New Owls for the 2022-23 School Year

Her last name may sound familiar, Judith is none other than the sister of Sara BG, Social Studies faculty. Judith is excited to join the Overlake food service team. She has spent her career in hospitality and customer service and brings an energy and warmth to her interactions. For the last 19 years she even ran her own bed and breakfast in Utah! Be sure to say hi next time you grab lunch.

Laura joins the Overlake community with a wide variety of experience. Most recently she has worked as a Professional Development Coordinator at Islandwood Urban School where she developed curriculum that integrated Next Generation Science Standards with climate justice and community-based pedagogy. The Outdoor Education program will also benefit from her experience as a Wilderness First Responder and Challenge Course Facilitator.

Jessica Butler has jumped into learning the ins and outs of the Middle and Upper School Coordinator role. She is an eastside local having worked at St. Thomas School in Medina as an administrative assistant and sub coordinator. In her spare time she leads classes at Rowhouse in Redmond and holds a certification in Pilates instruction.

Katrina is joining Overlake’s Development team bringing experience as an Admissions Office Administrator at the International Friends School where she worked to develop the admission process, conducted weekly covid testing for their students, and was the key administrator in collaborating with their Fundraising and Development where $120k was raised during one event. She has also worked in in-home care helping guide families through the journey of finding appropriate care for their family members.

Stephanie joins Overlake after spending the last four years as the Head of Science at the Shanghai American School where she was responsible for curriculum development, technology integration, and professional development of the science team. Her skills and flexibility were put to the test during the pandemic when she delivered both asynchronous and synchronous online instruction to support a community of students spanning 21 different time zones! In addition to teaching science in New York and the UK, she is an RRCA Certified Running Coach. She loves to cultivate a student’s love for learning throughout their life journey. In her spare time she keeps busy with fun interests like trapeze and aerial arts, snowboarding, and scuba diving.

Torina is new to the Overlake transportation team this year. She loves basketball, volleyball, and even holds a state record in discus and shot put. 

Coming to us from our neighbor to the north is Rose Gray who has been living in British Columbia where she has been an Indigenous Culture and Student Support Worker for the Nanaimo Ladysmith Public School District. In this role she was the primary contact for Indigenous students seeking assistance. She has recently completed a Bachelor of Social Work and completed training from the Canadian Association of Social Workers. Prior to this work she has extensive experience in accounting having worked as a staff accountant, accounting associate, and accounts payable specialist.

Before joining Overlake, Ying worked for a small tech company for 4 years. What she loves about Overlake is the people and the welcoming and supportive community. In her free time, she enjoys trying new restaurants, cooking, and making art crafts, from DIY home deco to painting. As a swim mom, you might see her busy volunteering at swim meets over the weekends. Welcome Ying!

Welcome to the amazing Student Support team! Haruka Kuga will be joining Susan Essex’s team as a school counselor. Haruka has been serving as a school counselor at Hunter High School in New York where she counseled over 215 middle school students and families. She led individual, group, and classroom sessions geared towards academic and socio-emotional areas of development. Haruka also has experience working in the college counseling department where she scheduled college visits, facilitated counseling workshops, and helped launch a wellness initiative.

Please welcome Delano Lopez to the Overlake community. Delano has taught many subjects including Social Studies and English, and Language Arts and recently received his PhD in American History including work in Latin American and Native American history. He has taught at the high school and college levels but is excited to return to high school where his passion truly lies. One of Delano’s favorite parts of teaching high schoolers is their sense of curiosity, empathy, and joy in learning.

Drew McGilvray moved north up the coast to join Overlake from most recently southern California, where he studied computer science at California State University Northridge. A native of California, McGilvray has run the L.A. marathon six times. When not helping with everyone's technology needs on campus, he is learning the Norwegian language.

Jerone Mitchell comes to Overlake from the great state of Texas where he has spent the last decade teaching computer science and working to develop the AP Computer Science testing material. He also brings an interest in bringing diversity and inclusion work into the classroom. When he was teaching at the Episcopal School of Dallas he also served as the Diversity Coordinator and a mentor of the Black Student Union. Early in his career he spent time as a Software Engineer and Software Developer before transitioning to education.

Mike is a new bus driver on the Transportation team and has been in and around independent schools for many years. Welcome Mike! 

Welcome to the Transportation team Tracy! She has been driving for Monroe schools and in her spare time loves tennis, pickleball, and camping. 

McKenna joined Overlake in October of 2021 jumping right into the school year already in motion. That hasn’t stopped her from being an integral member of the Development team this year. Her favorite memory from her first few months at Overlake was transforming the Dean Palmer Fieldhouse into the 2022 Owls Night Out venue - stay tuned for more details about Owls Night Out 2023! She is originally from Montana and is a proud WSU grad (Go Cougs!). This fall, McKenna will experience the start of the school year right along with all our other new faculty and staff. Next time you see McKenna, congratulate her on a great first year at Overlake!

Ben Ramage is joining Overlake's Facilities team after most recently working as a facilities manager in Seattle for Grand Central Bakery. Ramage brings his decade's worth of experience working in warehouse and food manufacturing environments to the team at Overlake. 

A round of applause for Kristina Rey, Overlake’s newest Arts faculty. Holding her MA in Music Education from NYU, Kristina has lead musicals, taught music theory, and conducted choirs of all ages. She even spent a few years as a Performing Arts Director at The Disneyland Resort. Recently, she was a presenter at the Creative Arts Conference where she spoke on Music Education in an Innovating World: Tech Strategies for Young Learners.

Marcus joined Overlake in December and has been helping capture the excitement on campus since then. He spends most of his time working with our co-curricular programs after school. You might find him at a baseball game or robotics practice on any given day. Marcus is a content creator who has done work for Zillow, Business Insider, and Obama for America, just to name a few places. Say hi next time you see him at an event!

Elena joined Overlake in October of 2021, jumping into a school year already underway. As a neighbor to the school, Elena’s commute rivals only that of Head Owl Matt Horvat with a 6 minute walking commute. Elena brings an enthusiasm and warm joy to the front office and a desire to help everyone find what they are looking for. If you’ve been in the front office this past year you know what a pleasure it is to talk to her.

Samantha is joining the Transportation team. She previously had been driving for Federal Way and Auburn schools.

Rachel is stepping into the Overlake community not only as an US Math Teacher but is also filling the role of Math Department Chair, all while learning a brand new community. With a PhD in Mathematics from Dartmouth and 15 years in the high school classroom, Rachel has even taught at the collegiate level at Portland State University for the last few years. She is excited to return to the independent high school environment where she loves the engagement and deep connections formed in that context.

Journeying all the way from the east coast is Flavia Vidal. She has spent 20 years at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts most recently serving as the Director for the Brace Center for Gender Studies. However, for the past year, Vidal has been a visiting scholar at the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women digging deeper into research on how schools around the country and world teach gender studies in and outside the classroom. She is excited to bring her research knowledge to Overlake’s programs.  

A familiar face is joining the Experiential Education team. Our very own Chrissy Wakeling will make her debut as the Assistant Director of Experiential Education. Over the last year and a half Chrissy has been serving as the Middle and Upper School Coordinator expertly and calmly planning events and juggling a seemingly endless number of tasks, all with her signature smile and cool demeanor.  

In addition to being an Overlake alum and current employee, Chrissy is no stranger to wearing ‘multiple hats’. She has served as a teacher, program creator, academic advisor, and club leader at both Puget Sound Community School and Annie Wright Schools.

Djimon Wulah is returning to his eastside roots, after recently graduating with a business degree from the University of Redlands. Wulah, a native of Bellevue, graduated from Bellevue High School and played football for the Wolverines. When not leading the technology support team, Wulah is studying at the UW earning a MBA in Information Systems.

Jingjing is the newest member of the admission team. With a Masters of Education in Learning Teaching and Educational Transformation, Jingjing has been teaching Chinese at the International Montessori Academy in Bellevue. Prior to that was an ESL Instructor at Massachusetts International Academy. She is switching from the classroom to the admission team and is excited to help guide prospective families through the admission process.