Outdoor Education Programs for Children in VA and SC
CATAWBA STAFF
Interested in working with children outdoors every week on the Catawba team? Email Bekah for opportunities at bekah@valleyforestschool.com
CHRYSTAL PENDZICH
Program Coordinator- Catawba
Forest Name- Miss Sage
Chrystal has been working closely with children and natural education for over 15 years. Born and raised in Germany, she moved to California to study Human Development at U.C. San Diego. Chrystal earned her certificate in early childhood education online through UCLA while teaching at several preschools, both in California and then back in Germany.
For the past 8 years, Chrystal has been living in Germany, teaching at bilingual preschools and kindergartens. She led frequent forest trips and used nature-based education as a focus for her curriculum. Chrystal was deeply inspired by the German's appreciation for 'Wald Kindergartens' (forest kindergartens)! In her free time, Chrystal enjoys gardening, crafting with herbs, and working with farm animals. She also has a soft spot for music and the circus arts. You can also find her hiking around the mountains any time of the year.
ASHA BIBEAU
Lead Instructor- Fincastle
Forest Name- Ms. Root
Asha has over 16 years of experience working in professional settings with children, but her passion for early childhood education and her love of the outdoors can be traced back to a very young age. She has a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech in English, a certificate in early childhood education from NRCC, as well as training in many areas of child development. She has worked with families as a babywearing educator, Family Nature Club leader, and ran a Waldorf and Forest School inspired in home program for several years. As a home educator with her own four children, she has been combining inspiration from Forest School models with other educational methods for the past ten years and is thrilled to get to spend her days at VFS now, bringing all of her training and experience together and connecting with the children. In her free time Asha enjoys reading, cooking, baking, gardening, and going on outdoor adventures with her children.
Asha is trained in Wilderness First Aid.
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BEN GARVEY
Lead Instructor- Catawba and Fincastle
Forest Name- Mr. Stonefly
Ben is from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and grew up exploring the surrounding mountains and rivers from a young age. Ben has a bachelor's degree from Radford University in Recreation, Parks, & Tourism with a focus on Outdoor Recreation & Leadership. He has since worked in the outdoors as a canoe/backpacking trip leader, summer camp manager, environmental educator, and whitewater rafting & fishing guide. Ben has led youth expeditions from Maine, to Idaho, to the rivers of Southern Chile in Patagonia. Ben’s background as an educator includes environmental education for the James River Association, substitute teaching, and working as an experiential advisor at a leadership school for teens. He has been a Wilderness First Responder for 8 years.
BRITTANY HORTON
Lead Instructor- Catawba
Forest Name- Ms. Bee
Brittany has over 20 years of experience working with children. She graduated from the University of South Carolina where she attended the Honors College. She has a B.S in Biology and a B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in Environmental Studies. She studied abroad in the Amazon region of Brazil and spent six months backpacking, adventuring, and learning in an immersive experience that made a lasting impact on her life.
Brittany is passionate about fostering a love for learning as she had educated her three children at home for the past 13 years. Health and wellness plays an important role in Brittany's life and she is certified as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. She spends her free time reading, taking walks with her children, and connecting with friends.
Brittany is trained and certified in Wilderness First Aid and adult/child CPR.
DERRICK QUIRIN
Director of Operations
Forest Name- Mountain Goat
Derrick grew up in the Blue Ridge mountains where his love for the outdoors was fostered by his parents from a young age. From hiking to mountain biking to sailing, he gained thousands of hours of experience outdoors before reaching the age of 10! His passion for guiding children outdoors comes from his own experiences outdoors as a child. He graduated in 2014 from North Greenville University with a degree in Outdoor Leadership. His direct observations of the benefits of immersing children outdoors grew strong when he thru hiked the Appalachian Trail and rode his bike from Canada to Mexico with his family. He has 13 years of experience working across America as a summer camp counselor, mountaineering/rafting/climbing guide, and was the Outdoor Adventure Manager for all of The Cliffs locations in the Carolinas. He has been a Wilderness First Responder for 6 years.
Contact Derrick: derrick@valleyforestschool.com
HANNAH CLAROS
Lead Instructor- Catawba and Fincastle
Forest Name- Mrs. Chicory
Hannah has been working with children in a variety of educational settings for 10+ years. She has certifications in K-12 education in the state of VA, adult/child CPR, and Wilderness First Aid. Most of her childhood was spent on the back of a horse, and her love for the great outdoors grew from there. As a home educator of her two children, she enjoys combining her love of animals, foraging, and camping with an experiential based, child-lead educational model. Nothing brings her greater joy than seeing children forge relationships with each other and with nature in an unstructured environment. At Forest and Farm school, you’ll likely find her greeting the day and your student with a cup of chicory coffee in hand!
KACEY BOWMAN
Program Coordinator- Catawba
Forest Name- Mrs. Juniper
Kacey has been working with children outdoors since she was able to begin working as a junior counselor at summer camps. She has spent the last ten years working in the summer camp industry both as a counselor and as a year round program coordinator. Working in the summer camp industry allowed her to see first hand how much of a positive impact the outdoors can have on a child. She has had the privilege of leading backpacking trips and rock climbing trips through her years of experience.
Contact Kacey: kacey@valleyforestschool.com
NICOLE REBICH
Lead Instructor- Catawba
Forest Name- Mrs. Rhodie
Nicole has been embracing child lead education models for 20 years. Her experience developing a Montessori program has brought her countless hours hiking, observing, playing, and communing in the wilderness with children. She quickly observed that routine communion with nature and comfort with safe and supported risk taking enhanced the children's social, emotional, and academic development. She has a BS in Elementary Education, an MS in Curriculum and Instruction,and the Montessori Elementary 1 credential. Outside of her experience in Montessori education, Nicole has lead children in nature exploration camps and culinary camp.
Nicole has three children of her own and together they enjoy finding new trails and revisiting their favorite woodsy spaces in all seasons. She hopes to hike the entire AT one day. Drawing, reading, yoga, and kayaking with her oldest daughter are other things that bring her joy.
STACY VAUGHT
Lead Instructor- Fincastle and Catawba
Forest Name- Mrs. Cedar
After completing a Bachelor's degree in elementary education from Roanoke College, Stacy has been fortunate enough to work with children in some capacity for the past 17 years. Beginning her career in a regular classroom setting, Stacy soon became curious about alternative methods of education which led her across the country with her family on a big adventure to Washington state where she discovered her love for forest school. She can't wait to continue being a partner in pondering with children as they connect with the natural world at VFS. In her spare time, Stacy loves hiking, riding her bike, baking, adventuring to new places, reading, and writing children's books.
BEKAH QUIRIN
Executive Director
Forest Name- Mrs. Luna
Bekah started Valley Forest School in 2019 after developing a passion for immersing children of all ages in nature. Bekah has a bachelors degree in Outdoor Leadership from North Greenville University where she spent much of her time studying the psychology of children in the outdoors. Her desire to start a Forest School in America grew stronger after she and her husband spent 6 months thru hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2017 with their 1 year old daughter, Ellie. In 2018 they rode their bikes from Canada to Mexico. Bekah has been a Wilderness First Responder for 6 years. She has 13 years of outdoor guiding experience across the country serving youth to senior adults from the Carolinas, to the coast of Virginia, to the Pacific Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Bekah has over 1,000 logged days and nights of backcountry travel, and more than 600 of those are with children.
Contact Bekah: bekah@valleyforestschool.com