Rachael King, Program Director

Rachael is a native Pacific Northwesterner who traveled extensively in the United States and Europe before settling in Portland. Belonging to a family of educators and child advocates, Rachael's enthusiasm for a school that supports each person's needs started at an early age.

Through her work as a nanny, a volunteer, and the Program Director and Primary Instructor of the Pharmacy Technician Program at Carrington College, Rachael has been a part of interactive and creative learning environments for both children and adults. Rachael is happy to explore the balance between freedom, interests, accountability, and excitement for life with students.

Rachael is a proud new mama, a voracious reader, and an avid people watcher. She hikes to waterfalls and catches as much good live music as she can manage.

Drake Riot, Advisor

Drake began spending time at school as a parent volunteer, but soon realized he'd found his second home.  Drake loves using game play as a way to teach skills and empower students to become experts and leaders.  He is known for his attachment to David Bowie. 

Mike Casey, Volunteer

Mike taught high school math for 34 years in Maine, New Hampshire, and Oregon. He's now retired and in addition to assisting with training and development at Landmark Worldwide, he has been volunteering at the Village Free School for 10 years.  He hosts a sourdough class in which students make bread and pancakes, and has fun empowering children to be with each other and build their mathematics skills and tools.

Justin Bendsneyder, Special Instructor

Justin is a longtime Portland resident and Northwest native. His true passion is teaching and sharing the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. As an active coach and participant in the sport since 2007, his most rewarding moments are helping the new practitioner exceed beyond their prior thought capabilities. When not on mats he enjoys swinging from the monkey bars with his kids, going to the beach, and riding his bike around Mt. Tabor.

Kathy Crisp, Program Director

Kathy is a New Hampshire native and veteran middle school teacher, with a varied background in teaching math, science, reading, and social studies.

Kathy initially came to Portland as an Americorps member working in Clark County, WA, on wetland restoration. She joined the Village Free School in 2010 and brings a love of people, a passion for life as revealed through the wonders of nature, and a commitment to children. She is grateful to spend her days in an environment that trusts children implicitly, and delights in the daily opportunities to help them discover and develop their own passions.

Kathy loves gardening, reading, camping, hiking, making art, and sharing time with friends and family. She believes in the intrinsic value of each person and in the power of community.

Noppawan Lerttharakul, Volunteer

Noppawan made her way from home in Bangkok, Thailand to Portland for VFS in Spring 2015. With a degree in humanities (english and political science), human development and democracy has always been her concerning issues. She discovered her passion in education and children development after her college years and began self-cultivating since then.

Noppawan believes in the nurture of children in a multi-cultural environment and loves indulging herself in the diversity and richness of global cultures through reading and traveling. She is also keen on music in various forms, as a classical piano player/teacher and alternative rock/pop concert goer herself. Noppawan has been enjoying every bit of her time in the Pacific Northwest so far, both in terms of the nature and the people. Noppawan is pretty happy to say that it is one of the best decisions in her life coming here to Portland, in particular, to VFS.

Jennifer Shiman, Special Instructor

Jennifer Shiman operates as a one-woman studio, Angry Alien Productions, and is the creator of the animated series “30-Second Bunnies Theatre.” Jennifer has produced and animated 88 short bunny episodes over the past ten years which have been licensed by multiple channels for broadcast and online. Shiman, a Chicago native, currently resides in Portland with her family. She develops, creates and produces creative content viewable across multiple media platforms. A lifelong comics and storytelling fan, she has taught comic art classes to students in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Joslyn Janapol, Volunteer Instructor

Joslyn, originally from Los Angeles, California, has been practicing conflict resolution and mediation for 15 years. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a BA in Community Studies and Women Studies, she spent several years as a legal advocate for victims of domestic violence. 

In 2013, Joslyn earned her Masters of Science in Conflict Resolution at Portland State University, where the focus of her research was the disproportionate rates of exclusionary practices for students of color and the impact Restorative Justice in Schools has on interrupting the School-to-Prison-Pipeline. She currently teaches and practices Restorative Justice and Conflict Resolution with schools throughout Oregon.

Joslyn has remained an active parent in the VFS community since her children began attending in 2009. She is currently the Ombudsperson and teaching a course in Conflict Resolution to VFS students.

Jessica Graves, Program Director

Jessica is pretty certain she has the best job ever. An alumnus of the Albany Free School, democratic education has played a major role in her life. After years of working with youth in different capacities—as a nanny, in summer camps, and at residential facilities—Jessica arrived at the Village Free School in 2010. She strives to bring compassion, respect, and just the right amount of silliness to students' daily lives, and is proud to be part of a community in which parents and teachers work together to support children as they explore who they want to be.

Jessica was associate editor for the Turning Points; 35 Visionaries Tell Their Stories. She holds a B.A. in English from Hiram College and an M.F.A in Creative Nonfiction Writing from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Maia Laperle, Advisor

Maia recently made her way to Portland in a roundabout way from Boston, where she managed and taught at a community-led after school arts center, and mentored adult artists with special needs.

Maia attended The Sudbury Valley School (a democratic, free school in Massachusetts) and has had an interest in self-directed education and children's rights ever since.

Maia has a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and is especially focused on making sculptural and performance art. She is excited to get to be a part of the Village Free community and to explore and be inspired by the unique landscape of the Pacific Northwest.

Jordan "Ruby" Welch, Advisor