Meet Us

Lindsay Stewart is the director and founder of Sweet Tree Arts and Sweet Tree School. She has been teaching in the arts and alternative education settings for 20 + years. Originally from Scotland, Stewart to US in 2000. She gained her Masters in Education through Lesley University's Creative Arts and Learning program and received her undergraduate degree from Colby College. She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in education at Lesley University. Lindsay is passionate about sharing ideas locally and globally around creative thinking, growth mindset and listening and responding through the arts.

Director Lindsay Stewart

Meet the Sweet Tree ARts and School staff

Elementary School Team K-5 offering learner centered project based interdisciplinary studies

K-2- Bill Huntington, Kari Luehman, Marlee Luehman, Nibby Browning, Anna Flynn

3-4- Lindsay Stewart and Alaina Garrigan

Tinker Lab K-8- Paul Cartwright

Mathematics - Justine Henning

Greenhouse and Gardening - Alaina Garrigan, Kari Luehman

Reading Specialist- Lauren Ware Stark

Middle School Team 5-8 offering learner centered, project based interdisciplinary studies

5-8 Abby Rhoads, Hannah Well, Atupele Machika

Mathematics - Justine Henning

Science, - Nicole Egenberger

Projects / Tinker lab/ Design thinking/ Physics - Paul Cartwright

Spanish - Jared McCannell

Health and Wellness - Madrona Wienges

Across the school

Fiber Arts and after care- Kelsey Knight Mohr

Ceramics - Jeremy Hollinger

Marlee Luehman

Marlee Luehman has been an educator for 20 years. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology and education with a certification in elementary and special education. She has worked in a variety of educational settings including public schools, private schools, and as a developmental therapist working closely with at risk infants and toddlers in their homes.

Marlee became passionate about the arts and teaching and learning through the arts when she was hired by Lindsay Pinchbeck to teach at Sweetland School.

She received her masters in arts integration through Lesley University. Believing strongly in the social-emotional connection that learners and teachers cultivate in a nurturing education environment, Marlee embraces the process of working through the arts as a way to create a space for meaningful and deep connection.

When she is not teaching, Marlee enjoys dancing, walks through the fields behind her house, being with her daughter and quiet pondering.

Paul Cartwright

Paul joined the staff in September 2019 and works primarily with the Explores and Innovators. Over the course of the school year Paul guided the Innovators to build an 18 foot, 175 lb. Inuit ‘umiak’ style boat that carries 10-12 people.

Paul loves people, especially children. He is a musician, engineer, inventor, dancer, father, and a teacher. Honoring others and sharing the delight of learning is the theme that guides his life.

BIll Huntington

Bill has worked with young children for over 20 years. His undergraduate degree is in Geography but his life degree is in compassion and connection. Bill learned early on to listen to the whole story and know that there is always more than meets the eye (or ear). At his first teaching job he was approached by a crying child who, pointing behind her, said, “She hit me back first.” Despite the urge to laugh, she needed to know he would support her and take the time to listen.

Bill also runs a small fiber arts business in Hope. He creates knitted pieces and teaches knitting to children and adults. His creative endeavors influence his emphasis on the process as being as important as the end product.

Bill is grateful to be working with a team of other dedicated educators at Sweetland School. Sharing ideas, working collaboratively, and focusing on each persons strengths makes this effort fulfilling and fun.

Hannah Wells

Hannah joined the Sweetland staff in September 2017 . She loves anything to do with creativity and community which is why she feels so at home at Sweet Tree. She studied Illustration and Design in Boston and has lived in midcoast Maine for the majority of her life. One of her favorite things about Sweet Tree is the ability to let the children lead in their creative and academic needs. Hannah feels that, when you listen to children and let them lead the way, things will always turn out better than you had originally planned.

Kari LuehmAN

Kari works with the learners at both Roots and Branches, teaches Innovator Art, manages the 8th grade Apprenticeship Program and also assists in Marketing and Community Program development. Kari loves being in the classroom and learning about the Reggio Emilia Approach to education. This particular framework creates MAGIC and inspires children to create meaning in deep and unique ways. She also takes on special projects and event planning at the center and is excited to be working as part of the team. She lives in Union with her family and spends her days trying to figure out how to find a balance between purposeful and soulful living. Kari has spent her adult life teaching children, teaching movement and helping people find organization and inspiration in their business endeavors.

ABBY RHOADS

After graduating from Bates College, my first teaching job was on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where I taught reading and poetry to middle and high school students. After two years at the Red Cloud School, I returned to Boston, where I earned my Master's Degree in teaching high school English. After several years living and working in the Boston area, I moved to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where my two children were born and raised. On the Cape, I served as the Lead Teacher at the Cape Cod Montessori School on Coonnamessett Farm,where I worked with a small group of students learning Humanities and the Sciences through work on the farm. After several years at the Montessori School, I transitioned to teaching English at Sturgis Carter Public School, an International Baccalaureate “IB for all” school in Hyannis, MA. In all of these positions, what remains foundational is my passion as a learner. Every time I step into a classroom, whether I am in the leadership role or not, I hold on to that belief that I am showing up to learn and open to being taught.

Nibby Browning

Nibby Browning has enjoyed working with children over the past twenty years. She considers herself a life-long learner and has gained so much from each of her chapters – as a summer camp director and outdoor educator in Colorado, as an after-school mentor, and from her time as a public school teacher, teaching first grade. Nibby holds a degree in Environmental Studies and her state of Maine K-8 teaching license. She has completed graduate classes in restorative practices and has been trained through the International Institute for Restorative Practices. Her most important role to date, though, is being Mom to her two daughters. Navigating the peaks and valleys of parenting has been so instructive, and she has grown in ways she couldn’t have imagined. Nibby loves gardening, spending time with her family, eradicating invasive plant species (and telling people about them), learning about how children learn to read, riding horses, working on her old farm house, and enjoying the changing seasons. Nibby is looking forward to building relationships with all the wonderful children and sharing the joy of learning together.

NICOLE EGENBERGER

Hello! I'm Nicole and teach middle school science. I never ceases to be amazed by the natural world: Together, we love exploring the universe, particle physics, the natural world, and the complexity and intelligence of the human body. I hope to bring that sense of joy and wonder to science lessons at Sweet Tree.

I’ve been a naturopathic doctor for 22 years, practicing in NYC and now in Camden. I hold a B.Sc. in Anatomy and Cell Biology and a major in Philosophy from McGill University. I studied medicine in Canada (I’m Canadian) and ran a multidisciplinary clinic in NYC for 18 years. In the last 3 years of my practice there, I taught a residency program for newly graduated naturopathic doctors. More recently, I’ve been guest-lecturing for the Maine Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency.

LAUREN STARK

Lauren is a progressive educator with over twenty years of experience as a K-12 and university educator. Specializing in project-based learning, she has taught English, English as a Second or Other Language, Ethnic Studies, French, and History at the primary and secondary levels, as well as methods and foundations courses for future educators at the university level. She is also a writer of speculative fiction, and she sees her writing, teaching, community organizing, and parenting as ways to imagine and practice other ways of being. She lives in Belfast, Maine with her family and is generally covered in ink and spilled tea.

Lauren offers additional 1 on 1 reading support to identified learners. She will also be supporting reading times across the three groups, making book suggestions and offering ideas and observations to children and faculty as needed.

ANNA FLYNN

This year Anna will be working on Fridays and supporting in the Maker classroom a few afternoons a week.

Anna Flynn was born and raised here in Mid Coast Maine, alternative education has shaped much of my life. I attended Ashwood Waldorf School K-8th grade and after transitioning to Camden Hills for high school I advocated to enroll in a homeschool program which enabled me to graduate a year early. Opting out of the traditional college path, I became interested in small-scale farming, taking college courses through UMA while working in restaurants and dabbling in artistic endeavors throughout my twenties. I credit the foundation experiential, art based education gave me to explore alternative paths, question expectations, and make big decisions through early adulthood.

I’m excited to continue my educational journey this fall as a student at UMaine Farmington.

My favorite thing, however, is being a parent and getting to explore the place I grew up and the world around me with my son.

I’m thrilled to be joining the Sweet Tree staff and looking forward to working alongside this amazing group of educators and learners.

JEremy Hollinger

Ceramics all school

the boards

Supporting our vision; our advisory board consists of passionate and respected leaders in education and the arts who model high academic achievement. They are always willing to problem solve and listen. Thank you, Malcolm Brooks, Nancy Harris Frohlich and Will Foote.

Supporting the non profit; our Board of Directors drive a healthy business model and keep Sweet Tree steady through the most challenging times. Thank you Becky Clapp, Brian Kelly, Ariana Killoran and Sonja Howard, .

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