Member of the Kazoo School Faculty since 2024

I am excited to “officially” join Kazoo as the music & elective teacher. I will also be assisting in OE and continue our amazing Rock Band. I am also going to do a bit of marketing for the school. It is going to be an amazing year!

Kazoo School Faculty since 2021

Email Ruth

Ruth runs the Front Desk, is an Extended Day teacher & Elective Teacher and with our Middle School students on the yearbook. She has a particular love of intermixed traditional and new media art techniques. She loves cats, reading, and the outdoors. Between her front desk duties, Ruth always loves to take the time to connect youth to meaningful and relevant artistic experiences, through graphic design, illustration, photography, animation and video production. 

Education

Associates in Animation/Time Based Media KVCC, 2014

Kazoo School faculty since 2021

Email Steve

I am grateful to be back at Kazoo. I previously taught natural science as part of a collaboration between Kazoo School and Western Michigan University. I was able to teach Kazoo students in 4th-8th grades on a weekly basis during that five year partnership.

I am a New York native from the upper Hudson River valley and am now a die-hard naturalized Michigander after having extensively explored these beautiful peninsulas of Michigan. A 33-year resident of Kalamazoo, I have been happily married to my accomplished wife Carol for 37 years. I have two grown sons; the younger a hydrogeologist in New York and my older son is married and lives in Michigan working as a statistician.

I have been involved in the sciences my entire life. I attended Michigan State University where I received two Bachelors of Science degrees in wildlife management and animal science and a Masters Degree in poultry science. I've worked in the poultry industry both in production and research. I have 25 years horticultural experience in wholesale and retail greenhouse production with a specialization in Michigan native plants.

I recently retired from the Western Michigan University Landscape Management department as natural areas manager where I oversaw the Kleinstuck and Asylum Lake preserve for 11 years. While at WMU I was able to work with many school groups in the greater Kalamazoo area. I take great pleasure in the opportunity to share what I've learned. From preschool to professionals, college to campers, formally or informally I have found myself sharing information with others of all ages, and that brings me great joy.

I am happy that Kazoo is focusing more on outdoor education. Connecting with the natural world is a great way to help us all navigate difficult times, especially with more than our share of difficult situations and decisions to overcome in the past months.

I will continue to use my extensive years in outdoor education to make these concepts interesting and real for students so that they may take this knowledge forward through their educational career. I'm a great believer in the teachable moment and will use each day, each place we visit to make the students aware of the science that surrounds them.