Baker Parent Organization Bios
Sarah Thurber, Chair
Sarah Thurber has been a Baker parent for eight years. Her girls Isabel (5th), and Rebecca Miller (3rd) love it - thus, Sarah loves it. After graduating from Williams College, Sarah started her career as a freelance writer, editor and graphic designer in Chicago. Now she runs a small online publishing company that specializes in tools for improving team effectiveness, communication and creativity. (www.foursightonline.com) Look for her in the carpool line. She's the one with the bike helmet.
Michelle Barreras, Co-chair
This is the Barreras family's 2nd year at Baker. Alice is in 2nd grade and Henry in kindergarten. Hazel will enter Pre-K next year. Michelle teaches part-time in the Early Childhood Education Department at Columbia College. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a BS in Elementary Education and from National Louis University with a Master’s of Education. Michelle has spent 20 years in early childhood education, from preschools in Iowa City, San Francisco and Chicago to 13 years in a kindergarten classroom in Winnetka. Michelle, with Baker Pre-K teacher, Lisa Kampwirth, is developing an innovative “Green Classroom” project. On weekend, she loves to spend time with her family, explore the Chicago area, practice yoga, and accompany her husband, photographer Peter Barreras (www.barrerasphoto.com) on all sorts of adventures.
Dennette Derezotes, Communications
Dennette's daughter, Ceridwyn Quaintance (4th grade) has been at Baker since kindergarten. Dennette has a Master's Degree in Social Work from Loyola University, and has worked in child welfare for more than 25 years in direct care, therapeutic services, administration, training, program development and evaluation, community advocacy and collaboration, agency consultation, and research. She is the Executive Director of the Race Matters Consortium, a national initiative to prevent, intervene, and eliminate adverse racial disparities and to work toward racial equity in the child welfare system. She is a Senior Associate at the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, DC. At school you can see her traveling the halls as a room parent and 4th grade Junior Girl Scout Leader.
Anne Beckwith, Treasurer
Anne hails from Atlanta. The Beckwith family moved to Wilmette during the summer of 2008 in time for daughter Mary Beth to join Baker for middle school; she is now in the 7th grade. Ann went to the University of Georgia, and received a BA in Accounting. She lived in Washington, D.C. and London before moving to Chicago. While currently "retired," Anne's professional career included working in Audit for Deloitte & Touche, in a large commercial real estate firm in asset management and dispositions, and for a residential real estate firm as a realtor. She always likes having a new project to keep her mind and body busy, especially one that allows her to work around the car-pooling requirements of her young competitive swimmer.
Ellisa Cole-Goldsmith, Volunteer Coordinator
Ellisa Cole-Goldsmith has two children at Baker -- Sam in 8th grade and Owen in 1st. She loves being back in the Chicago area after 10 years of living in different places around the world. Baker is the perfect environment for her kids -- and for her! Ellisa graduated from Colgate University and the Thunderbird School of International Management and worked for years in international marketing and communications. Nowadays Ellisa's focus has changed, and she's busy getting a Masters in Linguistics at NEIU and teaching ESL to adults.