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Maine Local Living School
nurturing the human-earth relationship
Board of Stewards
Lēza Packard is the founder and Head of School of the Ecology Learning Center, a charter public school in Unity, Maine. She began teaching over 25 years ago with Teach for America. That experience sparked a passion to expand and enhance learning opportunities for youth wherever she has lived. Lēza completed her bachelor’s at University of California at Davis and master’s in environmental education at Prescott College in Arizona. She has taught every grade from preschool to college, in a range of subjects from middle school science to high school French & Spanish. Most recently she was the director of the Outdoor Classroom at Chewonki and education director at Morris Farm in Wiscasset.
Erica Luce DiSilvestro is a second grade teacher at Kingfield Elementary School. She received her undergraduate degree in education with a concentration in social sciences from Castleton University in Vermont. Erica’s passion is helping young learners discover themselves in the place where they live. She is the lead coordinator of the second through fourth grade outdoor learning program. She also co-creates and implements the PLACE (Personal Learning And Community Engagement) Time Curriculum at Kingfield Elementary. Outside of her work, Erica loves the forest and rivers. She is a Ski Patroller at Sugarloaf and a Whitewater Maine Guide. She spends much of her time outdoors exploring the place she loves with her two dogs, son and husband.
Jill Lee is a high school math teacher at Maine Academy of Natural Sciences (MeANS) and the author of the children’s book Little Sunny Makes Kimchi with Halmi. After living in South Korea, Oklahoma, and Los Angeles, Jill landed in Maine in 2010 to attend College of the Atlantic. Since then, she has led a far-reaching career exploring education, graphic design, social justice, and agriculture. At MeANS, she has been connecting students with Maine Local Living School since 2024 to discover the relationship between natural cycles and their everyday learning. In her free time, Jill enjoys gardening, cooking, playing music, and making pottery.
Clara Kazarov is a maker of beautiful things, Jill of all trades, busy bee, fearless friend and lifelong ally. She spends most of her time as a chef, builder, teacher and artist. Her chosen profession is helping her friends accomplish their dreams. When she isn’t riding, quilting, looking at bugs or telling stories she is probably rereading Lord of the Rings and memorizing binomial nomenclature. She has worked extensively with Bread and Puppet Theater, has a BFA in woodworking and loves the quiet awe found in the everyday more than anything. Clara has worn many hats over the years at Maine Local Living School, including apprentice, builder, and teacher.
Richard Hunt is a life-long advocate for sustainable, small-scale agriculture with strict animal compassion standards and organic farming methods. He was a fourth generation dairy farmer who received a degree in agriculture from Vermont State University. Hunt pursued a career in agri-business that included industry facets of food production, distribution, food safety standards, and operations. Over a 40-year career, Hunt developed a business acumen that led him to executive leadership roles in several national corporations. He was a founding member of the management team for Pineland Farms Natural Meats, and later served on several advisory boards, advocating for fresh food distribution in urban “food deserts.” An avid outdoorsman, he resides in an off-grid log cabin in close proximity to MLLS.
Grant Hawkes developed a fascination for wild spaces and old time skills early on growing up in Maine. He completed an apprenticeship at MLLS at the age of 15, and since then his love of natural places and the process of transforming natural materials has continued to grow. Grant has worked for various companies as a guide and trip leader, including Mahoosuc Guide Service and Kroka Expeditions. He has a degree in Recreation Resource Management and Folklore from Utah State University. When not wandering the nearby mountains, Grant can be found in his workshop, making spoons and turning bowls on a foot powered lathe.
Dr. Andrew Barton is a forest and fire ecologist, science writer, environmentalist, and professor of biology at the University of Maine at Farmington. His current research takes him to the Arizona mountains to better understand forest recovery after wildfires in a warmer and drier world, as well as to the Sky Islands of southwest Texas and northern Mexico. Drew’s book, The Changing Nature of the Maine Woods, tells the story of how the forests of Maine have changed over the past 10,000 years and how they are changing today. He is also the co-author of Ecology and Recovery of Old-growth Forests in Eastern North America. Drew is also helping confront climate change through his work with the Governor’s Climate Council of Maine and the Ecological Reserve Program.
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