Our Team
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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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.
brooke@theskola.org
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Lead TeacherKimberly 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.
kimberly@theskola.org
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Lead Kindergarten Owls Teacher
Sam has experience specifically in Waldorf style elementary education for grades K-5th, agriculture based elementary school education, and organizing and running agriculture rooted field trip curriculums and children’s farm experience programs. She has a B.A. from University of Montana and most recently was a teacher at a Nature Based School program called Campfire of Western Montana. Here are a few words from this amazing teacher:
“Hi, I’m Sam! I am just moving to Montana, coming from running an elementary school on a farm out West. I am a lover of joy and all things outdoors. My goal as an educator is to be a model worthy of imitation and a steward of peace and discovery through the world and the beauty of nature. When I am not teaching you can find me diving into my passions for snowboarding, dirt biking, backpacking and surfing! My heart is filled with happiness as I approach the day I get to meet you all!”
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Lead Foxtail Teacher
natalie@theskola.org
Natalie has worked as a Lead Teacher at Foxtail for 2 years. She has with children in a variety of outdoor settings, from swimming to rock climbing to teaching ecology. After graduating from Hamilton College, Natalie moved to mid-coast Maine where she worked as an Open Air instructor. While she was there, she saw firsthand the value of outdoor experiential learning. Upon moving to the Flathead Valley in 2019, Natalie had the opportunity to help the Flathead Lake Biological Station develop and deliver classroom lessons for children throughout the valley. She is excited and grateful to have the opportunity to foster adventure and learning at Foxtail!
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Curriculum Director, 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 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.
krista@theskola.org
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Outdoor Educator
Karen Pogorzelski grew up in the deciduous forests and fields of upstate NY. She moved to Montana in 2002, and the Flathead Valley in 2017.
Karen started mentoring children in Nature Connection in 2005, when she apprenticed and taught with Twin Eagles Wilderness School in Sandpoint, Idaho. Over the next 4+ years, she did trainings at Wilderness Awareness School and The Tracker School.
More recently, Karen taught at Woodland Montessori School in Kalispell for the past 3 years. She completed her American Montessori Society (AMS) Early Childhood Credential in September 2020, through the Montana Montessori Teacher Education Institute. She loves the Montessori philosophy on Sensory Awareness and nurturing a child's independence, and she is enthusiastic to harmonize these principles with the natural environment at Foxtails.
Karen partners locally with the North Valley Music School and Ravenwood Outdoor Learning Center. She is a Storyteller, a Songcatcher, and a Musician. She has lived in Germany, Spain, and Ireland, and she is passionate about speaking foreign languages with the children, especially when they are in this stage of the Absorbent Mind. She plays the fiddle, guitar, ukulele, and banjo, and she is learning the balalaika!
Karen believes in the deep transformative power of the natural world, and she is honored to explore this with the children and the other Skola teachers.
karen@theskola.org
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Assistant Foxtail Teachernicole@theskola.org
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Assistant Lark Teacher
-grew up in Western (Upstate) New York among deciduous forests, fields and urban greenscapes.
-Despite growing up within the city limits of Buffalo she spent countless hours camping with her family, helping on family farms and bucking hay at her rural summer camp.
Worked in Yellowstone National Park in 2017 and fell in love with the greater area and specifically Montana.
Graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a dual degree in Special Education and Elementary Education.
Worked for three months as a substitute in inner city and suburban schools before packing up her stuff and heading to Montana in 2019. Bounced around Montana working as a teacher assistant until transfering my license and getting my own classroom teaching special education in Whitefish.
After spending 3 years teaching in elementary and middle school realized I felt burned out and that there was something missing
She's excited to combine her knowledge and experience in the classroom, her passion for nature and new ideas on education at Lark Skola.
When she's not working, you can find her hiking, burying her nose in a good book, and binge-watching Parks and Rec or Criminal Minds. Other interests include watercolor painting, fly-fishing, kayaking, and experimenting in the garden and kitchen.
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Assistant Owls Kindergarten Teacher
My first memories as a child were helping neighborhood mamas with their babies – children have been my passion from the very beginning. Supporting, nurturing and connecting with them is one of the greatest joys in my life. After high school I spent the following 7 years working in various school settings and have now planted new roots in this amazing school. It is a pure honor to get to walk and grow alongside these children in one of the most potent seasons of their lives – childhood! I strive to be a present, peaceful and unconditional guide to these students as they continue to develop and grow.