About Hummingbird's Teachers
Marlis Harris
Born in Diez, Germany, earned her MA in Art Education from the University of Oldenburg. She taught in special education before embarking on a trip around the world, which brought her to San Francisco. Here Marlis became a founding teacher at the German-American School in Menlo Park and taught there for four years in grades 1-4.
In 1998 she completed her three-year Waldorf Teacher Training and since then has volunteered tutored and substituted in various classes at the San Francisco Waldorf School (SFWS), working extensively in the kindergartens. She has been the director of Hummingbird since it opened in 2002. Marlis is the mother of three boys all of which have attended and graduated from SFWS.
Barbara Lobb
Joined Hummingbird Preschool as a substitute teacher in 2005.
She earned a professional 5 year degree in Architecture from the University of Maryland. She is also in the process of completing her final year of Waldorf Teacher training at the Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento. Her son has graduated from SFWHS.
Marlis and Barbara create and implement the curriculum, taking the lead role in the classroom. They guide the children through the day and model mindful ways to interact with them; they facilitate discussions at parent meetings and educate parents in the “hows” and “whys” of early childhood development.
Janine Wiedmer
Janine grew up in Bern, Switzerland and graduated with a professional degree in business studies. Travels brought her to San Francisco where she settled with her family. Her daughter attended the San Francisco Waldorf School from Kindergarten through High School. During those years she was a substitute teacher for German lessons.
In 1995 she graduated as a Massage Therapist from the National Holistic Institute and has since been working in her own practice as a Massage Therapist. Janine has been a teacher at the Hummingbird Preschool since 2009. She enjoys working in this very supportive and creative environment helping to nurture the minds, bodies and spirits of the children at Hummingbird.
Jaimie Sheldon
Born in San Francisco, raised in the Bay Area, Jamie was introduced to Waldorf education in 1998 by her husband who taught at the San Francisco Waldorf School. By then she had been a special education teacher for over 10 years and began her Waldorf teacher training through Rudolf Steiner College.
After becoming a certified Waldorf educational support teacher Jamie worked part time at SFWS, mentored special education teachers and taught in Oakland until 2004. To consolidate her time and energy Jamie taught students with severe life and educational challenges in a middle school special day class(SFUSD) where she integrated early Waldorf activities until 2016. In 2019 Jamie began joyously co-teaching Hummingbird Preschool children!
Karina Vasijevska-Das
Karīna was born in Rīga, Latvia and moved to the US for college. She got introduced to Waldorf education when her two children attended Hummingbird more than ten years ago and has been helping at the school since 2020. She also teaches Bay area Latvian children of the same age on weekends.
Karīna holds a PhD in Medical Anthropology from UCSF/UC Berkeley with children’s health as her general topic of research. She is an avid singer and loves acting and directing amateur theater, both interests that come in handy when working with the Hummingbird children.