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Canterbury Welcomes New Faculty and Staff
Canterbury School welcomes 20 new faculty and staff members to our 2018-2019 school year. Each joins the Canterbury community with an outstanding background and a commitment to academic excellence. Please introduce yourself to the new faces you see on campus and welcome them.
Lower School
Lauren DeMars - Lower School Reading Specialist
Lauren comes to Canterbury with more than 28 years of experience in education. Most recently, she has served as an elementary school principal in Ohio. Prior to her work in administration, Lauren worked with students in kindergarten through sixth grade as a Literacy Coach and Reading Specialist in both public and private school settings. She holds a master’s degree in Teacher Leadership, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. Lauren values working closely with teachers to provide training and ideas for teachers to enhance their instructional practices to assist students in the classroom.
Jennifer Einstein - Lower School Science Teacher
Jennifer comes to us from Heights Elementary in Fort Myers. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the classroom with many awards and honors that include being a Golden Apple recipient in 2011. She earned her master’s degree from Grand Canyon University and her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida, both in Elementary Education. Jennifer’s love of teaching science has been evident not only in classroom lessons but also through her involvement with science fair and county-wide STEM events.
Anna Ellis - Teaching Assistant (Pre-K3)
Anna earned her bachelor’s degree at Florida State University and has more than seven years experience in early childhood education. Most recently, she worked with pre-kindergarten students at Saint Michael Lutheran School and Noonan Academy.
Jessica Ferraro - Teaching Assistant (Kindergarten)
Jessica Ferraro will be joining us as our new Teaching Assistant in kindergarten. Jessica earned her bachelor’s degree in Communicative Disorders from the University of Rhode Island. She also has a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Southern Connecticut State University. Jessica has more than 14 years of experience working in private and public school settings as a Speech-Language Pathologist, most recently as a private contractor with the Lee County School District.
Marci Landfried - Third Grade Teacher
Marci has more than nine years of experience in education, most recently as a third-grade teacher at Edison Park Creative and Expressive Arts School in Fort Myers. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Florida Gulf Coast University. With her enthusiasm and strong classroom management skills, we are confident that Marci will be a great addition to our Lower School faculty.
Nichole LaRocco - Pre-K4 Teacher
Nichole has more than 15 years of experience in the classroom, most recently as a Pre-K teacher at the Community School of Naples. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Southern Connecticut State University and received her teaching certification through Florida Gulf Coast University. She comes to us with high recommendations from her colleagues at CSN, who called her a “one of a kind educator” with a passionate soul.
Middle School
Andrew Melamet ’05 - Middle School Mathematics Teacher
We are pleased to welcome back Andrew, who is a Canterbury alumnus from the Class of 2005. Andrew recently earned his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from Florida Gulf Coast University. Andrew has been a familiar face around campus in recent years working with Camp Aqua Trek at Canterbury, as well as inspiring our students during our Full STEAM Ahead events. Most recently, he has been working with Foren Histology Services as an assistant lab technician.
Elisha Murray - Innovation Specialist
Elisha will be joining our Middle and Upper School divisions to share his technology knowledge with students as well as work with our new LIFT Off Entrepreneur Program. He joins us from South Fort Myers High School where he taught Informational Technology and Financial Operations. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from King University in Tennessee. Elisha has also been our Head Varsity Girls Basketball Coach since 2015 and runs the Court Vision Youth Basketball League.
Kim West ’87 - Middle School History Teacher
We are pleased to welcome Kim back to Canterbury as a teacher in our Middle School. Most recently, she has been working as a private educator for homeschool students as well as a tutor for students at Canterbury. Prior to that, Kim held several roles at Canterbury including Head of Intermediate School, Head of Middle School, and English Teacher. She is also a Canterbury alumna from the Class of 1987. Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Rollins College, a Master of Arts in English from Middlebury College, and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Columbia University. She also completed the Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program at Goucher College.
Upper School
Christiana Deeter - Upper School Science Teacher
Christiana will be joining our Science Department to teach Chemistry in our Upper School. She has seven years of experience teaching science, most recently at Ida S. Baker High School. Christiana earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Furman University and she is certified by the American Chemical Society. Her work on a novel photodynamic cancer therapy was presented to the American Chemical Society's annual conference in 2009.
Scott Krieger - Upper School Mathematics Teacher
Scott has more than 30 years of experience in teaching at both the high school and undergraduate levels. Most recently, he taught mathematics and computer science at Canterbury High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He has a broad range of teaching certifications in multiple disciplines. He also has 20 years experience as an accomplished basketball coach, leading the Fort Wayne Canterbury girls teams to four state titles.
Robert Nelson - Upper School History Teacher & LIFT Director
Robert comes to us from Oak Hall School in Gainesville where he taught AP World and the United States History since 2011. He also served as the Assistant Head of Upper School as well as the Dean of Students. Robert earned his bachelor’s degree in History and his master’s degree in Secondary School Curriculum and Instruction from the College of William & Mary. In addition to using his leadership experience to help us grow our LIFT (Leadership Institute For Tomorrow) program, his coaching skills will be utilized with our football and lacrosse programs.
Phil Nicodemo - Upper School Science Teacher
Phil has more than 10 years experience in teaching at both the high school and undergraduate levels. Most recently, he taught biology and STEM courses at Stratford Academy in Macon, Georgia. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources from Rutgers University. He also holds a master’s degree in Biological Science from the University of Cincinnati, and a master’s degree in Biomedical Science from Stony Brook University in New York.
Jennifer Osewalt - Upper School Mathematics Teacher
Jennifer has 20 years of experience teaching mathematics at both the high school and undergraduate levels. She comes to us from Seacrest Country Day School in Naples where she taught a variety of mathematics classes and held the position of Mathematics Department Chair. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mathematics from the College at Brockport - State University of New York.
Other Faculty & Staff
Matt Booth - Strength & Conditioning Coach
Matt joins us from Lehigh Senior High School where he served in several roles including Athletic Director, Strength and Conditioning Coach, and Head Track and Field Coach. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College as well as several coaching certifications. Matt has also worked as the personal speed and conditioning coach for several professional football players including Sammy Watkins, Jayron Kearse, and Noel Devine. He was also honored as a 2018 Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction.
Timothy DeVost - School Safety Officer
Timothy has 25 years of experience and training in the fields of law enforcement and criminal justice. He has held various roles including Military Police Officer in the Army National Guard and most recently a School Security Specialist with the Lee County School District. We are looking forward to using his diverse expertise to promote and maintain a safe, secure, and thriving atmosphere on campus.
Deb Heck - Business Office
Deb will be joining Canterbury’s Business Office this month as the Administrative Assistant to the Business Office and the Maintenance Department. She will be taking over Tonia's role in purchasing and accounts payable. She comes to us from Good Wheels in Fort Myers, where she worked in both customer service and maintenance for the past 12 years.
Katie Jones - Executive Assistant to the Head of School
Katie joined our staff over the summer to work with Head of School Rick Kirschner as well as serve as our Testing Coordinator. She comes to us from Riverdale High School where she taught multiple levels of English. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education with a concentration in Language Arts as well as a minor in English from Kent State University.
Rick Keating - Maintenance
We are pleased to welcome Rick as a member of our Maintenance Department this year. Rick has many years of experience in construction, carpentry, and cabinet making. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Central Florida. Rick is also the father of Canterbury alumni, Sam Keating ’17 and Grace Keating '15.
Katy Tomlinson - Director of Special Events & Parent Engagement
Katy joined our Advancement Office this summer to take the lead on special events for Canterbury. Most recently, she worked with Youth Haven in Naples as their Special Events Coordinator. Prior to that, she served in several development office roles for Alliance For Children in Fort Worth, Texas. Katy earned her bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Texas Christian University.
