Faculty & Staff

Ms. Smith comes to Madeira with over 20 years in education.  She earned a bachelor's degree in History from Florida A&M University and her M.Ed. from Cabrini University.  Ms. Smith has been involved in a wide array of academic, athletic, and leadership experiences and is currently teaching history and coaching volleyball at Madeira.  She has experience working with middle and upper school students, students with learning differences, and in both urban and suburban populations.  Regardless of with whom she works, Ms. Smith believes that success comes in three forms: collaboration, skill development, and learning by doing.  Ms. Smith's family motto is to Live, Life, Loving and her goal is to create that same desire in every student and person with whom she works. Show Less

Jerien Okoh-Tisch brings her passion for music education, conducting, and performing to the Madeira school as the Director of Choral Music. She holds a degree in Music from the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute and a Standard Professional Teaching Certificate from the state of Maryland in Music Education. Her additional studies have taken her to the Royal College of Music in London, the New England Conservatory, and Vanderbilt University. Highlights of Ms. Okoh-Tisch's performance career include a tour in 2005 with Grammy award winning artists Kanye West and 2006 with Grammy nominated Gospel artist, Joe Pace. She has since conducted and performed in several ensembles and choruses in the U.K. and the United States while maintaining a private teaching practice specializing in classical and contemporary vocal instruction. Having studied under the award-winning music pedagogue, Peter Howard, she also teaches and plays cello, piano, and violin.     Show Less

Originally from Charlotte, NC, Dr. Kite began teaching Spanish at Madeira in 2021. She earned bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree in Women’s Studies from Florida Atlantic University, and a master’s and doctorate in Hispanic Languages and Literatures from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Kite also holds a PhD certificate in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Show Less

Ethan Abensohn began teaching at Madeira in the fall of 2021 as a French and Spanish instructor. He earned a B.A. in French Studies from Colby College in 2007, an M.A. in French Literature from Middlebury College in 2008, and an M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown University in 2017. He has spent five years living in Francophone countries in Europe (France), West Africa (Cameroun), and North Africa (Morocco). He has over seven years of teaching experience, including positions teaching French and Arabic. Mr. Abensohn is delighted to be joining the Madeira community and looks forward to teaching inductive, student-centered classes, with a premium placed on communicative methods.  Show Less

Ms. Perkins came to Madeira in July 2021. She is a graduate of Brooks School, an independent boarding school in Massachusetts. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Educational Studies from Trinity College in Connecticut and a Master’s degree in Adult Education with a concentration in College Administration and Leadership from North Carolina A&T State University. Ms. Perkins is currently a doctoral candidate in higher education administration at Northeastern University. Prior to Madeira, she served as a college administrator for 13 years. Show Less

Originally from the Pittsburgh, PA area, Amber Saville-Andree earned a degree in Marine Science with a concentration in Biology and a minor in Chemistry from Kutztown University in 2009. She taught marine-based outdoor environmental education for K-12, college, and adult age groups in coastal VA, GA, the FL Keys and the USVI for six years before moving into the classroom in 2015. In her time as a classroom teacher Ms. Saville-Andree has taught Biology, Chemistry, Marine Science, Environmental Science, and Anatomy. She joined Madeira in 2020 and is thoroughly enjoying her time coaching for the swim team and being a dorm adult for South Dorm in addition to teaching science.   Show Less

Ms. Scott joined Madeira in 2018 as our STEAM Specialist. Ms. Scott has previous experience working in 3D printing and digital fabrication, including prototyping footwear, apparel, and experimental textiles. 

She has a B.F.A in International Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and a Master Certification in Footwear and Leather Industries. When asked what brought her to Madeira, Ms. Scott answered: “I chose to teach at Madeira because of the students and the way that the School empowers young women. Madeira graduates are so impressive and are the future leaders of this world. It’s inspiring and such a great honor to teach here.” Show Less

By Andrew Sharp, History Department Chairman

It is fitting that in the year that Madeira is celebrating Co-Curriculum’s 50^th anniversary, Larry Pratt, a teacher who shaped so many Madeira students’ experiences on Capitol Hill, has rejoined Madeira’s faculty and is teaching a new generation of Madeira girls the importance of civic engagement. Larry’s connection to the Co-Curriculum program goes back to 1998, when he began at Madeira as a part-time teacher of Public Affairs, a class for juniors that met before they got on the bus to go their placements.   “Public Affairs was a real class,” recalls Larry, “with Junior Journals, tests, and a research paper. It was a lot of work for the students, but when they got to their offices on Capitol Hill they knew the issues and the system.” Larry went on to become a full-time member of the History Department and the leader of the junior Co-Curriculum experience in 2000. When we sat down to talk, it was shortly after another anniversary – the 15^th anniversary of September, 11. Larry vividly remembers the challenges of continuing the junior year Capitol Hill program in the subsequent weeks. “While parents saw the importance of showing the world we would not be stopped by these attacks, they were also concerned about their daughter’s safety.” Their concerns were heightened when Senator Tom Daschle’s office, a site where a Madeira student worked, received Anthrax in the mail. In a sign of the commitment to carrying on the Co-Curriculum Capitol Hill program, Larry traveled down to Capitol Hill with the juniors and spent the day there with them for the rest of the year. “I would spend my days stationed at the Senate Page School, [Madeira Parent Katherine Weeden was head of the school at the time] and visit Madeira girls in their offices to let them know somebody was there for them.”

After years of teaching his students the importance of civic engagement, Larry put his lessons into action. In 2012 he left teaching to establish and run Win the Future, Young America, a non-profit organization working to improve civic engagement and voter turnout among younger generations. Although it meant he no longer was in the classroom working with his students, Larry was living his call to action and serving as a model for his students. After four years of work, Win The Future, Young America was not building the wider audience it needed, and Larry was missing the conversations with students and teachers. In 2016, Larry returned to the classroom full-time, where he now shares experiences from his work with Win the Future, Young America. In addition to being an expert in voter turnout and participation, Larry also has learned important lessons. “The Madeira School value of ‘Resiliency’ resonates with me,” says Larry. “I know what it means to devote a lot of hard work yet not quite reach your goal, just like our students occasionally experience.”

Larry returned to the classroom at a time when Madeira is working to teach students the importance of civil dialogue, especially in the midst of the 2016 election. Head of School, Pilar Cabeza de Vaca, tapped Larry to serve as an advisor to both the Young Republicans and Young Democrats clubs on campus, and inspiring the Madeira community to model respectful discussions despite expressing passionately different views. While civil discourse was not always evident on the national stage, Madeira’s lecture series on the elections produced widespread engagement, thoughtful questions and a connection to the historic 2016 election. As a truly passionate teacher of history and government, Larry finds “every election season fascinating. The 2000 election, like this year, had its own fascinating moments. We had ‘hanging chads,’ the Supreme Court effectively determining the election’s outcome, and a former first lady becoming a U.S. Senator.” 

Navigating the terrain of the passionate political discussion is truly hard, but Larry believes necessary for students to be truly engaged in their world. “You have to exist in this community where some of your values may not match the values of the rest of the community. So, how do we avoid alienating some for their beliefs? We start by establishing we are all good, decent people, with good intentions.” To reinforce this idea, Larry has posted a sign above his whiteboard in the front of the classroom that reads "Judge Not,” a clear call for us to first seek to understand. In Larry’s view, the history classroom is the ideal place to learn these lessons. “There are plenty of people in history with views that challenge our own. We can practice what it is like to try to understand their views.”   

In 2011, Larry was part of a community wide committee tasked with distilling Madeira’s Mission Statement from several paragraphs to its true essence. The result, “Launching women who change the world,” has been at the center of Larry’s work with Madeira girls. Whether through Co-Curriculum or his history classes, Larry has helped “launch” countless young women who are civically engaged and know how to participate in civil dialogue - exactly what the world needs at this moment. Show Less