Introducing Our New Faculty and Staff!

June 29, 2015

Emily Owen
Science

MS Antioch University – Environmental Studies
BS Cornell University – Natural Resources

Emily loves learning, teaching, and participating in a school community. In class, she challenges students to discover the relevance of science in everyday life and to learn about the world by asking questions and solving problems using a scientific lens. Emily’s first love is the outdoors, and a few of her adventures include canoeing the Wilderness Waterway in the Everglades, a 30-day mountaineering course in Alaska, and hiking the Superior Hiking Trail. Her biggest adventure, so far, has been foster parenting for six years and adopting her three amazing kids.  She moved to St. Louis in 2013 to be closer to her extended family. In addition to her children (age 12, and 5 year old twins), Emily shares her home in Maplewood with a wonderful dog and two very affectionate cats.

Ron Robinson
Music

MA Webster University — Orchestral Conducting
BA Webster University — Horn Performance

Born and raised in St. Louis, Ron has studied orchestral conducting, choral conducting, and composition in the States and in Europe. He’s had the opportunity to travel to Florence, Italy and Vienna, Austria for additional studies and conducting. An accomplished pianist, Robinson is fluent in jazz and classical styles. Ron is currently a freelance conductor/composer serving as music director for various theatre companies in the St. Louis area. Ron is also a freelance composer and has performed with Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina in Florence, the Webster University Symphony, the Webster Chamber Orchestra, Wichita State University Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, the St. Louis Philharmonic, and the Vienna Horn Society. He also helps care for his two younger brothers, filling any spare time with their musicals, plays, soccer, and lacrosse — or just watching Netflix and snacking. He is very excited to join the Crossroads family and share his immense love of music.

Julia Batz
Science 

MAT University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — Secondary Science
BA Saint Louis University — Biology

Julia grew up in Albuquerque, NM. Julia moved to Saint Louis for college where she studied biology at Saint Louis University. She graduated and moved to North Carolina where she worked as an environmental educator. It was here that Julia fell in love with teaching. She completed the Master of Arts in Teaching program for secondary science at UNC Chapel Hill. Since graduating, she has taught a wide variety of high school science classes including Anatomy, AP Biology, and Physical Science. Her love of students, science, and learning together is obvious to any who meet her. Julia’s favorite animal is a hippopotamus; her favorite color is green; and if she could have any superpower, she would pick teleportation.

Amy Enkelmann-Reed
Fine Arts

MFA University of Iowa — Painting
BFA University of Oregon

Amy has been an art educator for 20 years. For college, she followed her dream to go west to Oregon and then moved down the coastline to Oakland, California, inspired by the painterly light and vibrant art and music culture. After years of exploring the Bay Area, she returned to the Midwest for her MFA. She met her husband there, and together they moved to Chicago where she taught at Columbia College and DePaul University. Amy returned to St. Louis when her oldest daughter was born and held a lecturer position in studio art at Webster University for fourteen years. She was invited to teach middle school art at St. Cecilia and fell in love with the energy and enthusiasm that middle school students brought to her art class. Amy has exhibited her work at the Sheldon Art Gallery, Philip Slein and Bruno David Gallery as well as other local and regional galleries. She enjoys camping with her husband and two daughters, yoga, biking, and keeping up with their small urban farm in Maplewood.

Mary Crawford
Math

BA Xavier University Cincinnati – Business Administration, Marketing
AA University of Cincinnati

Originally from Cincinnati, Mary moved to St Louis with her husband, David, in 1993.  Mary is rejoining the professional work environment after a 15 year hiatus raising her daughter and as an avid volunteer and tutor. She has over 20 years experience as a math tutor and a substitute math teacher. She has a passion for learning, teaching, and advocating for her students.  Her daughter has been a student of Crossroads for 3 years and will graduate in 2018.  When Mary isn’t tutoring, or being fascinated by all things mathematical, or volunteering you can find her in the kitchen creating recipes, gardening, reading, playing golf, or dabbling in interior design.

Corinne Groark
Director of Admission
BA Baylor University–Journalism and Sociology
MSW Boston University–Clinical Practice

Corinne is a social worker and a writer. Her clinical specialty is urban adolescence and community health. She facilitated admissions at City Garden Montessori Charter School, managed the Teen Pregnancy Center at Barnes Jewish Hospital, and taught at The Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. Before starting her MSW, Corinne worked in community relations at Saint Louis University Hospital and the Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. In addition to loving the Crossroads school and community, she is excited to bring her interview, assessment, writing and communication skills together in one place. Corinne is mesmerized by the sociology of groups and ethnobotany, loves to swim, read, and knit, keeps bees, makes journals, and hopes to learn to play the guitar. She and her partner David Blank live in South City with their three children, two dogs, and a spotted gecko.

Kim Townsend
School Director

MAT Webster University – Multidisciplinary Studies
BS University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Human Development and Family Studies
Teachers Certification – Mathematics Teacher – Grades 5-12Kim joined the math department at Crossroads in 2013 and began her tenure as School Director in 2015. A Chicago native, she moved to St. Louis in 2003 as a member of the national teaching corps, Teach for America. She has since made St. Louis her home, teaching and leading in various public schools prior to joining the Crossroads faculty. Kim and her husband, Everett, are proud parents to a beautiful baby girl, Erin Denise. When Kim is not sharing her love for Algebra, you can find her spending quality time with family and friends, attending classes and handling operational tasks with Townsend Defense, or plotting how to take over the world.