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ADMINISTRATION
 Karin Fodness
Executive Director
director@clarkforkschool.org
Karin grew up in the north woods of Wisconsin, but has lived in the
West for most of her adult life, and has decided to make Missoula
her permanent home. Karin has a master's degree in social work and
has worked at various nonprofits over the years as both a counselor
and as an administrator. The thread through all of her work is a
passion for working with families, groups, and individuals to create a
strong, healthy place for children to thrive and grow. Karin lives in
the Rattlesnake with her husband, John, her two sons Sammy and
Eric, and their dog, Chico. She loves camping, boating, skiing, hiking,
cooking, reading, and spending time with her family and friends.
Amber Stewart
Office Manager
 amber@clarkforkschool.org
Amber grew up in Billings, MT but has lived in Missoula for the last
seven years. She received her degree from the University of Montana in
nonprofit administration and communication studies with an emphasis in
human relationships. Although this is a mouthful, basically what it
comes down to is a passion for children, families, and nonprofit
organizations. Amber loves the idea of community and is thankful for the
opportunity to work in such a warm environment. Although she has
many dreams for the future (including having kids, traveling and getting
her Master's degree) Amber is enjoying Clark Fork School and is working
to help her husband finish his degree in secondary math education.
Amber and Jason love spending time outdoors, enjoying the many
blessings Missoula has to offer.
OUR TEACHERS:
 Jennifer Ranta, Preschool 1 Teacher
As a graduate of the Metropolitan State College of Denver, Jennifer has
been an educator for 14 years and has worked with young children much
longer. She discovered Clark Fork School when she moved to Missoula in
2001 and was immediately smitten. She likes reading, playing piano,
working in her yard, and listening to music. Jennifer and her husband
Matt enjoy playing board games with friends, hiking, skipping, taking
their dog Pepper on weekend adventures in and around town, and making
the occasional loaf of bread or new recipe; they're both homebodies at
heart. Jennifer is awed by the beauty of the place she has chosen to live,
and is grateful for the special teaching and learning environment that we
have at Clark Fork School.
 Julee Hall, Preschool 1 Teacher
Julee recently graduated from the University of Montana with a double
major in Elementary education and Fine arts education. Julee has worked
as a teaching assistant for the Learning and Belonging preschool at the
University of Montana for three years and also completed student teaching
in a first grade at Target Range Elementary and multiple art classrooms at
Sentinel High School.Julee grew up in Missoula and loves hiking, running,
and cross country skiing in the mountains that surround our beautiful
valley. Her other interests include reading, sewing, and making art. Julee
lives in a lovely little house with her husband Brian.
 Debbie Norheim, Preschool 2 Teacher
Debbie is a Missoula native and has lived in Missoula all her life. She has a
BA in Elementary Education, and a minor degree in Early Childhood
Education from the University of Montana. She also has a heavy emphasis
in Special Education. In 1994 she accepted a position as Preschool teacher
at Immanuel Lutheran Church where she taught for thirteen years. In
1970, Debbie auditioned for and was selected as one of the core members
of the Missoula Children's Theatre where she worked for eight years. In
1972 Debbie met her husband Monty who is from Chinook, Montana and
works as a Master Technician for Bitterroot Motors. The couple toured
together with CT throughout Montana and Idaho. In 1975, they became
the first Children's Theatre marriage. Debbie helped form the Missoula PTA
Clown Patrol which promoted the "Hugs Not Drugs" campaign. She has
two children, her daughter Joey works as the Surgical Coordinator for
Rocky Mountain Eye Surgery Center and her son Steve works as a chef at
Rattlesnake Gardens. Debbie also has three dogs - Satchmo, Tully and
Kota. She loves quilting, scrapbooking, water aerobics and photography.
It is Debbie's hope to one day take a cruise to Alaska.
 Marcia Brownlee, Preschool 2 Teacher
When Marcia was a teenager her family took cross-country road trips to
Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. She fell in love with Montana
during those vacations and her desire to live here deepened with every
visit. Finally, 15 some odd years later, she is thrilled to be living in
Missoula and working at Clark Fork School!! Marcia has a bachelor's
degree in 'East Asian Languages and Cultures' from Michigan State
University and a master's degree in 'Learning and Teaching' from the
Harvard Graduate School of Education. She fell in love with early
childhood education working as a dance and creative movement teacher
as an undergrad. Since then she has worked as a teaching fellow for a
masters course at Harvard and, for the last 2 ½ years, as a preschool
teacher at a wonderful cooperative preschool in Colorado. When she's not
enjoying the company of 4-year-olds, you can find her on the trails with
her dog Neko or at dance class. Marcia feels very lucky to be a part of
the Clark Fork Community and looks forward to growing and learning
with all of our families.
 TJ Decker, Kindergarten Teacher
TJ will be returning to Clark Fork School to be our Kindergarten teacher
again. He and his wife Sarah have two daughters: Maia who is seven and
a half and Adarra who is five.As a family they enjoy gardening, hiking and
camping, and going to concerts.Some of his favorite things to do in school
are to read, do artwork, do math and science, and learn about all kinds of
interesting subjects both inside and outside of the classroom. TJ is looking
forward to all the fun things he and his class are going to be doing this
year!
 Nicole Whitney, Kindergarten Aid
Nicole is originally from Worcester, Vermont and is very excited to start her
next chapter in Missoula. Having grown up in a small, rural community,
Nicole has developed a true appreciation for nature and adventure. After
graduating from Stonehill College in 2008 with degrees in both Education
and Studio Arts, she followed her adventurous spirit and ended up living
and working in East Glacier for the last two summers, and of course, hiking
and exploring in Glacier National Park. She has been working with children
since she was 14 (and even earlier!) and finds their natural curiosity to be
one of her biggest inspirations in her art and exploration. Nicole will be
working as the assistant in the Kindergarten classroom and looks forward
to meeting you all!
 Kim Petersen, Apprentice Teacher
Kim is a graduate of The University of Montana with a degree in Elementary
Education. Upon Graduation, she worked throughout California as a
Naturalist/Outdoor educator. Kim returned to Missoula in 2005 to attend to
teaching recertification requirements, do volunteer work for The Missoula
SkatePark Association, and pursue a job in education. She joined the CFS
community in 2006 as a long-term substitute teacher in the Primary
Classroom. Since then, Kim has worn many hats at CFS: office manager,
apprentice co-teacher , Journeyer assistant and summer camp coordinator.
Kim spent the 2008-2009 school year in the Kindergarten room, but will
return this year as an Apprentice teacher.
 Tom Attard, Apprentice Teacher
Tom, his lovely wife, and their three amazing children have lived in
Missoula for the last three years. They moved here from the Flathead
Valley so Tom could complete his BA in History and obtain his teaching
degree. Since then they have fallen in love with Missoula and plan to be
here for a good spell, as Tom's wife Erika will be starting college at the
University this fall. Tom loves everything outdoors, and has spent a large
part of his life camping, hiking and building log homes with his brother.
Tom loved his time in the Journeyer's class room last year and is looking
forward to a stellar year with the Apprentice class.
 Shirley Atkins, Journeyer Teacher
Shirley has been a teacher at CFS since 2000. Prior to that time she home
schooled her own two daughters (who are now grown), and taught in the
public school system for three years. Shirley loves the opportunities which
the smaller class sizes at CFS gives her to individualize and to create really
cool projects! She holds degrees in natural resources (Env. Ed.) and
elementary education.She and Dave, her husband of 30 + years, love
camping in the summers, and living in the Rattlesnake the rest of the time.
Executive Board Members:
 Thale Dillon, President
Thale moved to Missoula from Norway 16 years ago to attend college, and
never left. In her professional life, she employs her degrees in economics
as the director of Montana KIDS COUNT at UM. She lives in the Upper
Rattlesnake with her husband, Dave, and two children, both at Clark Fork
School. Annika is a first-grader this year, and Mats is in his second year of
pre-school. She loves cooking and baking, and sitting down with a good
book. She and her children are frequent explorers of the trails along
Rattlesnake Creek, where they build dams and castles, and occasionally
rescue princesses in distress.
 Erin Vito, Vice President
After a summer vacation visiting friends in Missoula, Erin and her family
moved to the Rattlesnake in 2005. Erin graduated from Boston University
with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and Spanish. After graduating, she
moved back to the Bay Area and earned her master's in graphic design
from San Francisco State University. After working as a designer for
several years, Erin went out on her own and started Grow Design, a
graphic design company. She currently has clients in Missoula and San
Francisco. Stella is a kindergartner this year, while Lilah starts preschool
in the fall. Erin enjoys camping with her family, swimming, biking and
photography.
 Lulu Steinberg, Treasurer
Lulu holds a Masters in Education from Loyola University. She has been
working with children for 15 years, doing everything from encouraging self
awareness and literacy through art and book making, to teaching yoga,
and most recently, serving as a primary Montessori guide at Chesterfield
Montessori School in St Louis. In 2006 she completed the Association
Montessori Internationale certification. Her interests include photography,
architecture, yoga, meditation, walking and camping in the wilderness,
Indian cooking and hanging out with her wonderfully odd husband, Mike
and her two muses - daughters Ella and Vivienne.
 Eduardo Capulong, Secretary
Eduardo is father to Elijah, who's in first grade, and Isabella, who's in pre-
school. With partner Rebecca Weston, the family fell in love with and
moved to Missoula two years ago--Eduardo to join the law faculty at the
University and Rebecca to practice clinical social work. The Weston-
Capulongs love playing outdoors, singing catchy tunes, shooting photos,
caring for chickens, inventing essential gadgets, playing soccer and
thinking about how to save the planet.
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