Elizabeth Alderson

ELIZABETH ALDERSON is a Utah-based certified yoga instructor and birth doula. Elizabeth travels teaching yoga workshops and retreats. She moved to Utah from Colorado in 2014, but is originally from Long Branch, New Jersey. Yoga came into her life at the young age of 17. Her mother was told by her physician to embark on a yoga journey to balance her life due to a battle she would heroically move through - Cancer, a word that no-one ever wants to hear. “I watched my mom grow through her 4os using the tools she gained from the amazing world of yoga. She fought like a beautiful, graceful champ. It was through her journey that I stepped into the magical experience that I can now call home. YOGA, this word means union. To me this is union first with yourself and then with the world around you.”

Elizabeth has had the opportunity to learn from an amazing teacher of the Hatha school of yoga, Beth Spindler, a Himalayan Institute resident and Yoga International renowned author and teacher. She has cultivated her own unique way of teaching that she has developed from the schools of yoga including Iyengar (a school of yoga that uses props including blocks, straps, bolsters etc to train the muscles of the body to hold the proper alignment of the skeleton). Elizabeth found Iyengar helped to heal her body both after a car accident in her early 20s and a ski accident where she tore her Acl, Mcl and Meniscus up at Sundance Mountain Resort. She also has been influenced in Yin yoga (a school of yoga in which you ground yourself using deep poses to release unwanted tension in both the body and the mind). And lastly, Ashtanga yoga (a school of yoga that has a specific set of poses and ethical life guidelines to discipline the mind). It was through her own yoga practice that she also became interested in teaching yoga.

Elizabeth Alderson, High School Physical Education Teacher

Emily Barrington Lasso

EMILY BARRINGTON LASSO is excited to begin teaching science classes at Walden School shortly. She is originally from Utah; where she grew up and went to college. However, she lived in Panama for 7 years with her husband, Eric, and her two-year-old daughter, Kinsley. She has been teaching biology and various science classes in Panama for the last five years and she loves it. Emily graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Biological Science Education. During her time studying at BYU she had the opportunity to be involved in several research projects. In her free time she enjoys being outside, spending time with family, and learning new things. She looks forward to joining Walden School and associating with all of the students, faculty and staff.

Email Emily at emily.barrington@waldenschool.us

Emily Barrington, High School Science Teacher

Kelly Elizabeth Belt

KELLY ELIZABETH BELT earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at Utah Valley University (UVU). While at UVU she worked to preserve the endangered Astragalus holmgreniorum of Washington County, Utah and enjoyed field studies in the desert working with native reptiles. Before coming to Walden, Kelly started colts for a living, and she is still today a passionate horsewoman and enjoys spending time with her horse, Meta. Kelly's day is spent surrounded by her personal animal friends and those that come to her through rescue. Kelly has a passion for animals with complex medical histories as well as experience working with many varieties of exotics. Kelly is enthusiastic in sharing her love of the natural world and mentoring students in finding their own love for the world around them.

Email Kelly at kelly.belt@waldenschool.us

Kelly Belt, High School Life Science Teacher/After School BGC Site Coordinator

Jay Brooks

JAY BROOKS was born in Chicago, and earned his B.S. in literature and philosophy from a small university in Wisconsin, followed by his M.A. in literature from Arizona State University. Jay has been an English tutor since 2010, a middle school and high school English teacher since 2017, and in the meantime published two books of poetry. Most recently, Jay lived in Manhattan and worked full-time as a poet in the City. Now Jay begins his journey at Walden after moving to Utah with his girlfriend, who attends medical school in Provo. For fun, Jay cooks, reads, and studies Spanish. As a teacher, Jay's philosophy is that the student always, always, always comes first--and that curiosity is one of the most magical things a classroom will ever see.

Email Jay at jay.brooks@waldenschool.us

Jay Brooks, High School Language Arts Teacher

Tonia Chantry

TONIA CHANTRY has been teaching Japanese 1, 2 and IB juniors and seniors since starting at Walden in 2010. She was born in Tokyo, but was raised on a beautiful sub-tropical island, Okinawa. She grew up on Okinawa until she moved to Hawaii to go to BYU-Hawaii. She graduated with a BA in TESOL with a minor in psychology and linguistics. She took a 3-year sabbatical while raising a family and furthering her education. She has also earned a Master's Degree in Academic Advising from Kansas State University and a second Bachelor's Degree in Communication Disorder's from Utah State University. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, and everything Disney. She loves spending time at Walden so much that even when she is not working, she stays on campus to spend time with her fellow educators and students.

Email Tonia at tonia.chantry@waldenschool.us

Tonia Chantry, High School Japanese Teacher

Joshua Faulkner

JOSHUA FAULKNER has been teaching math, engineering, and music classes for over a decade and has been at Walden nearly as long. He graduated from the University of Utah in 2006 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering (BS EE) where he had a main focus on antennas and other communication devices. In the summer of 2008 he graduated from Utah State University with a Master's Degree in Secondary Education (M. Ed.). He currently holds a Level 2 teaching license with a level 4 math endorsement. During his time at Walden, Joshua has taught a wide variety of classes at Walden, including Secondary Math II, Secondary Math III, IBDP Math SL, IBDP Math HL, Theory of Knowledge, IB Workshop, Discrete Math, AP Calculus, Electronic Music, Guitar, Song Writing, Electrical Engineering, The History of Video Gaming, Experimental Music, History of Music and Recording Techniques, and Conspiracy Theories. Joshua likes to build and design electronics, convert obsolete computer equipment into musical instruments, create music, make movies, and write comic books.

Email Josh at joshua.faulkner@waldenschool.us

Joshua Faulkner, High School Math Teacher/Assessment Director

Samson Foster

SAMSON FOSTER has a Bachelor of Science degree in English Literature, a Master of Arts degree in Mathematics Education, and an American Montessori Society Certification in Elementary I and II. He has taken classes in guitar building, metal sculpture, and anthropology. Sam started teaching in 2013 as a Special Education teacher. He has also taught Preschool, Elementary and Middle School. He spent several years teaching Math and has enjoyed supporting Math classes at Walden. He has taught Career and Technical Education classes for several years, including coding classes, interior design, filmmaking, and computer hardware. He now teaches Robotics, Computer Science, Programming, and supports students in Special Education at Walden. Sam and his husband enjoy watching poorly made movies and battling between string instruments (Sam plays violin and his husband plays guitar). The two cats are split on which instrument is superior.

Email Samson at samson.foster@waldenschool.us

Samson Foster, High School CTE Teacher

Aimee Gerlach

AIMEE GERLACH loves art and teaching—she is very excited to work with everyone this year. Her hobbies include reading, traveling, anything outdoors, and many different art activities. Her main goal as an educator is to create a socially just classroom where all students have equitable opportunities. She also wants a class where creativity is nurtured.

Email Aimee at aimee.gerlach@waldenschool.us

Aimee Gerlach, High School Art Teacher

Camlyn Giddins

Camlyn (she/they) was raised in a home of arts and social work. Her love for people translated into getting a BA in film and media arts. Camlyn loves the transformation that happens through relationships, art, and learning and she often works to create spaces that facilitate connection and healing. 

 In 2018 Camlyn began her career as a high school teacher where she designs curriculum and teaches new courses around art production, storytelling, service-learning, and culture. While teaching, Camlyn also worked as Community Engagement Manager at the LGBTQ+ Resource Center, Encircle, where she hosted events that invited conversation and understanding. She also represented the organization on local committees involving educators, healthcare workers, mayors and parents. For four years, she offered cultural humility training to individuals of various industries and faith traditions in conference, classroom, workplace, or church settings. 

Camlyn enjoys dancing, learning from farmers, interviewing people, reading, watching a good film, learning something new, or being in nature.

High School Media Arts & Design Teacher

Email Camlyn at camlyn.giddins@waldenschool.us

Liam Isaak

LIAM ISAAK graduated in 2021 with a BFA in Media Arts Studies and a minor in International Cinema which is just a fancy way of saying they watched entirely too many movies in college. They've worked on several film sets for both live action and animation productions and have been able to travel the world taking pictures and finding weird stories. At Walden, they've enjoyed getting to teach the media classes and show off some truly weird films, music, and videos. Outside of class, they enjoy going to museums, skating, blasting music, and hanging out with their dog all day.

High School Film & Media Arts Teacher

Email Liam at liam.isaak@waldenschool.us

Emily Mower

EMILY MOWER was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and therefore loves trees. She learned Spanish on a college study abroad to Universidad Viña del Mar in Chile and later served as a missionary in Honduras for 18 months. Emily truly believes that monolingualism can be cured. She graduated with a Bachelors in Spanish Education from Brigham Young University-Idaho and a Masters of Second Language Teaching from Utah State University. Her teaching experience ranges from teaching middle school in North Carolina to high school in Las Vegas to college at USU.

An obsessor of musical theater, Emily's life revolves around music: composing, performing, accompanying, all the things. In 2018 she had the incredible privilege to be an interpreter for a 3-week international orchestra tour in Italy with musicians from 15 countries. Emily absolutely loves food, both eating it and making it. Her hero is Marie Kondo.

High School Spanish Teacher

Email Emily at emily.mower@waldenschool.us

Truedson J Sandberg

TRUEDSON J SANDBERG holds a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from Brigham Young University (BYU). Before joining the Walden family, he worked as an adjunct professor in the English Department at BYU and, before that, as a law clerk in the chambers of Justice Christine Durham at the Utah State Supreme Court. In addiction to education, Truedson has published poems in Inscape Journal and has worked on several editorial teams. He is currently a faculty advisor for Teen Voices, Walden’s literary journal. Truedson is an advocate of genre based and problem-posing pedagogy. His classroom approach aims to help his students take apart and put back together both the genre they’re working in and their own beliefs and arguments. Truedson's past courses include: Language and Literature 9/10 and 11/12, Walden's Young Writers' Workshop, Gardening and Philosophy, Pop Culture and Philosophy, Mock Trial, Science Fiction, Literature and Film, B-Movies: It Came from the Drive-In, and The Literature of Marx and Engels.

High School Language Arts Teacher | After School & 21st Century Coordinator

Email Truedson at truedson.sandberg@waldenschool.us

Austin Simcox

AUSTIN MICHAEL DuBOIS VENTURINI SIMCOX holds an MS degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governors University and a BS degree in Teaching Social Sciences from Brigham Young University. He grew up on the other side of the country in Columbus, Ohio and now lives in Provo (much to his surprise) with his cats and assortment of house plants. At home, he enjoys video games, good books, cooking, and crocheting. Although he’s usually a homebody, you may occasionally see him on the stage in a community theatre production or in a local coffee shop planning his summer travels. Austin believes in making school a safe place for students to have new experiences, integrate their interests into the curriculum, and experiment with the complexities of community. He strives to create an open, inquisitive classroom.

High School Social Studies Teacher | Personal Projects Coordinator

Email Austin at austin.simcox@waldenschool.us

Sara Steers

SARA STEERS loves Walden.

Email Sara at sara.steers@waldenschool.us

Sara Steers, High School SPED Case Manager/Targeted Studies Teacher

Kevin Twitchell

KEVIN TWITCHELL graduated in 2018 from Brigham Young University with a BA in Communications and a minor in Portuguese. He grew up in Seattle, Washington where he spent as much time as possible exploring the Cascade Mountains. Kevin loves almost anything outdoors and will regularly be spotted in Southern Utah, chasing after slot canyons or Native American ruins. He and his wife have made traveling a priority in their lives, and have spent as much of their free time as possible traveling to locations across Central and South America, Europe, and Asia. Kevin holds a Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate and only recently returned from living as an expat in China where he worked as an English teacher at several international schools. Kevin teaches a variety of classes at Walden, but history is his passion. He loves learning about all aspects of history and cultures and tries to bring this passion for these subjects into his teaching. Kevin believes in an open, communicative classroom where students’ needs come first.

High School Social Studies & Language Arts Teacher

Email Kevin at kevin.twitchell@waldenschool.us

Carl Young

CARL YOUNG stumbled into teaching after completing course work for a Master of Science in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences from the University of Washington. He was driving from Seattle intending to move back to his childhood home of Houston, when he stopped in Provo and due to chance ended up with a long-term substitute position at the Walden School of Liberal Arts. He loved it immediately. Over the next 12 years he taught a wide variety of subjects while developing his teaching skills and falling in love with the wonder and beauty of mathematics. In summer of 2016 Young left Utah and moved to Galveston, TX, where he started a graduate mathematics degree in fall of 2016. That fall he realized he missed teaching, and his calling and love was teaching. He decided to return to it. The next fall of 2017 he started as a mathematics teacher at Quest Early College High School in Humble, TX. Over the next two years he loved his teaching job and completed a Master of Arts in Mathematics from the University of Houston. In 2019 marriage brought him back to Provo, and he knew there was only one school he wanted to teach at, The Walden School of Liberal Arts.

Email Carl at carl.young@waldenschool.us

Carl Young, High School Math & Science Teacher