PAUL MARTONE possesses nine years of teaching experience, which he earned in middle schools, high schools, and colleges and universities in New York and Oregon. He is a published writer of fiction with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oregon and a Master of Arts degree (Distinction) from the State University of New York at Albany. In the past five years, Paul has taught courses in Creative Writing, Literature, and Rhetoric & Composition at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon.

DAVID WAGSTAFF, BFA (California Institute of the Arts) comes to The Northwest Academy with 15 years teaching experience in the California schools. Certified in both California and Oregon, David has been a professional writer for the past 10 years, producing poetry, fiction, scripts and lyrics. He is also a certified instructor of T'ai Chi for The Northwest Academy.

AUDREY LINGLEY, MAT (Smith College), has taught middle school and high school levels for 10 years. She began her teaching career at St. Ann's in Brooklyn, New York where she taught history courses on subjects ranging from Medieval Europe to American Women. After New York, she moved to Portland, Maine, where she taught Ancient History, Advanced Placement US History, and Sociology at an affiliate school of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Audrey moved to Portland, Oregon in 2002, just in time to be part of The Northwest Academy's middle school program. At the middle school she teaches courses in World Conflicts, the US Constitution, Ancient Civilizations, the History of Theater, Speech and Debate, and Study Skills.

BRIAN CHRISTOPHER is a professional writer, screenwriter, playwright, songwriter, musician, teacher, editor and publisher. His short stories, poems and essays have appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies, and he has three published collections of poetry: Skin, Angels in Exile, and The Detective Poems. He is the founder, editor and publisher of Quiet Lion Press, which has released books for numerous local and national writers since its inception in 1991. A professional songwriter and musician he plays guitar, bass, piano and drums. He teaches classes in writing, playwriting, songwriting, acting and improvisation, both privately and in numerous area schools. He has taught extensively for Saturday Academy, Community of Writers, and the Literary Arts/Writers in the Schools program. He is currently on the faculty of PSU, Marylhurst University, Portland Community College, and The Northwest Academy.

JADA PIERCE, (University of Oregon), BA (Purdue University), has taught at the middle school, high school, and college levels for the past eight years. She entered education through Teach for America, teaching English and Social Studies at Booker T. Washington Middle School in Baltimore, MD, for three years. During this time she also completed coursework at Johns Hopkins to become certified in secondary education. She moved west in 2003 to complete her MFA in poetry writing at the U of O, where she taught Introduction to Poetry Writing, Poetry Workshops, and Composition 101 and 102. The past three years she has taught tenth and twelfth grade English and journalism at Jesuit High School here in Portland. Currently, when she’s not teaching English and Humanities in both the middle and high schools at NWA, she can be found writing or performing music with her rock-n-roll band, Chores.

SHARON WEIR, M.Ed. (Portland State University), BA (University of Oregon), joined The Northwest Academy in 2005, having previously taught at Clackamas High School and in the Portland Public School District. Sharon brings an inquiry based cross-curricular approach to the classroom, where she teaches Ancient Civilizations, U.S. Constitution, Speech and Debate, Greek & Latin Root Words, and Study Skills at the middle school. With a joint background in Art History and Social Studies, she strongly believes in fostering student creativity and achievement, and encouraging students to make connections between core subject areas and the world around them.