Our Wonderful Staff
Headmaster - Dn. Dennis Seib
Deacon
Dionysius (Dennis) Seib is a graduate of Multnomah Bible College with a
bachelor's degree in Biblical Education. In 2004 he completed three
years of study in the St. Stephens program of the Antiochian Archdiocese
of America which equipped him to be ordained to the diaconate. After he
completes a masters thesis he will earn a Masters Degree in Applied
Theology from Balamaand University in Lebanon. Prior to coming to Agia
Sophia Academy, Dn. Dennis was a Bible/theology teacher and a campus
pastor and counselor at a private Christian high school in Modesto,
California. He is currently serving as Deacon at St. George Antiochian
Orthodox Church in Portland. Dn. Dennis loves to read, spend time with
his wife Debbie, play with his dog Buddy; but most of all, he loves to
spoil his new granddaughter Liesel. He is excited about his role at Agia
Sophia Academy and eagerly looks forward to leading the school into the
future as it grows and glorifies God in the lives of the children.
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Lead Montessori ECE Teacher - Ms. Elisha Lubliner
Ms.
Elisha Lubliner moved to Portland from Eugene to be a teacher at ASA in
2006. Her family lives in Eugene where her father is the
priest at St. John Maximovitch Serbian Church. Elisha graduated from
Northwest Christian College in 2005 with a B.A. in Early
Childhood/Elementary Education, an Oregon Teaching License and an ESOL
(English to Speakers of Other Languages) endorsement. Her previous
teaching experience includes: Montessori Education, public school (K-4th
grade during student teaching,) private tutoring, Children's Choir, teen
groups, as well as serving as consultant and curriculum developer for
Holy Protection Homeschool at St. Paisius Monastery. Although Elisha has
visited Portland countless times in the past, she is now enjoying seeing
some of the more scenic parts of the city, discovering restaurants,
parks and local events. She loves music and especially enjoys listening
to, playing and singing Orthodox Church music, Balkan folk songs and
classical music.
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Montessori ECE Assistant Teacher - Mrs. Mary Nye
Mrs.
Nye is married to a retired US Coast Guard Officer, currently working as
a cabinet builder. They have 3 sons. Mary began home
schooling her children when the older two were in the 2nd and 4th
grades. Her youngest son, who is now 17, was home schooled until he
began attending Clackamas Community College at the age of
15. From a very young age, Mary's dream was to become a
teacher. She attended Western Washington State College in the
early 70's. Growing up an Episcopalian, she has been a Sunday
school teacher for both preschool and middle school. Mary and her
two oldest boys were fortunate to have had Mrs. Romalda Spalding, the
author of the "Writing Road to Reading", work with them one on
one while stationed in Hawaii. This is the writing/reading
program that is used by Agia Sophia Academy. Mary is a very strong
supporter of this program, and teaches the phonetic sounds rather than
the names of the letters of the alphabet to her students. Mary was
thrilled to have been offered the preschool teaching position in the
spring of 2006. She believes that each day spent with these
beautiful little children is a gift from God. New to the Orthodox
Church, Mary attends St. Nicholas in Portland.
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Year One Teacher - Mrs. Delpha Powell
As
teacher at Agia Sophia, Delpha realizes that she has been
blessed to partake in this most wonderful blend of our Orthodox
Christian Faith and a Classical Education. She is grateful to be able to
encourage the natural joy and wonder of children. A native Oregonian,
Delpha spent many years away from home, attending college in Arizona and
working as a flight attendant in Colorado, where she met and married
Tim. They moved to Oregon City in 1993. Delpha stayed home to raise
their two daughters and spent time volunteering in the classroom which
caused her to wonder: What is an "education?" She loved
reading children's literature with her girls and decided that in their
early years, it was important that they explore the beauty of the world
around them and learn through doing rather than through worksheets and
tests. Thus began their 8-year home schooling adventure. The last 3
years were spent researching and implementing a classical curriculum
which included: Homer, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle and many of the Greek
myths. Once she discovered that Agia Sophia was opening, Delpha was
determined to be a part of the school in whatever capacity was needed in
order to help fulfill its mission. She is a member of St. Nicholas
Orthodox Church and loves art, sewing, gardening and every bite of
gourmet food cooked by her husband. Her older daughter attends St.
John's College, Annapolis, and her younger daughter attends La Salle
High School.
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Year Two Teacher - Mrs. Marina Schor
Marina
and her husband, Raphael, moved to Portland from Bend in 2004 for two
very important reasons. The first reason was to live closer to St. John
the Baptist GOC, and the second was to make it possible for Marina to
teach at ASA. Before relocating, Marina worked as a social studies,
science, and math teacher at a private, middle school for girls. Marina
had also taught 4th and 6th grades for Bend-La Pine School for several
years. When Marina completed the teaching program at California State
University in 1993, she accepted a temporary teaching position at Big
Bear Elementary in third grade. This extensive and varied experience was
vital in helping Marina to begin again at Agia Sophia Academy. Whether
she is working with Primer students or the older Year Three students,
Marina finds teaching at ASA a continued pleasure.
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Year 3 Teacher - Mr. Edward Hillhouse
Year
Three teacher, Mr. Edward Hillhouse, was born in Wisconsin, then soon
traveled to Virginia and ended up in 13 different schools from San Diego
to Alaska, as a Navy brat. These enriching experiences helped make him a
better teacher, which he had a vision of doing at the age of 14. After
seven years teaching third grade in Riverside, California, Ed moved to
the Santa Cruz area where he worked in the cleaning, landscaping, and
hardwood floors businesses before helping to start an Orthodox school.
He taught grades five through eight in his parish school for 16 years
before moving to the Portland area to become the Year Three teacher at
Agia Sophia Academy, a position he feels privileged to fulfill. Ed and
his wife have three sons and are enjoying being grandparents.
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Music Teacher - Mrs. Kathleen Powell
Our
Music Instructor, Mrs. Kathleen Powell, is thrilled to be teaching
at Agia Sophia Academy. Before serving at ASA, Kathleen taught
Pre-school through grade 12 Hymnology in the Sunday School at Holy
Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Kenmore, Washington, and maintained a
private singing and conducting studio. She has worked with many Orthodox
Conductors and Choirs in various jurisdictions as a guest conductor and
clinician. The newly titled "The Other Mrs. Powell" (as
opposed to Year One teacher Mrs. Delpha Powell) currently serves as the
Youth Music Specialist for the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San
Francisco Church Music Federation. In this capacity she has written and
compiled the Youth Choir Starter Kit, organizes and teaches Church Music
Institutes and Conducting Courses, and is currently working on a
curriculum for Youth Choir and Sunday School Music. Kathleen's love for
the Orthodox Church and for music fuels her passion to educate all
children in our rich and exquisite tradition.
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Greek Teacher - Ms. Apostolia (Lia) Galani
Ms.
Galani moved to Portland from Athens, Greece to teach modern Greek here at
ASA and also the Hellenic community. She graduated from Athens
University with specialization in teaching people with learning
difficulties, the deaf, and hard of hearing; and from
Harokopion University, Department of Geography.
Her previous experience includes: teaching in public and private schools, writing geography textbooks, story books, activities books for Greek language, creative writing and mathematics. For more than ten years she have been working in Pedagogical Institute of Greece as a national curriculum developer for geography and earth sciences and as a member of the P.I. committee for the evaluation of Geographical maps.
She is a partner of "Talent Information Systems" regarding matters of the application of Geographical software and interactive maps in education. At this time she is doing her PhD thesis on "Approaches to teaching Dynamic Geographical Phenomena" and is writing a Geology-geography textbook for the 1st grade of Junior High School.
Ms. Galani has visited the USA many times in the past, but it is her first time on West Coast. Although she missed the shinny days of Greece and her family & friends, she is enjoying the rainbows, the clouds, new friends, new colleagues, and the different tastes, smells and scenic parts of Oregon.
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Latin Teacher - Ms. Aryn Seiler
"I
would make them all learn English: and then I would let the clever ones
learn Latin as an honor, and Greek as a treat."
--Sir Winston Churchill
Roving
Commission: My Early Life
Ms. Aryn Seiler received a Masters in Classical Languages with a minor in Philosophy from the University of New Mexico (Magna Cum Laude). While at the University she taught beginning and advanced Latin and Greek Grammar as well as Epic and Elegy.
"The addition of Latin to the curriculum, even among young children, leads to the development of critical and logical thought, as well as more sophisticated and rhetorically complex communication skills. Students of Latin become better writers, speakers and readers. Latin study leads to improved memorization skills, meticulous reading and self discipline. Moreover, Latin is fun to learn. The Romans were a very lively bunch, and much of their culture and society still informs our architecture, Republic and ideologies."
Besides teaching Latin at Agia Sophia, Ms. Seiler works nights as a cab driver for Radio Cab. She lives in a small apartment in downtown Portland with her little, salt and pepper Schnauzer, Bel. Ten years ago she gave up television and has been so much more interesting since. She is currently reading the works of Dostoyevsky and several very boring, nonfiction works on legal research.
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Art Teacher - (Position Available - See ASA Job Listings)
Bio
Coming Soon.
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