant. I love it so much now. I have always played sports...high school-college sports, then competitive volleyball mostly the past 25 years. I was fortunate enough to get to backpack some of the world in college and later again playing some international volleyball tournaments, but still plan to see more of the world as I get older. My two dogs and my friends are my family here in Colorado. Besides movies, travel, and sports, I have gotten more into fixing up my 1880’s rowhouse in the downtown area here...SLOW labor of love. I have not yet decided where I will be buried. 😉


Kate McNamara
Special Education Teacher
kate@odysseydenver.orgI have heard so many great things about Odyssey and I am so excited to start this next journey. I am a proud Denver, Colorado native. I have always been passionate about working with students and supporting all students. I started my teaching career in Eastern North Carolina and Washington, DC with Teach For America. I enjoyed my time away from Colorado but always knew that I would come back home. While getting my Masters at CU Denver for special education I learned about Stanley British Primary School. I was drawn towards their commitment towards community and developing a joy in learning. I taught there for 6 years and then found myself drawn back towards public education. I have spent the last two years at Creativity Challenge Community (C3) - a small DPS school. While I have loved C3, I have missed the community aspect of the school with having it so far away from my home. I am excited to be joining a school that shares my values and beliefs and a school where I can become a true part of the community. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my husband and our 3 year old son. We love being outside and enjoying all that our great state has to offer! Biking, hiking, camping, backpacking, skiing – I love it all!

Phoebe Novitsky
Special Education
phoebe@odysseydenver.org

Anne Oberdzinski
1st Grade Teacher
anne@odysseydenver.org



DPS & Other Outside Support Staff

