Our 24-25 new staff come to FBRA with a wide array of talents and experiences. We are thrilled to welcome them to our salamander family.
Grant DeNies
Grant will be returning as a full-time staff member after filling in at the Boys Program while Program Director Felix Dowsley was out on parental leave. Students and staff benefitted from Grant’s Spanish Language expertise, ability to mentor students in personal growth, and community-centered work at the school last year. He is enthused to take on the challenge of preparing seventh and eighth graders to achieve Spanish I proficiency as they enter high school. Grant’s teaching experience at the Alzar School, Hawk Circle Wilderness Education Camp, and Putney Student Travel have prepared him to be an excellent FBRA teacher. More About Grant.
Alessia Faverio
Alessia will be teaching 7th-grade science for the Girls Program. She comes to FBRA with a strong background in outdoor education, experiential education, and facilitating personal and community development. After graduating from Warren Wilson College with degrees in Biochemistry and Outdoor Leadership, Alessia worked as a river specialist and instructor for North Carolina Outward Bound School and then later as an adjunct professor for whitewater canoeing at Warren Wilson College. Recently, Alessia has worked as a part of Epic Kayaks, a surfski company out of Erwin, TN to educate folks on ocean kayaking and manage distribution/marketing for the east coast of the United States. She is an ACA Level III surfski instructor and has a strong background in kayak racing- she was on the US Senior Wildwater Team from 2015-2020 in women’s K1 and was the first person to paddle the length of the Chesapeake Bay in a surfski. Alessia values a compassionate learning environment and looks to get people on the water in whatever capacity is comfortable for them!
Britt Payne
Britt is returning to FBRA to teach our new 8th-grade Earth and Environmental Science course for the Girls Program. She taught Biology during the 2022-23 year and then spent the past year guiding whitewater kayaking trips in Ecuador and Colorado. We are delighted that she has chosen to return to her Salamander community for the upcoming year. Britt graduated from Western Carolina University with her Bachelor’s degree in Geology and a focus in Hydrogeology. She is also the lead instructor at Endless River Adventures, an internationally renowned whitewater instructional and expeditionary program, where she has extensive experience teaching young kayakers.
