ABOUT US » FACULTY/STAFF PROFILES

Kiyo A. Morse, Head of School

Mrs. Morse holds BS and MS degrees in Population Genetics and Immunology from the University of California, Davis. Her experience as a research scientist at the University of California and with the Swiss National Red Cross in Bern provided her with the expertise to serve as a science mentor for gifted students in the Plymouth-Canton Schools. She served for three years on the steering committee of the Plymouth-Canton Association for the Academically Talented (PCAAT).

As a mother of three gifted daughters, she saw a need for programming that was not available to them through other schools. In 1981, she founded Steppingstone School for Gifted Education with the mission of giving gifted students an opportunity to have the type of school experience most other children have—with curriculum and pacing designed for them and delivered by teachers who understand them. Further, she wanted gifted students to have an opportunity to develop friendships with other students their age. She had learned through experience and literature that gifted children need other children of similar intellect to provide the groundwork of similar interests and perspective, which are the basis for the development of satisfying relationships and friendships.

Having observed and listened to hundreds of students over the years, Mrs. Morse has gained deep insight into how gifted children think about themselves and their world. She helps shape each child’s Steppingstone experience to meet the child's needs and goals.

In addition to all the responsibilities of daily and long-term school operations, she attends a wide variety of seminars and workshops on gifted education, nationally as well as locally. She is active with organizations focused on supporting gifted children and all of the areas of their development, and she is particularly interested in the social and emotional aspects of child development. She is currently serving as Secretary of the Michigan Alliance for Gifted Education (MAGE).

Personally, Mrs. Morse has also been active in the performing arts community. She was a violinist with the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra for over 25 years and served for six years as President of its Board of Directors.

Thomas J. Herbst, Assistant Head of School

Mr. Herbst graduated from St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. He taught fifth grade homeroom in the Rensselaer Public Schools for one year. Returning to his home area in Michigan, he became a teacher of fourth through eighth grades at Kensington Academy (KA) upon its opening in Bloomfield Hills. He received his Master of Arts in Educational Administration from Michigan State University in 1981. He was middle school coordinator, assistant head, and then appointed head of school of KA from 1983 through 2006. He served on the executive committee of the Association of Independent Michigan Schools (AIMS) for eight years and as the president of AIMS from 1997-1999. From 2006 through June 2008, he engaged in consulting work, was a private tutor in language arts and grammar, and an academic coach for elementary through high school students.

Sandra Blay, Business and Facilities Manager

Mrs. Blay received her Associates Degree in Small Business Management from Schoolcraft College. Mrs. Blay was active in the PTO and served as a substitute secretary and as a teacher’s assistant in the Clarenceville School District as her two children were growing up. Prior to taking on the bookkeeper position at Steppingstone, she was a Secretary, Office Manager and Bookkeeper at various area corporations. Mrs. Blay belongs to Faith As One Volunteers where she works at a homeless shelter once a month by preparing and serving dinner to those at the shelter. She also helps prepare food baskets and helps clothe the homeless. Mrs. Blay is also currently on the Board of Directors of her condominium association.

Donna Coffin, Admissions Director, Special Programs Director, Office Manager

Since being hired in 1984, Mrs. Coffin has taught all grades at various points in her Steppingstone teaching career. She received her BA in Elementary Education as well as her MA in Classroom Instruction from Eastern Michigan University. Before teaching at Steppingstone, she taught four years with the Wayne-Westland School District and also privately tutored. She is a Steppingstone board member and has served as Steppingstone's Faculty Chair and as the Teacher Service Committee representative to the Association of Independent Michigan Schools (AIMS). Donna shares her experience with teachers and parents in recognizing and accepting children wherever they are, academically and socially, and in consistently raising standards to help students attain their goals. She is a devoted advocate of collaborating with students and their parents to make the most meaningful and supportive changes.

Jason Roder, Special Assistant, IT Specialist

Mr. Roder graduated with a BS in computer science from Wayne State University. In addition to maintaining all databases, he also assists with office and building and grounds tasks. He is an alumnus of Steppingstone.

Keiko Morse, Pre High School Teacher, Faculty Chair

Miss Morse is a graduate of Steppingstone who is completing her Masters in Administration and received her BA and teaching certificate from Hope College in Holland, MI, where she majored in science and math, earned her teaching certificate, minored in fine arts, and was named to the Dean’s List for all four years of her attendance. Her college curriculum was supplemented with dance (ballet, jazz, and ballroom), theatre management and technical assistance, intramural sports, and responsibilities as a resident assistant for three years in her dormitory. In 1994, she developed the Steppingstone Summer Day Camp program and has directed it for 10 years. She joined the Steppingstone faculty in 1998 and taught for three years before accepting the challenge of a Grade 3-4 classroom in Savoonga, a northern Alaskan town on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Straits. While there, she served as the chair of the School Improvement Committee, Senior High School Advisor, Cross Country Ski Team Coach, and Volleyball Team Coach. In 2003, she returned to teach Grades six through eight at Steppingstone. She currently serves as Steppingstone’s Faculty Chair and is ISACS Self Study Steering Committee Chair. Her hobbies include kayaking, reading, cross-stitching, and gardening.

Carol Powell, Early Elementary Teacher

Ms. Powell earned her BA in Journalism from Central Michigan University and her BA in Education from Graceland University in Lamoni, IA. Her MA is also from Graceland and is in Education, Collaborative Learning, and Teaching. She is certified to teach Kindergarten through eighth grade, Early Childhood PK and K, reading for Kindergarten through sixth grade, and “Parents as Teachers.” In addition, Mrs. Powell has 22 years of experience in a variety of classrooms from preschool through elementary gifted. She is an avid sports enthusiast who has worked as a lifeguard, taught swimming to children, coached basketball and softball, and regularly takes in football, basketball, in-line, and ice hockey events. Music is important in her life, whether playing the clarinet, listening to jazz, counseling at band camp, or dancing. She has also been very active in community and youth organizations including Boy and Girl Scouts, 4-H, and her church. Beyond these accomplishments, she is most proud of having raised her two children, Roxie and Clint, and for being a cancer survivor.

Janelle Schultz, Intermediate Elementary Teacher

Ms. Schultz received her teaching certificate and BS degree from Oakland University with a major in Language Arts and a minor in Social Studies. Among her unique experiences was an internship in New Zealand, teaching children ages seven to nine years old from diverse ethnic backgrounds—New Zealand European, Maori, Samoan, and Pacific Islander. This provided her with experiences similar to those in Steppingstone classrooms of multi-aged, multi-ethnic children who require differentiated instructional strategies. Janelle also experienced six additional field placement situations in a variety of Michigan elementary schools. In addition to these classroom experiences, Janelle has coached middle and high school volleyball and interned with the Detroit Zoological Society. We are pleased to include a teacher with such a variety of interests and experiences in our faculty.

Linda Hoff, Upper Elementary Teacher

Mrs. Hoff received her BS from the University of Michigan – Dearborn, graduating with a major in biology and a minor in psychology. She has been employed as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist, a sales representative for a company that sold radioactive blood analysis kits, and a paraprofessional with the Royal Oak Public Schools. While raising her two children, she returned to Oakland University. She received her elementary education certification and is also certified in math and science in grades six through eight. Mrs. Hoff taught middle school mathematics in the Detroit Public Schools from 2006 – 2009 and coauthored a Skillman Good Schools Middle Schools Grant that was funded. In her quest to be a lifelong student, she has acquired 16 graduate credit hours in the Teacher Education Studies curriculum at Oakland University. She enjoys traveling with her husband, gardening, reading, and needle arts.

Mary Gage, Art Instructor, Extended Day

Mrs. Gage is a candidate for teacher certification and holds a BFA in painting and printmaking from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She worked as an arts administrator for over 20 years, exhibited locally and throughout the Midwest, and her work is represented in several private collections.

She interned at Steppingstone in the spring of 2007 and has been an instructor at our Summer Art Camp as well as a counselor for several other sessions. In the area of language arts, (reading and writing) in particular, Mrs. Gage has had the leadership position of training volunteers and WSU student teachers in reading tutorial programs in both the Detroit and Pontiac public schools.

Ana Maria Strauss Gonzalez, Spanish Instructor

Ms. Gonzalez comes to Steppingstone through the Language Adventure Program. She is a native Spanish-speaker from Argentina. She majored in education at the Universidade Estadual in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, where she lived with her family for many years.

Ms. Gonzalez began her career as a language teacher in Brazil teaching Spanish to Portuguese-speaking children. Upon coming to the United States in 1996, she continued teaching. She worked in various school districts in southeast Michigan and has taught all levels of Spanish to children in preschool through grade eight as well as adults. Ms. Gonzalez is also fluent in Portuguese and Italian.

Hong Lin, Mandarin Chinese Instructor

Ms. Lin has been teaching Chinese in the US since 1996 at all levels, from beginner to advanced. She has worked for a variety of schools and organizations: specialty schools, charter academies, summer camps, public schools, and businesses that were establishing operations in China. Mandarin Chinese is her native language.

Dr. Philip D. Morse II, Computer Instructor

Dr. Morse received his BA and PhD from the University of California at Davis in Zoology. He then did four years of post-doctoral studies in Physical Biochemistry (two years in Switzerland and two years at Pennsylvania State University). He was an Assistant Professor of Biology at Wayne State University, and then he was recruited to run the electron spin resonance research lab in the MD-PhD program at the University of Illinois. After joining the Chemistry Department at Illinois State University to teach and do research for a number of years, he retired from ISU as a Full Professor in 2001 with over 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications to his credit. Since then, Dr. Morse taught the Pre High School class at Steppingstone for two years and now teaches computer classes at Steppingstone. He has founded and is now, as its Program Director, developing the Steppingstone MAgnetic Resonance Training (SMART) Center. In addition, Dr. Morse runs Scientific Software Services, the world’s largest supplier of aftermarket software and hardware for Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectrometers. In his spare time, Dr. Morse enjoys photography, playing piano, and developing scientific applications for computer hardware and software.

Kathy Nellett, Performing Arts Instructor

Ms. Nellett has been teaching drama for young people for fifteen years. She has taught for many schools and organizations including Steppingstone School for Gifted Education, VSA Arts of Michigan, Cranbrook Theatre School – Bloomfield Hills, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts – NYC, and The Reece School in Manhattan. Kathy currently teaches the Youth Program for The Second City – Detroit in Novi. She has also been an active part of the theatre community having performed as a principal actress in Menopause the Musical at The Gem Theatre in Detroit. Kathy is a member of the Actor’s Equity Association and holds a BFA in Theatre from DePaul University in Chicago. She is excited to be teaching Performing Arts at Steppingstone.

Jerzy Radz, Fencing Instructor

Maestro Radz, the 2004 Midwest Fencing Conference Coach of the Year, has been the head coach of Wayne State University men's and women's fencing programs since 1991. Prior to WSU, Radz was the head coach of the University of Wisconsin-Madison men's and women's fencing teams for one season when they won the Big Ten Conference Championships and finished 10th in the nation. In his time at WSU, Radz has coached eight individual national champions, produced a number of NCAA Midwest Regional Champions, and coached 48 All-Americans.

Being no stranger to the sport himself, Radz has over 30 years of coaching experience in all weapons and has been active in organizing and conducting youth fencing programs that have developed world-class fencers. Radz earned his master's degree in physical education from the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland.

Mieko O. West, Japanese Instructor

After nearly thirty years of teaching experience in Japan and the United States, Mrs. West joined our faculty as a Japanese teacher. Her goal is to use her experience and recent course work in Japanese pedagogy, which she does using interesting and interactive lessons. Mieko received her Associate of Arts Degree in piano from Ueno Gakuen University in 1977 and completed the Japanese Pedagogy, Intensive Course, from the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan in 2007. She is contracted by the Yazaki Corporation as a Japanese instructor, and she currently teaches Japanese to our Pre High School students. Additionally, Mrs. West has taught private piano lessons to over 300 students in Japan and Ann Arbor, MI. Mieko resides in Ann Arbor with her family.

Oliver Thompson, Music Instructor

Mr. Thompson received his BA in music composition from Oakland University in 2005. In 2004 he was awarded the Matilda Wilson award for "Outstanding Student in Composition." At Oakland his primary instrument was jazz guitar and, in addition to his classical compositions, he composed and performed in the big band, the jazz improv ensemble, and the jazz singers. He began teaching private guitar, piano, and composition lessons in 2002 and in 2006 began working as a substitute teacher for music theory, ear training, and piano classes at St. Clair Community College in Port Huron, Michigan. His work at Steppingstone began in the summer of 2009 with the "Music + Computers = Fun!" day camp.