Headwaters is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors who meet monthly to discuss policy, strategy, finances and management issues.

2008-09 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
(click on the link for the member’s bio)

Karen Alexander (Vice Chair)
Delma Bagley
Linda Brosgol
Steve Carroll (Treasurer)
Dave Gillis (Chair)
Phyllis Holt (Secretary)
Anne Kerr
Bette Mahoney
Jennifer Manly
Doug Schiffman
Kelly Settle
Philip Strange
Amy Saxton Wayland
Helen Williams (Chair Emeritus)

School Board Representative: Meredith Gorfein
School Administration Representative: Dr. Robert Chappell
Executive Director: Cole Johnson

Karen Alexander (Secretary) (Flint Hill, VA), a Special Education teacher at Rappahannock County High School (RCHS), holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland and a Masters in Special Education from Old Dominion University. She was a local Girl Scout leader for fourteen years, actively involved in the service aspect of the program, and a Sunday School Teacher at Trinity Episcopal Church. She participated in the Education Leadership and Ethics program at Exeter College. She has two daughters: Summer, a 2000 graduate of RCHS and 2004 Virginia Commonwealth University grad, and Kori, a 2003 RCHS graduate who currently attends VCU.

Delma Bagley (Sperryville), a native Rhode Islander, has lived in Virginia for many years. Following retirement, she had the privilege of moving to Rappahannock County in August of 2003. Long a believer in the transformative value of education & access to quality health care, she is a registered nurse with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Education and a Master’s Degree in Industrial Relations from George Washington University. Career opportunities allowed her both to teach adult education and to maintain a focus on healthcare issues over the years. She also served as a substitute teacher for Fairfax County Public Schools. Delma and her husband Jack (who still commutes!) share a common objective, which is to make a difference in someone’s life. Together, they believe that fostering educational opportunities through Headwaters can bring about change and make that difference.

Linda Brosgol (bio coming soon)

Steve Carroll (Sperryville, VA) moved to Rappahannock from Loudon County in 1999 after he retired from the Environmental and Natural Resource Division of the Department of Justice. Steve was a trial attorney and later the Assistant Section Chief in the Indian Resource Section, where he litigated on behalf of Indian tribes. He and his wife, Beth, live in Slate Mills in a house that incorporates a one-room schoolhouse dating back to the early 1890s. Steve has been a Starfish Mentor since 2002.

Dave Gillis (Washington, VA) has been teaching math at RCHS for six years, after a 20-year career as a System Engineer with IBM, The Thomson Corporation, and as an independent consultant. A resident of Rappahannock County since 1996, Dave is the father of three graduates of RCHS and one current student at RCES. Dave’s passion is creating “Eureka Moments” in all levels of math learning, and enabling future leaders to achieve their full potential.

Phyllis Holt (Sperryville) taught fifth and sixth grades at Garrett Park Elementary School in Montgomery County, MD, and also at schools in Virginia and North Carolina, until her retirement in 2003. She also taught teacher training courses at Warren Wilson College. She enjoyed teaching all subjects: reading, writing, social studies, and science. Phyllis carried special responsibility for mathematics education at her school, teaching top-level math students and participating in local and national mathematics and computer education meetings. She was asked to lead a tessellation workshop for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ annual meeting in San Francisco in 1999. She lived in Sierra Leone and Malaysia (two years each) with her husband and two sons, and this experience helped her introduce her American students to the cultures of Africa and Asia. While in the Peace Corps in Malaysia, she taught English in a Malay-medium public school for girls. She continues to assist with testing at Garrett Park Elementary School.

Anne Kerr (Castleton, VA) is a product of many types and styles of educational systems, including Virginia and New York state school systems, boarding school, American Overseas schools, British schools, and Missionary schools. She holds a BA in History from University of Virginia, as well as both a Teaching Certificate in Secondary Schools and a Masters in Economics from George Mason University. Ann’s varied career includes teaching students at all levels from the age of 2 years to college. She has over 20 years in Early Childhood Education teaching and administering a preschool of 95 children. Ann and her husband Tim have lived in Rappahannock County for over 20 years. They have two sons, both of whom attended Rappahannock County Public Schools.

Bette Mahoney (Washington, VA) has now lived in her home in Rappahannock County longer than she has lived any where else. Born in New York City, she was educated in public schools and at The City College of New York. She did graduate work in economics and statistics at the University of Chicago. Much of her professional work for the Federal government focused on the design and analysis of large government surveys and studies. She continues to have an interest in the evaluation and modeling of program costs and benefits. Most recently, she has produced five plays for Ki Theatre and served on the boards of the Starfish Mentoring Program, the Next Step Program, and the Rappahannock Unit of the American Cancer Society. Bette is married and has two children, one of whom graduated from Rappahannock County High School.

Jennifer Manly (Huntly, VA) is a retiree from the World Bank where for 23 years she worked in the human resources area with main focus on HR as applied globally to the many overseas offices. Since taking early retirement from the Bank in 1998, she has designed and delivered training programs for the Bank in the field of HR. She has a BA in Management, an MA in Human Resources Development, and an MEd in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Jennifer has had connections with Rappahannock County since 1981 and been a full-time resident since 2005. She volunteers at the Rappahannock Free Health Clinic and serves on the Board of the Rappahannock Recreational Facility Authority. She has five step daughters, eleven step grand-children, and five step great-grand-children.

Doug Schiffman (Sperryville, VA) and his wife bought a house and twenty five beautiful acres of land in Rappahannock County back in 1985. In 1999, they donated the house to Headwaters, and built the house of their dreams, a pink stucco (the “pink house”) Italianate county house. Doug has been involved in public education for many years in many roles. Doug has built computer labs, been the PTA treasurer and president, served on principal interview panels, published (with his wife’s help) the middle school PTA newsletter and participated in a corporate review of administrative functions. For the past three years, he has been the Montgomery County Public School’s “businessman-in-residence,” a consulting position that has allowed him to work in many areas of public education. Doug has also served on numerous non-profit boards, and owned and operated several small companies.

Kelly Settle (bio coming soon)

Philip Strange (Viewtown, VA) is a former art teacher and has taught children in Kindergarten through high school. His last teaching job was that of department chairman at Woodberry Forest School in Madison County, Virginia. His two children Lily and Zander, while both educated in private schools, have recently graduated from public institutions here in Virginia: James Madison University, where Lily holds a Masters in Special Education, and the University of Virginia, where Zander received his undergraduate degree. Philip has served on the board of the Highland School and the Rappahannock Free Clinic, is past president of the Castleton Fire and Rescue Squad, and has been the Senior and Junior Warden at Trinity Episcopal Church where he is still an active member. He is married to the former Merrill Parrish, a Rappahannock native, and they live on the farm in Viewtown where Merrill was raised. Philip is the broker/owner of Strange and Company Realtors and enjoys spending time in his wood shop. Philip graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and attended graduate school at the University of Virginia.

Amy Saxton Wayland (Sperryville, VA) has been a teacher for the past fifteen years. All but one of the years she has taught at Rappahannock County Elementary School. Amy was selected to attend the Seventeenth Educational Leadership and Ethics Conference at Exeter College at the University of Oxford in England several years ago by a committee of her peers. Amy served on the District Leadership Team representing the teachers of the elementary school and was the team leader of grades four and five for many years. She has also been active on a variety of different committees during her teaching career. Amy resides on a farm in Sperryville with her husband, Billy, and step-daughter, Tiffany.

Helen Williams (Chair) (Castleton, VA) has, up until 2003, been a wife, mother, math teacher, school administrator, farmer and then superintendent for the Rappahannock County Public Schools. Now Helen is a wife, mother, farmer and board member of various community undertakings – notably Lord Fairfax Community College, the Rappahannock Rapidan Community Services Board, and the Piedmont United Way as well as Headwaters. Children and education are her passions.