Outdoor Education Programs for Children in VA and SC
FINCASTLE FARM SCHOOL STAFF
Interested in working with children on a working farm every week? Email Bekah for opportunities at bekah@valleyforestschool.com
ANN CHAPPELL MCALLISTER
Program Coordinator- Fincastle Farm School
Forest Name- Mrs. Salamander
Anne Chappell is a Botetourt native who has lived on a farm in since she was 5 years old. She grew up raising cows, horses, sheep, ducks, and chickens. She has a huge heart for working with children and connecting them to their natural environment- the outdoors. In her free time, she spends her days outdoors hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, kayaking, and fishing. In addition to managing her farm, teaching horseback riding lessons, and instructing for VFS, Ann Chappell is a pediatric nurse.
Contact Anne Chappell: annechappell@valleyforestschool.com
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.
ASHLEY WHITSON
Lead Instructor- Fincastle
Forest Name: Mrs. Sunflower
Ashley grew up in Northern Virginia volunteering at 2 nature centers where she educated the public and cared for the animals housed there. She also rehabilitated injured and orphaned wildlife in her home. Ashley attended Virginia Tech and earned a BS in Animal Science and Biology and then went on to obtain a masters in Education at Hollins University.
Ashley has conducted Animal information classes, taught swim lessons and middle school science for a total of 28 years. She has been a resident of Botetourt County since 2009 where she lives in a log cabin with her husband, Sean, 4 kids, 3 dogs, 6 lizards, a snake, a tarantula, numerous chickens & ducks and an apiary full of honey bees.
Ashley enjoys hiking and kayaking, reading, & anything having to do with animals.
Ashley is also trained and certified 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.
CHRYSTAL PENDZICH
Lead Instroctor
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.
DEBBIE MCALLISTER
Lead Instructor- Fincastle
Forest name- to be determined
Debbie has been a farm owner for 20 years in Fincastle, VA. She studied education at Radford University, and having 40 years of teaching experience, she have taught a wide variety of skills and subject matter to students ranging from 2 to 70+ years of age. Her outdoor education experience gained over the years includes foraging with the use of plant, leaf, and tree identification resources. Some of her favorite memories are time with family camping, hiking, biking, kayaking, canoeing, sledding, snow walks, snow skiing/tubing, water skiing/tubing, white water rafting, forest bathing (aka nature walks), creek stomping, puddle jumping, mud pie, chocolate milk, and snow cream prep, and raising rainbow trout. Some of Debbie's passions are holistic personal health, sourdough baking, goat milk soap, and anything else natural minded!
GABBIE RHODES
Lead Instructor- Fincastle
Forest Name- Mrs. Morel
In 2016, Gabbie Rhodes graduated from Emory & Henry College, where she participated as a trip leader for the Emory & Henry Outdoor Program. She led hikes and backpacking trips throughout Southwest Virginia. She absolutely loves being outside and exploring mountains with friends and family. For the last 4 years, Gabbie has been working with children as a a nanny and as a preschool teacher. Supporting children as they learn and grow is very rewarding to Gabbie and she as been a teacher with VFS since 2020.
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!
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
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