Meet Our Team

The teachers, facilitators, and key assistants that keep everything running.

Anne Rock

Co-Director, Lead North Star 8-14s Facilitator

Anne is a mother of two, life-long nature lover, and folk herbalist. She was home educated most of her school years, and has worked extensively with children for over 15 years. Her educative passions are nature based and child-led, with the hope of inspiring the next generation's bright future.

Anne enjoys living a holistic lifestyle; gardening, foraging, cooking nutritious meals and preparing herbal concoctions for her friends and family. She deeply loves sharing the magic of plants with all.

One of her greatest aspirations is building and surrounding her family with wholesome community, and she is thrilled to be sharing that reality through New Earth Traditions.

Julianne Aumen

Co-Director, Lead North Star 8-14s Facilitator

Julianne is a mother of four, passionate about maintaining a space of holistic well being in which her children and others can learn, grow, and thrive. She desires to cultivate community not only through friendships between children, but also through support and connection between parents and caregivers.

Julianne is a life long creative and an avid sourdough baker. Her favorite activities to guide are cooking, gardening, and all variations of creative expression including knitting, sewing, wet & needle felting, painting, and more.

Most of all she loves to inspire children to come to their own conclusions and think outside of the box.

Kat McCaughern

Lead 3-5s Starflower Facilitator

Kat is a mother of two, a longtime educator, and a passionate garden steward. With over a decade of experience guiding preschool-aged children, she brings a gentle, grounded presence to her work and believes deeply in the power of child-led, hands-on learning.

She finds joy in her home garden, watercolor painting with her children, and hiking with her husband and their two dogs. A lifelong lover of the arts, she is always exploring new ways to express her creativity.

Kat is inspired by the curiosity, excitement, and wonder children bring to each day and is honored to join the New Earth Traditions team, where learning grows as naturally as the seeds we plant together.

Paige Cruz

Lead 5-7s Starlight Program Facilitator

Hello! My name is Paige, and I am honored to be the Starlight Teacher. I truly love working with children because they see the world with so much curiosity, joy, and wonder. My goal is to create a warm and peaceful classroom where each child feels safe, loved, and free to grow at their own pace. It is a privilege to be part of these early years.

I believe childhood should be filled with meaningful experiences that nourish the whole child. Through storytelling, nature, creative play, and daily rhythms. I believe the strongest learning happens when children feel connected to the people and world around them. Building trusting relationships with each child and partnering with families creates a foundation where children can thrive. It is a gift to witness each child grow into who they are meant to be, and I feel grateful to walk beside them during this special season of their lives.

I attended Post University, where I earned my Associate's degree in early childhood education, and I completed the Introduction to Waldorf Education course through the Sunbridge Institute. Over the past five years, I have had the opportunity to work with children in elementary school settings.

Michelle Smith

Playgroup Lead

Michelle is a lifelong teacher and now a proud new mother. She finished her 10th year as a kindergarten teacher in a public Waldorf charter school in 2025 and is now ready for new adventures with her son.

Working with young children has always brought Michelle great joy. She believes that early childhood is a crucial stage of development that deserves reverence, compassion, and love. Creating warm and meaningful relationships with the children and families in her care is essential to her.

In 2018, Michelle earned her WECAN Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher certification. That same year, she also completed a life changing internship at Green Meadow Waldorf School in Spring Valley, NY.

As a teacher, she strives to create a rhythmic and health-giving environment for young children and families through storytelling, music, art, and practical activities.

In her free time, Michelle is a photographer and traveler who loves nature and taking in all that is around her. She enjoys singing, needle felting, learning and playing instruments, reading, writing, drawing, gardening, and baking with her family.

After joining nature playgroup in Spring of 2025, Michelle instantly fell in love with New Earth Traditions and knew she had found a special place for her son to grow. She is so grateful to have found this special place and looks forward to all the wonders that will unfold together in the New Earth Traditions community.