ABOUT US » FACULTY/STAFF PROFILES

Kiyo A. Morse, Head of School

Mrs. Morse, who has been Head of School since its founding in 1981, holds BS and MS degrees in Population Genetics and Immunology from the University of California, Davis. Her experience as a research scientist at the University of California and with the Swiss National Red Cross in Bern provided her with the expertise to serve as a science mentor for gifted students in the Plymouth-Canton Schools. She served for three years on the steering committee of the Plymouth-Canton Association for the Academically Talented (PCAAT).

As a mother of three gifted daughters, she saw a need for programming that was not available to them through other schools. In 1981, she founded Steppingstone School for Gifted Education with the mission of giving gifted students an opportunity to have the type of school experience most other children have – with curriculum and pacing designed for them and delivered by teachers that understand them. Further, she wanted gifted students to have an opportunity to develop friendships with other students their age. She had learned through experience and literature that gifted children need other children of similar intellect to provide the groundwork of similar interests and perspective, which are the basis for the development of satisfying relationships and friendships.

Having observed and listened to hundreds of students over the years, Mrs. Morse has gained deep insight into how gifted children think about themselves and their world. She helps shape each child’s Steppingstone experience to meet the child's needs and goals.

In addition to all the responsibilities of daily and long-term school operations, she attends a wide variety of seminars and workshops on gifted education, nationally as well as locally. She is active with organizations focused on supporting gifted children and all of the areas of their development, and she is particularly interested in the social and emotional aspects of child development. Mrs. Morse currently serves as Secretary of the Michigan Association for Gifted Children (MAGC) and Chair of its Nominating Committee.

Personally, Mrs. Morse has also been active in the performing arts community. She was a violinist with the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra for over 25 years and served for six years as President of its Board of Directors.

Sandra Blay, Business and Facilities Manager

Mrs. Blay received her Associates Degree in Small Business Management from Schoolcraft College. Mrs. Blay was active in the PTO and served as a substitute secretary and as a teacher’s assistant in the Clarenceville School District as her two children were growing up. Prior to taking on the bookkeeper position at Steppingstone, she was a Secretary, Office Manager and Bookkeeper at various area corporations. Mrs. Blay belongs to Faith As One Volunteers, an organization that feeds and clothes the homeless. She also helps prepare food baskets and helps clothe the homeless. Mrs. Blay is also currently on the Board of Directors of her condominium association.

Donna Coffin, Admissions Director, Special Programs Director, Office Manager

Since being hired in 1984, Mrs. Coffin has taught all grades at various points in her Steppingstone teaching career. She received her BA in Elementary Education as well as her MA in Classroom Instruction from Eastern Michigan University. Before teaching at Steppingstone, she taught four years with the Wayne-Westland School District and also privately tutored. She is a Steppingstone board member and has served as Steppingstone's Faculty Chair and as the Teacher Service Committee representative to the Association of Independent Michigan Schools (AIMS). Donna shares her experience with teachers and parents in recognizing and accepting children wherever they are, academically and socially, and in consistently raising standards to help students attain their goals. She is a devoted advocate of collaborating with students and their parents to make the most meaningful and supportive changes.

Jason Roder, Special Assistant, IT Specialist

Mr. Roder graduated with a BS in computer science from Wayne State University. In addition to maintaining all databases, he also assists with office and building and grounds tasks. He is an alumnus of Steppingstone.

Heather Gutterman, Elementary Teacher (Kindergarten through Grade Five)

Mrs. Gutterman joins the Steppingstone faculty after more than a decade of experience in gifted education, pre-kindergarten through grade eight. Her prior positions included instruction of grade four through eight gifted students attending the Summer Institute for the Gifted at the University of Michigan. Mrs. Gutterman also attended the University of Michigan as a student where she received her BA with a concentration in English literature and her MA with a major in language arts and a minor in science. She is very excited to be in a school that matches her own interests and talents. In addition, she is the founder and instructor of a school for Western Martial Arts.

Keiko Morse, Pre High School Teacher (Grades Six through Eight), Faculty Chair

Miss Morse is a graduate of Steppingstone. In addition to her MA in School Administration from the University of Phoenix, she received her BA and teaching certificate from Hope College in Holland, MI where she majored in science and math, earned her teaching certificate, minored in fine arts, and was named to the Dean’s list for four years of her attendance. Her college curriculum was supplemented with dance (ballet, jazz, and ballroom), theater management and technical assistance, intramural sports, and responsibilities as a resident assistant for three years in her dormitory. In 1994, she developed the Steppingstone Summer Day Camp program and directed it for 10 years. She joined the Steppingstone faculty in 1998 and taught for three years before accepting the challenge of a grade three and four classroom in Savoonga, a northern Alaskan town on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Straits. While there, Ms. Morse served as the chair of the School Improvement Committee, Senior High School Advisor, Cross Country Ski Team Coach and Volleyball Team Coach. In 2003, she returned to teach the Pre High School class at Steppingstone. She currently serves as Steppingstone’s Faculty Chair and ISACS Committee Chair. Her hobbies include kayaking, reading, cross-stitching, and gardening.

Shari Dudek, Social Studies and Science Instructor

Shari Dudek earned her BA with a teaching certificate from Madonna University with majors in English and Elementary Education. Ms. Dudek taught K-2 for 4 years at Steppingstone before taking a break to raiser her own children. Other teaching experiences include pre-school and religious education as well as an ongoing participation at Steppingstone as a substitute teacher. She returned this year to teach part-time as the Social Studies and Science instructor for K-3, the early elementary students.

Shari finds creative expression in drawing and beadwork as well as serving as a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator. She loves to read and is a big fan of the Harry Potter books, teaching our Potter’s Portkey, 2011 summer camp session.

Mary Gage, Art Instructor

Mrs. Gage is a candidate for teacher certification and holds a BFA in painting and printmaking from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She worked as an arts administrator for over 20 years, exhibited locally and throughout the Midwest, and her work is represented in several private collections.

She interned at Steppingstone in the spring of 2007 and has been an instructor at our Summer Art Camp as well as a counselor for several other sessions. In the area of language arts, (reading and writing) in particular, Mrs. Gage has had the leadership position of training volunteers and WSU student teachers in reading tutorial programs in both the Detroit and Pontiac public schools.

Valerie Hadrot-Portes, French Teacher

Ms. Hadrot-Portes is a native speaker of French. Her lesson plans and training have been through Language Adventure. She started teaching French language and culture to Gr K-8 in a private American school and went on to the French School of Detroit where she taught Gr K-1 under the guidance and requirements of the French Ministry of Education. Ms. Hadrot-Portes has also presented workshops targeting specific issues such as vocabulary, phonetics and articulation. Her teaching goals include autonomy and confidence in speaking French through discussions about French habits, customs and traditions and through reading and comprehension workshops in French.

Philip D. "Reef" Morse II, PhD, Computer Instructor

Dr. Morse received his BA and PhD from the University of California at Davis in Zoology. He then did four years of post-doctoral studies in Physical Biochemistry (2 years in Switzerland and 2 years at Pennsylvania State University). He was an Assistant Professor of Biology at Wayne State University, and was then recruited to run the electron spin resonance research lab in the MD-PhD program at the University of Illinois. After joining the Chemistry Department at Illinois State University to teach and do research for a number of years, he retired from ISU as a Full Professor in 2001 with over 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications to his credit.

Since then, Dr. Morse taught the Pre High School class at Steppingstone for two years and now teaches computer classes at Steppingstone. He has founded and is now developing the Steppingstone MAgnetic Resonance Training (SMART) Center as its Program Director. He has served on Steppingstone’s Board of Trustees since 1981 in various capacities. In addition, Dr. Morse runs Scientific Software Services, the world’s largest supplier of aftermarket software and hardware for Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectrometers.

Jerzy Radz, Fencing Instructor

Maestro Radz, the 2004 Midwest Fencing Conference Coach of the Year, has been the head coach of Wayne State University men's and women's fencing programs since 1991. Prior to WSU, Radz was the head coach of the University of Wisconsin-Madison men's and women's fencing teams for one season when they won the Big Ten Conference Championships and finished 10th in the nation. In his time at WSU, Radz has coached eight individual national champions, produced a number of NCAA Midwest Regional Champions, and coached 48 All-Americans.

Being no stranger to the sport himself, Radz has over 30 years of coaching experience in all weapons and has been active in organizing and conducting youth fencing programs that have developed world-class fencers. Radz earned his master's degree in physical education from the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland.

Oliver Thompson, Music

Mr. Thompson received his BA in music composition from Oakland University in 2005. In 2004 he was awarded the Matilda Wilson award for "Outstanding Student in Composition." At Oakland his primary instrument was jazz guitar and, in addition to his classical compositions, he composed and performed in the big band, the jazz improv ensemble, and the jazz singers. He began teaching private guitar, piano, and composition lessons in 2002 and in 2006 began working as a substitute teacher for music theory, ear training, and piano classes at St. Clair Community College in Port Huron, Michigan. He has also worked as a music instructor at the American Music Academy, and more recently at the School of Rock in Rochester, Michigan. Mr. Thompson's work at Steppingstone began in the summer of 2009 with the "Music + Computers = Fun!" day camp.

Mieko O. West, Japanese Instructor

After nearly thirty years of teaching experience in Japan and the United States, Mrs. West joined our faculty as a Japanese teacher. Her goal is to use her experience and recent course work in Japanese pedagogy to conduct interesting and interactive lessons. Mieko received her Associate of Arts Degree in piano from Uno Gakuen University in 1977 and completed the Japanese Pedagogy, Intensive Course, from the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan in 2007. In addition, she is contracted by Yazaki Corporation as a Japanese instructor and currently teaches Japanese to our Pre-High School students. Mieko resides in Ann Arbor with her family.