Panelists: Harvesting the Seeds of Transcendentalism in Education Today

Tracie Dunn has taught studio arts at the high school level in Massachusetts public schools since 2001. Her instructional practices encourage positive interpersonal experiences and substantial learning opportunities through the process of making art. Throughout her career, she has turned to contemporary art to create a student-centered curriculum that honors curiosity, exploration, inquiry, collaboration, and dialogue. Currently, she is the visual arts instructor in the interdisciplinary program Rivers and Revolutions at Concord Carlisle High School. 

Elise Mott has been teaching middle school students for thirty years and has taught social studies from 4th graders to 9th. Her most exciting moments teaching have been when she is immersed in project based experiential learning when students are connecting to the real world. She has taught at The Lawrenceville School, New England Innovation Academy, and is currently the Assistant Director of Secondary School Placement and 6th grade English teacher at The Fenn School in Concord. 

Rev. Jenny Rankin, Unitarian Universalist minister, has served in parish and college settings in and around Boston.  During her time as Minister at First Parish in Concord, she immersed herself in the study and teaching of Transcendentalism, leading classes and walking tours in the U.S. and Europe.  She currently serves as Interim Minister at First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist.  Jenny and her husband Rich Higgins have three children and have lived in Concord since 1997.

Betsy Siebert is a retired early childhood educator and administrator. She was a preschool teacher at Concord Children’s Center from 1980-1984, a teacher and director at the Barn Coop Nursery School from 1985-2002, a preschool teacher at Nashoba Brooks School from 2003-2022, and coordinator of the Concord Area Preschool Association Scholarship program from 2005-2015. Betsy retired in 2022 and continues to substitute teach at both Nashoba and CCC.