We are educators dedicated to founding a school that serves our community for generations
Madeline Kimlin was born and raised in the Hudson Valley of New York. There she studied psychology, graduating with honors and awards from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Her interest in psychology led her to work in the public schools, where she supported students struggling to keep apace in inflexible conditions.
She earned a credential as an Education Specialist, and has since served her community in Carpinteria for years as a teacher at both Middle and Elementary School levels. These experiences left her with many questions about our society’s approach to education, where she saw the damaging effects of student ranking, voicelessness, and boredom on the self-esteem and morale of her students.
After discovering democratic education, Madeline, along with Jesse, visited and worked at a number of established Free Schools on the East Coast. Armed with questions, she was met with answers that rang true to the heart and soul of what it is to be an educator. It felt both important and right to return to Santa Barbara to found a democratic free school for her own community. Meanwhile, Madeline continues to explore her world as a reader, a surfer, a painter, and a life-long questioner.
Jesse Resnick is an educator, artist, and traveler. Graduating Syracuse University with a BFA from the department of Transmedia, Jesse made his way to California and found home in Carpinteria. After leading the Social Engineering practice for the information-security firm Redspin, he traveled to West Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans. A visit to a Syrian refugee camp at the height of the civil war pivoted his life towards service.
Returning to Carpinteria, Jesse worked as a regional coordinator and educator for the nonprofit People’s Self Help Housing, serving the immigrant community of Santa Barbara. In 2020 Jesse married his partner and fellow educator Madeline, and took off on a journey to circumnavigate the world overland.
Along that journey they discovered democratic education, and returned home to Santa Barbara to found the Free School. Now on a mission to nurture the next generation of self-directed learners, Jesse looks to knit his community at home into the natural environment and into the global conversation. In his free time you’ll find Jesse riding his motorbike, sailing or rock climbing, exploring the world– and always learning something new.
Contributing Teachers
Nathan Clay is a musician and educator from Carpinteria, CA. After leaving home to pursue his education, travel the world, and play rock ’n roll shows in the big city, he returned with his young family, and has been teaching science, math, and music locally ever since. He is also passionate about cooking fresh, delicious food and is pursuing certification in nutritional therapy. Nathan believes that music is an innate human capacity— one that for some is simply latent or yet to be developed— as well as a direct, universal form of communication and connection.
Blake Gillespie is a biochemist and chair of the Chemistry Department at CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo. Dr. Gillespie completed his B.S. in Chemistry at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, in in 1991. He worked at the University of Washington from 1991-1993, gaining experience and publishing as a lab technician. From 199, Dr. Gillespie began his studies at the University of Oregon’s Institute of Molecule Biology, graduating with his doctorate in Chemistry in 1999. He worked for 2 years as an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow in UCSB’s Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Dr. Gillespie was brought on board the Chemistry Department at CSU Channel Islands to develop the biochemistry curriculum, where he is now Department Chair. While his background is in molecular structure, particularly protein folding and stability, he has a broad set of research interests. He works in the areas of food science, the chemistry of beer- and wine-making, natural products analysis of plant and animal tissue. His participation in CSU Channel Island’s Modoc Garden, where he started a three-sisters garden in Summer 2023, is an extension of his newest project, aimed at understanding plant communication and nutrient sharing intercropped systems.
Elsa Gold is a fourth generation Santa Barbaran and grown unschooler with a passion for supporting families and children in following their own unique way in life. Growing up, she spent days reading and writing stories and poetry, cooking, filming mini movies, playing in nature and lots of dancing. At ten Elsa began assistant teaching dance with her studio’s director and by sixteen she was a professional teacher and choreographer with her own amazing students. That same year she began facilitating for True North, a local self-directed learning program. Last year, Elsa traveled abroad extensively in Europe and held a position Au-Pairing full-time for a family on a small farm in the French Alps. She is half french and learned the language right along side English having always been spoken to in French by her father. Growing up with the freedom to follow her own inner compass and being supported in choosing joy over productivity and conformity everyday, has led Elsa to be a passionate advocate that every child and family together should have the support they need to feel empowered to do the same.
Michael Laris is an internationally awarded designer of play sculptures and equipment. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, he began as an architect educated at Cal Poly SLO, then moved to Denmark where he became an Architect of Play. Through the years he worked with many design students and interns and found mentoring very rewarding. Michael's interest in ceramics started at Cal Poly and he has worked with clay on and off through the years. Since 2019 he has been back 'home' and lives in Mission Canyon with his wife, who is an artist and landscape architect, and their cat. They have a small studio shed to do ceramics and continue to consult for companies making public play equipment. 2023 was Michael's first year as a mentor for SB Free School and he thoroughly enjoyed it.
Ryan grew up in a small town in Arkansas. Frequent road trips to visit family across the country instilled him with a lifelong love for travel, culminating in a recent trip completely around the world! Ryan’s other interests include music, reading, and all things sports-related. He can often be found on his mountain bike in the hills above Santa Barbara.
Ryan has taught history at public high schools for the past seven years. It was during this time that he witnessed the shortcomings of a system that too often fails to inspire and engage students. This realization, coupled with the life-altering experience of becoming a father, sparked a desire within Ryan to seek alternative paths of education. As an advocate for self-directed education, Ryan passionately champions the idea that education should be a liberating experience, fostering a lifelong love for learning and empowering individuals to pursue their own passions and interests.
Naomi Romulo is a lifelong Santa Barbaran who went through the public school system in Santa Barbara, which culminated in a degree from SBCC in Spanish. She has also studied natural healing modalities. Naomi lived three years in Mexico, her husband's native country, where their family built a solar powered cob home. Naomi's teenage son Teotl is enjoying Santa Barbara Free School while her younger daughter Sitlali attends True North, another local Self Directed Education program where Naomi also serves as a contributing educator. As a Spanish teacher, Naomi loves how learning languages creates bridges to other cultures.
Advisory Board
Jim Bailey has been teaching for 23 years and has spent the last 8 of those as the Co-Founder / Director of Rock Tree Sky in Ojai, CA. His work with Rock Tree Sky is informed by his learn-by-doing experience from the science classroom setting as well as years of youth mentorship at the Ojai Valley Youth Foundation. He works closely with Education Reimagined as part of their Community Based Ecosystems of Learning Cohort and provides ongoing consulting for several self-directed / learner-centered education spaces in California.
Jim is a certified California Naturalist and enjoys studying the geology, insects, micro-invertebrates, and birds of the Ojai Valley. He is an amateur astronomer, avid surfer, skater over the age of 50, and the father of 4 daughters.
Ben Draper is a dedicated advocate of self-directed education. As the Executive Director of the Macomber Center for Self-Directed Learning, Ben brings a wealth of experience in fostering educational environments that encourage individual growth and exploration. Growing up at Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, MA, Ben has immersed himself in the principles of self-directed education. An accomplished writer and public speaker on the topic, Ben's insights have been widely shared. Additionally, his fellowships at MIT Media Lab and studies with Mangala Shri Bhuti, a Tibetan Buddhist Sangha, reflect his diverse interests and commitment to holistic development.
Gopal Krishnamurthy (PhD) is core faculty/professor at Antioch University and director of the MS Science Teaching and Learning, Nature Based Education, and Transformative Education programs. Dedicated to transforming and re-wilding learning, curricula, and educational environments, his on-the-ground understanding of education draws from over 20 years of diverse teaching and leadership experiences in the USA, UK, and India (including work as School Director at an international, non-profit, secondary school in England). He holds a BA (Hons) in Physics, MAs in Education and Philosophy, and a PhD in Education. His work explores freedom and transformative education rooted in teaching, learning, and school culture as a whole.