Our Team
Hope Helms
Program Administrator and Educator at Vinegar Flats Farm School
I grew up in rural Wyoming, at the base of two mountains. I spent the long days of my childhood under the canopy of trees that surrounded a creek on our property. I was free to create my own space there, and I created an elaborate kingdom. I loved spending time with the horses that we shared our acres with, and I fell asleep each evening to the howls of coyotes. What I was given as a child in that place is one of my most treasured gifts.
I was lucky to find my passion for teaching at an early age, and I have spent over fifteen years working with young children (ages 2-6). I believe in an approach that encourages security, autonomy, and competence. I believe in a child’s ability to be the initiator of their own discoveries, and I believe a natural environment is the most ideal setting for this important work. My education in Early Childhood Education has given me the tools to advocate for quality early learning programs that meet the needs of the whole child.
As a grown-up, I live in Spokane Valley with my husband, two daughters, two cats, and a dog. We love exploring together as a family and spend as much time outdoors as we can. We love to camp, hike, bike and garden.
Olli Gluskin
Educator at Vinegar Flats Farm School
I spent the first 5 years of my life living in Kiev, Ukraine, a large, old city surrounded by forests and a large river. During those years, I spent the summers in the country with my grandparents where we foraged for mushrooms and gardened. I have fond memories of eating berries off the bushes and taking naps under the grape arbors. At 5, my family moved to Southern California. We spent a lot of time playing and exploring at the beach, and camping in the mountains. In my early 20s, I moved up to Washington on my own. Shortly after that, I became interested in farming and herbal medicines. I spent a summer traveling around the country and working on farms through WWOOF. When I returned to Washington, I found a farm to work on for several seasons. I proceeded to study for a BS in Botany in northern California, before returning to Spokane to work on Vinegar Flats Farm for 5 years. During that time, I was a substitute teacher at the farm school, as well. I've always loved playing with kids, following their lead in learning and exploration, and watching them discover the world. Now I am also proud to call myself a Doula in the field if birth work! I live in Spokane with my partner, and our 3 kiddos. We have dogs, chickens, fish, and a cat and love to grow plants, play in the river, and go sledding!
Brittany Fitzgerald
Educator at Vinegar Flats Farm School
Growing up in a small town in Ohio, I lived a pretty urban lifestyle but had the benefit of an older brother who took me around the neighborhood on our bikes until the streetlights came on. For the most part, it was a City Girl life, but in the summers, I was enrolled in camp after camp while my single mother worked full time. It wasn't until I had my own children that I realized what a gift a childhood spent outdoors really was and how rare opportunities have become for our own children to enjoy nature without expectation or time restraints.
As a military family, we spent 10 years living in Oklahoma City. While attending The University of Central Oklahoma, I feel in love with the forest school movement and observed several field studies at outdoor education programs. I also taught process art to preschoolers at OKCMOA and dove deeply into my studies of the emergent-curriculum, constructivist-based Reggio Emilia philosophy. I had the amazing opportunity to complete my student teaching hours at a Reggio-inspired preschool and even traveled to Italy to study Reggio Emilia's inquiry-led teaching methods.
I was so excited to discover GreenPlay Northwest when our family moved to Spokane in 2018 and enrolled my then-3-year-old as soon as I could. It was quite a learning curve to learn to dress her for INW winters but attending the program at Vinegar Flats Farm School (then Urban Eden) paved the way for finding real community and friendship as newcomers to the area. Since then, we have enjoyed the marked seasonal changes, exploring family-friendly hiking, and family bike rides through the neighborhood. When I'm not teaching, you can find me studying in the hammock for my graduate program in Family & Child studies with a jumbo iced coffee in hand, playing with my two husky mix doggos, or volunteering in my kid's classrooms.
Joann O’Meara
Nature Play & Learn Facilitator and Educator at Osceola Art and Garden School
I was lucky to grow up spending time in two beautiful countries. In Ireland, some of my favorite childhood memories included climbing – either to the top of a very tall hill or a small mountain – I loved seeing how things looked from above! In France, I would spend my days on the beach drawing pictures in the sand, constructing shelters, and swimming until my hands were as wrinkly as prunes.
Since graduating from the National College of Art and Design with a BA in Fine Art, I have had the pleasure of teaching children from all over the world. Locally, I’ve worked at both the Bellevue Arts Museum as a summer art instructor and the Tahoma Children’s Museum as an art docent and teacher. What amazes me about the young students I have worked with is there ability to bring me, as their teacher, back to the moments where I saw the world for the first time. They find and notice infinite beauty in the smallest parts of nature. I want to protect that ability and inspire creativity for all children from their earliest beginnings.
Maya West
Educator at Vinegar Flats Farm School
I spent countless hours playing outside in the dry countryside of Southern California growing up. Old oak trees and orchards were my castles. My closest companions were our family horses, dogs, cats, sheep, and rabbits as well as the native wildlife like lizards, roadrunners, snakes, and mice. I didn’t always appreciate a rural life growing up but after living in very urban centers like Seattle and Spokane I’ve realized how much my childhood spent in nature formed me. Nature is where I always return to find calm and peace. I want my own children to richly experience all that the natural and outdoor world can reveal to them. That desire has strongly influenced how we spend our time each day, the lifestyle choices that we make to sustain our natural environment, and the educational paths we are choose.
I hold a BS in Food and Nutrition Science and I have worked as an educator and advocate for families, parents, and young children for the past several years. I live on the Vinegar Flats Farm property where my three children (Jack, Anne and Lucy) get to enjoy growing things and running free. My interests include hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, camping, wild foraging, cooking, and singing.
Jenni Keniston
Nature Play & Learn Facilitator
My children have been attending Greenplay Northwest programs since 2018 and it has been such a great experience for our whole family. We were thrilled to find this wonderful community and I was eager to get more involved with the organization right away. I first offered up my event planning experience and coordinated the 2018 Greenplay Northwest Community Harvest Festival at Lake Wilderness Arboretum. Since then, I have taken on a variety of roles with the organization including Board of Directors President, Administrative Assistant and, most recently, Nature Play and Learn Facilitator.
Growing up in Montana, I developed a love for the great outdoors and farming early in life. While studying architectural design at WSU, I discovered that I had a passion for protecting our planet and a desire to focus on environmentally-friendly design and lifestyles. During graduate school, I took a deep dive into the research on the impact our environments have on all aspects of our health. I especially focused on the benefits of spaces that include art and nature. Later, as a parent, the importance of time spent playing, learning and recharging in outdoor spaces became even more evident to me. I now enjoy helping children and their families connect with opportunities for positive nature experiences.
Before becoming a mother, I was a commercial interior designer based in downtown Seattle. Over the past decade, I have had the opportunity to work on a variety of part-time passion projects including residential design, wedding planning, graphic and website design, a zero-waste retail store and, of course, with Greenplay Northwest. These days much of my time is dedicated to homeschooling my three children. Whenever possible we try to spend our time outside. Our family especially loves gardening, disc golfing, lake swimming and hiking with friends.
Stephanie Bachmeier
Nature Play & Learn Facilitator and Educator at Osceola Art and Garden School
Stephanie has had a love for nature ever since she was a child. After graduation with her BA in communication, Stephanie moved to Washington and fell in love with the outdoors. Once she had her two boys, she became very passionate about teaching other children and incorporating nature into learning. She soon became a facilitator for the Greenplay Northwest’s Play and Learn program and is now stepping into a teaching role. To further her training, she is taking courses in early childhood education. In her free time, she loves to camp, hike, bike ride snowshoe, kayak, and jog. With her family, she enjoys gardening, raising chickens, and looking for bugs in the backyard.
