Jennifer Wai-Lan Strodl, Director and Cofounder

Born in Toronto, Canada, Jennifer Wai-Lan Strodl is a writer and educator who has traveled the world to teach children in China, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Jennifer received her B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing from Princeton University. She holds an M.A.T. in Elementary Education from Smith College, where she was the Helen Donker Rives Fellow. She created and launched STORY, an innovative fiction writing workshop for tweens and teens, which is offered in diverse venues. She continues to teach with a specific passion for liberating children’s creativity through education. She and her husband, the visual artist Oscar Strodl, cofounded The Liberi School in September 2015. She is excited to expand the Liberi vision into a global virtual schoolhouse and to reach students wherever they are with the kind of education that inspires confidence, originality, and an authentic love of learning.

Elizabeth Ballantyne, Early Learning (Prek-Grade 1) Teacher

Elizabeth Ballantyne is excited to join the Liberi School community and brings with her more than 16 years of teaching experience as a lead teacher, literacy coach, learning specialist, and curriculum designer. She graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Hamilton College and received her M.A. in Early Childhood Education/Early Childhood Special Education from the Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds New York State Certification in Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Special Education and Connecticut State Certification in Integrated Early Childhood/Special Education, Nursery-K and Grade 1-3. Across her career working with children she focuses on each child as an individual learner—identifying where they are in their educational and developmental journey and endeavoring to support them while setting the stage and providing opportunities for growth. Her vision for virtual learning is for a community that comes together each day to share and create ideas and questions for further inquiry as a community. Time with each student and in small groups will allow for specific instruction for each child and targeted practice for them on their individual educational journey. This exciting modality utilizes our diverse homes as springboards for learning and creating community that extends beyond a shared geographical location.

Aly Kantor, Core Curriculum (Grades 2-4) Teacher

Aly Kantor is thrilled to be teaching with the Liberi School. She is the kind of teacher who loves a good adventure, having taught at public schools, private schools, progressive schools, museums, and even on the deck of a tall ship on the East River in New York City. She is a major proponent of emergent and project-based learning, and loves to integrate the arts whenever possible. Her core belief? “When you start with the belief that children are capable, they always rise to the occasion!” Aly received her degree in Developmental Art Therapy from Wheelock College of Education and Human Development at Boston University and completed her M.S. in Education at Hofstra University. She holds New York State Certification in Early Childhood and Childhood Education (Birth-Grade 6). When not teaching, she is involved in local theatre as an actor, scenic and property designer, and drama teacher. She loves reading, writing, local hiking, and, of course, teaching. She is a Google Certified Educator, and after years in a screen-free classroom, is so excited by the opportunities that a virtual global school can provide, as well as all of the amazing, 21st century tools that she will be using with students in the classroom. She loves to create and can’t wait to help kids bring their ideas to life in new and exciting ways.

Brendan Delury, Core Curriculum (Grades 5-7) Teacher

A lover of learning and knowledge in nearly any field, Brendan Delury holds a B.A. in English Literature and a M.A.T. in Secondary Education from SUNY New Paltz. His intellectual interests include Post and Post-Postmodern literature, psychology, and literary theory. He has taught in rural and urban settings to diverse learners of all levels of capability before landing at the Liberi School. His goal as an educator is to help his students discover both what they are interested in and have a knack for so that they can use that self-awareness to develop into the best versions of themselves as they engage with their world with intention, a critical eye, and good-hearted morality. He is excited by the new possibilities that online teaching brings to student learning and integrating core curriculum through a socially conscious lens of global awareness.

Cherokee Lynn, Spanish Language Teacher

Cherokee Lynn comes to the Liberi School with experience teaching languages to students ranging in age from 5 to 80 years old in Cleveland, Ohio, and New York, as well as internationally in Honduras, Argentina, and as a Fulbright Scholar in Brazil. She earned a B.A. in Spanish Education with a minor in English Literature from The College of Saint Rose. She also holds an M.A. in Spanish Pedagogy from Middlebury College where she was selected as a Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace. Most recently, she worked as the Community Engagement Coordinator at WMHT Public Media. As a world language teacher, she seeks to motivate students to begin an exploration toward culturally informed and comprehensible communication.

Ari Wolff Cameron, Studio Arts Teacher

Ari Wolff Cameron is a Brooklyn-based poet, visual artist, and educator. She graduated from the New School with a B.A. in Arts In Context: Visual Arts and Poetry in 2013. Ari has worked as a teaching artist across age ranges, designed curriculum for afterschool programs and summer camps, and managed community arts projects. She currently serves as a teaching artist with IS 183, the Liberi School, and the Mastheads: Fireside Writing Program. Ari also serves as a board and accountability member with BRIDGE, a Berkshire-based grassroots organization focused on creating racial and social justice and equity. Ari’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in: The Offing, Vinyl Poetry, Lime Hawk, Hinchas de Poesia, Tinderbox, Whiskey Island, among other places. Her artwork has been included in shows at Collar Works and Para//el Performance Lab, and Glasshouse. She is the recipient of a 2019-2020 LABA: Laboratory for Jewish Culture Fellowship.

Elizabeth Letsou, Intern

Elizabeth Letsou currently studies at Williams College, where she plans on majoring in psychology. Throughout her time at Williams, Elizabeth has been involved in campus organizations such as the Berkshire Doula Project and the Rape and Sexual Assault Network, both of which aim to help those who are dealing with challenging circumstances improve their emotional and mental health. Over the summer, Elizabeth taught a course to middle and high schoolers that aimed to educate and help them cope with concerns related to their mental health amidst the coronavirus pandemic. At this moment in time, we are all united in our struggle against the extremely difficult circumstances that the coronavirus pandemic has presented to us. Elizabeth hopes to help young people learn to cope with their anxieties and fears in a healthy way, as well as learn some of the fascinating psychology behind our most complex emotions.