Board of Trustees

Walt Bowser Treasurer 11/2009	Walt is a business consultant to companies undergoing dramatic change situations. His consulting experience covers a variety of industries including aerospace, manufacturing, technology, and real estate. Walt is a CPA, having started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and was there for 13 years providing audit and consulting services to companies. Walt also developed and taught classes at PwC professional learning events. Walt is a strong believer in the Montessori method, having put both his kids through Montessori programs. Walt was raised in southern California, obtained a B.A. degree in Economics from USC and a MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.
Robert Carson Vice President 11/2009	Robert is a Professor in the College of Education, Health & Human Development at Montana State University and serves as Director of the Northern Plains Transition to Teaching program. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1990 in Educational Policy Studies and Philosophy of Education. He served for eight years as the Department Head in Education at MSU and has taught courses in Educational Psychology, Social Foundations of Education, and the History & Philosophy of Education. He is married, with four children ranging in age from 7 to 20. In preparing new teachers, he presents the theory and practice of Marie Montessori as an example of the masterful decoding of cultural tools for children, and as an example of getting the social and emotional conditions of learning correctly aligned with the needs of children. He writes, “Teachers serve as stewards of humankind’s two greatest treasures, our intellectual cultures and our children. Their work is of supreme importance.”
Nancy Characklis 8/1997	Nancy is the founder and directress of The Learning Circle Montessori School Early Childhood Program and the founder of The Learning Circle Montessori Elementary School/Bozeman Summit School. Nancy worked at the School of the Woods, a Montessori school in Houston from 1972-1979. In 1977, she and her family spent a year in Switzerland where she taught in the Intercommmunity School in Zurich. She has more than 30 years experience as a Montessori teacher and administrator and three years experience in the public schools of Connecticut and Ohio. She graduated from Towson State College in 1964 with a Bachelor's degree in education and earned two credentials from the American Montessori Society for preprimary and elementary. Nancy also founded and was The Head of School at The Learning Circle Montessori Elementary School/Bozeman Summit School from its inception in 1997 through August of 2003.
Susan Dana 1/2009	Susan is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Montana State University’s College of Business. Prior to assuming that position in 2006, she was a tenured Associate Professor at the College teaching primarily in the areas of law, negotiation and international business. She has also served as a visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Montana School of Law; law clerk to Judge John Larson in Missoula; and associate at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering in Washington D.C. where she focused on corporate, securities and international trade law. Susan holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School and B.A. in Classics from Brown University. She grew up in Washington D.C. and the Netherlands, where she attended a Montessori school for first through sixth grades. She and her husband Andy have a daughter, Bonnie, who graduated from BSS in 2012.
Sue Deyo Secretary 2/2009	Sue and her husband, Tom, are the parents of one current Bozeman Summit School student, Jalen, and one graduate, Chase. Sue grew up in Tucson, Arizona and attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She graduated with a degree in Political Science and English. Sue began a career in human services nearly thirty years ago and then moved into the information technology field shortly thereafter. For the last fifteen years, Sue has worked as a project manager and business developer for Northrop Grumman in Helena, Montana providing technology solutions to state governments in the public health and human services areas. Sue has also served as the president of the board for another Montessori school in Bozeman. Sue enjoys camping, golf, scuba diving, traveling, photography and sports.
Jeff Kreutz 1/2011	Jeff and his wife Becky have served on the Bozeman Summit School Marketing Committee since 2010. Their daughters, Abby and Reilly, are students at BSS. Jeff has been a software executive at several companies during his career, including Siebel Systems, RightNow Technologies, Oracle and currently at MarketLive. Jeff has a B.A. degree in Psychology from DePauw University and a MBA with concentrations in Marketing and Finance from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Jeff’s favorite past-time is skiing with his family.
Shaunna Kersten 3/2012	Shaunna is an adult nurse practitioner at the Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic in Bozeman. Shaunna received her undergraduate degree from St. Mary’s College and her Master’s from the University of California San Francisco. Shaunna and her husband, Bill Haff, have two children who are both graduates of Bozeman Summit School. Her son, Cody, now attends West Point and her daughter, Kersten, is a senior at Bozeman High School. When her children were students at BSS, Shaunna served in many leadership roles. She chaired the Parent Group Organization, participated in various school activities with an emphasis on fundraising and served on the Board of Trustees from September 2005 through December 2008.
Karyn Spear President 11/2008	Karyn joined the Board after serving on the Playground Committee for two years. She is the mother of one current Bozeman Summit School student, Ben, and one graduate, Colin. She and her husband, Rex, have lived in Bozeman since 1993. Karyn has been a diagnostic sonographer for over 20 years, and enjoys trail-running, hiking and drumming with a local performance ensemble in her spare time.