Anastasia Baratta Anastasia Baratta has a BA in Education, Northern Arizona University, (1994), and Pilates Certification from Kane School of Core Integration, NYC, NY, (2009). She is a Life Coach - Coaching for Transformation (2008). I am constantly researching, studying or taking workshops.  My most recent workshop, "Pilates and Back Care," detailed common back-related issues and injuries and how to address them through Pilates-based exercises.

Ben Blaney Ben Blaney is Professor Emeritus of Germanic Philology at Mississippi State University
and has taught 6 different classes on medieval Norse topics for ASC, as well as one on medieval German literature (Parzival and Tristan).

Ruth Braun Ruth Braun earned a BS in Geology from State University College at Fredonia, NY;  an MS in geochemistry from Johns Hopkins University; and a BA in math and earth science from Bloomsburg University.  She has taught science and math in junior and senior high school.  She taught Physical and Historical Geology at Bloomsburg University.

Nathaniel Fenton Nathaniel Fenton received degrees from Bowdoin College and Cornell University Law School. He has taught two previous courses on Lincoln for Acadia Senior College.

Paul Frost Paul Frost (C.A.S. Language Arts) likes to write and help writers grow.  For the last seven years he taught a course designated as “writing intensive” at the University of Maine. He is a Wabanaki Writers Project Coordinator and Maine Writing Project Teacher Consultant.

Anne Funderburk Anne Funderburk has an A.B. (1960) from Bryn Mawr. She did graduate study at U. Cal. Berkeley and was a research associate in Zurich. She is a teacher of various subjects. She gave cooking classes in PA,  and has taught ASC Healthy Ethnic Cooking I and II since 2004.

Robert Gallon Robert Gallon is a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist who also happens to play tuba in the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. He taught psychology at Vassar College and at Jefferson Medical School. He has taught many courses in psychology and music at ASC and at Penobscot Senior College.

Paul and Margot Haertel Paul and Margot Haertel. Paul has a BS in Forestry from Michigan Tech. He spent 40 years in the National Park Service. His teaching experience includes Park Planning at the University of Maine, various seminars in USNPS, and ASC birding classes. He is an avid birder and bird carver. Margot Has a BS in Biology from Sul Ross State College. She has been a children's librarian for 25 years, a Peace Corps biology teacher for three years, and has taught ASC birding classes. She has been a birder since childhood.

Vesta Kowalski

Vesta Kowalski has been an ordained Episcopal priest since 1984; has a M.Div and STM from the General Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from the Jewish Theological Seminary. She has about 30 years’ experience teaching Bible topics to adults, both in congregations and in non-church settings. For the past ten years, she  taught Biblical Hebrew at Bangor Theological Seminary.  She has taught several ASC courses.

Paula Marcus Paula Marcus.  "After teaching Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde I am now adventuring further into 19th and early 20th Century literature with Rudyard Kipling."

Steve Perrin Steve Perrin.  "Since writing my dissertation at Boston University in 1982, I have been conducting an introspective exploration of my own mind to see if I couldn’t figure out how it works. I have recently published (Lulu.com) the findings of that thirty-year study in book form, Consciousness: The Book. I have also written and illustrated four books about MDI. I did my undergraduate work at MIT and Columbia, and have taught English, poetry, and photography on the secondary level."

Michael Pilz Michael Pilz is a Midwesterner. He was educated at the University of Chicago, University of Iowa, and London University.  He taught college English for 34 years before retiring to MDI where he was an adjunct professor at the University of Maine.  Michael has taught ASC courses on Wallace Stevens, Whitman, Dickinson, two Shakespeare courses, and one on Verdi and Shakespeare. He is very fond of basset hounds.

Jack Russell Jack Russell was born and educated on Mount Desert Island.  A degreed social and literary historian, he taught college long ago. Jack serves on the board of Friends of Acadia and supports the Mount Desert Island Historical Society, Friends of Island History, and the Abbe Museum.  He is at work on a book of essays on the twined histories of MDI and ANP.

Joy Ryan Joy Ryan has both a Masters in Special Education from the University of Cincinnati & a Masters in Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She has been a Children's Librarian and has worked in a number of programs in Special Education, including a Regional Media Center (U. of Kentucky) serving five states, and teaching Special Education and setting up a Special Education Media Center (U. of Alabama). She is in two groups that play Mah Jongg weekly.