Hejsan!

My name is Mx. Thyme Masters, and you can call me whatever you feel most comfortable with. I use exclusively they/them pronouns. I’m originally from Portland, Oregon, where I was involved with the MESD Outdoor School program for several years teaching botany and hydrology to 6th graders, and double-majored in Architecture & Construction at Benson Polytechnic. I served during this time also as classroom mentor for TechGeo, TechAlgebra, Biology, and F2LL courses, during which time I initially found my passion for teaching in STEAM.

From Portland, I was recruited to Ashland, Wisconsin to attend Northland College, the environmental liberal arts college and home of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute. During my time at Northland I worked with the Department of Public Instruction as a WEOP Mentor, Interned in the Office of Admissions, supervised library operations, and was a long-standing Director & P.R. Manager of Publications. I also spent a considerable amount of time as a teaching assistant to Native American Arts & Cultures courses, as lab consult for Aquatic Invertebrates courses, and as a research assistant looking at chromosomes in pre-bloom angiosperms. 

I have formally taught several subjects (integrated STEM, Alt-Ed, Aquaculture, Silviculture, Biology I-II, Chemistry, Physics, Earth & Space Science, Physical Science, and English) at several levels (4th-12th) in Ashland, Washburn, Bayfield, and Hudson, WI, and at Internationella Engelska Skolan i Jönköping, Sweden.

When not in the classroom, my list of hobbies and interests is broadspread: I am an amateur fiber artist, basket weaver, dungeon master, tennis player, graphic designer, archivist, origami folder, printmaker, typographer, cartographer, interior designer, book collector, movie watcher, concert-goer, and perplexus ball roller, while yet a professional Rummikub player, wilderness first responder, and copyeditor.

I am delighted to join your family at Upper Mississippi Academy and to advance our mission of interdisciplinary integration using project-based curricula. It is exciting to have found such a welcoming community that is firmly grounded in community-based mindfulness practices, and I hope always to learn with you. In future years I am keen to introduce novel elective courses that partner our middle schoolers with our high schoolers in STEM projects.

Med vänliga hälsningar!