Santa Barbara Faculty
Lia Grippo
Wild Roots Founder / Director
Born in Riga, Latvia, Lia Grippo spent many of her earliest years foraging and fishing the woodlands with her family. Her early relationship with Nature has remained a constant thread in her life. At an early age, Lia was drawn towards working with young children and has been an early childhood educator since 1989. In 1996 Lia founded her first preschool, Seedlings, and in 1998 she opened Wild Roots Forest School, a preschool and kindergarten roofed by the sky and carpeted with the living woodland floor. Lia is a storyteller, naturalist, herbalist, parent educator, mentor and education consultant. Using the arts of storytelling, song, poetry, movement, and play, Lia is dedicated to helping children and families develop their powers of imagination, and through these powers discover their relationship with all of life. Lia has brought knowledge, compassion, reverence, and magic to her community not only through Wild Roots Forest School, but also through workshops, seminars and mentoring for adults. Having trained and mentored dozens of early childhood educators through her years, she is excited to have co-founded Academy of Forest Kindergarten Teachers, which offers formal training for forest kindergarten teachers. Lia's commitment to excellence sets a high bar in this fledgling field in North America. Lia is the grateful mother of two tree climbing sons and wife of an exquisite musician.
Jenn Sepulveda
Associate Program Director
Kindergarten Lead Teacher
Jenn has a deep love of and appreciation for nature and all its wonder-filled gifts. She grew up in South Lake Tahoe exploring fresh water lakes and streams, climbing granite boulders and mountains and has always sought refuge in the natural world. She graduated from UC Davis with an emphasis on Spanish language and literature, completed graduate work in Spain through New York University, and obtained her Bilingual Teaching Credential through New College of CA in San Francisco. Her interest in and love of Spanish language and cultures began at an early age and led her to pursue living and studying abroad in Mexico and in Spain. She has been a bilingual educator here in Santa Barbara since 2008 (at Cesar Chavez Charter School, Orca School and Wild Roots), and a mentor for Wilderness Youth Project since 2012 . In 2018, Jenn completed level 3 training with the Academy of Forest Kindergarten Teachers. She is daily mentored by her own spirited son, who brought her out of the classroom and into the wilds. With her feet on the earth roaming barefoot on the land, singing songs and playing games with the wee ones, she is grateful to experience curiosity alive, and to share in the magic that is everywhere. She loves working with her hands, tending the land, and all opportunities to share and offer gratitude. She is also deeply committed to weaving a vibrant tapestry of sustainable communities.
Fionna Krijger
Mixed Age Preschool Lead Teacher
Born and raised in Southern California, Fionna developed an early affinity for the outdoors. Her journey into nature was sparked at the age of 7, when her father's boat purchase led to countless days maintaining the boat, living aboard during summers, and unforgettable adventures to Catalina Island. These treasured experiences ignited a lifelong passion to share the magic of the natural world with others, particularly the younger generation. This aspiration led her to pursue a degree in Biological Anthropology, with a minor in Science and Mathematics Education, from UC Santa Barbara. With a heart set on cultivating deep connections between children and their environment, Fionna has spent several years leading and guiding youth in the vibrant parks surrounding Santa Barbara. She is committed to providing a safe and nurturing space for children to explore the wonders of play amongst the trees and tall grasses. In her spare time, you might find her dancing, backpacking, solo traveling, rock climbing, crafting, cultivating community, or whipping up something in the kitchen.
Mixed Age Preschool Lead Teacher
Born and raised in Southern California, Fionna developed an early affinity for the outdoors. Her journey into nature was sparked at the age of 7, when her father's boat purchase led to countless days maintaining the boat, living aboard during summers, and unforgettable adventures to Catalina Island. These treasured experiences ignited a lifelong passion to share the magic of the natural world with others, particularly the younger generation. This aspiration led her to pursue a degree in Biological Anthropology, with a minor in Science and Mathematics Education, from UC Santa Barbara. With a heart set on cultivating deep connections between children and their environment, Fionna has spent several years leading and guiding youth in the vibrant parks surrounding Santa Barbara. She is committed to providing a safe and nurturing space for children to explore the wonders of play amongst the trees and tall grasses. In her spare time, you might find her dancing, backpacking, solo traveling, rock climbing, crafting, cultivating community, or whipping up something in the kitchen.
Laura Sanchez
Mixed Age Preschool Lead Teacher
Laura was born and raised in Los Angeles. Most of their summers growing up were spent volunteering to help teachers and students at their childhood elementary school. Coming from a family of teachers, Laura was naturally drawn to the field of education and considers themselves a life-long student of the universe. After completing a BA in Child Development and Family Studies at CSU, Long Beach, they navigated to Goleta to work for San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop, a cooperative preschool. In the summer of 2018, Laura volunteered for Wilderness Youth Project and trained with the Academy of Forest Kindergarten Teachers. Laura experienced the magic of working with children outdoors at Aventuras, a language-immersion forest preschool in Los Angeles. With an open heart, Laura fosters a love of teaching and learning as a preschool teacher with Wild Roots.
Alex Baghdaian
Mixed Age Preschool Assistant Teacher
Alex was born and raised in Southern California, and graduated from the University of San Diego with a Bachelors in Sociology and Environmental Science. Her fondest memories from childhood are exploring her neighborhood with her siblings, catching insects, and beach days. Alex’s curiosity for the natural world has bloomed into a passion and love, specifically through conservation and protection which she pursued in her studies at USD. She has always been drawn to working with children in a setting that encourages learning with and about the natural world. Through her previous experience working with autistic children, Alex saw the benefits of incorporating time outdoors and the importance of curating a love for nature and animals from a young age. Alex is excited to be a part of the Wild Roots community!
Courtney Narine
Kindergarten Assistant Teacher
As a young girl, Courtney and her parents moved from SoCal to Switzerland, where her father had grown up. She fondly recalls wandering in dusky fairytale forests with her grandmother, enjoying the deliciously fragrant air and towering evergreens. Two years later, her family returned to Southern California where Courtney spent her youth in the 1970’s; graduated from Santa Monica HS and then UCLA in the ‘80's; and spent time in the ‘90’s traveling, working in NYC, and starting a family. In 2004, she and her young family moved to Santa Barbara, where Courtney began working at Santa Barbara Unified School District, first as a library technician and later as an Elementary Art educator. A wife, mother of two grown sons, and mama to a sweet kitty, Courtney is also an avid reader, fermented food curator, soap maker and knitter. She is happiest in nature or tending the plants in her own backyard. Courtney feels honored to spend time with our amazing, adventurous forest schoolers at Wild Roots!
Kindergarten Assistant Teacher
As a young girl, Courtney and her parents moved from SoCal to Switzerland, where her father had grown up. She fondly recalls wandering in dusky fairytale forests with her grandmother, enjoying the deliciously fragrant air and towering evergreens. Two years later, her family returned to Southern California where Courtney spent her youth in the 1970’s; graduated from Santa Monica HS and then UCLA in the ‘80's; and spent time in the ‘90’s traveling, working in NYC, and starting a family. In 2004, she and her young family moved to Santa Barbara, where Courtney began working at Santa Barbara Unified School District, first as a library technician and later as an Elementary Art educator. A wife, mother of two grown sons, and mama to a sweet kitty, Courtney is also an avid reader, fermented food curator, soap maker and knitter. She is happiest in nature or tending the plants in her own backyard. Courtney feels honored to spend time with our amazing, adventurous forest schoolers at Wild Roots!
Mo Willis
Mixed Age Preschool Assistant Teacher
Deeply guided by the land, Mo is excited to be apart of the magic cultivated in Wild Roots. Mo was born and raised in between Northern California and Ireland. Growing up partly in Ireland, Mo found the solace and profound joy of the country fields, sea and forests shaped her as child. Mo is a self-taught painter and has been practicing for the last 8 years. Her work focuses on the intelligence of the land and our mythopoetic, intrinsic relationship to place. Her call with art is to bring awareness to the importance of nourishing lifeways, protecting ecosystems and deepening communities. Alongside painting, Mo has deepened her relationship with the land from land-based crafting, farming and herbalism. Mo feels it is imperative for our youth to have a foundation of connection to the land. She is deeply inspired by the imagination and intelligence of children. Find her barefoot amongst the mountains and rivers, continuing to stay curious and open to the magic of the land.