Educational Team
Maggie Saunders
Kindergarten Lead Advisor
970-317-2151
msaunders@ppos.co
Maggie Saunders grew up in Austin, TX and spent much of her time studying and rehearsing dance in the studios of Ballet Austin. This led her to move to Norman, Oklahoma where she pursued a degree in Ballet Performance, as well as a degree in Early Childhood Education. Mrs. Saunders was able to help build the pre-k program for the Norman Public School district as it began over 23 years ago, selecting materials and building curriculum and interventions. In addition to teaching pre-k and kindergarten over the past 23 years, Mrs. Saunders has also spent many afternoons and evenings teaching a variety of dance techniques to students ranging from 3 years to adult. In her down time she enjoys gardening, swimming, traveling, scuba diving, and reading.
Maggie Saunders has a daughter who is in her last semester of college in Oklahoma studying Family Life Education. Mrs. Saunders and her husband moved to Pagosa Springs with their sweet blue heeler, Marble. They enjoy hiking, exploring new sights and being outside any chance that they can get.
Carlos Martinez
Assistant Advisor
cmartinez@ppos.co
Carlos Martinez was born in Durango, Colorado and raised on a ranch by his grandparents in Chromo, Co. He attended school in Pagosa Springs from elementary through high school graduating in 2000. Carlos is the proud father of two amazing boys Draven and Emiliano Martinez and he recently married his amazing wife Emily.
Carlos enjoys golfing, fishing, working with wood and going on hikes. He played on the inaugural golf team in 1997 and has been the assistant high school golf coach for two years. Carlos has worked with kids for seven years and at PPOS now for two years. He deeply enjoys working with kids and watching them learn and grow. Carlos looks forward to continuing working at Pagosa Peak Open School and with the amazing staff we have here.
Kelle Bruno
Project Based Learning Lead
kbruno@ppos.co
Kelle Bruno started out at PPOS in 2017 as the 1st-2nd grade teacher. Before that she was the Spanish teacher at Pagosa Springs Elementary School. Kelle has an Elementary Teaching License from Fort Lewis College with an endorsement to teach Linguistically Diverse Education.
Prior to her work in education, Kelle was a board member and garden educator for the Garden Project of SW Colorado in Durango and ran her own market garden, Southern Roots Farm, in Bayfield. She was also the Research Farm Manger at the Seeds of Change Research Farm in northern New Mexico. Kelle has a Bachelor of Arts in Sustainable Development and Agroecology from Appalachian State University in North Carolina. She and her husband currently run an 1/8 acre organic vegetable garden where the students are able to have first hand experiences in food production and marketing.
Kelle brings a wealth of school garden, Spanish, and natural science experience to her 1st and 2nd grade students. She enjoys skiing, cooking, and exploring the beautiful natural landscape of Pagosa Springs with her husband and their daughter.
Michaela Mecklenburg
1st Grade Advisor
mmecklenburg@ppos.co
Michala Mecklenburg has been a teacher for the last 10 years and is currently the 1st Grade Advisor. When hired at PPOS she took on the role of High Impact Tutor in math and Interventionist for multiple grades. Most recently she served as the middle school humanities and 6th grade math teacher. She has an undergrad in Anthropology and a MA in curriculum development. She love cultures and people and has lived 10 years abroad.
Traci Landis
2nd-3rd Grade Advisor
Traci Landis moved to Pagosa Springs in 2022. She spent the last year as the Interventionist for PPOS and the last 18 years working for Conroe ISD as a teacher, campus instructional coach, student support district instructional coach and Dyslexia Program Specialist. She has a BS in Sociology and Psychology, Masters in Education Administration and is a trained Dyslexia Practitioner. Traci and her family love to ski, snowmobile, hike and travel. She is grateful for the opportunity to serve the students and the community of PPOS.
Laura Hamilton
4rd Grade Advisor
lhamilton@ppos.co
Laura Hamilton joined Pagosa Peak Open School in 2021 as assistant advisor but now serves as the 4th Grade Advisor. Laura believes that she is ready to learn and that is why she became a teacher. She has recently obtained her teaching license after substituting for Pagosa Peak Open School and the local school district. She served on the PPOS founding board over 5 years ago, and she is thrilled to witness the school’s growth.
Laura holds a Bachelor’s degree in Earth Science, and she is currently looking into obtaining her Masters degree in Education. She spends her free time with her husband, daughters, pugs, and cat. Laura adores her family, and she feels very lucky to have them. They are a paddle boarding, ukulele playing, and snowshoeing group.
Rue Graham
5th-8th Project and ELA Advisor
rgraham@ppos.co
Rue currently serves as our 5th-8th Project and ELA Advisor. She comes to us with extensive PBL experience; she previously taught at a PBL school in Castle Rock, CO — and did her student teaching at Jeffco Open School, the school that served as the original model for Pagosa Peak Open School’s founding board, back in 2016.
Joey Wychesit
5th-8th Grade Math & Science Lead Advisor
jawychesit@ppos.co
Joey graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a Bachelor of Applied Science, in Mechanical Engineering in 2013. He moved to Pagosa shortly after where he met his wife and began volunteering at a local youth group. This and other volunteering led him to realize his calling to teach. Joey has a mind for Mathematics and quickly made positive academic differences in many students at PPOS during his first year of teaching.
Joey resides in Pagosa with his wife and two daughters. He loves to forge and make things through various means. You can often find him grilling burgers with a root beer in hand!
Katy Corbett
Exceptional Student Services Advisor
kcorbett@ppos.co
Katy Corbett grew up in Pagosa Springs. After living and teaching in places all over the world, she is happy to be back home. She has a BA in Interdisciplinary Social Studies from Regis College, and a Master’s degree in Special Education from the University of Oregon. She began her career as a social studies teacher, but quickly moved into special education: her true love. She taught Navajo students for six years, before moving to Hawaii to teach. She has taught regular education, special education, and gifted education and has served students K-12.
Katy moved to Kenya in 2010, and was the Director of Special Needs at an international boarding school for 3.5 years. After that stint, she returned to Pagosa to allow her daughter the opportunity to attend Pagosa Springs High School and be near her grandparents. She opened a neuro-feedback therapy business and served children and adults who needed help with ADD, ADHD, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. While running her own business, she also worked as an international education consultant. She helped small schools in Jordan and Azerbaijan to improve their special education departments, and also consulted with expat families at conferences in Turkey, Greece, and Hungary. Ms. Corbett then moved to teach, once again, on the beautiful island of Kauai. She taught there for two years before returning to Pagosa Springs.
Specials – Art Advisor
rmarch@ppos.co
Rain March was born in a small town in Tennessee but raised in a smaller town called Brandon in England. In England she received her general education but specialized in music studying piano, violin, guitar and voice. She moved to Jacksonville Florida as a teenager graduating High school magna cum laude, received a scholarship to the University of North Florida where she studied Fine art with a focus in Sculpture. Rain traveled selling handmade art for several years before deciding to settle in beautiful Colorado.
In Denver, she worked as a preschool music teacher traveling around the city performing to the smallest kids around. She has worked in several libraries as well as serving as the Children’s book coordinator at 2 buck books, a Denver bookstore. She has since been owner/ performer at Squiggle and Wiggle, a project that combined the love of music with a love of books to provide musical storytime.
You may have seen Rain at Higher Grounds Coffee where she has been perfecting her latte art skills, but she is now excited to bring a deep love of art (along with her ukulele) to the kids of Pagosa Peak.
Nora Lubetz
High Impact Tutor
nlubetz@ppos.co
Nora holds a B.S.E degree in English-Education for grades 7-12. She’s taught grades K-college for about fifteen years before moving to Pagosa Springs. She’s spent the last two years building a new home with her husband before accepting a position as a High-Impact Tutor. Being in the position of a HIT has allowed Nora to enjoy all the things she loves about teaching while avoiding all the things that caused her to leave the teaching profession. She feels it is the perfect fit for her currently.
Nora accepted the position as HIT at PPOS because of the small class sizes. Stress was the number one reason why she allowed her AZ teaching certificate to expire. With groups of only four students, Nora is able to have a higher impact, leading to more fulfillment for her and, hopefully, more successful learning of necessary ELA skills for her students.
When not in the classroom, Nora enjoys long hikes with her black Labrador, Bella. She has raised one child, a daughter, who graduated from Yale last May and is now practicing law in CA.
“Ms. Nora” (as the kids call her) has stepped in to teach grades 4-5 ELA when needed (in addition to HIT)and hopes to continue to teach all the students she works with the value of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills as well as character development, for one without the other is no education at all, as Aristotle said. However, since being at PPOA, Nora has discovered her students have taught her more than she’s taught them, and she’s enjoying getting to know each and every one of them.
Nora believes anyone who loves to learn will find themselves in a teaching position in some way, shape, or form in their lives. Teaching is a great experience for anyone who loves to learn!