Academic Staff
Deanna Colaianne
Deanna is our writer in residence. She fills in with students who come to polish their writing skills and polishes her own as she writes grants to benefit the Center’s Scholarship Fund. Deanna has years of experience with teaching English and development work at Virginia Tech. She is a VISTA Volunteer in her second year of service.
Deborah Conyers
Deborah’s specialty is working with dyslexic students. Having been trained in the Wilson Method of teaching dyslexic children, she has been very successful in helping our students become readers. Deborah brings a rich background in education to the Center.
Sheri Ann DeVault
Sheri is a pleasure to work with at the Center. She brings years of diagnosing and teaching remedial reading at the elementary and middle school levels. Her confidence, her years of experience, and her sunny personality combine to make her a valued tutor at the Center.
Kathy Ewing
Kathy comes to the Center with years of experience tutoring children at the Family Refuge Center. She brings
Barry Harel
Barry has lots of experience with working with younger students. She is an accomplished dancer who incorporates Mind Gym training, movement, and early intervention experience to make a real difference in the learning of our youngest students.
Duncan Hollar
Duncan retired in 2007 after 33 years as a ranger with the National Park Service, having worked in Great Smoky Mountains, Guilford Courthouse, Cuyahoga Valley, Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Everglades, Yosemite, and New River Gorge. Duncan is a full-time substitute teacher in Greenbrier County and tutors students after school. His specialties include reading, science, civics and history.
Karen Kelly
Karen came to us on the recommendation of Dr. Refsland, a renowned local math teacher at the college. Karen’s specialty is upper elementary and middle school math. Her students love working with her and her math manipulatives. She can teach any mid-math topics in a wide variety of ways. Go Karen!
Helen Levine
Helen comes to us from the Washington D.C. area where she worked at The Lab School of Washington with children with learning disabilities. She specializes in involving the children in their learning and many sophisticated projects have been shared due to her efforts. Helen is a true Master Teacher. She has just taken on the responsibilities as Chairperson for the Board of Directors. Her guidance is invaluable as she leads the Center into its new, larger personality.
Erma Jean McKinney
Erma Jean is an advocate extraordinaire for the learning needs of her students. She has been instrumental in helping her students get the help they need to be successful in today’s busy classrooms. She specializes in teaching lower and middle elementary students across the spectrum of the curriculum. Her ready smile and cheerful laugh bring sunshine to the Center.
Barry Pyne
Barry is one of our resident math specialists. Any math subject from Algebra to Calculus becomes a breeze when supported by Barry. Barry is also one of our SAT/ACT prep teachers. Barry has been responsible for higher test scores for many, many local students.
Mindy Smith
Mindy teaches a little bit of everything, but especially enjoys tutoring Spanish and helping students prepare for upcoming college-entrance exams, like the ACT and SAT.
Lorrie Sprague
Lorrie tutors several home-schooled and special needs students, focusing on science, social studies and geography while drawing on a 35-year career as a ranger with the National Park Service. Most of all, she loves tutoring Spanish with students of all ages! Hobbies include hiking/backpacking, cross-country skiing, canoeing and rail trail biking.
Bill Tilson
Bill is our jack-of-all-trades: he teaches, he can fix anything, and with “seventy one years of tear stains on each cheek” he is an easy-going guy. In an earlier life, he taught two-way radio so that the police could communicate with one another. Bill specializes in Algebra and Geometry at the Center.
Nancy Zobel
The Tutoring Center is Nancy’s retirement project – her way of making a difference in this world, one child at a time. She retired in 1998 from a long and varied career in education, and, after making sure that Greenbrier Episcopal School was open for business, started tutoring as a sideline. Ten years and many students later, Nancy loves tutoring and enjoys helping students become successful learners.