Traveling School Board of Directors
Nancy is a strong supporter of the Traveling School and their mission in enriching the lives of young girls. Her daughter, Megan, was on TTS 20 to Zambia, Mozambique, and South Africa, and attended college her freshman year in Italy. Her son also did an exchange in Japan his junior year of high school. She has a huge love and desire to travel, traveling to over 12 countries. Her driving interest stems for her college friend who grew up in Nicaragua. Nancy and her husband Wade have been a host parents to over 14 international high school students as well as a constant supporters of exchange opportunities. Nancy has a strong background in operations, planning, and project management. She currently works for Medtronic’s as a Program Manager in Supply Chain and held similar roles at both General Mills and Schwan’s. Nancy has seen the tremendous positive effect The Traveling School has on young women, opening the world to her daughter and other girls just like her. “Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard
Stephanie comes to the Traveling School Board as a parent of a TTS23 participant. Her daughter, Susannah, had a rich learning experience with the school in South America which solidified interests in social justice, international relations and Spanish language. Stephanie saw the ways her daughter’s direct involvement with other cultures’ day to day social issues impacted her and gave her real issues she wanted to study in college. Stephanie got involved with fundraising for TTS in order to help the school work towards having a Financial Aid endowment with the goal of making this tremendous experience available to all girls who want it. Living in Greece in the 1970’s allowed Stephanie and her family to travel to Europe and Turkey. There she developed an interest in understanding cultural differences. Today, Stephanie and her husband and kids continue to discover new places whenever possible. Stephanie has a Master’s in Social Work and was an elementary school social worker and also worked with child victims of abuse at a guidance clinic. She has worked on various development projects for her children’s respective schools and served on several local nonprofit organization Boards. Stephanie loves to take long walks with her dog in summer, enjoys snowshoeing in the winter and traveling whenever possible.
Ellie grew up in the mountains of Colorado, where her passion for outdoor places began. While at Colorado College, she studied Environmental Science with an emphasis in Biology to gain a greater understanding of the science within our ecological systems. Her continued curiosity about the outside world prompted Ellie to seek out opportunities to work with others in wilderness-based programs, including Deer Hill Expeditions, SUWS Wilderness Therapy, and the National Outdoor Leadership School. Through observing the power of place-based learning and the capacity for healing that can occur in a natural environment, Ellie sought greater understanding of why people do what they do, as well as how people change, so she pursued a Master’s degree in Social Work. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Ellie works as a mental health consultant at Routefinder Consulting, which focuses on leadership development and resilience building with individuals and organizations. She brings her passions for expeditionary learning and empowerment to her role on the Traveling School board. When it’s time to play, you can find Ellie hiking, skiing, biking, and otherwise adventuring with her husband, Jim, and their pup, Riva.
Lynn Kelting Gibson grew up in Minnesota where she graduated with a B.A. in education from Concordia College in Moorhead. After college she went on to teach Home Economics, Physical Education, and Elementary Education. While teaching she earned a M.Ed. from Montana State University and later an Ed.D. At MSU she taught future teachers in the Department of Education for 18 years, though she likes to claim that she has taught every grade level student except first graders. Recently retired from Montana State University as an Associate Professor Emerita of Education she still has a passion for quality education and adventure travel, both of which brought her to the Board of The Traveling School. She currently spends time golfing, skiing, hiking, biking, and traveling with her husband.
Ian is a long time adherent to both experiential education and the value of travel. While growing up, and prior to moving to Bozeman, he lived in numerous (and visited many more) places both domestically and abroad. After graduating from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Geography, Ian served as an Officer in the United States Marines Corps. Subsequent to his time in the Marine Corps, he moved to Bozeman and earned an M.S. in Earth Sciences at Montana State University (MSU). He has been a mountaineering, semester course, and professional development Instructor and Course Director at the Colorado Outward Bound School, a middle school science teacher at a prep school, and the Assistant Headmaster of a small independent school prior to starting work at MSU in 1999. At MSU, Ian has worked in the Graduate School, been the program manager of a Transition to Teaching program in the College of Education, Health & Human Development, the Director of Administration and Finance in the College of Nursing, has taught several undergraduate and graduate courses, and is currently the Assistant Director of the Office of Planning & Analysis. Ian has also earned an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration, and Certificates of Applied Science in both Welding Technology and CNC Machining Technology. He enjoys spending his free time with his wife and son, squirt boating, kayaking, biking, skiing and whatever else might seem like a good idea at the time.
John has spent the better part of his career rethinking secondary education and the better part of his adult life traveling the world. He began teaching at the Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, later taught at the Eagle Rock School, co-founded the High Tech High Charter School, and has served as a high school principal in the US, India, and Panama. He has led student trips in the US and abroad. He is currently the principal of Somersworth High School. John has traveled through all fifty United States and close to seventy countries (much of it on bicycle). He has a master’s degree in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from the University of Washington and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He completed in undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame. Home is Portsmouth, NH, where he lives with his wife, three daughters (one of whom is a TTS alumna), and two cocker spaniels. John’s avocations include hiking, kayaking, cycling, politics, and writing. He is currently two thirds of the way through New Hampshire’s forty-eight 4000-footers.