MISHA GOLFMAN, M.Ed. co-founded Kroka Expeditions in 1996. He graduated from the Soviet National Outdoor Leadership School and earned degrees from Leningrad Politechnical and Pedagogical Universities, Plymouth State College and M.Ed. from Antioch, NE Graduate School. As a child he spent every summer expeditioning on long Russian waterways with his mother, while foraging and fishing. Misha participated and led many expeditions including several in the Russian and Canadian Arctic. He founded several initiatives, including the Russian American Outdoor Educators Exchange, Adventures in Russia and Piermont Outdoor Program. Misha was a guide for Mahoosuc Guide Service for 15 years and Outward Bound for 3 years. He also was a public school and college teacher for 10 years.

LISL, M.Ed. was born and raised in a small village in the Austrian Alps in the family of a forest ranger and teacher. She climbed, backcountry skied and hiked extensively in the Alps. Lisl has been a teacher all of her adult life, having taught elementary as well as high school grades. After moving to the United States in 1985 she studied at the Rudolf Steiner College in California. For 13 years she taught at the Kimberton Waldorf School in Pennsylvania, where she carried the Movement and Outdoor Education Department. Lisl devoted many years at Kimberton to develop an age appropriate outdoor curriculum. The Kimberton Waldorf High School now successfully offers at least one weeklong trip in connection to a Main block for each grade. Her son Stefan is an alumnus of VSP ’04 and both of her children have taught at Kroka.

NATHAN LYCZAK is Kroka’s managing director and chief cartographer. He is responsible for financial management and organizational systems development as well as providing administrative support and training for all of the staff. He brings to Kroka 15 years experience in non-profit management, and youth development and holds a masters degree in Education from Harvard University. While not at Kroka, Nathan lives in Keene with his two children Meg and Rye, and spends his time enjoying music, dancing, gardening, and having people over for dinner.

LYNNE, M.Ed. graduated from UMass, Amherst and Leslie College with degrees in Education and Creative Arts. Prior to founding Kroka, Lynne taught as a Special Education Teacher, Public School Classroom teacher and Waldorf Nursery Kindergarten teacher. Lynne also worked as a ski guide at Mahoosuc Guide Service. Lynne brings to Kroka a wealth of teaching and life experience combined with a deep understanding of child development and an unsurpassed compassion for all beings. Besides running Kroka and raising a family Lynne manages Kroka’s “Happy Hens” Chicken Farm.

LINDA FUERDERER is our amazing Office Manager/Administrator and she always steps up to do many other tasks. Until the sale in 2007, she worked along side her family in the family business, Jack’s True Value Hardware in Keene, New Hampshire. While working in the family business, she received a Bachelor’s Degree at Keene State College. Here she deepened her passion for archaeology. Linda has participated on many digs and regularly volunteers with the New Hampshire SCRAP program (State Conservation and Rescue Archaeology Program). She is a resident of Marlow and sits on the conservation commission as well as ARLAC (Ashuelot River Local Advisory Commission).

LU loves living and working with young people, both indoors and out of doors. She has helped to found a free camp for disadvantaged chldren through the Dream Program, Inc and guided wilderness adventure trips for teens with Adventure Treks. She has also worked in public elementary schools in Burlington, VT and Roxbury, MA. Lu holds a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology from Dartmouth College and an MEd. in Elementary Education from Antioch University. When she is not teaching, she enjoys gardening, hiking, and running marathons.

MICHAEL coordinates the semester program in Ecuador. He completed four years of Industrial Engineering at the University of Quito and two years of Adventure Guiding School in Canada. He is a certified CAA Avalanche Technician, WFR, BC Canada rafting guide, and part of the BC Search and Rescue Team. Michael is an excellent mountain biker and a well-known climbing and mountaineering guide in Ecuador. Michael was one of the co leaders of the first Kroka Ecuador Semester in 07 and it is his eighth year as a teacher at Kroka. Born in the Andes, Michael and his brothers Thomas and Mathias grew up on horseback, helping their parents on the family farm. During their childhood their father, Francisco transformed a traditional hacienda into a progressive and profitable farm that has since supported a village of indigenous peoples. They co-founded Nahual – Kroka’s partner school in Ecuador.

MATHIAS was born and raised at Palugo, a small permaculture farm in the core of the Andes mountains, where he learn to love nature and the outdoors. As an adult, he went to Canada and completed several outdoor education and guiding programs, achieving several certification as a WFR, Rafting guide, CAA avalanche Technician and in Search and Rescue. Mathias loves the mountain and became a very passionate climber and mountaineer and works at home as a mountain guide. He joined Kroka many years ago, working as a lead teacher in summer programs and Ecuador NH Semester and he is back for his eighth year this summer. He and his brothers cofounded Nahual Expediciones which is now Kroka's partner school in Ecuador.

MARCELA, was born in Colombia and raised in Ecuador. From a young age, Marcela has always been a lover of the natural and creative world around her. These interests have led her to work as a natural history guide in different reserves around Ecuador, including the Amazon and Galápagos Islands. She has a B.A. from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand where she started her work with children and theatre. In 2006 she assisted her first group of Kroka students in Ecuador along with other Nahual staff. From then on she has been both a Nahual and Kroka teacher. She taught the NH-Ecuador Semester in 2008 and led seasonal trips for Kroka. In Ecuador she is part of Palugo farm, a sustainable farm dedicated to outdoor education and organic farming. She is a certified WAFA and has a certificate in Waldorf Education with the Fursewale Ass., the Anthroposophical Association in Ecuador.

LILY is a Kroka Vermont Semester Alumni and an accomplished trip leader. Lily grew up in California on her family’s Vineyard, living joyously on the land, helping on the farm and playing music with her brothers. Lily completed a year at Fosen Folk School in Northern Norway sailing Viking ships and learning traditional wilderness and folk crafts. A confident leader and experienced outdoors woman, Lily shares with students her love of all living things, her special musical talent and her passion for farming. In 2009, in addition to teaching at Kroka, Lily managed Kroka’s gardening program.

LAUREL ISELIN first came to Kroka for her 8th grade class trip. She has since participated in many advanced expeditions, including those in Canada and Ecuador. For her senior class project Laurel studied about traditional lodge building with Cree Natives in Canada and then guided Kroka students in the process of building our Cree lodge alongside Grandfather Ray Reitze. Laurel attended Waldorf School through grade twelve. She completed a year of study at Fosen Folk School in Norway and spent another year traveling by bicycle in South America. Laurel is currently completing a foundation year in painting at Harlemville Free Columbia School in New York where she is building yet another Cree lodge. She is an incredible fiddle player who also enjoys circus arts and horses. Last year, while teaching at Kroka she was responsible for the care and training of Brita, our workhorse.

MARCEA is a native Vermonter. Growing up immersed in nature, she developed an understanding of the beauty, forms and cycles of nature. Marcea has pursued to perfection the expressions of nature’s messages through crafts, music and art. She is in her fifth year of study and practice of medicinal plants. For Marcea, both Ecuador and Saxtons River, Vermont are home. This is her sixth year working at Kroka both as a summer and New Hampshire-Ecuador Semester teacher.

NICOLE MARCHAN joins us from Ecuador as part of an ongoing teacher exchange between Kroka and our sister school Nahual. Nicole is an accomplished climber and has been able to combine her science and outdoor education degrees as a guide for Ecuadorian companies leading groups in the Galapagos and around Ecuador. Currently she lives on Palugo farm working with the Dammer family as they are creating and sharing a healthy community with a sustainable and simple way of living. She is also an amazing yoga teacher. Her well-grounded style, and calming and peaceful presence make her a valuable asset to Kroka’s climbing team.

HANS MAYER is an alumni of the Semester Program and has been part of the Kroka family for many years. Hans is from Starksboro, Vermont. He spent his youth immersed in the natural world -- tracking, hunting, fishing, wilderness camping and organic farming -- and has a great reverence for nature and love of outdoor pursuits. Hans is traveling and studying in New Zealand for the 2011-2012 school year. We hope he will return to Kroka afterwards!

ANDREW RASMUS is a new Kroka teacher who brings a wealth of experience in rock-climbing, caving, hiking, and paddling. Andrew grew up crawling around in caves with his father and going on adventures with the boy scouts. He graduated from Northland College of northern Wisconsin with a degree in Outdoor Education and has been spending his summers working at summer camps across the Midwest. Andrew shares a passion for learning and curiosity to explore our natural world. We are excited to welcome him to Kroka!

TOM ROSENBERG is a Kroka Alumni in his fifth year of teaching at Kroka. Tom grew up in Portland, Maine and attended Kroka camp for many years. He has been on many advanced programs, including expeditions to Ecuador and Canada. Tom was a participant in the 2006 Vermont Semester and returned as a teacher assistant on the 2008 Vermont Semester. He is in his second winter of working at Mahoosuc Guide Service in Maine. Tom is also a student at Marlboro College. A young man who has already dedicated many years to study of wilderness, Tom has developed a strong teaching style and the amazing hands of a skilled craftsman.

DANIELA was born and raised in northern California, where she developed a strong connection to the beautiful state. She was a student at Kroka for many years, and graduated from the 2009 New Hampshire-Vermont Semester before coming back to teach here. Daniela has a passion for music, food, and friction fire, and has spent many years perfecting and exploring these interests. This past year she has spent her time apprenticing at Koviashuvik, a local living school with strong connections to Kroka, and traveling and farming in South America.

LAUREN, grew up in Vermont, hiking, paddling and gardening with her family, influenced by her mother's art and her father's music. During high school her love of language led her to spend a year learning French in the Alps. Lauren also attended the government Climate Change Conference, Youth Environmental Summit,and started a composting system for her Elementary and High School, and was a student on the 2009 Vermont-New Hampshire Semester. Lauren is now a student at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, where she is studying Geology along with Chinese, Spanish, and Art.She spent the fall in China learning about Traditional Medicine and hopes to continue to study this in South America.

RAINA has spent most of her life in Vermont and New Hampshire. Her first experience at Kroka was at the age of 13. She has since participated in many Kroka programs including the New Hampshire/Ecuador Semester. She has studied jewelry and metal smithing, as well as other forms of art. Raina will be attending Southern Vermont College in the fall, where she plans to study nursing. Raina is excited to return for her third summer as Kroka staff, and share her love of nature, crafts, and outdoor adventure with children of all ages.

CONSTANZA was born in Ecuador. Since she was a little girl she loved nature, and all outdoors activities. These love for nature and will to conserve it, led her to work on different conservation projects, living and working with different communities in Ecuador such as in the Highlands, Coast, Galapagos, Amazon, as well as visiting other countries like Mexico and Costa Rica.
She studied ecology and photography, so she has a lot of experience on different research and conservation projects, like working with marine turtles in the Galapagos Islands and humpback whales in the coastal region of Ecuador. She had the opportunity to work with students of different ages in ISV, International Student Volunteer where she lead a conservation and community development project in the coast of Ecuador. Since she was little, she attended and participated like a guide in "Aire Libre" an Ecuadorian summer camp, after this she worked for 5 years on Outward Bound-Ecuador where she learned a lot of experiential education. She is a certified WAFA.

ELISA is new to Kroka but not to the joys of outdoor living. She has spent most of the summers of her life at Darrow Camp in Maine, paddling and camping in the wilderness of Maine, Quebec and Labrador. After leaving her hometown of Middlebury, Vermont, Elisa studied German and Italian while traveling in Europe and received a bachelor's degree in English literature at Wesleyan University. More recently, she has been baking pies in San Francisco and learning wood-canvas canoe repair at Northwoods Canoe in Maine and Skywoods Canoe in Vermont. Her free time is spent with music, friends, hikes or a good book.

ELIOT is 18 years old and has lived in an intentional cohousing community in Amherst MA for his entire life. His family are avid hikers, and recently finished climbing all of the 4000+ foot mountains in New Hampshire. He attended the 2010 New Hampshire Vermont Semester, and first heard about Kroka from Evan Brill, a neighbor and semester alum. Eliot especially enjoys fishing, camping, singing and canoing.

TRINA hails from Keene, New Hampshire, where her education at the Monadnock Waldorf School and the Putney School awoke in her a deep passion for many mediums of art.
After experiencing the New Hampshire-Ecuador Semester as a student in 2009, Trina decided to come back to teach at Kroka in the summers. Trina’s love of exploration and adventure has led her on many journeys, most recently to Ireland, where she spent four months traveling the coast by bicycle. Trina plans to attend the Rode Island School of Design in the fall.