Faculty

2010-2011 Middle School Faculty

The Waverly middle school teachers are a welcoming cohort of experienced instructors who work together to create an interconnected program specifically geared to the changing, sometimes challenging needs of middle school students. Under their teachers’ guidance, middle school students participate actively in learning. See the biographies below for specific information about education and credentials.

Mandy Boesche teaches drama. She has a B.A. in Drama from Stanford University. Mandy has more than 25 years of experience teaching drama and directing/choreographing productions. She has worked at Westridge School, Ribet Academy, Occidental Summer Theater, Palo Alto Light Opera Company, and Portola Valley Children’s Theater among others.

Jennifer Dakan teaches middle school creative writing. She has a B.A. in English from The University of San Francisco, a teaching credential from San Jose State University and thirteen years of experience teaching middle and high school students. She has three sons at Waverly: Charlie in second, Sam in fourth, and Leo in eighth.

Adriana Duarte teaches Spanish in the elementary and middle schools. She received her B.A. in International Relations and Political Science at the El Salvador University in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a B.A in Spanish Language and Culture from California State University, Northridge. __________________

Billy Hackett teaches math, economics, and health / physical education. He has a B.A. in History from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and a M.Ed. from California State University, Los Angeles. He has taught high school, middle school, and elementary school in Massachusetts and Texas, as well as in Costa Rica through Harvard University’s Center for International Development – World Teach. He is currently pursuing an MBA at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.  He coaches the Golf Club and the Track/Hiking Club at Waverly.

Margaret Lopez teaches English.  She has a B.A. in English from Loyola Marymount University, an M.A. in Creative Writing from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Masters in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University._______________________________________ ___

Toby McDonald Chou teaches science and Japanese in the middle school. She holds a B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies with a minor in Japanese Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. Toby taught English as a foreign language and American History and Culture for four years in Japan’s public schools on the Japan Exchange Teaching Program.

Ken Riddle is the art teacher for young kindergarten through high school. Ken has a B.F.A. from Art Center College of Design and an M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts. In addition to being an exhibiting sculptor for the last 20 years, Ken curated and directed exhibitions for Bliss, a not for profit gallery in Pasadena from 1987 to 2006. Ken has taught for 12 years in a variety of settings, including Center for Early Education and Crossroads School, and has worked with students at the elementary though college level. Ken’s daughter, Iris, is in the first grade at Waverly.

Bennel Thompkins teaches middle school history. Bennel received his B.A. in Asian studies from Florida State and his J.D. from New York University Law School. After leaving the practice of law, Bennel shifted his focus to teaching. He employs the Socratic method of asking “why” to his middle school students at Waverly.