MARTINA SIMUNEK-SUAREZ: 6th Grade Class Teacher

Martina was first introduced to the Waldorf philosophy years ago by her cousin, who, just like Rudolf Steiner and Martina herself, grew up in a little town in Lower Austria. After a whirlwind year back in Europe teaching at the Freie Waldorfschule Wien West, Martina is back with some new ideas!

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
• University of Graz
• Class Teacher. Freie Waldorfschule Wien West, Vienna, Austria

According to Martina, her life has been a little bit as Bohemian as her name sounds. She was born in a small town in Lower Austria. Her mother’s family were World War II refugees from Serbia and since they had been uprooted, they leaned more towards their German traditions, Catholic faith and conservative beliefs. Her father was from Bohemia where there was much more liberalism and much less religion. On top of that, her father had grown up in a steel town in one of the socialist strongholds of Austria. Martina moved back and forth between these two worlds.

When Martina entered the University of Graz, she continued with a good mix of interests: starting with English and Russian, then adding Geography and eventually ending up in the Vietnam War Literature Collection at CSU in Fort Collins. There, she met Julian. While continuing to travel and work in Europe and various parts of the U.S., they started a family. They and their two boys, Markus and Matthaeus, all love the mountains. They hike, camp, fish and ski. Martina loves to read and also enjoys painting, tiling, carpentry work, electrical work, plumbing, gardening, and many other hands-on activities, preferably involving power tools. Martina was first introduced to the Waldorf philosophy years ago by her cousin, who, just like Rudolf Steiner and Martina herself, grew up in a little town in Lower Austria. After a whirlwind year back in Europe teaching at the Freie Waldorfschule Wien West, Martina is back with some new ideas!