{Our Teachers}

Miss Jes

Jes Anthonis has worked with young children for over 10 years. She worked in the Public School setting before finding her way to Waldorf teaching at the Ashwood Waldorf School. Jes worked in the Kindergarden, Nursery and Aftercare there. She then went on to teach Afternoon Kindergarten at The Cape Ann Waldorf School where her husband was also a teacher. At Merriconeag Jes assisted in Parent Child and helped out in the Nursery 3 afternoons a week along with her daughter Emma.

In 2010 she started her homebased Waldorf inspired program, Morning Glory Garden, which relocated to Belfast, Maine in 2011. Jes completed her degree in Art and Education at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2005. She is an avid crafter and has a line of wool clothing and toys crafted in the Waldorf Tradition. Jes also writes a resource blog for parents interested in simple living and is a guest blogger for Rhythm of the Home and Cookie Magazine.

Jes lives in the woods with her husband (also a Waldorf teacher) her spirited daughter and a heard of hens.

Toki Oshima has taught nursery, mixed age kindergarten, and parent/toddler classes for the past 12 years at Ashwood Waldorf School in Rockport. Her training includes Foundation Studies from Antioch, a 2 year part time class introducing many aspects of Waldorf Education and Anthroposophy. She had 2 years at Sophia's Hearth, studying the child from birth to age 3 in Keene, NH. She then earned her Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education at Sunbridge College in 2008, studying child development, the arts, anthroposophy, and early childhood curriculum. Her time at Sunbridge culminated in her final project of writing and illustrating a book entitled "Everyday in the Waldorf Kindergarten," a simple story about what a child might encounter during a typical morning in the kindergarten, including free play time, baking bread, circle time, watercolor painting and outdoor play time.

Toki and Jes collaborated in a mixed age class in 2006 and 2007, and have been friends ever since. In addition to the offerings currently at Morning Glory Garden, Miss Toki will bring puppet shows, seasonal circle activities including songs and games, watercolor painting and crafts, and will offer parent/teacher conferences, and informative parent evenings on topics such as child development and healthy family . She very much enjoys working with families with young children.

Miss Toki lives with her husband, John Pranio, and 2 high school aged boys Sean and Jamie with 2 cats in Whitefield. They are all musicians, and have run a contra dance series for the past 20 years in their hometown. They hope to relocate to the Belfast area in the near future.