We are a consortium of professional naturalists, teachers, historians, and artists who come together to teach and learn. Our instructors are selected for their love of nature and their ability to relate to students of all ages. We are lifelong learners who seek to learn directly from the natural world.
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Executive Director
Megan was a teacher at Schoolhouse of Wonder for a year before returning as Executive Director. She loved the Schoolhouse philosophy and was proud to work with a group so committed to the healthy development of children. She is happy to be back at Schoolhouse and is excited to support the organization she loves in a new and different capacity.
After graduating high school, Megan completed an Outward Bound trip in Alaska that had a profound effect on her development. She became interested in how the principles of this and other experiential education programs could be applied to programs that are accessible to all students. At Elon University she studied psychology to better understand the effects of experiential education on healthy student development. She decided to pursue a Master of Education at Boston University to further understand the influence of education in the development of resilience in students. While in Boston she worked at Chelsea Community Schools, a nonprofit organization that provides educational and recreational programs to students and adults in the community.
Megan first learned about Schoolhouse of Wonder while visiting Chapel Hill for the Paideia Conference in 2007 and was impressed by the organization and its mission. When she moved back to Durham she was honored to have the opportunity to join the organization. Megan loves Schoolhouse of Wonder because it is so much more than an environmental education organization. Schoolhouse engages students’ innate curiosity and encourages exploration not only of the natural world but also our personal experiences. Schoolhouse teaches students to respect themselves, other people, and their surroundings, and fosters a sense of connection not only with the natural world but also with members of the community. Megan feels that these lessons are important and transferable to other areas of students’ lives. She is most interested in how these learning experiences affect students’ development and build resilience.
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Program Director
A co-founder of the Schoolhouse of Wonder, Dave returns from a five year sabbatical teaching in public school, specializing in A.I.G. Language Arts and Math, at Forest View School in Durham. Several of the life gains from this experience were: a summer excursion to the Four Corners region for the teachers’ program Seeking the Center Place: the Pueblo World in Continuity and Change, and the more recent Teacher’s Academy: A Revolutionary Approach to Education at the Oak Grove School in Ojai, California. These experiences have shaped Dave’s natural curiosity and interest in inquiry, authentic learning, and the art of listening. Dave ever-continues to be a spiritual naturalist.
A child of the Piedmont, Dave lives on Huckleberry Heights near the Eno River with his partner Joanna Haymore, two cats, and his dog Tucker. Other loves include song-writing, banjo and fiddle-playing, boomerangs, biking, mushrooms, bagels, and birds. He is author of the Piedmont Almanac: A Guide to the Natural World; a work of new mythology, The Adventure of Crow-boy; and the Fabri Literary Prize-winning novel Reservation Nation.
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Administrative Coordinator
Mary brings skills in office administration and customer service to Schoolhouse of Wonder. She has a degree in Economics from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mary loves West Point on the Eno Park and has been an officer for the nonprofit citizen’s board, Friends of West Point. As a volunteer stream watcher for Durham’s Stormwater Management Department she has adopted Black Meadow Branch which flows into the park. With two grown children she has been an active volunteer in both the Girl Scout Program and the Boy Scout Program. Her hobbies include wood carving, hand drumming, and hiking and paddling around the rivers and streams of North Carolina.
Eli Carley
Outdoor Educator
Eli originally comes from the great frozen north of Wisconsin (the state that looks like a mitten right next to the other state that looks like a mitten). Eli recently moved to Durham to learn what it’s like to be warm! After learning that he was too old to participate in outdoor camp programs, Eli took the next best option and decided to work for Schoolhouse of Wonder. When not playing games at work, he is usually playing games like ultimate frisbee somewhere else. Eli has a degree in sculpture from Lawrence University, but his passion has always been sharing joy with children of all ages.
Jagmeet Mac
Nature School Teacher
Hailing all the way from Richfield, NC, Jagmeet weighs in at one hundred and forty-five pounds, and stands a small notch under six feet tall. His parents, and parent’s parents come from a distant land of mangoes and spiritual teachers around every fifth street corner. He enjoys being blown away: blown away by ideas, spiders building intricate webs, amazing people…. He also enjoys stimulating flavors, and he’ll probably do the dishes if you cook for him.
Oh, and he loves getting people excited, both big and little people, through stories, songs and interactions. Jagmeet strives to share a deep appreciation of the natural world with people.
Mandy Hunter
Outdoor Educator
Mandy is a native of North Carolina, hailing from a large family in Garner. She is a recent graduate of North Carolina State University where she studied her passion: Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. While there, she accumulated a wide array of knowledge ranging from wilderness leadership to program and event planning, to marketing. She has gained valuable knowledge working with youth of all ages from the YMCA, North Carolina 4-H Youth Development, and many summer camps and scouting groups along the way. Mandy has previously worked as a high ropes and climbing instructor, wilderness trip leader, archery instructor, team building instructor, and general camp counselor. Her interests include, but are certainly not limited to, fencing, running, kayaking, hiking, and of course the occasional good book. Her life motto is, “There is no normal life, only life… so make the most of it.”
Wayne Poole
Nature School Teacher
Wayne Poole, co-founder of Schoolhouse of Wonder, has been a storyteller, naturalist, and cultural interpreter for more than two decades. His tales, taken from the legendary and the personal are drawn from his love of nature and local culture. He also performs annually at the Festival for the Eno, Haw River Festival, Durham Earth Day, and Green River Preserve as well as the Durham and Raleigh Arts Councils.
Elizabeth Speidel
Intern
Bio coming soon.
Board of Directors
David Stein
David is a Senior Education Partnership Coordinator at Duke University. He specializes in building bridges between educational institutions and the community. For the last 24 years, he has played this role at Duke, the NC School of Science and Mathematics, and Harvard University. He has long been interested in environmental issues from early work in environmental education in Cleveland (when the Cuyahoga River caught fire) to assisting in outdoor education with the Otter Lake Conservation School in N.H. Now he mostly does what his what his two teenage sons tell him to do. Since they are both avid environmentalists, including many years in such camps and summer programs, they told him he needed to be on the Board of Schoolhouse of Wonder. Who can argue with this?
Deborah Jakubs
Deborah is the Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs for the Duke University Libraries. She has been a supporter of the Schoolhouse of Wonder from its very beginning: her older son took part in the first camps, and he and his younger brother have both been campers, then interns, and then counselors at summer camps.
Josie McNeil-Owen
Josie joined the Board in 2003. She has been a member of the Eno River Association and volunteer for the Festival for the Eno since 1996. She and her husband Dave Owen are partners in TreeCamp a program for adults and serious teens to appreciate and become familiar with trees in our area. She and Dave worked together for many years Wafting the Eno: nature observation, environmental education, relaxation paddling trips on the Eno. She is a member of Friends of West Point, a citizens group that serves as advisor to the City of Durham on matters related to the park, and she serves as the Chair of the Open Space subcommittee of Durham’s Open Space and Trails (DOST) commission (Durhamost.org). She is also a volunteer with Duke Hospice and is studying traditional Thai Yoga bodywork.
Lucas Joppa
Lucas is a longtime outdoor enthusiast. He grew up in northern Wisconsin, in a town 30 miles from the nearest stoplight and deep in the heart of Chequamegon National Forest. He has his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Wildlife Ecology. After graduating, he and his wife Jamie spent two years in the Peace Corps, working in a national park in Malawi. Upon returning to the US, he began the Phd program in Ecology at Duke University. Currently, Lucas, Jamie, and their dog Naja live in north Durham on property adjacent to the Eno River. In his spare time Lucas is generally out biking, running, or doing something outside. Lucas joined the board in 2008.
Nicki Cagle
Nicki Cagle, a native of northern Illinois, is a dedicated environmental educator and ecologist. She recently completed her Ph.D. in Ecology at Duke University, as well as her North Carolina environmental education certification. She has also worked as an AmeriCorps educator in Knoxville, TN, volunteered at the Sea Turtle Hospital in Marathon, FL, and taught biology and English outside Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Nicki is an avid traveler who has visited all 50 states and over 15 countries. On the weekend, she enjoys gardening, hiking, and exploring historic sites with her husband. Please learn more about her at her website: Nicki Cagle
Steve Cameron
Steve is a lifelong native of eastern North Carolina. A graduate of Duke University with a B.A. in English Literature, he has lived at times in a lean-to, a log cabin, and a tipi, but is now utilizing more conventional means of shelter. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa from 1989-1991. Currently he supervises a wholesale bakery facility for Whole Foods Market. His favorite pastimes are hiking, gardening, and being outside with his wife, Barbara, and daughters Maggie and Anna. He has been a Board member since 1998.