Our Team
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Dr. Lisa Sethre-Hofstad brings a depth of background to the Executive Director role at The Skola. A developmental psychologist by training, she brings over a decade of experience working in higher education as a psychology professor and senior level administrator at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the northernmost university in the world, the University of Tromsø, in Tromsø, Norway. There, she conducted research with Norwegian families with children aged 6 – 12 on sleeping/waking cycles and family routines during the periods of winter darkness and midnight sun. She has further interests in language development, the development of emotion regulation in preschool-aged children and has spent time in the Norwegian preschool (“barnehage”) system.
Dr. Sethre-Hofstad is highly collaborative and an effective team leader. The philosophical underpinning of her work is one that is focused, proactive, and holistic, leveraging her disciplinary expertise in human development to empower those around her to grow and maximize their potential. She actively resists the deficit-based language commonly present in the current cultural narrative about today’s children and is passionate about transformational educational practices and their impact on healthy development in young people.
Dr. Sethre-Hofstad graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. from Concordia College and earned her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Psychology from the University of New Mexico. She has participated in several leadership development programs, expanding her capacity to bring strategic vision to organizations. She and her husband, Steve, have two grown children.
We are excited to meet you!
The Skola comes to life with the efforts of our outstanding staff. As a student at Skola, your child will truly grow in many ways—finding the joy of learning and exploration with a group of mindful educators.
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Educational Program Director / Board Member / FounderBrooke Ober has been a speech-language pathologist for almost 20 years. She is co-owner of MindBright Therapy, specializing in social-emotional learning and executive functioning. She is passionate about helping children understand the brilliance of their unique minds and enhance connection and communication.
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Lead Teacher, Larks
Kimberly Poore has a Masters in both Educational Leadership and Teaching. She is an experienced educator who has previously worked in public, private, and charter schools. Driven by a passion for reading, teaching, and community, she takes pride in providing the best experience possible for her students. In addition to her primary job functions, Kimberly has been a keynote speaker at the New Tech Annual Conference and Teacher of the Year in her former school district for her commitment to project-based learning in the classroom.
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Elementary Teacher
sarah@theskola.org
Sarah was born and raised in Northfield, Minnesota, and she graduated with degrees in Earth and Space Science Education and Spanish from the University of Minnesota. She has spent time teaching environmental education in Rocky Mountain, Denali, Olympic, and Glacier National Parks before joining us at The Skola. Outside of work, you can find Sarah reading, hiking, and skiing!
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Lead Fox Teacher
Kyle Lefler <kyle@theskola.org>10:07 AM (0 minutes ago)
to me
Nicole is excited to return to the Fox forest this school year. Nicole grew up in Minnesota and earned a BS in Biology with an emphasis on conservation from the University of Minnesota. Nicole’s career in environmental education began while in college, working with kids ages 10-18 in guiding and outdoor education roles. After graduation, she became an Expedition Leader with the Montana Conservation Corps, later serving as their Youth Program Coordinator.
Nicole’s passion for environmental education and working with little ones led her to the original Foxtail Preschool in 2022, where she helped with the Fox program and the Skola transition until her move to Washington last year. While in Washington, she supported a Waldorf-inspired classroom for children ages 2-5. Now back in Montana, Nicole is excited to return to teach the Arctic Foxes four days a week, while also supporting the Red Fox group. She’s thrilled to be back in this special community and space for learning!
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Literacy Specialist, FounderPatty Johnson is an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist and co-owner of MindBright therapy center. Patty has worked for years in public schools and private practice. Through intention, play, and imagination, Patty strives to find the topics that spark students' interests to help them learn and build self-confidence. She is completing a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies in Language and Literacy. Patty is also on the board of The Reading League MT.
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Lead Teacher, Larkskrista@theskola.org
Krista Booher has been a certified elementary teacher with over ten years of experience in the classroom, primarily with grades K-3. When her two young daughters became school age, she realized she wanted something different from the typical public school offerings for her girls. After spending a couple of years homeschooling, she found the Skola. She is excited to work with the Skola team to offer many wonderful learning opportunities for the children, including bringing nature and projects into everyday learning, particularly with mathematics which is where her passion lies.
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Outdoor Educator
I was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. I graduated from New College of CA with a degree in Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community in 2005, and went on to study naturalist skills, animal tracking, and nature awareness through the Regenerative Design Institute and Weaving Earth from 2007-2010. I attended Lynx Vilden’s Living Wild Stone-Age project in 2013, where I lived in the woods under a tarp in Eastern Washington for six months while learning wildcrafting and stone-age living skills, and finished the program with a month of stone-age living, eating only wild foods and using only stone-age technology.
I have worked as a nature educator and ancestral skills artist since 2007, with organizations such as the Regenerative Design Institute, Weaving Earth, the Riekes Center, Rewild Portland, Trackers Northwest, Wild Earth, the Buckeye Gathering, and Ravenwood Outdoor Learning Center.
I believe it is every person’s birthright to connect to nature because nature offers good medicine for our modern ills and helps us come back into balance with being human. I also think that everyone deserves a chance to have a ton of fun, and since nature is an endless source of challenge, exhilaration, fascination and amusement, we all deserve nature in our lives.
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Community and Culture CoordinatorKyle has more than 10 years of experience creating and facilitating educational programming in the outdoors, most recently as the Program Director at a therapeutic boarding school. She believes that adults have much to learn from children, and that intergenerational spaces encourage empathy, growth and play for all. Kyle is passionate about community care and strives to model compassion, honesty and gratitude in her life as a teacher. She believes deeply in the vision of the Skola and is honored to be part of the team.
She recharges her soul with live music, lake swims, chilly ski days, and time in the kitchen with friends.
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Lead Owl (Kinder) Teacher
Adrianna Robinson is an adventurer, lifelong learner, and passionate advocate for all things kindergarten (she serves as the Kinder (Owl) teacher at the Skola! Originally from Ohio, she and her husband have fallen in love with mountain life and are beyond glad to live here. Since earning her degree in Early Childhood Education, she has discovered a deep appreciation for forest schools and project-based learning! Adrianna believes that meaningful learning happens through play, exploration in nature, and the freedom to learn through trial and error. She says that every day, her students remind her that learning is a lifelong journey—they’re often the best teachers!
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Hillary Parker is a master naturalist and international award-winning botanical watercolor artist with paintings exhibited, sold and collected worldwide. Using her degree in art education, she has enjoyed a dual career of painting, as well as teaching private art classes from her studio and watercolors workshops around the world, spanning 35 years. Now, living in northwest Montana, she is inspired daily by her majestic surroundings and shares her passion for nature through her paintings, while sharing her knowledge, experience and love of art with students in an enthusiastic and supportive way.
Hillary’s joy is connecting people to nature through art. Here at The Skola, she has developed the new art department, designing The Art Barn as a beautiful space to inspire creativity and connection to nature, where you will find her teaching art classes K-4 on a weekly basis, as well as offering summer art camps.
Hillary can also be found teaching art to adults throughout Flathead Valley at FVCC’s Continuing Education program and during the summers, she partners with Glacier Institute, offering Wildflowers in Watercolors and Nature Journaling courses up in Glacier National Park.
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Fox Teacher
whitney@theskola.org
Whitney joins us with a robust background including, nanny, naturalist and boat captain, wilderness therapy field instructor and logistics manager, and overseas organic farming. Whitney's formal education is in Elementary Education, with 6 years experience in a public school setting teaching grades K-2, and has most recently spent her time raising two kids. Her passion for being home with them paired with a love of the outdoors and education is what led her to discovering a love for preschool! She is excited to help nurture and develop a comprehensive program that will meet the needs of all of our students. She believes in protecting childhood and looks forward to nurturing, teaching, and playing with your kids!
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Student Services Director
kate@theskola.org
Kate is so excited to be joining The Skola as the Director of Student Support! She and her family recently moved here from Eagle, Colorado, and are loving their new home and the incredible beauty of the area.
Kate has spent the past 15 years working in education, starting out in Environmental Education as a naturalist in places like Alaska, Southern California, and Colorado, and had the amazing opportunity to teach English in Brazil! After completing a master’s degree in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University, she transitioned into public schools, where she taught high school and middle school social studies, English Language Arts, English as a Second Language, and served as an instructional coach. In 2022, she completed another master’s at the University of Colorado focused on teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students and students with disabilities. Helping all students thrive is truly her passion!
Outside of school, she loves spending time with her family, exploring the outdoors, and heading to the beach whenever she can. She is so grateful to be part of The Skola community and looking forward to supporting our students and families!
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Fox Teacher
joshua@theskola.org
Joshua was born and raised in the mitten state of Wisconsin. His first memories are of frequent hunting, camping, fishing, and hiking trips with his parents. At 17, Joshua was determined to see the world and set off on a three-month expedition in Baja Mexico learning how to be a professional in the outdoors through the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Following his NOLS course, he took a road trip up to Alaska to continue his education in Outdoor Leadership.
Joshua’s greatest passions are being in the outdoors and helping others, and so it was an easy decision to study Outdoor Studies and Psychology at Alaska Pacific University. He graduated with a B.A. in May of 2014 and moved to Utah to work as a guide and mentor in a wilderness therapy program. Missing Alaska, he came back in 2016 and continued working in his field as a recreational therapist. Recently, Joshua continued to work with students as a ski and snowboard instructor and was a lead instructor at an expedition based program in Alaska. He loves getting outdoors with students and sharing his love for well-being, nature, and adventure.
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Jenny Ingram has been teaching for 18 years in classrooms ranging from toddlers to middle school, both in the U.S. and abroad. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies focusing on Early Childhood through 4th Grade Education from the University of North Texas. While she has worked with learners of all ages, her heart belongs to preschoolers—especially those between 3 and 5 years old. Jenny thrives on nurturing curiosity, building confidence, and helping every child feel seen, supported, and excited to learn. She treasures the “a-ha” moments that spark in young minds, knowing that what may seem small to us can be huge milestones for them.
Outside the classroom, Jenny enjoys hiking, exploring her new found love of golf, and reading or writing poetry—particularly haiku.
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Haley grew up in rural “Down East” Maine, dreaming of being a teacher and playing school in the woods outside her house. She graduated from the University of Maine with a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education and a concentration in English. During her college summers, she worked in Glacier National Park as a backpacking and biking guide, becoming familiar with the valley. Working at the Skola is a dream come to life, and she is excited to share her skills with Skola students. When she’s not working, Haley loves bikepacking, skiing, reading and scrapbooking.