Project Description
Linda Lewis started the Early Childhood Program at Harmony and has remained a teacher there since its inception in 1993. Born and raised in Brown County Indiana, Linda currently lives just a couple blocks from Harmony with her husband and two children. Linda values play-based learning all the way through Kindergarten and advocates for preserving early childhood as a time for joy and discovery.
Adam Lehman, 1st & 2nd grade teacher, was born and raised in Indiana and has made Bloomington his home since 1999. Upon his completion of an education master’s program at Indiana University, he was very grateful and excited to become a part of Harmony School. He sincerely appreciates the strong community and unique learning opportunities that Harmony provides. In his spare time he enjoys reading, listening to music, making things, daydreaming and spending time with his wife Hannah and two sons Henry and Teddy.
Elaine Bonadies, 1st & 2nd grade teacher, was born in Chicago, but has lived all over southern Indiana, landing in Bloomington in 1999 for college at IU. Elaine met an amazing guy, Matt, in Bloomington in 2009, and Monroe County became their permanent home. Elaine and Matt have two amazing kids, and they love traveling as a family. Elaine also enjoys snuggling on the couch under blankets with her kids and two kitties or listening to audiobooks while driving in her car. She also enjoys working at Toy Chest in Nashville when she’s not teaching. She has taught at Wonderlab, with English Language Learners, and with many students, before and after school.
Todd Riggins, 3rd & 4th grade teacher, has been teaching elementary students since 2008 and has been at Harmony since 2017. He was born and raised in Bloomington and loves getting out in the beautiful nature of Southern Indiana. He has three children at Harmony; Evelyn, Sam, and Oliver. His family enjoys reading, swimming, hiking, camping, and canoeing. He loves music and enjoys sharing his love of knowledge with his students.
Noelle Wanchic, 3rd & 4th grade teacher, is a Bloomington native. When she’s not teaching she likes to spend her time playing music (catch her locally with band Hazy Hollows), creating art, getting out in nature, traveling, and spending time with her kiddo. Noelle has worked in education for over two decades in special-education, Montessori schools, Rainbow/play-based pre-k, and outdoor leadership from Montana to North Carolina to sweet home Indiana! In addition to her course work at Warren Wilson College and IU, Noelle has a variety of specialized certifications in Special Education (STAR, LAMP), Interventionist training, early childhood methodology application, Nature-Based Teaching and Social-Emotional Artistic Learning. Growing up in one of the longest sustaining intentional communities in the nation (May Creek Farm) is a point of pride for Noelle and an experience that instilled in her a deep valuing of community connection and stewardship of the land. Noelle is happy to have found a school that supports whole-child education, community engagement, and values social conscience. Her son has been attending Harmony since 2020 with Noelle joining the teaching staff in 2022.
Leora Baude, 5th & 6th grade teacher, worked as a journalist, writer, and editor before becoming an educator in 2018. She has worked at Harmony in several positions, as well as MCCSC and The Bloomington Project School. She has two teenaged sons and a beloved niece who all had wonderful, life-enhancing experiences at Harmony. A born Bloomingtonian, she loves Jimmy Carter, ecological gardening, old houses, and fat Victorian novels.
Rindi Baildon, 5th & 6th grade teacher, is originally from Michigan, but has spent most of her career teaching overseas in Israel, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Panama and Singapore. Her husband, Mark, a professor in the School of Education at IU led her to Bloomington where she is grateful to have found her way to Harmony School, and team teaching with Leora. Besides traveling and embracing new and different cultures, Rindi loves learning about nature, photographing nature, and just being out in nature! She and Mark have two children; Brady, a social studies teacher in South Korea, and Taylor, an astrophysicist in California.
Jamie Schmiechen teaches English and theater. He grew up in San Francisco and attended Lick-Wilmerding high school where he learned to rock climb and make things out of wood. In 1997 he received his B.A. in English and Film-Studies from Colorado College, a small school in Colorado Springs. He lived in Austin, TX and built houses for a year before returning home where he taught Language Arts in San Francisco public schools. He moved to Bloomington in 2006 with his wife Sarah to raise kids and tomatoes. The kids, Jacob and Hannah, turned out well. He hopes to imbue his students with an appreciation of vivid stories, passionate arguments and homemade food.
Martin Medicus, mathematics teacher, grew up in Spencer and came to Harmony as an 8th grader in 2004. After he graduated in 2009, he went to Hampshire College in Massachusetts where he double majored in mathematics and anthropology. He returned to Bloomington for a master’s program at IU SPEA, completing the dual degree program in 2017 with a MSES (Masters of Science in Environmental Science) in Energy Technology, and an MPA (Masters of Public Affairs) in Policy Analysis. While at IU, he took on several teaching positions, including undergraduate statistics and graduate applied calculus. He has filled the High School science position on two different occasions, once in 2019 and once in 2022–for one semester each. While at Hampshire college, Martin also joined a circus group and performed around the state and in Germany during his semester abroad.
Ava Clouden, Administrative Assistant, is originally from rural Pennsylvania. They moved to Bloomington in 2013 to attend Indiana University, where they studied Anthropology and Religious Studies with a minor in Gender Studies. They are an enthusiastic movie-goer with a particular interest in films where people have long conversations; an optimistic GoodReads goal-setter who loves to cry; and a humble enjoyer of flowers in any variety of formats.
Dayton Gobert, Facilities and Property Manager, has experience in many fields of work including agriculture, painting, carpentry, and coaching youth sports. He enjoys solving problems, both big and small, which is why his role at Harmony fits so well. Spending time with his family, being outdoors, and playing golf or video games bring him the most joy outside of his work life. His goal at Harmony is to be a good steward of the property, and have it remain a source of pride for the neighborhood and its occupants.
Olivia Throckmartin, Development Coordinator, is originally from the Chicago land area. She first attended the University of Indianapolis where she joined their Speech and Debate team and won multiple national titles in 2020 before transferring to IU. She graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Arts & Humanities after interning at Pallas Projects/Studios art gallery in Dublin, Ireland. Olivia has a passion for the arts and experience acting both on stage and on screen. When she is not traveling or here at Harmony, she works as the Director of Marketing for Bloomington Bagel Company.
The National School Reform Faculty organization is a professional development initiative of the Harmony Education Center in Bloomington, Indiana. NSRF trains educators around the world to use protocols and activities in the development of Critical Friends Group® work which seeks to empower educators to create meaningful learning experiences for all, by collaborating effectively in reflective democratic communities that foster educational equity and social justice.

Harmony School is upheld by talented and dynamic faculty and staff that come together to create an open, welcoming community and to cultivate a unique, creative, and flexible environment for students. We work collaboratively with our students to achieve outstanding results.
Interested in joining our beautiful team? Review our current job openings to see if there is a place for you.
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