Rainbow Mountain Fifth/Sixth Grade Staff
Eddy Webb, 5th/6th Grade Teacher
Eddy Webb has been teaching at Rainbow Mountain for over five years. He has a Master’s Degree in Teaching at the elementary level and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology.
Growing up the son of an Army chaplain, Eddy attended many schools with varied educational approaches and populations. He recognized first-hand how important it was for teachers to love what they were doing; he was also keenly aware how teachers’ enthusiasm or lack thereof impacted children’s learning. These early experiences and observations inspired Eddy to become a teacher himself.
Eddy shares his own love of learning by encouraging his students to pursue their interests and share their understanding using multiple intelligences, independent research and group activities. Rarely without his acoustic guitar, Eddy also shares his love of music and his family’s blue grass roots.
Eddy takes great joy in seeing his students get excited about a project and then using essential learning skills to dive into subject matter in a totally unique and relevant way.
When Eddy is not teaching or helping plan community celebrations, he enjoys spending time with his daughter and wife, mountain biking, canoeing, and singing with friends and family around a bonfire.
Justin Pilla, 5th/6th Grade Assistant Teacher
Beginning with his belief that all children need healthy attention, feedback and validation, Justin enjoys giving each student space to show themselves so that he can discover what inspires and resonates with each one and allows them to shine.
Although new to both Asheville and Rainbow Mountain this year, Justin is quickly finding his place among his co-workers who believe, as he does, that every child is a spiritual being and that education should be a collaborative and creative effort between student and teacher. He enjoys working with compassionate, hopeful and curious educators and a dedicated and engaged parent body. Justin thinks it’s healthy for his students to realize that their parents and teachers have consciously chosen to come together to create a community where the curriculum encourages teachers and children to “think outside the box” as they integrate a variety of concepts into a single learning experience.
Having previously worked with at-risk youth, Justin readily admits that he enjoys the moments of friction with his students because it is precisely then when exploration is possible. Some of his most memorable teaching moments have come at these times. It is while he helps them to ask tough questions, to explore a way out of a particular situation or to simply sit with a situation that the living Namaste occurs. He feels a spark between himself and the student, who suddenly understands that he is there to guide them.
Justin especially appreciates that the five domains are foundational at Rainbow Mountain. As an educator, he relishes his freedom to help students explore their spiritual, emotional, and moral/social selves as well as their mental and physical selves. He feels the domains are akin to the Medicine Wheel, which has long been a part of his own spiritual practice.
With an interest in music and a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Syracuse University, Justin loves being in the moment with his students whom, he admits, often crack him up. Twenty years from now, Justin would love to see all primary schools modeling Rainbow Mountain, where the holistic approach to education helps to nurture and develop well-rounded, healthy human beings.
Outside the classroom, Justin can be found hiking, playing his guitar, practicing martial arts, designing new board games with his brother, or writing fiction, fantasy or science fiction stories.
Renee Jackson, 5th/6th Grade Assistant Teacher
Renee is an experienced teacher, educator, University of Tennessee graduate and creative spirit. She holds a degree in Women’s Studies and in Psychology, and has a NC K-6 teaching license.
Renee’s philosophy of teaching has evolved from 16 years of teaching and from being a parent of four diverse learners. Renee feels her mission as a teacher is to promote positive learning, to spark enthusiasm for learning and to provide a strong foundation for lifelong learning. To accomplish this, Renee enjoys applying a wide variety of strategies based on essential educational principles encompassing cognitive functioning, learning theories, and diversity issues. She is very interested in the psychology of learning.
When Renee isn’t in the classroom, you can find her running, hiking, cooking, and gardening with her husband and four children. She also enjoys traveling to other countries to learn about and sample their cultures, arts and culinary specialties.
