Volunteer Opportunities

Current Volunteer Needs

Here are the current needs:

Upcoming Volunteer Needs

We will need help with a few projects this summer at the school. We are looking for someone with a backhoe, and will need drainpipe and gravel to install a drain in front of the building. We will need help finishing painting the building, refinishing our deck and ramp and painting posts in the backyard. We would also love some help cleaning up and replanting flowers in our planters out front. Volunteering during the summer months is a really enjoyable way to spend some time with the other parents, working together to make the school an even better place for your children!

Board Members

Sally A. Buchanan

Sally A. Buchanan most recently taught preservation of cultural resources at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to that she was head of conservation at the Stanford University Libraries and taught at U.C. Berkeley. Some of her most memorable experiences have been working for UNESCO’s Memory of the World Project teaching concerned professionals in developing countries how to prevent or recover from disasters in their cultural collections. She has found Montessori Schools all over the world.  Sally is married to Bruce Buchanan and has two sons and four grandchildren.

Stacey Lancaster

Stacey Lancaster is an enthusiastic Montessori parent. Stacey and her family moved to Orcas Island from Brooklyn, NY in 2003. For ten years, Stacey owned and ran a faux painting company in Toronto while also making and showing video art. She has participated in shows in the US, Canada and Europe and has enjoyed Board participation in the artist-run culture in Toronto. Stacey holds undergraduate degrees in English Literature and Fine Art. She returned to school to complete her Masters of Fine Art at York Universtiy. Here on Orcas, Stacey and her husband are raising their young daughter, growing vegetables and developing their family business, Navigator Stove Works. (photo by daughter August, current Orcas Montssori student)

Alyson Stephens

Alyson moved to Orcas from Friday Harbor in 2002 when she married Andrew Stephens.  Andrew now owns and runs Orcas Island Physical Therapy, and Alyson works there part time as a physical therapist.  After Friday Harbor High School and before moving to Orcas, Alyson graduated from University of Puget Sound, and then the physical therapy program at Columbia University.  She worked for several years, mostly in Seattle, before returning to the islands.  The mother of two young boys, Will and Joe, when she’s not putting away toys or doing laundry she’s usually walking, baking or knitting.  She is grateful to be back in the San Juans, raising the boys with help from Andrew’s parents, just down the road, and her own parents, still on San Juan Island.

Joe Thoron

Joe Thoron has two kids who attended Orcas Montessori School. He’s a strong believer in the importance of the third year, having seen how his kids blossomed in their final stretch at the school. Joe has lived on Orcas since 2001. By day (and late at night) he works as a writer, marketing strategist and Internet consultant. He’s also active in other local non-profits like the Funhouse and the SeaDoc Society. His kids now attend — and love — the Salmonberry Elementary School.  (photo by son Douglas, former Orcas Montessori student)

Past board members