Staff Information
From Bill Alsdurf’s first teaching
assignment within a small rural school
district located in Southern Oregon in
1985 to his current decision to fulfill
a twenty-year-long dream by founding
Tall Cedars Academy in downtown Duvall,
Mr. Alsdurf’s own constant throughout
his two-decade-long professional career
has been his ability to inspire many
hundreds of students through the use of
an outstanding humanities-based academic
curriculum of compassionate excellence.
Since earning his M.Ed. from Lewis and
Clark College in Portland, Oregon in
1989, Bill Alsdurf has been fortunate
enough to have had the opportunity to
teach within a rich and varied array of
educational environments. Over the
years, he has gained invaluable and
broadly-based experience in teaching
theory and in the practical
implementation and personalization of
those theories -- and gained, too, a firm
foundation in educational administration
and practice.
A passion for creating,
organizing, developing, and implementing
a challenging multi-age curriculum has
enabled Bill to fine-tune and further
develop his own teaching philosophies
and strengths as a multi-age educator.
It is from within that belief system and
those philosophies that Tall Cedars
Academy has now been founded. Tall Cedars officially
opened its doors in September
2006 in time to welcome its first class
of incoming students for the
2006/2007 Academic Year .
Tall Cedars Academy -- and all that it
stands for -- is the culmination of twenty
years of working with and learning from
children and their families.
We warmly invite you to become a
member of Tall Cedars Academy’s small
and growing community of families during
these critically important foundation
years of your own child's intellectual
and developmental life.
We are here to help, and welcome your
questions!
“Do not train children to learning
by force and harshness, but direct them
to it by what amuses their minds, so
that you may be better able to discover
with accuracy the peculiar bent of the
genius of each.” -- Plato
Anne McDonald graduated from the
University of Washington with a BA in
Psychology (Child Development) and a BA
in Art History. She completed her Master
in Teaching at Seattle University. Her
diverse experience in education includes
leading independent workshops; teaching
as an art specialist, and
multi-age/gifted classroom teacher;
directing special programs and working
as an administrator. Anne’s strong
background in curriculum design has
resulted in innovative programs that
have inspired students to develop a high
level of creativity and a strong desire
to work beyond the standards typical for
students.
Her teaching philosophy follows the
belief that an effective teacher is one
who can recognize, empathize, and
respond to the individual needs of the
students and their families. Developing
creative units of study that highlight a
solid foundation of skills, promotes
exploration and discovery, and targets
multiple intelligences is the foundation
of her lesson planning. Anne
purposefully integrates the curriculum
as authentically as possible to
encourage a greater flow of
understanding and continuity across
subject areas. She believes that student
learning occurs most effectively in the
context of individual and cooperative
responses that promote further
investigation. Working as a team member
to support a collaborative learning
environment that addresses the needs of
the students, the staff, and the
community is what drew Anne McDonald to
join the staff at Tall Cedars Academy.
“Education is not the filling of a
pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
--William Butler Yeats
Kirsten has been a resident of Duvall
since early 1992, shortly after her
graduation from Western Washington
University, where she obtained her B.A.
in speech pathology. She spent five
years in the child care field before
becoming a stay-at-home mom when her
oldest was born. She and her husband,
Marty, have three daughters - Kenzie,
11, Rylie, 7, and Lexie, 4. Both Kenzie
and Rylie are proud TCA students.
Kirsten's daughter Kenzie had the
good fortune to have "Mr. A" for second
and third grade, so they have seen
firsthand what a special and
life-changing teacher Bill Alsdurf is.
Volunteering in that classroom was a
heartwarming experience, and Kirsten is
thrilled to be a part of the Tall Cedars
family.
Robin Morse and her family have lived
for the past eight years on their small
farm just northeast of the town of
Duvall in the beautiful Snoqualmie
Valley.
Robin’s husband Stafford works as a
network architect in nearby Bellevue,
and the couple’s ten-year-old son,
Stafford III, is very much looking
forward to his fourth year with Tall
Cedars Academy headmaster Bill Alsdurf.
Ms. Morse has previously enjoyed two
years of volunteer work with Mr.
Alsdurf’s multi-age students,
specializing particularly in the
language arts portions of Bill’s
curriculum.
Beyond her work in the Tall Cedars
classroom, Robin’s afternoons are often
spent shepherding the family’s BankSide
Farm flock of Black Welsh Mountain
sheep. The Morse family appreciates a
quietly active outdoor lifestyle,
treasuring the rich natural world whose
abundance surrounds them at their small
cozy home along the banks of the
majestic Snoqualmie River.
Mindy and her family have made their
home in Duvall since 2002. After
homeschooling for many years and
teaching in homeschool coops, Mindy’s
children now attend local school
programs and she continues to spend much
of her time working with and mentoring
children as both a Girl Scout and Cub
Scout leader and volunteering regularly
in her children’s classroom.
Her commitment to children and
creating programs which challenge and
motivate them has been a perfect fit for
the Tall Cedars Academy family. Mindy
works as a Program Assistant in the
afternoon, providing daily instruction
in Spanish to our students as well as
support during Writer’s Workshop,
technology instruction and art. When the
school day is over, Mindy facilitates
the after-school program here at TCA
including the 20-20-20 Homework Club and
Friday Fun programs.
When not working as a volunteer or
with the students at Tall Cedars, Mindy
spends time teaching the women’s group
at her church and running a small sewing
business. She loves to read and
have her toenails painted and loves
working with the students at Tall Cedars
Academy.
Coach Paige earned her certification
from the American Council on Exercise.
She has pursued continuing education
with emphasis on geriatric wellness,
strength training, and youth fitness,
including the FitPlay curriculum. Her
work with Active Older Adults at Sno-Valley
Senior Center has earned her many
accolades. She instructs the
EnhanceFitness Program which is
affiliated with the University of
Washington’s Health Promotion Research
Center and the Center of Disease
Control. It has been named as one of the
ten best programs of its kind in the
nation.
Her work with youth includes her
role as PE instructor/running coach
within the Riverview School District for
three years. She has also served on the
Health and Fitness Curriculum &
Nutrition committees for the District,
on the Board of Directors for the
Snoqualmie Valley Community Network and
as the Health and Wellness Chair for the
local Education Foundation, as well as
volunteering in a variety of other
community roles, including direction of
the June Duvall Days 5K/10K runs and
November REF Turkey Trot and
Orienteering Event. Her expectations for
physical education are simple yet
effective.
Students are expected to Act
safely, Be prepared and positive,
Cooperate and Do their best. Students
who are in charge of their bodies and
minds grow into the best they can be!
Together, large and small motor skills
will be explored in a variety of ways.
Coach Paige feels honored to be invited
to work in such an enriching and
exciting environment.
Join us and grow strong with Tall
Cedars Academy!
Kari brings 30 years of experience as
a music educator, as well as a strong
commitment to the growth and education
of children to her position as music
specialist at Tall Cedars Academy. As a
college student she determined that
music would be her life’s work and
obtained a Bachelor’s degree in piano
pedagogy. Kari has worked with children
of all ages in school and church
settings, but most regularly in the
music lessons and classes she has
offered through the years from her home.
A few years ago she began to realize
that, as a piano teacher, she was
frustrated that so many students came
for their very first piano lesson
without the very basic musical skills,
and, therefore, found learning to play
the piano very difficult. As she
pondered and researched this problem,
she discovered the field of early
childhood music education. She enrolled
in training, became a licensed
Musikgarten instructor and opened her
own “Musikgarten” studio.
Kari continues to enroll in classes
to stay current on music education
training, classroom management and
instructional methods and has recently
achieved Level II certification with the
Early Childhood Music and Movement
Association. Kari feels that her
experience as a musician, her passion
for teaching, and her experience with
children have prepared her for her
position at Tall Cedars Academy.
