About Orchard House
2009-2010 Faculty and Staff
Robin Arthur started taking dance lessons at the age of four. She has always thought that her first performance (as a frog) set the tone for her dance career. When Robin started her formal education, she forced the younger children on her block to “play school " during the summer months. She was always the teacher! Orchard House provides Robin the perfect place to merge her passion for the arts with her love of “bossing people around!” Robin holds a B.S. in mathematics from N.C. State University. She currently teaches Introduction to Algebra, Geometry, and Dance for Orchard House. Outside of school, Robin works as an actor, choreographer, and director both locally and regionally.
Since rejoining the staff two years ago, Michelle Bair continues to assist in the Admissions Office with current initiatives on diversity. She is in the process of completing her Bachelor of Individualized Studies coursework at Virginia State University with a specialization in Diversity and Multiculturalism in Education. Michelle is also active in the local field hockey community. During her first stint with OHS, she spent two seasons coaching both the Varsity and Junior Varsity teams. Currently, she coaches at Maggie Walker Governor’s School during the fall, operates a specialized youth training program for elementary and middle school girls during the fall and spring, and trains teams of players in elementary through high school to compete in a statewide tournament during the summer. When she is not working, studying, or developing athletes, Michelle enjoys spending quality time with her family. “As a Orchard House staff member and parent of a current student, I am very excited about having the opportunity to participate in the continued growth of such a wonderful community of individuals,” says Michelle.
Jennifer Villani Brookman was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From a young age she has always imagined herself to be a teacher. Through inspiration and guidance from her very own high school chemistry teacher, Jennifer pursued her dreams and made them a reality. After graduating ten years ago from Indiana University with a chemistry education degree, she moved to Richmond and has taught for Hanover County and overseas in Eastbourne, England. She also directed a comprehensive secondary home-schooling program. Jennifer creates songs, fictional characters (or “side-kicks”), experiments, and anything else that captures the attention of students to improve their learning. It’s been an honor for her to touch the lives of the younger generations and hopefully to inspire her students the way that she was inspired by her own science teacher.
Martha Burford brings a passion for literature, music, and dachshunds to the Orchard House community! She graduated from Duke University and has pursued her interests at the graduate level both at Duke and in the MA Literature program at VCU. When Martha isn't tending to her dachshunds (all nine of them!) or garden (just one!), she enjoys spending time with her new husband and surrounding herself with friends, instruments, and music. In the classrooms and hallways of Orchard House you can find her leading a song at Morning Meeting, encouraging a novice to compose her own masterpiece in Music, reading the poetry of Billy Collins or Emily Dickinson with her class (and relishing the Ah Ha moments!), or just talking with a group of students about a great book - everything from The Book Thief to Artemis Fowl to Life of Pi!
Nancy Davies has been the Founding Head of Orchard House School since 1998. For fifteen years prior to starting Orchard House, Nancy worked at St. Catherine’s School in various capacities including teacher and researcher. In 1994, Nancy was awarded a Jessie Ball DuPont grant which funded a year-long sabbatical. She investigated best practices for educating middle school girls and then designed optimal learning experiences based on her research. That work became the genesis of Orchard House School. In 2009, she was awarded a Klingenstein Heads Fellowship at Teachers College, Columbia University to continue her research and investigations into middle school girls’ education. Always a teacher at heart, she continues to relish time in the classroom, where to her mind, the real work of a school takes place. In addition to reading, writing, and teaching, Nancy thoroughly enjoys her family and friends, gardening, cooking, and being outdoors.
Growing up in South Florida where many of her friends were Spanish-speaking, Diane Ferguson developed a real love of the Spanish language. Before deciding to become a teacher, she not only studied Spanish in the classroom at Dartmouth College but also honed her Spanish-speaking skills during semesters abroad in Spain and in different jobs where Spanish knowledge was critical. As the architect of the Spanish program at Orchard House, Diane has two main goals: to inspire students to want to learn about other cultures and to ensure that they are well-prepared for Spanish at the high school level. Given that Spanish phrases are often spoken in the halls and that students are increasingly writing about Spanish topics in other subjects, she is succeeding in both areas. A dog lover and mother of two daughters, Diane encourages everyone to learn a second language. ¡Perro que no camina, no encuentra hueso!
Taylor Hollander has developed the history program at Orchard House School, which takes an integrated, interactive approach to learning. He is currently exploring interdisciplinary collaborations with other Orchard House School faculty members to help students make connections across the academic disciplines. Taylor also has an avid interest in brain research and its implications for the education of middle school girls. As a long-term professional goal, he is working on a manuscript about wartime labor relations. A keen hockey fan and outdoors lover, Taylor is originally from Montreal, Canada and looks forward to his biannual trips to the north. He is also a devoted father - his daughter is currently an Orchard House School student. The combination of his adventurous spirit, quick wit, and laid-back attitude has caused many to urge Taylor to enter “The Amazing Race” with Melody Imburg, an equally adventurous faculty member. Stay tuned!
Suzi Horner has taught health and physical education at Orchard House since the fall of 2001. She is also the fifth grade club field hockey coach, resident bus driver, Registrar, and High School Coordinator. In a former life she worked as the director of the Bureau of Health Education for the Virginia Department of Health. Suzi just completed a six year term on the James Madison University’s Parents Council. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling with her husband, spending time with her two children, walking her dogs, and riding her motorcycle.
A parent of two Orchard House graduates, Melody Imburg serves as Orchard House's Director of Admissions, Technology, and Diversity. When she’s not giving tours, working with the school’s student diversity group, or troubleshooting a network problem, you can find her in the classroom teaching the girls the ins-and-outs of technology. Melody holds a B.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University in Biology and an A.A.S. from J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in legal assisting. Melody is always willing to learn and to try new things.
Elizabeth Lafoon has been a fixture at Orchard House for nine years. Starting as a substitute teacher and Front Desk diplomat, she moved into her current positions as the fifth and sixth grade English teacher, Events and Front Desk Coordinator, and Director of Facilities. The multiplicity keeps her in touch with many facets of the school – and that’s the way she likes it. After graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University with a major in Sociology and minors in English and Psychology, Elizabeth worked as a corporate trainer, traveling the country for G.E. Lighting. Her focus was on conflict resolution, group facilitation, and customer service. These skills now serve her well at school and home, where she is a wife and mother of three teenagers (one an Orchard House alumna). Music has been a lifelong passion which has been expressed in many ways over the years including the study of guitar, involvement with several local vocal groups, and passing the love of music on to her children and students.
Cathy Pelnik has been with Orchard House since the school started in 1998. Cathy is originally from New England where she received an undergraduate degree in engineering and a master’s degree in business. While in New England she also worked in the computer and insurance industry. Cathy loves to see her math students enjoy math class and have fun with math. Her interests include yoga, hiking, running, cycling, and traveling to national parks.
Ashley Racine has taught Latin at Orchard House since 2004. Originally from Vermont, she attended college at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA, where she received a B.A. in Classics with a concentration in Classical Civilization. After a year-long stint in Japan teaching English, Ashley migrated back to Virginia where she answered a classified ad for a “part-time Latin teacher at an all-girls’ independent school.”
Ashley has since worn many hats at Orchard House. Not only has she taught Latin, but she has also worked at the front desk, helped coach fifth grade club soccer and field hockey, started the school-wide recycling program, been part of the sixth grade beautification and gardening projects, and this year added seventh grade math to her teaching schedule.
In 2007, Ashley decided to continue her education and is currently attending Bon Secours Memorial School of Nursing. She will graduate in April of 2010 as an RN.
Janine Russo taught as adjunct faculty for the Department of Theatre at Virginia Commonwealth University for four years where she studied, researched, performed, and pursued her graduate studies. Upon completion of her Master of Fine Arts she traveled to Sibiu, Romania to perform and participate in the Festivalul International de Teatrude la Sibiu. She has over twenty years of professional theatre experience in acting, teaching, and directing. Janine is one of the founding directors of a neighboring private school, Luther Memorial, summer arts drama program which led her to Orchard House School where she has been a faculty member for ten years. Her passion for the arts is now happily married to teaching math and leadership courses. This new relationship with her teaching career has given Janine a deeper understanding, respect, and application for interdisciplinary education. At any time in the day, you may find Janine reading books, sketching, chatting, or writing in one of her many journals.
Originally from Chicago, Julie Simpson is a self-confessed education junkie who spent over a decade in higher education indulging her passion for reading. While doing graduate fieldwork in anthropology, she argued persuasively for the establishment of a women’s cooperative among Old Order Amish quiltmakers in southeastern Minnesota – thus, the early stirrings of a career in non-profit advocacy! Now, with twenty years experience in fundraising, Julie joins Orchard House as Director of Development. Still committed to a “life of the mind,” she would rather read a book than do just about anything else. Among her favorite authors, at the moment, are A.S. Byatt, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Geraldine Brooks, and Iain Pears. Two cats, Archie and Jemma, share her home, and among the greatest loves of her life are her two, scrumptious granddaughters, Katherine and Caroline.
Ten productive, exciting, and engaging years of helping to create and to sustain the amazing little institution of Orchard House School and to achieve accreditation by VAIS…Martha Tyler is grateful for this experience. She wandered into the job of Business Manager and Health teacher in 1999, when her daughter attended the first eighth grade class. Her background of nursing (BSN, Case Western Reserve) and public health (MPH, VCU) did not prepare her for the accounting, strategic financial planning, and fundraising roles she played, but it did help with compassion and thoroughness. She greatly reduced her role at the school in 2009 and loves teaching/learning about sustainability and gardening with sixth graders in the Leadership Program. Martha loves running, reading, practicing qi gong, hiking, and hanging with her family; she is exploring the pursuit of education in mind-body medicine and integrative healing.
Uncle Doug to his family, Mr. Welch to his students - Doug Welch strives to be the kind of teacher he always wanted to have, doing work that makes a difference. What keeps him committed to teaching after twenty years? At the top of the list of reasons - seeing a student’s confidence soar when she overcomes a challenge and being part of a learning community with a common purpose. Amongst the talents and passions Doug has brought to Orchard House since its inception are guitar strumming, soccer coaching, and chess playing. Doug’s students may not know that he was a philosophy major at UVa, but they know him as a teacher who thinks with them in class and as someone they can trust for guidance in academic and day-to-day life. When he’s not teaching math or serving as Director of Operations, you might see Doug running trails along the James River, walking his rescue pup, or reading a good book at a local coffee shop.
Since 2002, Rachel Sawan White has been teaching art at Orchard House. Over the past seven years she has added graphic design and Leadership and Outreach Coordinator to her job description. Rachel is a working artist, exhibiting her work around the country with representation at several galleries. Working daily with the girls is inspirational to her in her professional life and challenges her to keep that inherent creativity that all young people possess. She also serves as an artist lecturer for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, traveling across the state teaching workshops to artists, students, and teachers. For the past two years she has been honored to be a part of the VMFA’s Summer Teachers Institute, where she encouraged educators from around Virginia in painting and printmaking concepts. Rachel is the proud mother of one son, for whom she will annually make a disastrous birthday cake.
