Pingree School New Faculty and Staff Bios 2014-2015 Casey Finch will join the History Department in the fall. A graduate of the University of New Hampshire where he majored in political science and was a University Scholar, Casey earned a Master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Denver. For the past seven years, he has taught eighth grade social studies and coached basketball and lacrosse at Kent Denver School and Fox Ridge Middle School in Colorado. An avid techie, Casey was on Fox Ridge’s tech team and responsible for training faculty and students. His professional development has included work with the Bill of Rights Institute, the Center for Civic Education and National Council for Social Studies, and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) training. Tennille Hahn joins the Art Department as our new dance teacher. She comes to us with many years of experience as a dance coach, choreographer, and teacher at several dance studios, Endicott College, and Salem State University. Most recently, in addition to teaching dance as an adjunct dance teacher at Endicott, Tennille has been teaching jazz, tap, ballet, modern, lyrical, contemporary, and hip hop at Robin Adair’s Studio of Dance in Manchester and Christin Proia’s Dance Academy in Saugus. In addition to her dance background, Tennille also studied graphic design as an undergraduate at Salem State. Eric Haltmeier is transitioning from our Director of Music and Co-Acting Chair of the Art Department to become the new Chair of the Art Department. Eric earned his Bachelor of Music degree magna cum laude from West Virginia University College of Creative Arts and his Master of Music Education with distinction from Westminster Choir College of Rider University. He previously taught at Cranbury School, Westminster Choir College, Lawrence High School, and Princeton Conservatory. He is a private instructor of woodwinds, jazz, and improvisation, and performs with the Eric Haltmeier Trio, the Car Music Project, the Matt Cranston Band, Stop Correcting Me, Space Genetics, and various other groups. He is a sought-after presenter at conferences and a well-respected composer, conductor, and arranger. Melody Komyerov will join us as our new Director of Communications and Marketing. A graduate of Brown University with a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Melody served as creative director of Boston University’s Marketing and Communications from 2008-2013, where she directed and produced creative multimedia content that supported the university's brand identity for admissions, alumni relations, and development. Prior to working at BU, she served as director of photography for the communications division at Tufts University. She is currently principal of MQK Creative, where she provides marketing and consulting strategy for education and non-profit businesses. Melody speaks advanced Mandarin Chinese and has received numerous awards for her multimedia marketing projects and photography. Phil McGowan will teach one section of percussion in the Art Department beginning in the fall. Phil plays throughout New England with his own bands as well as with top musicians in the area. He holds a Music Performance Degree in Percussion with a concentration in Jazz Studies from the University of Southern Maine and has also studied at the New England Conservatory. Phil has taught in a variety of public and independent schools as well as in private studios. Kerri McKie will teach in our Science Department next year. Kerri graduated from Georgetown University cum laude with a major in biology of global health. While at Georgetown, she was a teaching assistant in the biology department; an educator for The Grassroot Project, teaching health education to middle school students in DC public schools; and a summer assistant at the Medical Institute for High School Students, helping in anatomy and histology classes. For the past year, she has been a teaching fellow at Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall, teaching conceptual physics, co-teaching biology, shadowing other disciplines, and coaching. Stacey Nicholson will join our Science Department in the fall. Stacey earned her Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at Bucknell University and a Master’s in business administration from the University of Baltimore. She has extensive experience working in independent schools, including the Bryn Mawr School, the Hotchkiss School, Madeira School, and Long Trail School, as a dean, department chair, and teacher. Stacey spent the last year as a math and science tutor at The Tutorial Center in Manchester, VT and as a mentor to teachers in the effective use of curriculum mapping and daily preparation. Before becoming a teacher, she worked as a project engineer; a director of the Project Cost Center for the Maryland State Department of General Services; and as director of capital planning for the Maryland State Department of Juvenile Justice. Lauri Perez, a Pingree and Prep@Pingree alumna, will join the Language Department as a Spanish teacher in the fall. Lauri earned earned her Bachelor’s degree at Gordon College with a major in Spanish and a minor in Chemistry and Health Professions (a pre-med concentration). Following graduation, she was a volunteer in the Dominican Republic at a medical clinic focused on women’s and infant health issues. When she returned to the U.S., she taught Spanish at Pingree, filling in for a teacher on maternity leave. During that time, she became active in the Pingree Multicultural Coalition, the People of Color student group, and the Prep@Pingree student and alumni activities, associations she hopes to continue. Thomas Smoker, our current interim choral director, will be our new permanent choral teacher in the Art Department. Thom earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Bible and Music Ministries from Lancaster Bible College and a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the Boston Conservatory. In addition to his work at Pingree, he is co-executive director and founder of SoulCove Center for the Arts in Manchester, a music center focused on artistry, wellness and community that offers extensive lessons and classes. He also is adjunct faculty at Endicott College and has music directed a variety of community and school theater productions in the area. Thom regularly performs as a vocalist in churches, operas, and musical theater productions in the greater Boston area. Dr. Zara-Marie Spooner is our new Dean of Community and Multicultural Development. Zara graduated from Denison University summa cum laude with a major in psychology and educational studies and earned her Ph.D. from Tufts University this spring in applied child development. Her dissertation topic was the “The relationship between bicultural competence and psychological adaptation among adolescents.” While at Tufts, Zara was a graduate research assistant and assistant director of YouthBEAT Research Project, conducting and supervising extensive interviews with adolescents and their families. She also co-taught an undergraduate course on adolescent development and was a teaching assistant for courses on child development and intellectual development. Sara Tahir will join our English Department in the fall. A magna cum laude graduate of Brown University, with a major in English, Sara will earn an MAT in Secondary Education in English from Brown next month. In addition, she holds a Certificate in Spoken and Written Mandarin Chinese from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Sara did her student teaching at Classical High School in Providence, has been a substitute teacher at the Wheeler School in Providence, and was an English teacher in the summer high school at Brown. In addition to Chinese, Sara is fluent in Urdu, speaks basic Arabic, and studied Latin for four years. Colleen Tlagae will join our Math Department in the fall. A magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hamilton College, with a Master’s from Regis University, Colleen taught math at Hotchkiss for four years before moving to Botswana, where she has lived for the past six years. While in Botswana with her husband, she was a volunteer math tutor with Stepping Stones International where she helped design the curriculum, supervised non- academic activities, and provided information regarding governance, management and policy. She was also self-employed as the director of Perpetual Motion, a company consulting for non-governmental organizations (NGOs). .