Saka Chrispine, Educator, Kenya
Saka is passionate about an educational process and environment that holistically nurtures an individual to self-awareness, and growth in clarity of life purpose and transformation, as they live wholesomely and meaningfully in the world entrusted to us. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science with education. He currently teaches in a community school in the remote areas of coastal Kenya and is passionate to see learners in the community encounter, and who embrace lively life-long learning that would transform such marginalized communities. He loves technology in all aspects of life, traveling, and playing board games.
Saka is passionate about an educational process and environment that holistically nurtures an individual to self-awareness, and growth in clarity of life purpose and transformation, as they live wholesomely and meaningfully in the world entrusted to us. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science with education. He currently teaches in a community school in the remote areas of coastal Kenya and is passionate to see learners in the community encounter, and who embrace lively life-long learning that would transform such marginalized communities. He loves technology in all aspects of life, traveling, and playing board games.
.Myles White, Springhouse Learner, Sourced Design apprentice
Myles White is a cook, baker, and athlete. Born in Portland, Oregon, Myles moved to Santa Cruz, California when he was five and lived an amazing and comfortable life until he moved to Floyd when he was ten. Myles has always disliked the countryside and never felt like he fit in anywhere, especially while homeschooling for the first three months, secluded from the rest of society. Eventually, he started going to Indian Valley Elementary, and then to Floyd County High School where he always kept straight A’s and did his best to be a good student, even though he never felt happy or excited to learn. Finally, Myles transferred to Springhouse Community School in the midst of the COVID-19 virus, and even through all of the commotion, the amazing and diverse family that is the Springhouse community felt like home.
Myles White is a cook, baker, and athlete. Born in Portland, Oregon, Myles moved to Santa Cruz, California when he was five and lived an amazing and comfortable life until he moved to Floyd when he was ten. Myles has always disliked the countryside and never felt like he fit in anywhere, especially while homeschooling for the first three months, secluded from the rest of society. Eventually, he started going to Indian Valley Elementary, and then to Floyd County High School where he always kept straight A’s and did his best to be a good student, even though he never felt happy or excited to learn. Finally, Myles transferred to Springhouse Community School in the midst of the COVID-19 virus, and even through all of the commotion, the amazing and diverse family that is the Springhouse community felt like home.
H Leopold, Head of Curriculum Design at Springhouse
After realizing the limits of the US public education system, a structure that wasn’t built to support the creative education work that they were after, H left their 5-year teacher education program a year early, graduating with a degree in Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies with minors in Elementary Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Upon receiving their diploma, they left the town of their undergraduate university in pursuit of a new way of educating and learning - one that truly supports the potential and life in each individual. Now, after 6 years of immersion in and the co-creation of a vitality-centered learning environment, H is inspired to work alongside other educators yearning for something different - for an educational design in which ALL learners can thrive. A queer, gender-noncomforming womxn, H is committed to anti-racist, abolitionist teaching, the decolonization of education and themselves, and being a coconspirator.
After realizing the limits of the US public education system, a structure that wasn’t built to support the creative education work that they were after, H left their 5-year teacher education program a year early, graduating with a degree in Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies with minors in Elementary Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Upon receiving their diploma, they left the town of their undergraduate university in pursuit of a new way of educating and learning - one that truly supports the potential and life in each individual. Now, after 6 years of immersion in and the co-creation of a vitality-centered learning environment, H is inspired to work alongside other educators yearning for something different - for an educational design in which ALL learners can thrive. A queer, gender-noncomforming womxn, H is committed to anti-racist, abolitionist teaching, the decolonization of education and themselves, and being a coconspirator.
Dr. Jenny Finn, Springhouse Head of School and Co-Founder, Head of Educational Design and Policy at Sourced Design
Jenny holds a Ph.D. in Sustainability Education from Prescott College and a master’s degree in Social Work from Colorado State University. For the past twenty years, she has been committed to creating healthy culture by starting with an unwavering commitment to her own personal growth and transformation. As a result of her own journey with addiction and cancer, Jenny understands that a healthy relationship with the world begins with a strong connection to ourselves. In a culture that often fosters separation and disconnection, Jenny’s research, mentoring, and teaching invites people to deepen the relationship they have with themselves in order to serve the world with greater clarity, compassion, creativity, and courage. Jenny's work has taken many forms including non-profit management, trauma and hospice care, spiritual care and chaplaincy, clinical private practice, community building through the expressive arts, and educational design. She is a co-founder of Springhouse and sees community-based education as a primary agent to transform culture. She is honored to work with the outstanding Springhouse team and is deeply committed to the Springhouse mission of reimagining the purpose and practice of education.
Jenny is the founder of Sourced Design and is grateful to all of her teachers who have fanned the flame within her in so many ways. She is also grateful to the "Purple Cow" group, who helped her refine and articulate this design, and of course to the whole Springhouse community for their support along the way. Jenny lives on a farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband Andy and their two teenage children, Andrew and Lizzie, and loves them with everything she's got.