Cameron Barnett began teaching at Falk in the 2016-2017 school year as Artist-in-Residence, working with grades K-8 on creative writing, reading, and special projects. However, his relationship to Falk begins in 1996 when he came as a 2nd grader, graduating from the 8th grade in 2003. His sister, Afton, graduated two years later, following in the footsteps of their mother, Charlene, a 70s Falk alumna. Cameron is a 2011 graduate of Duquesne University, and a 2016 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he received the 2011 O’Donnell Award for Excellence in Poetry and the 2013 Academy of American Poets Graduate Poetry Award, respectively. His debut collection of poems, The Drowning Boy’s Guide to Water, will be published by Autumn House Press in November of 2017. Starting in the ’17-’18 school year, Cameron will move full-time to the middle school level, teaching 6th grade social studies and 7th grade language arts, and will serve on the Falk Alumni Advisory Committee, the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and coach middle school cross-country. He believes deeply that people's words and stories (especially students') are artistic and valuable things, and that everyone's matters. In his spare time he enjoys reading, writing, running, and cheering on all Pittsburgh sports.

Cheryl Capezzuti joined the faculty at the Falk Laboratory School in 2009 after more than a decade working as an independent puppet maker and master teaching artist for many local arts organizations. Most notably she was an Artist-in-Residence, rostered through the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, through which she completed more than 50 residencies in schools and communities. At Falk she runs the visual arts studio for the older grades and collaborates with teachers at all grade levels and in all disciplines integrating the visual arts into the curriculum. Outside of Falk, Capezzuti is a sculptor and puppet maker with a rich studio practice. She is best known as the master puppet maker and Creative Director for the First Night Pittsburgh Parade, which features hundreds of giant puppets she has made through workshops all over the greater Pittsburgh region. In addition to making very large-scale works, she also produces smaller, gallery-sized theatrical works using puppets and exhibits sculptural work in both galleries and non-traditional spaces. Nationally her work has been featured on The Ellen Degeneres Show, Good Morning America, and NBC Nightly News.

Eileen Marie Coughlin began her teaching career when she entered the Professional Year program in Secondary Science Education at the University of Pittsburgh.  She completed her student teaching requirement at Falk during the 1996-1997 school year.   From there, she obtained a permanent substitute position as an 8th grade science teacher at Gateway Middle School.  In August, 1997, she was hired at Falk when her mentor, Dr. Cathy O’Farrell, moved to sunny Florida.  In 1998, she decided to go back to school to obtain her M.Ed. in Secondary Science Education. In addition to teaching science in the middle school, Eileen serves as chair of the Science Curriculum Committee.  She also acts as a committee member for the Falk Woods, and admissions.  She coordinates the annual school picture day, as well as the 8th grade Cedar Point trip planning and fundraising. In her spare time, Eileen enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids, taking kids to Irish dance lessons & competitions, Gaelic football, gymnastics, and baseball games.  She volunteers on Chatham University's Falk School of Sustainability's K-12 Advisory Group,  the adult team for her church youth group and the concessions committee for 14th Ward Baseball Association. 

Jeremiah Davis is joining Falk School this year as our Educator-in-Residence Diversity and Inclusion. Jeremiah, whom is originally from Toledo, OH, is a 2013 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. He holds a B.S. in business administration and marketing. He brings his extensive experience working youth in multiple capacities around Pittsburgh region. Most recently Mr. Davis worked through the Center for Urban Education here at the University of Pittsburgh as a Heinz Fellow. In his Heinz Fellow role he worked as a mentor, tutor, educator and social justice advocate for students the University Prep High School. Jeremiah also has experience as a teaching-artist through teaching poetry and hip-hop as a way to expose to students to broader social issues at the Art Greenhouse Program at Carnegie-Mellon University. Here at Falk, Mr. Davis will be part of the 6th-8th grade Social Justice teaching team, will work with middle school advisors to develop programming around diversity and inclusion topics for their advisory sessions, and will serve as a resource for teachers and students in all grades, K-8.

Diana Dimitrovski is one of the Kindergarten teachers on our Primary team. She is also the Primary Team Leader. She has been a part of the Falk School community for many years.  She began her time at Falk as a university student who worked in our Afterschool Program. From there she went on to complete her internship in the Kindergarten classroom. Shortly after completing her studies she joined the Primary team and has been teaching Kindergarten for 13 years now. She enjoys working with this age group for many reasons, but mostly because of the joy they bring to school with them each day. She is actively involved in the school in a variety of ways. She works closely with the admissions office giving prospective parents tours of our school as well as working with the Kindergarten admissions process. She is part of the Science Curriculum Committee, Aesthetics Committee and Social Committee. She is also actively involved in the International Association of Laboratory Schools (IALS) organization as she serves on the Endowment Board. Teaching is something that Diana is very passionate about. She enjoys working with her students in the classroom, working with pre-service graduate students and sharing her knowledge when presenting to teachers at various conferences and workshops. 

Deanna has over 32 years of nursing experience. She was an assistant head nurse and worked in many areas of patient care at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh. For the last 22 years, she has worked as a school nurse in both the public and private school settings. Deanna also has extensive emergency management training and experience and has created the emergency operations plan for a local private school and a public school district. She holds multiple FEMA and other emergency response training certifications. She is a certified CPR instructor and has trained the entire faculty and staff at Falk School in CPR, AED use, and choking response for adults, children, and infants. 

Deanna has been married to her high school sweetheart, Jack, for 32 years! She has two grown daughters, Becky – who is a catering marketing director and sales consultant - and Katie - who is a physician assistant and is working with the Heart and Vascular Institute at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital.

Deanna's favorite times are with her family, friends, and her Pomeranian puppy Chloe! 

“Nurses dispense comfort, compassion, and caring without even a prescription." - Val Saintsbury

Kevin Goodwin has worked at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh for the past several years in the Education/Learning and Research Department . He has worked in both traditional classroom settings as well as informal learning environments. Kevin has a Master’s in Early Childhood Education from Carlow University, a Bachelor's in Political Science from St. Bonaventure University, and is a member of the Harvard based Agency by Design research group located here in Pittsburgh. Kevin loves teaching children and considers himself a life-long learner.  He also loves dinosaurs and sloths.

Laura Hunt has a Masters of Arts and Teaching degree in K-12 Physical Education from the University of Pittsburgh.  Ms. Hunt has been teaching at Falk since 1997. Currently, she teaches Kindergarten through fifth grade and coordinates the Middle School sports programs.

Danya Lang teaching career began in NYC as a special education teacher for 5 years in grades kindergarten to 4th grade. She received her Master’s in Childhood Education and Special Education from Bank Street College of Education. Prior to teaching, she worked as a photo editor and photographer for Men's Journal Magazine. As a teacher, Danya is passionate about bringing art and read alouds into the classroom and helping her students find their own path to learning. She enjoys delicious food, traveling, taking photographs, and dancing to funk music.

Jackie Metcalf began her career at Falk School as the Director of the After School program and substitute teacher in 1998. She spent three years in this capacity and also served as a resource teacher to the primary and middle school teams. In 2001 she became a 4th/5th grade classroom teacher. She partners with Ms. Katie Sukenik. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her two active children, her husband and their dog.

After living in both Washington, DC and Maine, Joanna Newlin returned to her hometown of Pittsburgh to raise her family.  She spent the first part of her career as an elementary Montessori teacher in both Pittsburgh and Maine.  The majority of that time was spent teaching all subjects in mixed-age classrooms with students in fourth-through-sixth grade.  While her own children were young, Joanna spent two years working from home as a Behavioral Specialist Consultant for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their families. In 2012, she moved to Falk as a Learning Specialist working primarily with the Middle School team.  Joanna took on the additional role of Coordinator of Student Services beginning in 2016.  Upon coming to Falk, she found herself in the ideal place to combine her passions around inquiry-based learning, inclusive practices, and lifelong learning.  Joanna lives in Glenshaw where she spends the majority of her free time with her husband, two boys, and two dogs.

Megan earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Xavier University. She then spent time counseling children living at group homes. After a couple of years of working in group homes, she became a therapeutic support staff, working with young children with autism.  Megan began her teaching career at Falk School after she pursued her Masters Degree in Teaching at the University of Pittsburgh.  She first started working at Falk’s after school program as the assistant director while subbing in the building and then spent a year co-teaching in kindergarten.  After that year in kindergarten, Megan made her move to one of the first and second grade classrooms and has been there since. During her time at Falk, Megan has been a team leader for the primary team for several years and has most recently become actively involved in SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity). Megan loves spending time with her husband and triplets, reading, and keeping current with social justice education.

Mr. Outerbridge has worked as a classroom teacher and mid-level administrator in both public and independent schools, and his experiences have convinced him that there are few learning experiences more powerful and engaging than discovering how something works, recognizing a pattern, or understanding a cause-and-effect relationship.  When he was a social studies teacher, Mr. Outerbridge had students examine varying accounts of Columbus’s return visit to Hispaniola, where he discovered that Fort La Navidad had been abandoned and most the men killed.  Students had to judge which account was most plausible and support their arguments with evidence and reasoning.  As a librarian, Mr. Outerbridge feels that a big part of his job is to help students use similar critical thinking skills to sort through today’s massive volume of information in order to locate and evaluate what is most reliable and pertinent to their coursework and personal interests.  The other big part of the job is to foster in students a love and appreciation for reading.

Joanne began her teaching in the Greater Johnstown Public School system.  After teaching for 3 and a half years (K. 1st, 2nd, 4-6 Science & Social Studies), she took a break to go to NYC.  Working as a secretary by day and singing at night, she soon got bored and came back to teaching.  Jo went back to school in a Master/Doctoral program as a Teaching Fellow, earning a secondary English certificate along with a Master of Arts in Language Communications. She spent a year in London at City University studying contemporary English literature and formally observing in a variety of schools to see how the English taught English. Upon her return, she taught for two years at McEwan Open School (now Kentucky Avenue School), creating a writing program for the elementary grades.  In 1987 she joined Falk in the Middle School, also with the charge to redevelop the Reading/Language Arts program.  After two years, she transferred to the Intermediate Team teaching 4th & 5th grade Reading, Language arts and Social Studies. During this time she worked with Bill Pelham from Western Psych on programs to mainstream and adapt teaching methods for kids with ADD and other learning disabilities.   In addition to teaching, Joanne and her team developed and recorded the reading, writing, and social studies curriculums for the Intermediate. To continue her own professional growth, Joanne went back to school in the English/Language Arts PhD program.  She learned a lot and discovered that her teaching and instincts were on the right track.  Shortly after beginning her dissertation, she decided she wanted to spend more time with her third daughter (who was 5 years old at the time) rather than at the library. She continues active research in the classroom, looking for best practices in teaching students to write and to learn how they learn. Joanne has presented at many local, state, regional, and national conferences.  She is a member of various organizations, mostly affiliated with Language Arts.  She teaches a university class in the evenings that centers on active learning and writing as a tool to learn as well as for publishing, and she was nominated for the Disney Teaching Award.  She gives voice lessons after school, and she assists with choreography for the Middle School musical.  She enjoys spending time with her daughters.  And she loves to write with her students. 

Jill Sarada came to Falk School as an intern to start the 1993-1994 school year, at the end of her internship she was asked to remain with us as the computer teacher. Accepting the challenge she excelled and after a few years began teaching kindergarten, which is the position she holds currently. She belongs to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the International Association of Laboratory & University Affiliated Schools (NALS). Jill loves sharing her life with her two kids, husband, and pets. She enjoys going camping, fishing, and reading.

Joe Scheller has been teaching music since 2009. He has instructed students at the Avon Grove Charter School, Bethlehem Area School District and Allentown School District, where he has fulfilled the position of Director for band, orchestra, and vocal ensembles. Mr. Scheller has also been involved in many musical productions as both a musician and music director. Some of these productions include: “The Drowsy Chaperone”, “The Wiz”, “Zombie Prom”, “Once Upon a Mattress”, “Starmites”, and “Changing Minds”. He currently performs throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware in various genres of Jazz, Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Classical, and Blues. In October of 2014, he released an album entitled “Remembering the Atlas”, which is available on iTunes. He will be finishing his Masters in Music Education (Music Technology) at West Chester University in May 2016 and is a member of (PMEA) Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (NAfME) National Association for Music Education and (TI:ME) Technology Integration for Music Education. 

Jeff Suzik brings more than twenty years of teaching and educational administrative experience to his role as Director of the Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School, including a recent post as Head of School at Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota, a five-year tenure as Assistant Head of School/Chief Academic Officer at Mary Institute & St. Louis Country Day School in St. Louis, Missouri, and nearly a decade at Pittsburgh’s own Shady Side Academy as teacher, chair of the history department, director of the residential life program, and dean of students.  Early on in his career, Suzik taught English as a Second Language in immediate post-communist Poland and spent one year as lead teacher in a four and five-year-old preschool classroom in Madison, Wisconsin.  His academic speciality is the history of 20th-century youth and adolescence, with a particular emphasis on the education, training, and transition into adulthood of working-class teenaged boys during the Great Depression.  In his free time, Suzik enjoys cooking, hiking, architecture, spin classes, supporting Pittsburgh sports teams, and travel.

Timothy Wagner was born and raised in California. Upon completing high school he moved to Tucson, AZ where he went to the University of Arizona. For his undergraduate he majored in Sociology, minored in History, and received a post-baccalaureate in Teaching K-8. Tim received his M.Ed. in Educational Technology in 2006. In December of 2006, Tim moved to Pittsburgh with his wife and two children. Tim currently holds certifications in mid level science, social studies, and mathematics and also holds a certificate in elementary education. Tim has a wide range of teaching experience in all academic levels and subjects. He has taught 5th grade, middle school science and math, and k-8 technology. Tim has worked at Falk School since 2014  and enjoys the collaborative nature of his job, Falk’s students, parents, faculty, administration, and staff.


During Tim’s free time, he enjoys being outside. Some of the activities he relishes are gardening, coaching soccer, karate, camping, and anything else that involves being with his family. He looks forward to Friday movie nights with his family, for which they usually make Chinese food or homemade pizza to go with the movie.

Carrie Wittig began her teaching career at Falk as an intern in Middle School English Language Arts under Greg Wittig. She then taught first and second grade for one year in Primary at Falk before returning to Middle School to teach 6th and 7th grade. Carrie's goal as a teacher is to enable students to engage in and transform their worlds through critical and shared inquiry of texts, skills, and ideas. By immersing students in authentic literacy, she hopes to give them the tools to make meaning, construct their identities, and take part in their communities. Before becoming a teacher, Carrie worked for six years as a copy editor and communications coordinator at a local non-profit. Carrie is on the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater (PICT) Education Board and a volunteer for Girls Rock! Pittsburgh. She likes to read, go camping and hiking, and visit historical places.

I am interested in emergent curriculum and contested ideas. I think the biggest obligation we have as educators is to examine ourselves and our practice.