Greenhills Welcomes Eight New Faculty Members
Among the new faces at Greenhills this year are eight faculty members, including:
Bob Ause ’81 joins the science department. Bob earned a B.A. in chemistry and classical languages from Williams College, a master’s in divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary, and an M.A. in education from U-M, for which he recently completed his student practicum at Forsythe Middle School teaching earth and physical science. Bob spent the 2008-2009 school year at the Washtenaw Christian Academy where he taught earth science, physical science, health and German. Prior to returning to Ann Arbor in 2008, Bob taught AP chemistry, conceptual physics, Latin and Greek at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) from 1996-2008, serving also as a curriculum developer, grade level dean, and assistant soccer coach.
Nicole Burroughs is a new visual arts teacher. She will oversee all middle school art classes and teach one upper school art class. After receiving her B.S. in visual arts education from EMU, Nicole spent the last two years teaching art at South Meadows Elementary School in Chelsea, where she implemented numerous cross-curricular art initiatives designed to focus students on producing multicultural projects, environmental art, and identity-inspired art.
New 9th grade English teacher Christopher Erickson graduated from U-M with a B.A. in education with distinction in English and history. Last year Chris was a college coach for AmeriCorps and College Forward in Austin, Texas. From 2005 to 2009 he was an English teacher at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Va., where he established an after-school and weekend program, and developed and implemented curriculum for a creative writing elective. Chris has also created and led free college essay writing workshops for low-income students and worked as a lab assistant at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Chris is a U-M Hopwood Award winner in poetry.
Jing Li will be bolstering our growing Chinese language program as a part-time teacher. She recently completed the post-baccalaureate teacher certification program at Eastern Michigan University, where she majored in secondary Chinese. Prior to enrolling at EMU, Jing obtained a B.A. from Wayne State University with a major in Asian studies. In addition, Jing has an A.D. in Chinese language and literature from Shanghai Teacher’s University, and she has completed undergraduate courses in Chinese language and literature at East China University. For the past seven years, Jing has taught 4th grade Chinese at the Ann Hau Chinese School here in Ann Arbor.
Kevin Olson joins the middle school teaching faculty as a Spanish and English teacher. Kevin will assume responsibility for 6th and 8th grade Spanish and teach one section of 8th grade English. After completing undergraduate studies in both Spanish and English at U-M, Kevin taught the two subject areas for eight years in suburban Philadelphia public schools at both the middle and high school levels. Just before starting at Greenhills, Kevin completed a master’s program in Spanish immersion from Millersville University.
Katie Rieder, who worked at Greenhills last year as a maternity leave sub in English and in the learning center, this year is a full-time English teacher (replacing Peggy Hubbard who is on leave pursuing her master’s degree). After earning her M.A. in education and her B.A. in drama from Loyola Marymount University and the University of Washington, respectively, Katie taught in the local public schools and in California.
Jonathan Schwartz will join the 6th grade teaching team and the English department. Jonathan’s professional background includes independent school teaching stints at Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols School (Mass.) and The Brearly School (NY), and workshop leadership and writing instruction at 826 Michigan. He has taught writing at the college level, and recently received a master’s in elementary education from U-M to add to his M.A. in creative writing from Emerson College in Boston. Jonathan holds his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University (Conn.).
Julie Smith will be teaching cellular and molecular biology and introductory biology. Julie graduated from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada with an honors bachelor of science degree in biology and psychology. She also obtained her B.Ed. degree from Queen’s with a certification in intermediate and senior division biology and chemistry. Julie obtained her honors specialist certification in science from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education through the University of Toronto. Currently, she is pursuing a master’s in education in curriculum studies from Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Quebec. For the past seven years Julie has worked at Bayview Glen School in Toronto where she taught biology, environmental science, and general science classes.
