Humanities Middle School Chair: Jeff Blair
Humanities Upper School Chair: Scott Davis
Adina Berg. 12th grade Humanities.
B.A. (Philosophy), Bryn Mawr College; M.A. (Philosophy), University of Edinburgh; National Endowment for Humanities Fellow. ESL Certified Instructor. Adina started working at The Northwest School in 1989. From 1993-1998, she lived in York, England, and taught Latin and Classics at Bootham School. She has been the recipient of three National Endowment for the Humanities teacher grants; the first was to study the life and work of Charles Darwin in the context of the Victorian era, which led to her historical play, Darwin and Nietzsche: The Malaise of the 19th Century. She has also written several other historical plays and musicals including, The Trial and Death of Socrates: The Musical Comedy and The Chairy Orchard. In 2006, Adina was the recipient of a special grant to study the life and work of Mozart in Vienna and Prague. She is a silver medalist in Highland Bagpiping. Her activities at Northwest include Opera Club, Yiddish Club, and Lost and Found. At NWS since 1989.
Jeff Blair. 8th grade Humanities, Girls’ Varsity Soccer Assistant Coach.
B.A. with Honors (Political Economy), Colorado College; M.Ed. (Curriculum and Instruction), Seattle University as James Madison Fellow for teaching the U.S. Constitution; Washington State Teaching Certificate, PLU; 2001 Gates Foundation Teacher Leadership Project grant recipient. Jeff is the teacher/advisor for the Environment Interest Group. He has worked on curriculum projects for organizations such as Facing the Future and the World Affairs Council. Jeff was awarded a Distinguished Fulbright Award in Teaching to do educational research in South Africa. At NWS since 1989.
Suzanne Bottelli. 11th grade Humanities, 12th grade Writing, Environment Program.
B.A. (English Language and Literature), University of Virginia; M.F.A (Creative Writing), University of Iowa; M.A. (English Literature), Middlebury College. Suzanne taught at The Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, The Center for Talented Youth, Elder Hostel, and at the University of Iowa. She is currently serving on the WHERC (Washington Holocaust Education and Resource Center) Educational Advisory Board. Suzanne is a nationally published poet, this November she was awarded a creative residency at the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts in Leavenworth and has won awards for her work from the Seattle Arts Commission, the Washington State Artist Trust and Jack Straw Studios. At NWS since 1994.
Tamara Bunnell. 7th and 8th grade Humanities.
B.A., (Washington State Teaching Certificate), The Evergreen State College. Tamara won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Pakistan. She also won the Washington Education Association Leader in Restructuring Award. Before coming to NWS, she taught 7th grade at Shelton Middle School for four years. She has been a Curriculum Consultant and Writer at the Experience Music Project and served on its Educator Board. She recently participated in an international Gilder-Lehrman seminar on the Cold War at Cambridge University (UK), and is currently working toward a master's degree in Independent School Leadership and Organization at Columbia Teacher's College. At NWS since 1994.
Scott Davis. 12th grade Humanities, Mime and Movement.
B.A., Princeton University; J.D., University of Washington School of Law. Scott has a broad range of teaching experience at The Sitka Fine Arts Camp, Viautas Magnus University School of Law (Lithuania), Loon Soup / The Princeton Movement Theatre Group, and Gadjah Mada University (Indonesia). He danced professionally with Lingo Dance theatre from 2000-2007 and collaborates and performs with a variety of local artists. At NWS since 1998.
Victoria Dryden. Humanities 11 Transitional.
B.A (English; minor in Philosophy), University of San Diego; Master’s in teaching, Seattle University. Most recently, Victoria has served as a language arts teacher at Garfield High School, where she taught World Literature, Literature and Composition, and Creative Writing. Prior to that, she served for five years as the English Department Chair at Kellogg Middle School in Shoreline. Additionally, she has experience teaching ESL courses and World History courses to middle and high school students. She also served as a culinary instructor in France and London, and was a Peace Corps teacher in Botswana. At NWS since 2011.
Heather Hall. 6th grade & 7th grade Humanities.
B.A. (English), University of North Carolina; M.A. (Liberal Studies), Duke University. Heather has taught at Annie Wright School, Duke University and the Casady School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Her interests include soccer and reading. At NWS since 2006.
Gary Jones. 10th grade Humanities.
M.A. (English and American Literature), University of Oregon; Doctor of Arts (British Romantic Literature, Rhetoric and Composition), University of Oregon. Gary taught writing and literature at Iowa State University. He was an Associate Professor of English and Director of Composition at Upper Iowa College; Associate Professor of Writing and Literature at Central Connecticut State University; and an Associate Professor of English at Cornish College of the Arts. His interests include theories of play and games, folklore and folk songs, performing arts and spectator sports. At NWS since 1995.
Harumi LaDuke. Music Studio, 10th grade Humanities.
B.A. (English Literature and Creative Writing, Music), Dartmouth College; Royal College of Music, London, UK; winner, Metropolitan Opera Honorable Mention; winner, Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside (piano, voice); Gold Medalist, Seattle Young Artist Music Festival. Harumi has been a featured artist with Opera North, Skagit Opera, Lyric Opera Northwest, Seattle Community Outreach and Dart-mouth College. She is Director of the Junior Division at the Seattle Conservatory of Music, where she teaches music history, theory and ear training. At NWS since 2008.
Priscilla Lindberg. Humanities 9 and ESL Humanities 10.
B.A. (History; minor in Religion) Lake Forest College; M.A. (History), University of Connecticut. For the last two years, Pricilla has been a faculty member of social studies and language arts at the American School of Ulaanbaatar, a college-preparatory school in Mongolia. Her teaching focus has been on English language instruction as well as creating an integrated social studies and language arts. Before her tenure in Mongolia, she was a faculty member of history and English at The Marvelwood School in Connecticut where she was awarded the Cornelia Bodkin Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching. She also served as Marvelwood’s Assistant Director of Community Service. At NWs since 2011.
Benji Perin. 10th grade Humanities and 9th grade Spanish.
B.A. (English Literature), Middlebury College (minor in Biology). Two of Benji's favorite things about teaching is guiding literary discussions and helping students improve their writing. Since starting at Northwest in 2002, Benji has taken the opportunity to study Spanish in Oaxaca for a year in 2004, and work with Spanish-speaking clients at a not-for-profit that helps low-income families in Washington State find access to health and food resources (2007). While teaching, Benji has also worked part-time as a medical interpreter at Children's hospital here in Seattle. In his free time he loves to ride bikes, cook, and read books with his dogs. At NWS since 2002.
Mackenzie Prentice. 6th grade Humanities.
B.A. (Psychology), Western Washington University. Mackenzie attended Northwest from 1997-2004. During her time at Western, Mackenzie worked as a director of an elementary after-school program. She was also involved in intensive research in adolescent identity development and self-expansion through romantic relationships. During her time at Northwest, Mackenzie has enjoyed working in the Admissions department, coaching basketball, teaching in the Summer Program, and now teaching 6th grade Humanities. Mackenzie enjoys spending time outdoors, cooking, and mixed-media art. At NWS since 2010.
Sarah Porter. 11th grade Humanities.
B.A. (English Literature), Bryn Mawr College; M.A. (English Literature), University of Virginia. Sarah has been a member of the Humanities Department since 2002 and Department Chair since 2007. Prior to moving to Seattle, Sarah taught English at The Tandem School in Charlottesville, Virginia. A certified TESOL teacher, she also hasexperience teaching ESL and EFL in Seattle and in Istanbul, Turkey. Her interests include reading, travel and speaking French. At NWS since 2002.
Daren Salter. 9th and 10th grade Humanities.
B.A. (English and History), University of California, Davis; M.A. (American History), San Francisco State University; Completed doctoral coursework and exams in American History at the University of Washington. Daren taught for a year at Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco and three summers for the Institute of Reading Development in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle. More recently, he taught a variety of undergraduate courses in American and European history at the University of Washington. For the past 4 years he has been the Associate Editor of the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, a multimedia educational website sponsored by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies at the UW. In his spare time, he enjoys playing with his 2 children, Quinn and Dane, reading, tennis, basketball, playing the guitar and hiking. On Sundays during football season he watches too much TV. At NWS since 2009.
Calvin Shaw. 9th and 12th grade Humanities, Journalism, Cross Country Assistant Coach.
B.A. (English), University of Hawaii; M.A. (Composition and Rhetoric), University of Hawaii. Calvin's interests include jazz and reading. At NWS since 2005.
Daniel Sparler. 11th and 12th grade Humanities, Spanish.
B.A. (Spanish) Phi Beta Kappa, University of Arkansas; B.A. Ed. Summa Cum Laude, Eastern Washington University; Kansai University of Foreign Studies, Osaka, Japan (diploma); Coursework completed for M.A. (Comparative Literature), University of Arkansas. Daniel was a journalist with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 1981-1988. He is on the Board of the Northwest Horticultural Society. At NWS since 1992.
Glen Sterr. Dean of Faculty. 12th grade Philosophy, Outdoor Education Program Coordinator.
See biography under Administration.