Lauren Roddick-Brown
Founder, Executive Director
Lauren is the founder and Executive Director at the Asheville Farmstead School. In the years leading up to the founding of the Asheville Farmstead School, Lauren Brown taught middle school science for a nonprofit boarding school. She was a founding teacher of the middle school program and an integral advocate for the middle school's yearly experiential education trips. Prior to her work at the boarding school, Lauren was involved in a two-year Master of Education program through the University of Washington and a non-profit organization called IslandWood.
Year one of her Master's degree program was held at IslandWood, where Lauren taught environmental education to third and fourth-grade students from the greater Seattle area. While teaching, Lauren was also taking graduate courses that ranged from classroom management to nonprofit management and child psychology to educational philosophy. Upon completion of the first year of the Islandwood program, Lauren received a certificate in Environment, Education, and Community (2011). Before her second year of graduate school, Lauren was a lead instructor for IslandWood’s summer camp program, where she led groups of campers ages 3-14 in a wide range of nature-based activities. During the second year of the graduate program, Lauren completed her Master in Science Education from the University of Washington, while concurrently working for Homewaters, a non-profit program that brings outdoor science investigation activities to elementary schools in the Seattle area.
Lauren is gifted at speaking with kids in a language that they understand, with clear, direct instruction, and boundless joy. She enjoys spontaneous adventures and opportunities to go outside and experience everything nature can offer. Lauren has a passion for travel; she has been to over 17 countries and aims to visit every National Park in the USA.
Lauren is also a passionate advocate of lifelong learning, has maintained a Wilderness First Responder certification through NOLS since 2012. In December 2017 she received a certification in the Cedarsong Way of Forest Kindergarten Teaching, with Erin Kenny and is now a board officer for the nonprofit running the Cedarsong Way. Lauren has been trained in Love and Logic and takes yearly refresher classes. In June 2018 Lauren was presented with the annual Natural Wonder award by the Eastern Region Association of Forest And Nature Schools (ERAFANS) while she was presenting and attending their annual conference. Lauren is an active member of the Board of Directors for The Cedarsong Way as well as the American Forest Kindergarten Association. In 2019 Lauren was recognized as Alumni of the year from the preschool she attends and inspires a lot of her work today, The Children's Garden School.
Brianna Blanco
Lead Educator - Littlest Learner's
Brianna is the Lead Educator at the Asheville Farmstead School. She oversees the Littlest Learners program. Brianna’s journey prior to the Farmstead included working and living in the wilderness as a Wilderness Field Instructor for a Wilderness Therapy Program. During her two years in the wilderness, she taught the children how to overcome challenges, express their emotions safely, and primitive camping skills. She has experience in creating and facilitating recreational programs for children of all ages. In addition, she also has experience in working with children of all different needs such as; Autism spectrum, ADHD, and other behavioral health backgrounds.
Brianna obtained her Undergraduate degree at Western Carolina University for Parks and Recreational Management in Cullowhee, North Carolina. She believes that all levels of education are important and is currently striving to achieve her Graduate degree at Montreat College for Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She has a tremendous passion for helping others and holds a strong belief on nature being a therapeutic setting for all.
Brianna was born in New Jersey, then moved to Charlotte, NC when she was younger. She spent most of her childhood growing up in the city. When the opportunity for change arose, she took it to live in the beautiful Smoky Mountains and has not left since.
Brianna has an enormous love for nature and the outdoors. She is not afraid to get a little dirty in the woods when it comes to playing and facilitating activities. She spends most of her free time hiking, backpacking, practicing yoga, and playing with her dog Cinnamon and cat Rex. Some fun facts about Brianna are that she is a pro at hula hooping, enjoys live music, and can fluently speak Spanish.
Libby Oswalt
Sprout Educator
Libby grew up in Virginia, where despite growing up in the crowded suburbs of Washington D.C., she found little pockets of nature all around her through which she cultivated a deep love of the outdoors and passion for enjoying and protecting the beautiful natural world around us. She spent her childhood playing in the mud, hanging out in trees, looking for bugs, and growing things in her garden; all things she still loves to do as an adult! These experiences in childhood laid the foundations for her values later in life and are the reason she got into the world of nature-based education. She believes in the power of nature-based play to spark curiosity, joy, and connection to the earth, and to build many of the physical, cognitive, and social skills fundamental to childhood.
While attending Virginia Tech for a degree in horticulture, she spent her summers working as a camp counselor specializing in outdoor adventure and environmental education. It is this experience that made her fall in love with teaching and gave her valuable experience working with kids of all ages. Upon graduating, she spent several years working on various farms and at plant nurseries, before returning to the field of education. She spent 2 years as part of the Youth Education Department at the North Carolina Arboretum, where, among other things, she ran summer camps, fieldtrips, and the Arboretum’s preschool-aged outdoor learning program. Libby is also very passionate about continuing education; she holds a Wilderness First Responder Certification from NOLS, and is currently working on her NC Environmental Educator Certification and her Blue Ridge Naturalist Certification. She also loves to learn from the kids she works with!
Libby feels extremely lucky to call the mountains of Western North Carolina home. You’ll find her enjoying picnics on the Parkway, swimming in rivers, and looking for cool discoveries in the forest! She also enjoys gardening, camping, reading, and making pottery.
Chehala Andrianjason
Sprout Educator
Chehala grew up playing in the dirt, and never quite stopped! Raised in Washington with the sounds of the Cascade rivers rushing over rocks and raindrops pattering on tarps, nature has always been one of Chehala's favorite playgrounds and places of refuge. Hands on, curiosity-centered and nature-based learning has been a long-standing pillar of Chehala's life before it became part of her educational practice. Chehala grew up learning how to identify mushrooms like Chanterelles, King Boletes and Chicken of the Woods; watching salmon spawn in local rivers; and finding childhood birthday presents via scavenger hunts that taught her a new navigational skill with each passing year. By High School she started stepping into the educator role herself, teaching younger children through an internship with a local Environmental Education Center.
Chehala stayed rooted in Washington for her B.A. degree, studying Outdoor Recreation, and Education and Social Justice at Western Washington University. Following the winds of change and the draw of new experiences, Chehala moved across the U.S., traveling and working in the hustle and bustle of New York City, the mountains of Southern California, the lakeshores of Michigan, and the forests of Connecticut, before landing in Western North Carolina.
In those years locally and across the U.S., Chehala has directed Summer Camp at the WNC Nature Center, spent over 5 years in administration and facilitation with Muddy Sneakers outdoor science program, lead front and backcountry youth backpacking trips, taught at multiple overnight outdoor and environmental education programs. In addition, Chehala has nannied, been a substitute teacher, presented at conferences, belayed on climbing walls and high ropes elements, facilitated after-school programs, has worked with children and adults of just about all ages, and maintains a Wilderness First Responder Certification. Chehala loves helping learners build connection to nature and their local environment, and learning both alongside and from students. Chehala believes that people of all ages and abilities bring depths of knowledge and experience to any space they enter; that play, curiosity, and inquiry are central to learning; and that you're never too old (or to young) to learn something new and get yourself a little messy! 
When not working with children, you may find Chehala exploring a new recipe in the kitchen, somewhere in the woods searching for edible mushrooms, foraging for Persimmons or Serviceberries in your local park, making art for the sake of creating, or on 8 wheels playing roller derby.
Madi Carlson
Program Support Educator
Madi is a Program Support Educator at the Asheville Farmstead School. Originally from Minnesota, Madi grew up attending and working at camps where she fell in love with working with kids in the outdoors. Following this passion, Madi got her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Environmental & Outdoor Education from the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Her background includes work as an environmental educator at a nature center, where she supported an onsite nature preschool and created an after-school nature program for elementary-aged children. She later went on to teach at another preschool and then serve as an adventure camp director in Colorado, further developing her strengths in outdoor learning, program development, and child-led exploration. After her time in Colorado, she was able to spend the next few months traveling and camping around the country. During this time she fell in love with the Asheville area and put down roots. In search of a meaningful job in outdoor education, she found the Asheville Farmstead School.
At the Farmstead, Madi is looking forward to supporting young learners by helping create a safe, nurturing, and wonder-filled environment where children can explore, play, and grow. She feels deeply grateful to be part of a community that celebrates curiosity, connection, and the natural world.
In her free time she enjoys going on hikes, cooking, reading, and bird watching.
Hannah Brandt
Garden and Communications Coordinator
Hannah grew up in Upstate New York and later moved to Denver, Colorado after graduating from college. It was in Colorado that she developed a deep love for hiking, camping, backpacking, and the sense of peace she felt when surrounded by nature. Meeting her life partner there was icing on the cake.
She holds a B.S. in Interior Design from Drexel University, but her path shifted when she felt called to support growing families. As a birth doula, Hannah worked closely with individuals and families through pregnancy, labor, and the early postpartum period. Through this work, her understanding of care, intuition, and trust began to take shape. Alongside her doula work, she spent a couple of years as a nanny, where she witnessed the magic of childhood before growing her own family.
Being a parent to her two children is Hannah’s greatest and most cherished accomplishment. Her oldest child attended Asheville Farmstead School for two school years and numerous summer camp adventures, and the school’s values of child-led exploration, community connection, and time outdoors became a natural extension of the way her family was already living and learning. With the season of staying home with her children behind her, Hannah is returning to the workforce in a role that weaves together her interests, passions, and the Farmstead’s values, which she holds close to her heart.
Hannah believes in nurturing environments where children are free to be curious and unapologetically themselves. She is passionate about supporting growth through hands-on experiences, emotional attunement, and joyful learning.
Outside of school, Hannah tends to a vegetable and pollinator garden, keeps a worm compost bin, and is a novice yet enthusiastic forager. She loves crafting, making art with her kids, and spending weekends at the creek or enjoying a local brewery with her family.
Nugget
The Farm Dog
Nugget is a thirteen-year-old Australian Cattle Dog (Red Heeler), mix and he is part of our everyday learning! The children love Nugget, and Nugget lives for the children and the Farmstead. He is kept current on all of his immunizations with the Pet Vet on Patton Avenue. According to the Westminster Kennel Club, "Their intelligence and ability to "problem-solve" guarantee the Australian Cattle Dog excel in herding, obedience, agility, or as a vital family member.
Nugget is also Lauren's registered Emotional Support Animal (ESA), through the National Service Animal Registry(NSAR) (ID: D444500). An ESA provides companionship and comfort to a person to help minimize the impacts of emotional hardships. NSAR requires the dog to be able to pass the Public Access Test, which confirms the dog can; walk beside its handler on a leash without straining against the leash, sit on command, come when called, lie down on command, and show no aggression toward humans or other animals when unprovoked.
His favorite activities around the Farmstead include; greeting his friends, chasing his frisbee, joining his friends on a forest adventure, and being there for his friends when they are sad, or get hurt. When he is not working at the Farmstead, Nugget enjoys truck rides, sleeping in sunny spots, and 'pre-washing' pots and pans for his mom!