Governance
Dragonfly is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. An advisory board helps with fundraising and policy, and the Faculty run everyday operations.
Want to be a Board member?
Join our Board! Please see our Job Description for more information on our expectations, and what you can expect by joining our Board. If intrigued, please contact us, and we will be in touch for an interview. Thank you for your interest!
Our Board of Trustees
Claudia Martin: Board President
Claudia Martin discovered Waldorf Education later in her fifty-three year career as an educator. She taught at Mountain Song Community School, a Waldorf inspired charter school in Colorado Springs from 2013 through 2024, where she discovered she actually held many Waldorf education values throughout her teaching life. She attended Rudolf Steiner College during the summer of 2013, and benefited from mentorship and training by many Waldorf educators during her time at Mountain Song. Claudia has had diverse experiences in teaching and life, including two years in a rural school in Costa Rica, and she has worked with children from age 3 through 14 over the years.
After growing up in Cortez, Claudia received a BA in English from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, and an MED from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. She lived in Florida, upstate New York, Costa Rica, and for much of her adult life in Woodland Park, CO. She recently returned to the Four Corners area to enjoy semi-retirement, being close to her family, and the splendor of the natural world here in Montezuma County.
Caroline Manning:
Vice Secretary
More info coming soon!
Melissa Saye : Committee Chair
Originally from her upbringing on the east coast, Melissa came to the Southwest to attend University of New Mexico in 2004. While living in New Mexico she cultivated her passions for the lost arts, geology and sculpture. In tandem with a focus of her formal education in Biology and Multicultural Studies; Linguistics, Melissa immersed herself in an artist cooperative centered in a variety of disciplines spanning Lapidary & Native Silversmithing Techniques, Bronze Sculpture & Lost Wax as well as Glassblowing & Photography. In the years to follow, her time was spent in Alaska developing sufficiency skills in backcountry dwelling hunting large game and furbearer trapping & processing and work as First Mate on a commercial fishing seiner. She moved to the San Juan region of the Rocky Mountains in southern Colorado in 2006. Initially landing in the San Miguel Valley, she spent the next years developing that sense of adventure & discovery hiking, skiing, rafting, rock climbing, foraging & wildcrafting all while fostering an intimate connection to the mountains and wild outdoors.
Melissa graduated from the Southwest School of Natural Aesthetics, Tempe, AZ in 2015 and holds dual licenses with Arizona Board of Cosmetology & Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, certified in a diverse collection of healing therapies & advanced modalities. Education in the healing arts began in 2004 where she studied bodywork, cranial sacral, cupping & moxibustion as well as nutritional disciplines and Ayurveda Philosophy. Additional Certifications include Homecare Herbalism, Yoga Sutra Philosophy, Reiki Level 1 and Prana Vinyasa & Aerial Yoga Instructor.
Melissa’s ceaseless affinity for the culinary arts, food, or anything edible, is another of her lifelong interests & professional pursuits. From seed to plate, Melissa has worked with regional farms + gardens + ranches to learn more about (high altitude) food cultivation, homesteading skills & sustainable practice. She currently spends her days working with a local building and manufacturing company turning Colorado ponderosa gathered via statewide fire mitigation efforts into beautiful building structures for the community.
Becoming a mother has reignited deeply held values inspiring a proactive desire to help create a highly supported, nurturing and creative environment in which the youth of our communities may grow to thrive and be gifted guidance towards resilient hearts, minds and bodies. She is extremely passionate about pioneering local sustainability through agricultural and outdoor education, while passing on timeless traditions and her love for the land to our local youth. As a four year alumni parent, Melissa is thrilled to continue this relationship at this remarkable early childhood retreat and education space. Joining the team at Mancos Valley Dragonfly School feels like a homecoming. She is excited to unleash her talents, learn new skills to cultivate relationships & build capacity while creating lasting impact. Looking onward, Melissa now seeks to apply her multifaceted skill set in nonprofit management, event & funding development, volunteer engagement, collaboration and business development.
Claire Broughton
Beloved lead teacher of Dragonfly Preschool in 2020-21, lead teacher of the Meadowlark Kindergarten 2021-22, lead teacher of the new First Grade in 2022-23, and back to Kindergarten for the 2023-24 school year. Claire joins the board as our faculty representative. She brings her wisdom and sound reason to the governance of this School. She has been a Waldorf teacher for many years and has been instrumental in the growth of Dragonfly. See more about Claire on our meet our faculty page.