About Us

EDUCATION FOR THE WORLD WE WANT: RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.

Wheelhouse Creative Education Center offers a unique educational opportunity that centers care, joy, social justice and connection with the natural world and one another. We believe children grow into their very best selves through imaginative play, supportive community, meaningful time in nature, valuable physical work and following their own natural curiosity. 

The idea of a mixed-age education that respects nature and children’s work of play is rare in the United States. But studies demonstrate that when children from diverse backgrounds, ages and income levels learn together in nature, they report many benefits later in life — not only improved physical health, but also stronger emotional resilience, deeper concentration and desire to learn and higher earning potential in the long term. We’d love for you to join us!

Our Mission

At Catskill Wheelhouse, we believe that caring relationships hold the world together. We seek to elevate, celebrate, and support the work of care, and to create an environment in which children learn to take care of themselves, each other, and their world. We do this by:

• Operating a developmentally sound and soul-nourishing childcare center that emphasizes social-emotional development and care for the natural world

• Creating innovative and sustainable support systems with families to meet their emotional and material needs

• Cultivating networks and shifting local culture to center and adequately resource the work of care

Our Story

Catskill Wheelhouse was founded by a group of five parents dreaming of a loving, mutually supportive, world-opening community for their children and themselves. As their children played on and around them, they laid the groundwork for an educational organization guided by the principles of social justice, land stewardship and joy. We opened the doors of our preschool program in October 2015 in a renovated barn, surrounded by sunflowers and acres of forest. When the pandemic hit in 2020, we pivoted to meet the needs of our community and expanded our offerings to include fully-outdoor and masked Forest School classes. Today, our core program — Community School — makes its home in the community building of a former resort on Main Street Cairo, where children absorb the sense of pleasure and relaxation in nature from days gone by.  

Our Team

Co-Directors

Alanna Navitski, Executive and Community Programs Director, has been exploring and creating with young children and families since 1999. Her experiences as a classroom teacher, home-based special educator, adult educator, and program director have led her to a deep appreciation of the joy of discovery through child-led work, and of the power of supportive, inclusive communities for both children and adults. These principles guide her work. She holds a Master's Degree in Early Childhood General and Special Education, as well as a Master's Degree in Leadership for Educational Change, both from Bank Street College of Education. Alanna has worked at Catskill Wheelhouse since 2015.

Christina Dietmann, Community School Director, is a passionate, joyful person who views our students as the newest humans, whole and perfect just as they are. Christina received her B.A. in Psychology from Adelphi University, and her M.A. in Early Childhood Education from St. John’s University. She draws inspirations from a diversity of educational practices: Reggio inspired education, the Project Approach, Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Emergent Curriculum, and the Outdoor Classroom.  In her free time, Christina loves hiking the local trails, practices yoga & meditation, plays with Ukulele Catskill, reads a lot, and loves to cook with whole foods.  She lives in Catskill, NY with her partner Nina, and their two pets:  Cuzco the Hognose snake and Tomatillo the Musk turtle.

Teachers

Ashley Goodspeed, Toddler Co-Teacher, has worked with children for close to nine years, including general and special education and toddlers. She loves engaging children in the outdoors and exploring with them. She is excited to get to know your children, learn alongside them, and have lots of fun!

Stephanie Dougherty, Toddler Co-Teacher, has always been learning how to teach. She is inspired by great teachers who showed her the why of learning something and endeavored to create an environment and experience where we learned naturally, absorbed in the subject at hand. She sees her students as thoughtful individuals, each doing their own work of figuring out how the world works, and believes that respect is a two-way exchange. She finds something different to love about each age group and the benefits of different group settings. She comes each day excited each day to share the many things there are to teach little ones and ready to be amazed by how they will teach her, too.

Frank Tuccio, 3s Preschool Lead Teacher, is originally from Queens, NY and moved to Columbia County on a permanent basis several years ago. He has a special interest in the arts, and loves sharing the possibilities of different media with kids. He has worked in many different types of classrooms. When working with the class, he places a strong emphasis on the creative and developmental possibilities that open ended play can inspire. He sees the goal of a teacher as creating a learning environment that can meet any child where they are developmentally, and offer opportunities to demonstrate and strengthen their knowledge and abilities. He prioritizes co-creating school as a space where kids feel seen and valued as individuals, as well as supporting them in having fair, fun, and meaningful interactions with one another.

Chelsea Snider, Enrichment & Community Programs Teacher, is delighted to be back in the class, on the floor, and in the puddles of the preschool classroom! After owning and operating a small daycare for four years, Chelsea joined the Catskill Wheelhouse board in 2016. With a degree in Moving Image Arts and Contemporary Music Technology, Chelsea has been an artist and educator for nearly 20 years alongside a career in organizational administration for small businesses and global nonprofits. After a semester as a forest school teacher in winter and spring 2022, Chelsea is most looking forward to inviting exploration, idea-exchange and self-expansion by “facilitating all kinds of boredom,” she said. “That’s where I find the sweet spot of child-led emergent curriculum. I lead kids until they’ve seen it all…and then I let them show me more.”

Tricia Watkins, Lead 4s Preschool Teacher, has been teaching preschool for 33 years and has a BA in Psychology with a concentration in early childhood education. Her teaching philosophy is to create meaningful play-based learning experiences while also appreciating what makes each child unique so they may build on their strengths and learn new skills. Trusting that children have a natural curiosity, she facilitates learning by constructing environments rich in opportunities for growth and development of the whole child, especially critical thinking skills and social-emotional wellness. Tricia has been married for 24 years and has three kids, aged 16-20. When she is not teaching, she loves her family’s company, hiking, going to the beach, yoga and meditation. 

Board

Laura Anderson is a community educator, avid hiker and gardener, and works in a juvenile justice diversion program in Greene county. Her daughter, now 10 years old, was a member of Catskill Wheelhouse’s inaugural preschool class. Laura holds a B.A. in Community Education from Goddard College and is currently working on a Master’s in Social Work at University at Buffalo. Her interests include the therapeutic uses of horticulture, transformative justice, foraging for mushrooms, climbing waterfalls, and learning new board games with her daughter. She has been a board member since 2015.

Chi Rainer Bornfree is a writer, philosopher, urban homesteader, and homeschooling parent of two. They have a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley and a B.A. from Swarthmore College. After living in big cities and small towns, on both coasts of the U.S. and around the world, they settled in the Hudson Valley in 2018. Their kids have loved the programs at Catskill Wheelhouse since 2020, and they have been a member of the board since 2021. 

Gabrielle Fisk is a local community member with years of career experience in alternative education. She has spent years helping to move the needle to ensure that all students have access to engaging, equitable, and effective education options. She has a M.A. in Museums Studies from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in both History and Political Science from Hofstra University. Gabrielle’s daughter is a current student at Catskill Wheelhouse’s community school, and has flourished in the program. Gabrielle enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, and creating poorly-made but very colorful quilts. She has been a member of the board since 2021, and has been serving as Board President since June of 2022. 

Lisa Edstrom is a career educator. She received her BA from Radcliffe and Harvard Colleges, her M.S. in Early Childhood and Childhood Education and her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Bank Street College of Education, and her Ed.D. in Curriculum Studies from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has taught students from preschool through college, and has worked for over 15 years as a teacher educator. She currently teaches at Barnard College in New York CIty, but resides part-time in the Hudson Valley and volunteers to support the youth of Columbia and Greene Counties.