Meet Our High School Teachers
Manisha Arora, High School Math Teacher
Manisha joined The Denver Waldorf School community as an high school math teacher in the 2024-25 year. She grew up in New Delhi, India. Manisha completed her life and environmental sciences undergraduate at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. She also completed a double degree master’s program at the University of Padova, Italy, and Alberta, Canada. It will be her second year teaching high school math in Denver. Her favorite part about teaching math is seeing her students make real-world connections to classroom math concepts!
Tom Clark, Honorarium Teacher - High School Art and Middle School Physics
Tom Clark has been a grade school teacher at DWS since 1985 and has taken three classes through the grades. Since 2010, he has been teaching art and science in the high school and science classes in the middle school. Tom brings experiential learning to the students through hands-on projects and with activities bridging the worlds of art and science. He is a Waldorf teacher trainer and mentor.
Ina Jaehnig, High School Teacher
Eric Mills, High School Humanities Teacher
As the high school humanities teacher, Eric Mills teaches students to be clear thinkers. His classes, which focus on history, storytelling, race, and gender, teach students to view the world more critically.
Before coming to The Denver Waldorf School in 2018, Eric taught English in Denver Public Schools for seven years. During his time at DPS, Eric served as chair of the English department, teacher leader for the student council, and director of the Denver Public Schools district-wide poetry slam. In 2015, he was nominated for the Mayor’s Award for Arts and Excellence in Culture.
Eric holds BAs in philosophy and English, an MA in 20th-Century American literature and literary theory, and is working toward a Ph.D. in literary studies at the University of Denver, where he is researching the decline of the great house in the Victorian novel as it crossed the Atlantic.
Outside of the classroom, Eric has been a passionate advocate for youth representation in the arts and quality education in all schools. He was a classically trained pianist, and he currently enjoys strumming chords on the guitar with his children when he’s not repairing parts of his 128-year-old Denver home.
Adam Newman, High School Physics & Math Teacher
Adam teaches high school physics and math. Originally from London, England, Adam has a BS in Physics from the University of Leeds and an MA in Educational Leadership from University College London. He recently graduated from the Sunbridge Waldorf High School teacher training program. Adam has taught math and physics in London, Ecuador, and now at DWS. Adam considers it his duty to help everyone fall in love with math and physics and see both subjects everywhere in the world. Adam enjoys learning languages, being outside, climbing, riding his bike, and playing the drums.
Talon Poole, High School Technologies Teacher
You might catch a glimpse of Talon pedaling his fixed gear bicycle all over the Denver Metro area (often with a nimble niece by his side), otherwise he’s likely on a bean bag with his cat, nose in a book or mulling over some digital art and the processes therein. After many years working for various startups in Denver and in NYC, he’s quite happy to have recently landed at DWS where technology is carefully considered.
Laura Shope, High School Art Teacher
Laura is excited to be the high school art teacher, after teaching art classes alongside three years with DWS as the Next Steps coach, and another three years as HS Coordinator in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She completed her Waldorf High School Teacher certification in 2020 with the intention to teach art. Having received her MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and her BA in Studio Art from Kalamazoo College, she started her art teaching career at the community college level in Bellingham, Washington. Eventually, she moved into student services and career coaching until a major life event reminded her of her artist self, and she was led to finding her place in the Waldorf high school community. Her passion for art is in the creative process, and she believes art-making is a pathway to more deeply discovering who we are as human-beings. When she’s not teaching or making art, she enjoys hiking, dancing, baking, and hanging out with her dog!
Nancy Taylor, High School Science Teacher
Nancy has always loved science and, of course, her high school science teacher was the one that sparked her interest! She has a bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from CU Boulder and a master’s degree in cell biology from DU here in Denver. During her master’s program, she realized she wanted to work with more people, so she went to Loma Linda in California and received another master’s degree in nutrition and a doctorate in health science. She owned her own company that provided adult health education for 10 years before her daughter started at DWS.
Long story short, she started teaching high school science and has loved this environment in which to teach. She very much enjoys her amazing students as well as her colleagues. She believes science is more important than ever in navigating the world powerfully and confidently, and she is happy to be a part of preparing our students for just that.