Odyssey Teachers
| Position | Name | |
| Teacher Grades K-2 | Edie Howard |
|
| Teacher Grades K-2 | Kate Wilebski |
|
| Teacher Grades K-2 | Sue Gregoire |
|
| Teacher Grades 3-5 | Angela LeVan |
|
| Teacher Grades 3-5 | Dede Marron |
|
| Teacher Grades 3-5 | Heather Mankowski |
|
| Teacher Grades 6-8 | Alan Damon |
|
| Teacher Grades 6-8 | Harmony Brinks-Detzer |
|
| Teacher Grades 6-8 | Kristina Rothwell |
|
| Teacher Grade 8 Spanish | Jack Rainey |
|
The K12 CLUSTER TEAM
Kate Wilebski
Kate Wilebski joined the Odyssey Teaching team in 2009. She spent her first three years in the 3-5 cluster. Since then she's been in the K-2 cluster and she couldn’t be happier!
Kate graduated from Southern Oregon University in 2000 with a BS in Criminology. She then accepted a position with Trillium Family Services as a Child and Adolescent Treatment Specialist where she found her passion and gift for working directly with children. She eventually became a treatment team leader, overseeing nine treatment staff as well as fifteen patients. Kate’s eight years at Trillium were spent working with many emotionally disturbed children, a challenging job for anyone. It was here that she discovered her natural ability to build relationships with kids quickly and its immeasurable value in reaching them. She felt rewarded when patients learned skills to cope with challenges, allowing them to be discharged to foster families. As a Day Treatment teacher, Kate combined her love of learning and her own positive childhood experiences in the classroom to teach children.
From her experiences as a treatment leader and teacher, Kate was accepted into the Masters of Arts in Teaching program at Concordia University and graduated in 2008. Before Odyssey, she worked as a fourth grade teacher with North Clackamas School District. Since joining our community, Kate has been mentored directly by Odyssey co-founder, Marion Grassley. She grew up in SW Portland where she lives with her husband of 15 years and their adorable son.
Edie Howard
Received her BS Degree from California State University Sacramento in Recreation and Parks Resource Management. Budget cuts turned her path and she eventually found her way back to school at The Roston Montessori Teacher Institute. She taught in private Montessori Schools for 10 years. She moved to Oregon in 1987 living in Government Camp, Sandy, Hammond on the coast and now Portland.
After having two wonderful children, she went to the University of Portland and received her Masters of Arts in Teaching. After graduation, her love for the natural world lead her to take a 2 week summer course “Teachers on the Leading Edge” travelling in a school bus to the coast and then crossing the state to the Snake River Canyon, learning about the geology of Oregon all along the way. She just loves rocks!
She lives in SE Portland with her husband Richard, son James and two dogs Sadie and Josiah (both lab-mixes). Her daughter, Dagnie, lives in Boston while getting applications ready for Med School.
She has been working in PPS since 2004 and she joined the OdysseyK12 team in 2012. She enjoys working with such a wonderful community here at Hayhurst.
Sue Gregoire
Coming soon
The 345 CLUSTER TEAM
Angela LeVan
Angela LeVan migrated to Portland Oregon nine years ago from Erie Pennsylvania, where she earned her Bachelors of Science degree in the fields of Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education. After graduating she was an assistant teacher within a Montessori Program, and then went on to teach at a residential treatment facility for at risk youth. She received her Masters of Education at Portland State University in the area of Leadership in Ecology, Culture, and Learning. Through her Masters program she focused on ecological education design with Portland Public Schools, assisting in the development of educational programs in relation to garden, farm, nature, and place based curriculum. She recently transferred from Sunnyside Environmental School where she taught Middle School Field Study and Special Education. Along with her love of teaching, Angela has been spending her summers and spare time farming. She cultivates vegetables, medicinal herbs, mushrooms, and provides educational programs to children and adults, and also makes herbal medicinal formulas from what she grows. Angela has been teaching for the past ten years in the fields of outdoor education, special education, and herbalism. Her enthusiasm for working with the medicines of the earth guide her in her practices as a teacher, farmer, and herbalist. She is excited to be a member of the Odyssey Community.
Heather Mankowski
Coming Soon.
DeDe Marron
DeDe Marron is no stranger to the Odyssey Program or Hayhurst School. In 2009, DeDe taught Kindergarten in the neighborhood school for a long-term leave. More recently, during the 2011-2012 school year, DeDe stepped in for Kate Wilebski while she was on maternity leave. She immediately fell in love with the students, families, staff, and the excitement of the Odyssey Program. She is thrilled to be back at Hayhurst and can't wait to start the new school year!
DeDe is coming to us from Mary Rieke Elementary, where she worked as a part time core support teacher to the 2nd grade team. Prior to that, DeDe had been working as a substitute teacher for Portland Public Schools for five years. She quickly became the “go to substitute” for many teachers throughout the district because of her willingness to go the extra mile, her love of children, organizational skills, and her bright and bubbly personality. DeDe attended Portland State University, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts with a concentration in painting and her Masters of Education Degree.
DeDe and her husband Chris have a dog named Stanley, a two-year-old Pointer-Boxer mix, who is constantly getting into trouble and a five year old goldfish named Steve Bijoux. They live in Milwaukie, where they recently purchased their first house. Their weekends now consist of frequent visits to Lowes and Home Depot! When she is not working on home improvement projects, DeDe loves to do anything creative. She enjoys sewing, crafting, making new recipes, and shopping for vintage pieces.
The 678 CLUSTER TEAM
Alan Damon
Alan Damon began at Odyssey in 2003 and has over 25 years teaching experience in the Portland Public Schools. From the beginning, Alan has embraced the core values of the Odyssey Program by team teaching with Marion Grassley and Susan Anderson, using cooperative learning, differentiated instructional practices, integration, and other Odyssey essentials, for ten years at Chapman Elementary. For four years, Alan took on the challenging
and rewarding task of teaching mathematics to Jackson Middle School students. For the 2003-04 school year, he returned to Chapman to assist with the work of expanding Odyssey to its current configuration as a K-8 program at Hayhurst. For the past nine years Alan has been focused on developing curriculum and teaching in the Odyssey 678 program. He is very excited about beginning Odyssey’s 10th year at Hayhurst.
Kristina Rothwell
Before Kristina became an Odyssey teacher, she was the program’s favorite substitute teacher! Now the program is lucky enough to boast about their fabulous 678 Teacher and Drama Director Extraordinaire, not to mention her always-capable companion, Mr. Rothwell, who builds sets, transports Odyssey goods, and can do, well, just about anything. The Rothwell’s two children have both attended Odyssey’s 678, and their son Jack graduated from Odyssey’s 8th grade this past June, while their daughter Lucy is beginning her freshman year at Southern Oregon University.
Kristina began her studies of English Literature with a minor in drama, from Middlesex University in London, where she lived for almost 10 years. Odyssey students regularly benefit greatly from her rich performance background! After returning to Portland, with an English husband, Kristina worked in customer service for the Hanna Anderson’s children’s clothing company and as a paralegal for a criminal defense lawyer. She returned to school in 2002 earning a Masters Degree in teaching from the University of Portland. After teaching reading and Language Arts at Kellogg Middle School for one year, Kristina worked as a sub before joining the Odyssey staff. We are thrilled to be able to count Kristina as both an Odyssey parent and teacher.
Harmony Brinks
Harmony began with Odyssey in 2010, and she teaches the advanced 678 math classes and leads up the science instruction. She is from Las Vegas, Nevada, and graduated from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she studied math and secondary education. Harmony taught math at the high school level in Las Vegas before moving to Portland in 2010. She lives in Southeast Portland with her partner, Judah, and their puppy Archie.
Jack Rainey
After 5 years teaching within Portland Public Schools and 7 years with San Francisco schools (and many years in business in between), Jack comes to Hayhurst this year to offer Spanish 1-2 to students of the 8th grade Odyssey program. The majority of his day is at Jackson Middle School where he teaches classes of 1st and 2nd year Spanish to 7th and 8th graders; then moves to Hayhurst for the mid-afternoon class.
He has collaborated with Wilson High School teachers of Spanish and administration to enable his 1-2 and 3-4 program students an opportunity to achieve a full 1 credit (for each course) toward the 2-credit high school foreign language graduation requirement. His Hayhurst 8th grade students will have the opportunity to receive 1 credit toward the foreign language requirements for graduation.
Kate Wilebski
Kate Wilebski joined the Odyssey Teaching team in 2009. She spent her first three years in the 3-5 cluster. Since then she's been in the K-2 cluster and she couldn’t be happier!
Kate graduated from Southern Oregon University in 2000 with a BS in Criminology. She then accepted a position with Trillium Family Services as a Child and Adolescent Treatment Specialist where she found her passion and gift for working directly with children. She eventually became a treatment team leader, overseeing nine treatment staff as well as fifteen patients. Kate’s eight years at Trillium were spent working with many emotionally disturbed children, a challenging job for anyone. It was here that she discovered her natural ability to build relationships with kids quickly and its immeasurable value in reaching them. She felt rewarded when patients learned skills to cope with challenges, allowing them to be discharged to foster families. As a Day Treatment teacher, Kate combined her love of learning and her own positive childhood experiences in the classroom to teach children.
From her experiences as a treatment leader and teacher, Kate was accepted into the Masters of Arts in Teaching program at Concordia University and graduated in 2008. Before Odyssey, she worked as a fourth grade teacher with North Clackamas School District. Since joining our community, Kate has been mentored directly by Odyssey co-founder, Marion Grassley. She grew up in SW Portland where she lives with her husband of 15 years and their adorable son.
Edie Howard
Received her BS Degree from California State University Sacramento in Recreation and Parks Resource Management. Budget cuts turned her path and she eventually found her way back to school at The Roston Montessori Teacher Institute. She taught in private Montessori Schools for 10 years. She moved to Oregon in 1987 living in Government Camp, Sandy, Hammond on the coast and now Portland.
After having two wonderful children, she went to the University of Portland and received her Masters of Arts in Teaching. After graduation, her love for the natural world lead her to take a 2 week summer course “Teachers on the Leading Edge” travelling in a school bus to the coast and then crossing the state to the Snake River Canyon, learning about the geology of Oregon all along the way. She just loves rocks!
She lives in SE Portland with her husband Richard, son James and two dogs Sadie and Josiah (both lab-mixes). Her daughter, Dagnie, lives in Boston while getting applications ready for Med School.
She has been working in PPS since 2004 and she joined the OdysseyK12 team in 2012. She enjoys working with such a wonderful community here at Hayhurst.
Sue Gregoire
Coming soon
The 345 CLUSTER TEAM
Angela LeVan
Angela LeVan migrated to Portland Oregon nine years ago from Erie Pennsylvania, where she earned her Bachelors of Science degree in the fields of Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education. After graduating she was an assistant teacher within a Montessori Program, and then went on to teach at a residential treatment facility for at risk youth. She received her Masters of Education at Portland State University in the area of Leadership in Ecology, Culture, and Learning. Through her Masters program she focused on ecological education design with Portland Public Schools, assisting in the development of educational programs in relation to garden, farm, nature, and place based curriculum. She recently transferred from Sunnyside Environmental School where she taught Middle School Field Study and Special Education. Along with her love of teaching, Angela has been spending her summers and spare time farming. She cultivates vegetables, medicinal herbs, mushrooms, and provides educational programs to children and adults, and also makes herbal medicinal formulas from what she grows. Angela has been teaching for the past ten years in the fields of outdoor education, special education, and herbalism. Her enthusiasm for working with the medicines of the earth guide her in her practices as a teacher, farmer, and herbalist. She is excited to be a member of the Odyssey Community.
Heather Mankowski
Coming Soon.
DeDe Marron
DeDe Marron is no stranger to the Odyssey Program or Hayhurst School. In 2009, DeDe taught Kindergarten in the neighborhood school for a long-term leave. More recently, during the 2011-2012 school year, DeDe stepped in for Kate Wilebski while she was on maternity leave. She immediately fell in love with the students, families, staff, and the excitement of the Odyssey Program. She is thrilled to be back at Hayhurst and can't wait to start the new school year!
DeDe is coming to us from Mary Rieke Elementary, where she worked as a part time core support teacher to the 2nd grade team. Prior to that, DeDe had been working as a substitute teacher for Portland Public Schools for five years. She quickly became the “go to substitute” for many teachers throughout the district because of her willingness to go the extra mile, her love of children, organizational skills, and her bright and bubbly personality. DeDe attended Portland State University, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts with a concentration in painting and her Masters of Education Degree.
DeDe and her husband Chris have a dog named Stanley, a two-year-old Pointer-Boxer mix, who is constantly getting into trouble and a five year old goldfish named Steve Bijoux. They live in Milwaukie, where they recently purchased their first house. Their weekends now consist of frequent visits to Lowes and Home Depot! When she is not working on home improvement projects, DeDe loves to do anything creative. She enjoys sewing, crafting, making new recipes, and shopping for vintage pieces.
The 678 CLUSTER TEAM
Alan Damon
Alan Damon began at Odyssey in 2003 and has over 25 years teaching experience in the Portland Public Schools. From the beginning, Alan has embraced the core values of the Odyssey Program by team teaching with Marion Grassley and Susan Anderson, using cooperative learning, differentiated instructional practices, integration, and other Odyssey essentials, for ten years at Chapman Elementary. For four years, Alan took on the challenging
and rewarding task of teaching mathematics to Jackson Middle School students. For the 2003-04 school year, he returned to Chapman to assist with the work of expanding Odyssey to its current configuration as a K-8 program at Hayhurst. For the past nine years Alan has been focused on developing curriculum and teaching in the Odyssey 678 program. He is very excited about beginning Odyssey’s 10th year at Hayhurst.
Kristina Rothwell
Before Kristina became an Odyssey teacher, she was the program’s favorite substitute teacher! Now the program is lucky enough to boast about their fabulous 678 Teacher and Drama Director Extraordinaire, not to mention her always-capable companion, Mr. Rothwell, who builds sets, transports Odyssey goods, and can do, well, just about anything. The Rothwell’s two children have both attended Odyssey’s 678, and their son Jack graduated from Odyssey’s 8th grade this past June, while their daughter Lucy is beginning her freshman year at Southern Oregon University.
Kristina began her studies of English Literature with a minor in drama, from Middlesex University in London, where she lived for almost 10 years. Odyssey students regularly benefit greatly from her rich performance background! After returning to Portland, with an English husband, Kristina worked in customer service for the Hanna Anderson’s children’s clothing company and as a paralegal for a criminal defense lawyer. She returned to school in 2002 earning a Masters Degree in teaching from the University of Portland. After teaching reading and Language Arts at Kellogg Middle School for one year, Kristina worked as a sub before joining the Odyssey staff. We are thrilled to be able to count Kristina as both an Odyssey parent and teacher.
Harmony Brinks
Harmony began with Odyssey in 2010, and she teaches the advanced 678 math classes and leads up the science instruction. She is from Las Vegas, Nevada, and graduated from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she studied math and secondary education. Harmony taught math at the high school level in Las Vegas before moving to Portland in 2010. She lives in Southeast Portland with her partner, Judah, and their puppy Archie.
Jack Rainey
After 5 years teaching within Portland Public Schools and 7 years with San Francisco schools (and many years in business in between), Jack comes to Hayhurst this year to offer Spanish 1-2 to students of the 8th grade Odyssey program. The majority of his day is at Jackson Middle School where he teaches classes of 1st and 2nd year Spanish to 7th and 8th graders; then moves to Hayhurst for the mid-afternoon class.
He has collaborated with Wilson High School teachers of Spanish and administration to enable his 1-2 and 3-4 program students an opportunity to achieve a full 1 credit (for each course) toward the 2-credit high school foreign language graduation requirement. His Hayhurst 8th grade students will have the opportunity to receive 1 credit toward the foreign language requirements for graduation.
