STAFF

.Daniel J. Popplewell, Ph.D., Head of School

What is education?

“Education is about enabling students to discover their own personal genius. This is what my senior-year English teacher did for me; he urged me to apply to Cambridge, a place that was a world away from the English farming village where I grew up and where, at 18, I would discover my own passion for literature, foreign languages and, more broadly, the life of the mind. As a teenager, I was also blessed with nurturing, committed and inspiring parents that I have always sought to emulate as a teacher. Their love of nature, art, life-long learning and adventure all inspired me with the spirit of exploration, self-discovery, risk-taking and creativity that lie at the heart of my educational philosophy.”

What makes an excellent school?

“All my experiences as a student and educator have taught me what distinguishes an excellent school such as Odyssey from a good one – caring, non-coercive relationships between adults and students; teachers who are committed to self-improvement, reflection and learning; a curriculum that balances imagination and rigor, creativity and traditional academics; classes that prepare students for a life in the 21st century and where critical thinking and skilful self-expression are prized; a collegial, collaborative, mutually supportive community of administrators, faculty and staff; a culturally and ethnically diverse community that is explicitly appreciated and fostered; and finally, education is seen as transformational for it opens up opportunities for students to gain in self-respect and value themselves for their own unique talents.”

What is your goal as an educator?

“My philosophy of education is forward-looking and holistic.  My goal as an educator is to help students work and live productively in an ever-changing society. I envision the 21 st century school as a community that provides a creative, inclusive, healthy and personally meaningful education for all young people, no matter what their background or ability.  Our task is to empower students to uncover their genius, and engage them in a learning process that will last a lifetime and inspire them to become the most outstanding young adults of the future.”

Daniel's Background:

Daniel graduated from King's College, Cambridge in the UK with a first-class degree in Modern Languages. He earned advanced degrees at Oxford, La Sorbonne Nouvelle and Columbia Universities. Daniel has been a teacher for 17 years. While a specialist in middle and high school education, he has taught all ages from Japanese elementary students to Columbia undergraduates. He has traveled throughout the world, living and teaching in both Japan and in France. He moved to the United States in 1998, first to earn a Ph.D. at Columbia, then to teach and lead in Los Angeles and East Bay schools. From 2005 to 2008, Daniel served as Language Department Chair at the Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles. He taught three languages, established a new Mandarin language program and fostered the growth of teachers through his mentorship. At Archer, Daniel worked in admissions and recruitment, helping grow the school from 30 to 450 students over a short time period. Daniel joined the Bentley School in Lafayette in 2008, first as Chair of the World Languages Department, and then as Dean of Teaching and Learning. He trained teachers across all curriculum areas; and he created cutting-edge programs to support international students and students with learning differences.

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Millie Cruz, Administrative Assistant

Millie Cruz takes over some of the “mother” duties for Odyssey this year as the new Registrar and administrative assistant. Millie previously functioned at the front desk at The Nueva School for the past six years. For over 23 years Millie has had extensive administrative experience in a variety of venues and thus she comes to Odyssey with a wealth of experience and skills in the administrative area. She is a mother of two grown daughters and also has grandchildren to occupy her time as well as her love of all crafts projects. We welcome Millie to the Odyssey community.

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Lindsay Hall, Science

Education statement from Lindsay:
"Education has always been an adventure for me; therefore, I strive to create educational opportunities where students are encouraged to critically analyze the world, to empower students to gain as much from the creative process of learning as the outcome, and to establish a connection to our natural world. My hope is to motivate students to love science, have fun, and learn leadership skills."

Lindsay Hall grew up in a small mountain town just outside of South Lake Tahoe and joins the Odyssey community to teach Science and lead the annual Outdoor Education and Community Service programs. Lindsay graduated from UC San Diego in 2003 with a B.A. Human Development and did her thesis work on experiential education. She expanded her leadership knowledge and world experiences through the Revelle Emerging Leaders Program and the Semester at Sea Program. She holds certification as a Wilderness First Responder from the Wilderness Medical Associates a well as CPR for the Professional Rescuer from the American Red Cross. Lindsay has traveled the country working for prominent outdoor education programs such as Outward Bound, Naturalists at Large, and the National Outdoor Leadership School, living in Colorado, Arizona, Minnesota, and finally back to California. Lindsay has spent many years in remote wilderness environments teaching the principles of environmental education, ecology, geology, biology and experiential education. Most recently, Lindsay has worked in higher education, teaching in the outdoor education program at UC San Diego. 

Teaching has always been a part of Lindsay's world view. As a child of two life-long teachers, education has always been a priority for Lindsay. Since middle-school, Lindsay has dreamed of becoming a teacher and loves working with young adolescents. As a life-long learner, Lindsay has spent her adult life increasing her knowledge of surfing, yoga, sea kayaking, long-distance running, rock climbing, art, and photography.

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Doug Robbins, Humanities

Education statement from Doug:
"I could sum up my guiding educational principle in two words, ‘Question everything!' Proust said, “The true voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes.” I believe that if we hope to understand the world of which we are citizens, we must question assumptions and be open to multiple perspectives. Every day, I challenge my students to dig deeper than the simplistic answers to complex issues that they find in the mainstream media. I encourage my students to struggle with that most challenging and elusive of questions, ‘Why?' "

Doug Robbins is a graduate of University of Michigan holding a Master of Education degree with a focus in bilingual/bicultural education from Wayne State University.

He brings to Odyssey his twelve years of experience teaching Modern World History, The Renaissance, Psychology, History of the Modern Middle East, Economics and U.S. History in Michigan.

Doug's passions for teaching and travel have been perfectly paired throughout his life.

“During my time in Royal Oak, I have worked consistently to integrate a more global perspective into our curriculum and professional development. I have participated in professional development opportunities through Fulbright/Hayes and the National Endowment for the Humanities, traveling throughout the Middle East. I also took a sabbatical in 2003/2004 and spent a life-changing year, teaching in Suzhou, China. Each of these incredible experiences has allowed me to enrich our curriculum and my teaching in a multitude of ways. Every new opportunity to learn more and to integrate that new understanding into what we do leaves me renewed and invigorated.”

Doug models his passion for learning in the classroom by encouraging students to tackle those questions about which they are curious. He believes that young people learn best when they are appropriately challenged. His goal is to instill in his students a belief that the only limits on what we can do, are the ones that we create ourselves.

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Hiroshi Imase, Japanese and Computers

Education statement from Hiroshi:
"I am at Odyssey to help students to find their confidence and talent in them through Japanese class and daily interactions with students. I must be a good role model for students in terms of work ethics to be a part of community member."

Hiroshi Imase is Odyssey School's Japanese instructor as well as the computer skills teacher. He holds a Master of Arts degree from San Francisco State University (SFSU) in Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language. His thesis topic, completed in 2002, was “developing software based interactive teaching aids for language acquisition (emphasis on particles).” He also holds a BA from SFSU in Criminal Justice and worked in the Public Defenders office at the Juvenile Guidance Center.

Imase Sensei guides Odyssey students through three years of intensive Japanese language instruction and prepares them to converse comfortably while traveling in Japan in the spring of their eighth grade year. Imase also instructs students in Japanese culture, society and home life so they can adjust to the lifestyle differences during their Japanese home stay. During the 2005-2006 academic year he organized and hosted the Japanese exchange and home stay program with 13 Tokiwagi high school students who visited Odyssey School from Japan. His training of the Odyssey students provided the basis for them hosting the Japanese visitors and making them feel welcome in a foreign country. Bay area media covered the home stays extensively because of the unique nature of Odyssey's multi-cultural program, its impact on local families and the leadership of Imase. Also in the 2005-2006 academic year, Hiroshi Imase is teaching one of his passions in Odyssey's Passions Program: photography. His photographs are used extensively by Odyssey to document school trips and special events and can be seen on this web site.

In addition to his teaching experience at Odyssey School , Mr. Imase has been a teaching assistant at SFSU, a teaching volunteer at The Nueva School and a tutor for first and second semester university students in Japanese. He has chaired the Committee of International Conference of Practical Linguistics of Japanese and also been the Chair of the Computer Assisted Language Learning session.

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Brian Herndon, Drama, Stage Combat, Chorus

Education statement from Brian:
"Students rise to meet the challenges posed to them, and their efforts to overcome those challenges teach them more than easy successes. These challenges should have different facets so that individual students can succeed in different ways. Without a commitment to the struggle, a student cannot excel."

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Milton Reynolds

Milton Reynolds is a Senior Program Associate with Facing History and Ourselves.  Before joining Facing History he spent over ten years as a middle school teacher, a diversity/communications consultant and as a curriculum design specialist and has over 25 years of counseling experience. Dedicated to improving dialogue and implementing innovative solutions to address difficult social issues such as race relations and juvenile justice and delinquency concerns, Milton sustains a high level of engagement in his home community.  In addition to serving as a commissioner on the San Mateo Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission, he also is the current Governing Board Chair for LEJ (Literacy for Environmental Justice); a San Francisco based environmental justice/youth development non-profit, in addition to serving on the advisory board of The Working Group.

Milton has a strong interest in understanding how the legacies of our collective history manifest themselves in our present society and specifically, how the past informs our actions and decision making processes and shapes the institutions and practices that structure our society. In recent years, the American Eugenics Movement and its ideological legacies has become a subject of particular interest in Milton's studies.

Milton's background is an eclectic tapestry of such varied and divergent experiences as being a youth counselor, middle school teacher, service-learning coordinator, tour guide, stand up comedian, and a research associate at U.C. Berkeley and more recently at Stanford University at the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity.  Milton received his B.A. with distinction in Sociology from San Jose State with a minor in Communications.

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Yuki Murasaki Shikibu aka Yuki, Spiritual Advisor  

Yuki, three year-old Yellow Lab on July 17, 2006, is a specialist in unconditional love and the Spiritual Advisor at Odyssey School. She can often be seen happily greeting both students and visitors as they enter the school and making them feel welcome and accepted. She spends her days at school keeping the kids in order and offering her unique style of canine love and affection as needed. 

When Yuki (meaning "Snow" in Japanese) is not at school she loves retrieving balls and playing "chase" with other dogs. Yuki has successfully graduated from
obedience training and analysis from her licensed instructor. She is intolerant of aggressive dogs with insufficient training in emotional intelligence and likes to keep them at a distance. She is also an avid swimmer and practices frequently at the dog park and at the lake at a Smuin family home in Idaho. Occasionally, Yuki can be seen assisting Erin Leydig with the student's PE swimming program and coaching the kids with encouraging barks as they swim laps. 

Yuki's finally found her "dreamboat,"  "Big Boss Hoss" living near Sacramento.  "Boss" had those dreamy brown eyes and sweet bark she was looking for and 7 puppies was the result.  Her puppies did not scatter but ended up in homes of two students, one teacher and one former staff member so we get to see the kids regularly.

Yuki Murasaki Shikibu (Murasaki Shikibu is the author of the novel Genji) is the great-granddaughter of a Grand Champion and granddaughter of a Field Champion. She was born in Montana and moved from her 17 brothers and sisters at the young age of eight weeks to her current home at Odyssey. The Odyssey students are in the process of teaching her new skills and tricks, which she will happily show off to anyone with a MILK-BONE.

Easter Morning 2006:

Yuki's Growing Puppies:

Yuki is the champion Odyssey soccer goalie: