Our Wonderful Staff
Lead Montessori MECE Teacher & Principal - Ms. Elisha Lubliner
Ms. Elisha Lubliner graduated (Summa Cum Laude) from Northwest Christian College in 2005. She has a B.A. in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, an Oregon Teaching License and ESOL endorsement (English to Speakers of Other Languages). She began teaching at Agia Sophia Academy in 2006. Her first year here was spent teaching 2nd-4th grade and becoming familiar with ASA's classical curriculum. Towards the end of 2007, Elisha became involved in updating the preschool program and used her previous Montessori experience to recommend a Montessori program for preschool and kindergarten at Agia Sophia Academy. Following a full summer training program in Boston from the American Montessori Society, she opened and was the lead teacher for the school's MECE classroom. Elisha greatly enjoyed working with the 3-6 year old students and was constantly amused by their witty and wise sayings. This year, she is delighted to be able further utilize her love for Orthodox education in her dual roles as teacher and principal. Ms. Lubliner is excited to collaborate with the students, families and staff of Agia Sophia Academy to build a strong Christian educational environment in which the child is able to grow and thrive spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally.
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Montessori Co-Teacher - Ms. Rusudan Miminoshvili
Ms. Rusudan Miminoshvili was born in Poti, Rep of Georgia which is situated on the eastern coast of the Black Sea at the mouth of the River Rioni. She received a college degree from Poti Musical College in 1976 in choir conducting and then pursued further education by graduating from Harkov University of Arts and Culture in 1985 with degree in Academic Choir Conducting. She has worked with children ages five and up ever since. In 2004, Ms. Rusudan became a Montessori Teacher's Assistant in the Primary Classroom, then was moved to Lead Teacher in the Toddler Classroom, where she spent a year and a half prior to joining ASA. She is pleased to be here, in a place where the child's development is addressed through mind, body and spirit in an Orthodox way.
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Montessori Co-Teacher - Mrs. Padma Aisola
Mrs. Padma Aisola was born and brought up in India, living mostly in Calcutta with her parents. She studied in Madras as well, when her dad was posted there, finally receiving her Bachelors in Economics. She got married in 1987 and joined her husband in early 1989 in Phoenix, AZ. She has two girls and worked in their Montessori school in Phoenix from 1998 to 2006.
Mrs. Padma received her Montessori Primary certification from Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and trainer Dr. Montanaro from San Diego. In 2001, she completed the Montessori Infant-Toddler training as well. While in Portland, Mrs. Padma spent a couple years subbing in Beaverton Montessori School, Providence, and Agia Sophia Academy. In January 2010, she joined our Primary Classroom at full-time and greatly enjoys it. She especially loves teaching cursive handwriting, further developing the language portion of our curriculum and reading poetry with the children.
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Elementary Teacher - Mr. Edward Hillhouse
Mr. Edward Hillhouse, was born in Wisconsin, then soon traveled to Virginia and ended up in 13 different schools from San Diego to Alaska, as a Navy brat. These enriching experiences helped make him a better teacher, which he had a vision of doing at the age of 14. After seven years teaching third grade in Riverside, California, Ed moved to the Santa Cruz area where he worked in the cleaning, landscaping, and hardwood floors businesses before helping to start an Orthodox school. He taught grades five through eight in his parish school for 16 years before moving to the Portland area where he is in his third year as a teacher at Agia Sophia Academy, a position he feels privileged to fulfill. Ed and his wife have three sons and are enjoying being grandparents.
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Music & PE Teacher - Mrs. Brigid Powell
Our Music & PE Instructor, Brigid Kathleen Powell, is thrilled to be teaching at Agia Sophia Academy. Her love for the Orthodox Church, for music and a healthy physical self fuels her passion to educate all children in our rich and exquisite tradition.
Growing up, Mrs. Powell's family taught strong religious and moral beliefs, and encouraged expression of self through all the arts and athleticism. It was through the powerful influences of her family as well as some very fine teachers/coaches/voice teachers/spiritual fathers that Mrs. Powell discovered the joy of sharing her knowledge of music and athletics through teaching. It is only logical that she earned her Bachelor of Music with emphases in Conducting, Vocal Pedagogy and Music Education from Western Washington University.
She has taught music in numerous Private and Public schools and Sunday Schools ranging in ages pre-school through university level. In addition, she continues to maintain a private singing and conducting studio. She has worked with many Orthodox Conductors and Choirs in various jurisdictions as a guest conductor and clinician. She as also served as the Youth Music Specialist for the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco Church Music Federation for whom she organized, developed curriculum and taught Church Music Institutes and at the Conductor Training Academy.
A lifetime filled with creative and athletic activities caused Mrs. Powell to share her joy with her children by enrolling them in a summer session of Anne Green Gilbert's BrainDance' class for ages 18 months -3 years. Since then, she has taken 4 courses on Teaching the BrainDance' for her own edification. Who knew it would lead to the great opportunity to share the bounty with the children and families at ASA?
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Greek Teacher - Ms. Apostolia (Lia) Galani
Ms. Galani moved to Portland from Athens, Greece to teach modern Greek here at ASA and also the Hellenic community. She graduated from Athens University with specialization in teaching people with learning difficulties, the deaf, and hard of hearing; and from Harokopion University, Department of Geography.
Her previous experience includes: teaching in public and private schools, writing geography textbooks, story books, activities books for Greek language, creative writing and mathematics. For more than ten years she have been working in Pedagogical Institute of Greece as a national curriculum developer for geography and earth sciences and as a member of the P.I. committee for the evaluation of Geographical maps.
She is a partner of "Talent Information Systems" regarding matters of the application of Geographical software and interactive maps in education. At this time she is doing her PhD thesis on "Approaches to teaching Dynamic Geographical Phenomena" and is writing a Geology-geography textbook for the 1st grade of Junior High School.
Ms. Galani has visited the USA many times in the past, but it is her first time on West Coast. Although she missed the shinny days of Greece and her family & friends, she is enjoying the rainbows, the clouds, new friends, new colleagues, and the different tastes, smells and scenic parts of Oregon.
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Latin Teacher - Ms. Christiana Dorrance
Ms. Christiana Dorrance was born to a family of linguists, beginning with her great-grandfather who, after being fluent in both English and Greek, taught himself Spanish and French at the age of ninety. Christiana first fell in love with Latin in Magistra Mathison's ninth grade Latin 1 class. She devoted her high school years to Latin, becoming a gold-medalist in the National Latin Exam, a prestigious Latin exam taken by students in over thirty countries, her sophomore year. She has worked extensively with children in a variety of settings: teaching Sunday School, working at summer camps, and nannying. She also enjoys, among other things, playing the piano, singing, reading, and spending time with her family. She is excited to be part of the ASA community.
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Art Teacher - Mrs. Magdalena Perussi
Mrs. Magdalena Perussi was born in Pitesti, Romania. She has been surrounded by art since her childhood. Her father is an iconographer and painter, and he helped develop her artistic inclinations. In 1998 she finished her degree in painting at the University of Fine Arts in Bucharest. That same year, she came to the United States and got married. Over the years Mrs. Perussi has painted icons, worked on religious murals for the two Romanian Orthodox churches in Portland, and created her own paintings. She is happy, and feels privileged to teach art to the students at Agia Sophia Academy where her son attends school.
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School Secretary - Mrs. Euphrosyne McKenzie
Mrs. Euphrosyne McKenzie was born and raised in Seward, Alaska. While attending college, she met her husband who introduced her to the Orthodox Church. She became a stay-at-home mom and in 1999 converted to the faith. In 2002, she moved with her family to beautiful Oregon. After beginning a homeschooling program for her son, she was excited to hear talk of an Orthodox school opening and jumped at the opportunity to enroll him that first year. Agia Sophia Academy (ASA) was a true blessing; her son soared academically. Mrs. McKenzie began administrating ASA's website and helped publish the school newsletters, later taking on more and more secretarial duties as the school grew. As her daughters reached enrollment age, they too loved attending ASA, and this fueled Mrs. McKenzie's desire to be continuously involved in this wonderful ministry. In 2008, she officially became a member of ASA's staff and loves every minute of it.
