Anne Rubin (pronounced Roo-bin) describes herself as a “school nerd.” Seeking the opportunity to try and “create [more] threads across experiences,” Rubin has taken on the role of the Associate Head of School. Ms. Rubin has lived in California, Michigan, Minnesota, and Chicago. She has been an English teacher for 13 years and an administrator for eight years, with five of those coming as a dean at the Upper School. What brought her into Blake was the “language” of aspirational growth, saying “the culture of teaching and learning is really strong, and so the desire to [professionally] [grow] as a teacher, [is] absolutely part of the culture here.” Rubin’s favorite movie is “Beasts of the Southern Wild” about a community in Louisiana after a disaster. Quang is her favorite place to eat in the Twin Cities, and her favorite ice cream flavor is pistachio.

Director of the Office of Equity & Community Engagement Amber Buck, known as Amber to students, has always been involved in education. She’s spent the last three years working at Washburn Center for Children with other therapists. Previously, she worked as a supervisor for residential advisors (RAs) at several college campuses, including the University of Oregon, University of Vermont, North Dakota State University, and the University of Minnesota. Her reason for returning to school: “I missed students.” She explains, “[Coming from] working on college campuses, students are super creative, smart, and they help you keep up with technology, TV shows and music. I missed interacting with students.” Outside of education, she has several other passions, including theater and coloring. “I was a theater major for two and a half seconds…I like coloring, even as an adult. It helps me calm down after a long day.”

New school counselor Tammi Harmon (Mrs. Harmon to students) has been working in education for thirty-three years, and has lived in Minnesota her whole life. She is currently working in Minneapolis Public Schools, but has been coming to Blake once a week for fourteen years. She explains, “I’m actually still a Minneapolis Public Schools employee, but all of us counselors are assigned a non-public high school.” She was drawn to education because she enjoys “working with students and watching them learn.” She described Blake as “a really neat place” and likes the diversity and the curriculum. Harmon describes herself as a dedicated “movie buff,” enjoying older romances such as “Steel Magnolias” and “Dreamgirls.” Her favorite place to eat in the Twin Cities is Manny’s Steakhouse. She also loves music and her favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate.

English teacher Katarina Fernandez grew up in Sacramento, California before attending Brown University. Fernandez spent her first two years as a teacher at John Burroughs School in St. Louis, Missouri. Fernandez wanted to become a teacher because of her experiences as a tutor. “[I’ve always] loved working with students,” Fernandez said. Continuing at a smaller school was important to Fernandez. “[I liked] working in a small independent school that was academically rigorous [and cares] deeply about its students,” Fernandez noted. He was also attracted by Blake’s values and the emphasis that the school places on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Aside from teaching, Fernandez has had a pet cockatiel bird named Romeo for 15 years. She’s also made an effort to see a variety of birds as she enjoys counting birds in the wild. So far, she has seen a tufted puffin, Atlantic puffin, and a horned puffin.

Deserea Lampe-McCoy is the new Senior Seminar Teacher and the Senior Program Coordinator. She says, “Teaching is my second career, and I had an experience where I was helping a young person out and I had kind of a lightbulb moment. I realized I had the power to influence in a positive way and I wanted to do that for the rest of my life.” Before coming to Blake, she worked at Lakeville North High School for several years as the debate coach. Prior to her educational career, she worked in real estate for five years. Lampe-McCoy gravitated towards Blake for several reasons: “I vibe with the philosophy of equity at Blake and the commitment to excellence. Over all of the schools I’ve ever taught at, I admire the sense of community here,” Lampe-McCoy said. Lampe-McCoy’s favorite film is “Pulp Fiction” and her favorite ice cream flavor is pistachio. She just got married on Saturday, August 17!

Bethany Winter is the new Librarian. She has been in education for 14 years and in Minnesota for the last 12 years. She was swayed toward being a librarian because “I have always been drawn to libraries, and I thought that would be safe, and I thought I could help people.” One of her favorite authors is Ron Rash, who “writes about Appalachian culture…and he is from Appalachia, so it feels authentic when I read his fiction.” This is vital to her because “Being someone from Appalachia, I have had to fight against the stereotypes of being a hillbilly or not being that smart my whole life.” When she reads Rash’s fiction, she says, “I feel like I am being seen.” Finally, if you are looking for a great book to read, she suggests “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver, which won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and is based off of Charles Dickens’ novel “David Copperhead.”