Courtney Fincher

Preschool Lead Teacher and Director

Courtney Fincher is the lead teacher and director of the Odyssey Pre-Kindergarten program. She values the opportunity to nurture children through the rapid growth of early childhood. She believes it is never too early to instill the concepts of self knowing, communication, compassion, and community.

She strives to support the children in her care in developing self-confidence in balance with interdependence. It is her goal that children leaving her class will have a core understanding of themselves and the skills that will serve them in every aspect of life. Courtney values working in a school where children can experience the developmental spectrum from early childhood through high school.

Courtney holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of West Virginia and has extended her coursework in the field of Early Education Courtney carries her love of service, psychology, and healing arts into her relationships with the children. In harmony with the Odyssey vision, she sees a bright future for the children she teaches today, and looks forward to seeing what will happen as this special community grows. In addition to her work at Odyssey, Courtney is also a massage therapist and herbalist.

Lydia Hearne

Preschool Teacher

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lydia Hearne teaches in the pre-kindergarten class at Odyssey. She grew up in the mountains outside of Asheville, where she spent much of her childhood exploring nature, expressing her love of nature through art, and being with her family. She brings her passions for the natural world, for family, and for the beauty and creativity of childhood, to her work at Odyssey Community School.  She says of her experience, “I loved my childhood, and I believe that every child deserves a happy, safe environment to explore their own sense of self, of creativity, and space to figure out how to interact with others in this life.”  

At Odyssey, Lydia is also the High School Ceramics instructor. She attended Earlham College, in Indiana, where she received her BA in Fine Art, with a focus in Ceramics. She later completed Haywood Community College’s program in Professional Crafts. “It feels very natural for me to be here at Odyssey,” says Lydia, “and to be able to feed the two main passions in my life, having the opportunity to work with young children and also to work in clay, offering others the chance to explore such an amazing and captivating medium.”  

 

Kathryn Stewart

Preschool Teacher

 

 

 

 

 

 

A keen appreciation for the joy, innocence, and possibilities of childhood guided Kathryn to Odyssey, where she delights in her work with the Odyssey Pre-k. She values the warmth and spirit of her own childhood, and seeks to give back after receiving what she considers to be a meaningful and nurturing education.

Kathryn considers kindness to be a vital quality of an educator, and she believes in genuinely supporting and valuing each other whether in the classroom, at home, or on the street. She feels that Odyssey Community School embodies this philosophy, and has felt welcomed and supported since her first day; she works hard to offer the same support to students, parents, and the rest of the Odyssey community.

A lover of language and stories, Kathryn received her B.A. in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College, where she fell in the love with the Swannanoa Valley, and knew she had to stay. Kathryn seeks to imbue her love for communication into all aspects of working at Odyssey, including guiding children in their self-expression and language acquisition, helping them to tell their stories, and sharing with them quality children’s literature.