Teacher Biographies
Jump to:
- Alexa Eurich , K/1 Lead Teacher
- Nick Williams, K/1 Lead Teacher
- Bridget Farmer, K/1 Teaching Assistant
- Connie Real, K/1 Teaching Assistant
- Tony Cifra, 2/3 Lead Teacher
- Melissa Reyes, 2/3 Lead Teacher
- Noel Musgnung, 2/3 Teaching Assistant
- Pauline Talens, 2/3 Teaching Assistant
- Carrie Klein, 4/5 Lead Teacher
- Helena Vonk, 4/5 Lead Teacher
- Jamie Keller, 4/5 Teaching Assistant
Alexa Eurich , K/1 Lead Teacher
Alexa is excited to be part of Aurora's creative and vibrant staff. She comes to Aurora with teaching experience in both public and private Bay Area schools. Alexa has worked as an art teacher, a reading specialist, and has taught kindergarten through fifth grade. She attended UC Santa Cruz, and graduated from UC Berkeley. She earned her teaching credential and masters degree in education from Mills College. Alexa is fond of singing and dancing and has performed in local theater productions. She also loves to read and play games with her husband Joe.
Nick Williams, K/1 Lead Teacher
Nick grew up in San Jose, Ca and has been teaching at Aurora since 2005. He earned his BA at the University of California, Santa Cruz where he studied film and education. Nick earned his multiple subject teaching credential through Cal State East Bay. Aurora School is truly his 'home away from home,' and he's ecstatic to be part of this dynamic community. In the summers Nick acts as director for Aurora's Theater Arts Camp. Nick comes from a large family of educators, and views teaching as his way of positively impacting his community. When he's not in the classroom he enjoys traveling, relaxing with good friends, and walking his pet pug.
Bridget Farmer
Bridget received her bachelors degree from UC Santa Cruz where she majored in Sociology and minored in Education. She went on to complete her multiple subject teaching credential at Cal State East Bay. She has worked in K-3 classrooms in Santa Cruz, Berkeley, and San Lorenzo. Bridget is thrilled to be joining a teaching staff that is dedicated to creating a school where every student can find success. Bridget lives in Berkeley where she values being a part of an engaged community. She enjoys being active and is proud to have run three marathons.
Connie Real, K/1 Teaching Assistant
Connie grew up in the Bay Area and now lives with her husband in Oakland, where they have raised four children. During their school years, Connie has volunteered on parenting boards, as a PTA President, a scout leader and finally ended up at Merritt College, where she took classes in Early Childhood Education. While working at a local preschool she heard about Aurora, and joined the small but enthusiastic group of educators with a vision to honor the whole student. This is her 20th year! She loves to travel to Portland to visit her grandson and his family. Connie also loves being around animals, hiking and playing golf with her adult children and husband.
Tony Cifra, 2/3 Lead Teacher
Born and raised in New York City, Tony relocated to the Bay Area in the Summer of 2008. In past years, he has worked as an educator with homeless adults, LGBT adolescents, 4th graders in NYC's Greenwich Village, and novice teachers in San Francisco. He received his Bachelor's degree in Human Development from Cornell University, and completed a Masters in Childhood Education at New York University. During his spare time he enjoys playing tennis, softball, biking, and visiting his family in NYC. Tony is eager to share and grow with Aurora's diverse community of learners.
Melissa Reyes, 2/3 Lead Teacher
Born in New Jersey, Melissa grew up in the East Bay and on the East Coast. Prior to coming to Aurora she taught in a small Oakland Public School, and also worked doing youth development and organizational development with various non-profits and community organizations. She has also been an instructor and curriculum developer with a Family Literacy Center in the Mission District of San Francisco. She received her Bachelors in Environmental Justice at UC Santa Cruz and completed her teaching credential and Masters in Critical Environmental and Global Literacy at New College of California. For four years Melissa has co-facilitated an Institute for International Teacher Collaboration that brings a diverse group of Bay Area educators to El Salvador and Mexico for rich collaborations based on interactive teaching strategies, community building and integrating children's literature to explore important environmental and human rights issues. When she is not teaching Melissa loves to dance and play music, especially Bomba, an Afro-Puerto Rican tradition.
Noel Musgnung
Noel received his Bachelor of Arts Humanities at Western Oregon University, and hails from Oregon's Willamette Valley. He had been with Aurora's Extended Care program for two years and couldn't be more jazzed to strengthen his relationships within the Aurora community and expand creative boundaries with new colleagues as a Teacher's Assistant. Education has been a part of Noel's life since high school, where stepping into leadership positions through sports teams and community work led him to witness the power of sharing, a good work ethic, and empowering others. He has been a camp counselor with Aurora summer camps, and a counselor and craft shop instructor at Camp Nor'wester in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. Some of Noel's favorite adventures have been while in Central America, hiking volcanoes in Nicaragua and working on a turtle conservation scouting for turtle eggs in the middle of the night on Costa Rican beaches, as well as substitute teaching in Alaska for 2nd-12th grade and snowboarding without chairlifts.
Pauline Talens
Pauline is excited to be a new member of the Aurora community! She was born in San Francisco, raised in Daly City, CA, and now residing in Alameda. She attended San Francisco State University and received her BA in Journalism with a concentration in Magazine Writing. Shortly after graduating, she went back to school to take Early Childhood Education courses, which opened her heart to the art of teaching. She began volunteering in middle schools in San Francisco to help students with their writing and storytelling skills, tutored elementary students in reading and writing, and worked as a preschool TA last school year. Pauline is looking forward to the joyful moments and witnessing the students blossom this year. She loves reading, learning new things, traveling, and checking out new restaurants.
Carrie Klein, 4-5 Lead Teacher
Carrie moved to Oakland from Bainbridge Island, Washington several years ago but she has lived all over the country. She has an undergraduate degree in history from Hamilton College and a Masters degree in education from Bank Street College. Before going to graduate school, Carrie worked as a speechwriter and foreign policy advisor for US Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon. The mother of two high school children, Carrie comes to us from Redwood Day School where she worked as an intern teacher in third grade for two years while clearing her California teaching credential through UC San Diego. Carrie Klein has dreamed about being part of a progressive learning community like Aurora for many years and is very excited to be part of the 4/5 team. In her spare time, Carrie loves to travel and is determined to set foot in the three US states she's never visited.
Helena Vonk, 4-5 Lead Teacher
Helena is a native of Oakland and loves being a part of the Aurora community. She discovered her love of teaching while earning a bachelor's degree at Oberlin College where majors in Sociology and African American Studies helped her to cultivate a critical and creative teaching praxis. Since graduating, Helena has earned her multiple subject credential with the guidance of the Bay Area Teachers Training Institute, many mentor teachers, and gracious 1st and 2nd grade students. When Helena is not in the classroom she loves to draw, dance and cook.
Jamie Keller, 4/5 Teaching Assistant
A native of New York, Jamie moved to Oakland in 2004 after graduating from Vassar College and spending a year living in Santiago, Chile and traveling across many parts of South America. Jamie has worked with children in a variety of settings, such as Kids N Clay in Berkeley and Adventure Day Camp in Walnut Creek, where he was the waterfront director for many years. After finding Aurora in 2007 and spending his first year as the Extended Care Coordinator, he became the Teacher Assistant in Room 5 and has stayed there ever since. In addition to his T.A responsibilities, Jamie teaches the science curriculum in 4th and 5th grade, which is composed of a spirited combination of FOSS kits, the writings of Bill Bryson, and his own studies of the sociology of science. In his spare time he enjoys telling stories, reading philosophy, and traveling to parts unknown.