Staff Bios

All of our teachers are trained in the teaching methods of The Golden Education Template. The entire educational staff is certified in CPR and First Aid.

Donna Mikkelsen

Director, Teacher, President of Board of Directors, Creative Movement Teacher:

Donna Mikkelsen, Director, founded the Garden Road School in 2001, and has specialized in early childhood education since 1992. She has over a decade of training in the Golden Education Template method of education, including intensive hands-on training in Israel. Prior to that, she was certified as a Montessori teacher.

Before founding the Garden Road School, Donna worked in early childhood education for eight years, including working in various private schools in New York City. She attended Parsons School of Design in NYC and was a scholarship student with the Martha Graham Dance Company. She has received business training through the Academy for Entreprenuerial Excellence by Westchester Community College and the Business Council of Westchester.

Terese Giammarco

Elementary School Teacher, Squirrels (Age 2) Teacher, Storyteller:

Terese brings multiple areas of expertise to the Garden Road School and offers a unique approach to incorporating the arts into education. She has attended Columbia University's Teachers College, completing courses such as "A Pedagogy of Artistry for Teachers of Young Children." She has also completed the five step learning program, "Drawing/Writing and the New Literacy," and the Affect Based Learning Curriculum (ABLC) for teachers and therapists. She is currently training in H.A.N.D.L.E (Holistic Approach to Neuro-Development), in whcih she will soon be a certified screener for children and adults with learning and behavioral differences. Terese has over 20 years of experience in television and film, and she has also performed and recorded with the musical storytelling troupe Teatro Imperfecto.

Donna Sabia-Marino

Preschool Teaching Assistant:

Donna joins the Garden Road staff after four years of working at the Mohegan Colony Nursery School as Assistant to the Director. Prior to teaching, Donna was in banking. She realized she would much rather be involved in the life of a child after being a stay-at-home mom raising her four children. Donna was an employee of the Lakeland Central School District as well as a religious education teacher for ten years with the Church of the Holy Spirit. She has taught arts and crafts at her children’s school and was a costume coordinator for the Panas Players.

Donna attended the American Institute of Banking. She is a New York State Certified Teaching Assistant, New York State Certified in the identification and reporting of child abuse and maltreatment, as well as being certified in violence prevention and intervention. She is also is a nationally recognized Child Development Associate. In her spare time, Donna enjoys reading, volunteering in her children’s school, design, and writing short stories and poetry. She has been recognized locally for her poetry.

Susan Midlarsky

Elementary School Academics Teacher, Technology Coordinator:

Susan holds a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Creative Writing and an M.Ed. in Elementary Education. She joined the Garden Road School staff in August of 2007 after teaching and tutoring in both urban and private school settings. Prior to teaching, she worked ten years at MIT, most recently as a network manager in the Department of Architecture. She still uses her technology skills in education. Susan was one of the pioneers of National Novel Writing Month's Young Writers' Program, featured in a number of newspaper and magazine articles.

In addition to technology, Susan is involved in the arts. She has appeared on TV demonstrating both glassmaking and chainmaille-weaving. She has been a long-time supporter of the Garden Road school in both fundraising and webmaster capacities, and she is thrilled to be joining this unique school for a second year!

Elizabeth Nolf

Owls (Age 3) Teacher; Music Teacher:

After a career at IBM doing software strategy and marketing, Liz switched gears to become a stay-at-home mother. She holds a Bachelor's degree, and has attended ABA classes, workshops on Sensory Integration Dysfunction to learn how children who experience sensations differently can be helped in an educational setting, HANDLE workshops, and parent workshops with Edith Kimchi and Joanna Faber. She studied music throughout her schooling, plays guitar, flute and piano, and loves to sing. Prior to teaching at the Garden Road, she volunteered in her son's preschool to provide weekly music sessions for the children.

Audi Wilken

Kittens (Age 4) Teacher:

Audi joins the Garden Road staff from Copenhagen, Denmark, where she worked as a Special Education Assistant for two years in a Danish public school, teaching ages 6 to 8. Prior to this, she worked for six years as a music, art, and ethics teacher for ages 10 to 14. She has been the music director of a children’s choir and a youth choir, including individual voice coaching. She also led weekly musical playtime with toddlers and their families for five years.

Audi brings professional music experience to the school along with her teaching experience. She has worked as a well-known recording artist in Denmark for 25 years, appearing on Danish television and the Eurovision song contest. She holds a bachelor’s degree equivalent as an interpreter in Danish, English and German.

Sara Olivia Garcia

Education Consultant

Sara has been working in the field of education for the past thirty years: as a teacher in Elementary, Middle and High School, as a National Staff Developer for teachers, and as an Elected Public Official, having served on the Cambridge School Committee in Cambridge, MA. Currently, Sara is the Director of a Pilot Program under the sponsorship of the Casey Foundation, which includes the development of a Saturday Achievement Academy for Parents and their children at the Harriet Tubman Charter School in the South Bronx, New York. She serves as support consultant for three Edison Schools, Inc. in Minnesota, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania. Sara holds teaching certifications in Regular, Special Education and for Bilingual Education in Spanish.

Edith Kimchi

Education Consultant, Member of The Garden Road School’s Advisory Board

Edith led the founding of the first GET school internationally. She served as the principal of the GET school in Israel for seven years before becoming the international liason for budding GET schools around the globe. Edith has been instrumental in the forming up of the Garden Road since it began in 2001. She is currently the Head of the Education Department in the town of Qatzrin, Israel. Edith holds a Bachelors degree in Education and Social Sciences and is currently obtaining her Masters in Education and Curriculum Planning, both from the Open University, Israel.