• Board Member Announcements •

Chair: Lynnwood Brown, parent

    Lynnwood Brown spent his summers growing up in Blowing Rock but returned to the High Country in 2007 after 25 years living in Northern New Mexico doing community and regional planning and economic development. Lynnwood brings to the board a wide range of experience in planning, organizational development, and fund-raising for community-based organizations, both non-profit and for-profit. He is currently developing collaborative, knowledge-management web-sites for corporate clients and is serving as web-master for Two Rivers. He is thrilled to be apart of a community creating a progressive public-education option for Watauga county and is inspired by what Two Rivers Community School staff and parents have already accomplished in its short history. Lynnwood and his wife Elise McLaughlin live in Blowing Rock and two children at Two Rivers: Jimmy (4th grade) and Rowena (Kindergarten). You can contact Lynnwood at lynnwood@trcsboone.org.

Vice-Chair: Whitney Breen Van Sant, parent

Whitney Van Sant earned a B.S. in Accounting/Business Administration from Arizona State University. She has worked for various large and small businesses providing accounting and bookkeeping services for over 12 years. After traveling and living in various parts of the country, she and her husband Gary visited Boone and loved it so much they moved here to raise a family. They have two children who are enrolled at TRCS: Lucas (3rd grade) and Ella (1st grade). "The passion, skill and dedication that I have witnessed in our staff, community and students inspired me to serve on the BOD. My children are thriving here and I am committed to helping this wonderful school grow and succeed."

Secretary: John Lee, parent

Treasurer: Ken Jacquot: parent

    Ken is the owner and operator of Blue Ridge Learning Centers (BRLC). Prior to founding BRLC, Ken worked as a Ranger for the National Park Service. During his years there, he researched and developed programs, provided security and emergency medicine, led groups and provided maintenance of the structures on Alcatraz Island as well as the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Later, as Traveling Team Leader with Pecos River Learning Centers, he travelled around the country providing program facilitation, course setups, course repairs and staff training. Ken gained experience leading youth-at-risk expedition programs on the Appalachian Trail for the Morgan School. He also taught experiential based climbing wall programs that engaged students in design, construction and management of their indoor climbing wall, and managed adventure-based programs including canoeing and rock climbing. Ken has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Education from Ohio State University and is involved in various environmental conservation projects including the Todd Community Preservation Organization. Ken lives by a mountain stream in Todd, with his wife, Beth, son, Beckham, and daughter, Mairin. He enjoys cycling and playing with his family.

Stan Aeschleman, Community Member

     Stan Aeschleman is a Professor of Psychology at Appalachian State University. From 2004 – 2010, he served as provost at Appalachian. As provost his primary responsibilities included academic program planning involving seven colleges and schools; faculty and staff development and personnel oversight; enrollment management; the Office of Equity, Compliance, and Diversity; the Library; Information Technology Services; Division of Continuing Education.

Aeschleman has been at Appalachian since 1989 as a member of the Department of Psychology, and he served as chair of that department from 1998-2003. He also served as Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2003-2004. Prior to joining the faculty at Appalachian, he was a faculty member at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. The focus of Aeschleman’s research is in the areas of the experimental and applied analysis of behavior. He has published numerous articles evaluating skill acquisition programs for clients with developmental disabilities, and experimental investigations of reinforcement theory. Aeschleman earned his bachelor’s degree at Western Illinois University and his master’s and doctorate degrees at the University of Kentucky.

Aeschleman is a native of Roanoke, Illinois. He and his wife, Ellen, have two grown children.  

Ann-Marie Clark Ph.D., Community Member

Personal statement: "My heart is in the elementary school classroom, although I haven’t had my own classroom since I taught in Murray, Ky some fifteen years ago. I had been a teacher of children with special needs for more than twenty years, when I left teaching at age 47 to become a graduate student at the University of Illinois. I received a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction in 2001. I am now an associate professor at Appalachian State University. I am blessed with two grown sons, Michael and Patrick, and three growing grandchildren, Calyn Ann (6), Nathaniel Patrick (4), and Claire Marie (9 mos). I think TRCS is a wonderful place to be a student and a teacher. I’m so proud of what they have been able to achieve here. I have made a study of some of the student support systems in the school and found them to be of outstanding quality. Everyone at TRCS expects to be treated with respect and kindness, and to treat others likewise. I think that speaks to how well they communicate with each other as a school community. Through my job, I am expected to complete service in the local schools. I can think of no other place I would rather serve."

Jessica Gilway: Director of TRCS

    Ms. Gilway's undergraduate studies focused on environmental science, Spanish and international relations. She earned her teaching licensure and master’s degree from the University of New Mexico where she focused on science education and bilingual education at the elementary level. She is currently enrolled at Appalachian State in the doctoral program in Educational Leadership. Jessica taught at two different outdoor education schools and she taught fifth grade for eight years. Her last teaching position was in middle school science and Spanish. Jessica loves working with children to help them strive for their dreams. Being a life-long learner herself, she reminds her students to reach for the moon because even if they miss they’ll land among the stars.
Jessica can be reached at jgilway@trcsboone.org Read more about Ms. Gilway on our staff page.

Vachel Miller, parent

Vachel Miller is an Assistant Professor of Education at Appalachian State University. He and his wife Sarah have three children: Galen, Sidra, and Caspian. Prior to joining the faculty at Appalachian in 2008, Dr. Miller worked as a regional monitoring and evaluation, policy and research specialist for the Academy for Educational Development (AED) on a project focused on child labor and education in East Africa. He holds an Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMASS).

Rachel Pickering Wood (Staff Co-Representative)

    Rachel Pickering Wood teaches seventh and eighth grade language arts and social studies. Read more about Ms. Wood on our staff page.

Ali Zick (Staff Co-Representative)

     Ms. Ali Zick teaches 3rd grade at Two Rivers Read more about Ms. Zick on our staff page.