ANNE GURNEE: EDUCATION DIRECTOR

Anne has served as the Education Director since January 2008. Anne was an original member of the Board, and played an integral role in developing the early curriculum model for Southwest Charter School. She has been working in the field of science education for nearly 20 years. Most recently she was the Senior Associate at David Heil and Associates, Inc., a science education consulting firm here in Portland. As such she wored with clients nationwide to create and evaluate science education programs in schools, communities and museums. She has a B.S. in Environmental Planning & Management and an M.Ed. in Program Administration and Evaluation, both from the University of California, Davis. Anne is also mom to two kids at SWCS, and in her spare time, she enjoys running, canoing, camping, hiking, gardening, cooking and sewing.

RAMONA KRAMER: K/1st GRADE TEACHER

Ramona has lived in Oregon for 28 years and considers it "home." She has a degree in Human Development & Family studies from Warner Pacific College. After raising two very active boys, now 19 and 23, she returned to school to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching at Concordia University. She completed her student teaching in Kindergarten with the Reynolds School District. Beyond teaching, Ramona enjoys hiking, camping, cooking, reading, and spending quality time with her family, especially near large bodies of water! She is thrilled to be a part of Southwest Charter School and is looking forward to another exciting year of teaching and learning.

MIKE MARTIN: 2ND/3RD GRADE TEACHER

Mike grew up in Bellingham, Washington and moved to Oregon three years ago. He comes from a family of five and both parents were also elementary teachers. He did not have television growing up, so he spent much of his childhood building forts in blackberry bushes and exploring the forest next to his home. Mike's degree from Western Washington University is in Ceramics and Illustration. He also studied Art History in Greece for a semester. Whenever he had a chance he traveled to see different parts of the world. During his last trip while on a longboat in Laos, his passion for teaching children was rekindled. He then moved to Portland to work for a year as a Teacher's Assistant in the Reynolds School District, finished his Master of Arts in Teaching at Lewis & Clark College and completed a year-long internship at Sunnyside Environmental School which allowed him to develop his philosophy on best practices and place-based education. This is Mike's second year teaching at S.W.C.S.. Mike taught last year as a 1st/2nd/3rd grade teacher. Some of Mike's other passions include playing the fiddle, backpacking, bicycling, sea kayaking, and anything involving the outdoors and nature. Mike believes each child has special and wonderful attributes to bring to the classroom. He is very excited and happy to be a part of S.W. Charter School!

LISA COLOMBO: 4TH/5TH GRADE TEACHER

 Lisa is in her second year of teaching at  Southwest Charter School. Prior to teaching at SWCS, she worked with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) where for four years she developed science curriculum and taught students of all ages around the state. Her love of science and exploration began back in Michigan where she and her sister would explore their neighborhood, looking for insects and tinkering in their father's work shed. That interest would take her to study at the University of Michigan where she discovered she had a talent for teaching and received a Bachelor of Arts in Education with High Distinction. She has taught in a variety of educational settings from large group assemblies, which encouraged a love of theater, to small group classrooms, where she can give individualized attention. Her strong science background is accented by a passion for storytelling and folklore/mythology from around the world. Inspired by those tales, she creates visual art, recently joined a jugband as a washboard player, and is learning how to make puppets. Lisa brings her enthusiasm and talents to share and loves discovering and honing the talents and skills of each of her students.

SARAH ANDERSON: 6th/7th GRADE TEACHER

(Coming Soon!)