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Zeba and Rusty Savage
Co-Founders
We started as friends and colleagues at Crenshaw High School, and evolved into a family of unschoolers. Five years into our learning journey together, we, with our children, opened the Savage Learning Environment as an expansion of our unschooling journey and as an invitation to our neighboring families to learn in community. We are humbled and grateful to be in our 20th year of marriage and our 4th year of hosting this village learning space for many beautiful humans of all ages.
Zeba Savage
Co-Director and Learning Facilitator
As a leader, I am often listening, observing, relationship-building, questioning, imagining, researching and resourcing, creatively designing and reflecting. While the heart of my time is spent with my family and our learning environment, I also coach and facilitate courses for homeschooling and unschooling parents, and I facilitate CGI (Cognitively Guided Instruction) professional development for LAUSD elementary school educators in partnership with the UCLA Mathematics Project. I treasure years of many lovely memories with the teenagers and families from my public school teaching career in the California cities of Richmond and Los Angeles. In my alone time, I am tending to my garden, relishing moments of quiet, cooking up a storm, walking in the fresh air, or staring at the birds.
Arnold "Rusty" Savage
Co-Director and Learning Facilitator
I am a former public school teacher in History, Special Education, and Career Planning, with a degree in African American History from the University of New Mexico. My professional career spans a wide range of interests and expertise, from being the proprietor of Speezy Art Gallery and Little Ethiopia Herbal Healing Center, to working as a grip technician on various films and shows, including How to Get Away with Murder and the Spiderman series. I am an avid reader of history and philosophy and a music lover. I am down to play chess anytime, and I believe that there is no distance too far for me to walk.
Arnold Savage
Environmental Flow Facilitator
Stephen Redman
I am an active community member with a background in music and education. I am the Director of Education at Project43LA, and I provide security with WeAreAfricaTown Coalition for local activist groups such as Downtown Crenshaw and African Village Vendors Association.
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I do a lot of community outreach as a member of the Los Angeles hub of Black Men Build. I also attend and volunteer at the Second AME Church where I do video and play drums. I grew up in South LA, attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and returned to the home I love. I am dedicated to keeping my community thriving.
Kira Buckley
Collaborative Volunteer
I’ve been a holistic health practitioner and spiritual healer for over a decade. As a former High School and College English professor, I expanded my passion into the field of nutrition consulting, reiki and shamanic energy healing, meditation, and breathwork; which is what led me to pursue an Integrative Medicine degree in San Diego, CA, and Austin, TX - with a focus in acupuncture and clinical herbal therapy.
I am currently cultivating my beautiful life as a clinical herbalist, writer, and small business owner between California and Costa Rica with my partner and two daughters; facilitating self-care retreats, offering private healing sessions to corporate and small business individuals, holding sacred space for healers and creatives, providing Concierge Doula services to wild and wise mamas and embracing the alchemy of life as an authority on intentional joy and blissful living...daily.
Arnold Savage
Gabriela Sailes
Adminstrative Support
I bring the human touch to the technical aspects of the operation. When you email the Admin account, you're speaking with me! You can catch me around SLE but mostly I'm behind the scenes working directly with parents and charter schools.
Since my previous career was centered around business and administrative management, it was a natural transition to move into a field that is not only my niche, but one that is making a difference in children's lives. I am so fortunate and blessed to be in the company of such amazing people, both young and old! I fully believe that children are our future and need to be provided a safe space where they can explore their own selves and flourish as they grow into confident, courageous free thinkers. That is what we provide here at SLE.
Tyler Morgan
Collaborative Volunteer
I am a Serenity Specialist. As a licensed massage therapist, with extensive training in herbalism and dance, I harmoniously fuse together massage therapy, medicinal movement and herbalism to support people in their journey of ease and wellbeing. I am a mother of one. I was raised as a care taker; from supporting my great grandmother in the social and emotional development of the foster children in her care to supporting my mother with the operation and art curriculum for her small childcare business.
My BFA degree is in photography from the School of Visual Arts. Attending art school provided me with the opportunity to develop a unique lens of self awareness and an appreciation for the insightful power of connection and collaboration.
As a Montessori educator at Casa de Paz Montessori, I led movement, gardening, and apothecary classes and was the Guide for the Spanish Immersion classroom. While there, we extensively trained on the core principles of the Montessori pedagogy and Conscious Discipline - a method based on the brain's need for safety, connection, and problem solving. This means of discipline empowers us to teach children from a young age effective ways to name their emotions, gain tools for regulating them and develop compassionate problem solving skills. It is my passion to support the social and emotional development of children.
McKenna Anderson
Learning Facilitator
I am a licensed physical therapist with 13 years of experience, specializing in myofascial release and pelvic floor therapy. I obtained my master’s degree in Physical Therapy from Cal State Long Beach. In addition to my clinical work, I teach fascial energetics both in person and virtually, and I organize wellness events and retreats. My passions and interests include being present with nature, traveling, interior design, art and music, and restorative yoga.
Tasha Grimes
Learning Facilitator
Drawing and painting has always been my first love. In college, I took up graphic design as a sensible and safe creative job. I did that for years and made a good name for myself locally, helping many businesses with branding and logos. I even got some national coverage for a logo I created for a restaurant featured on The Food Network. I also landed in many fashion shows with designs of my own line and many other clothing lines in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. As part of a city plan to revamp downtown Louisville, I had the honor of creating murals for Jefferson Technical Community College and for Change Today, Change Tomorrow, a Black-women led nonprofit organization dedicated to making change in education, food justice and public health.
Over 7 years ago, I started sharing my creative joys as an Art Instructor for numerous organizations and school districts including JCPS, LAUSD, LBUSD and CUSD. Through art and creative healing sessions, I get to support the youth in protecting their inner creative child. I love opening avenues for them to speak their intelligence as conscious and radical creatives.
Arnold Savage
Learning Facilitator
William “Mayseo” Mays
At the age of 7, after watching Ed Sullivan on black and white TV, I knew I would be a magician and travel all over the world. My dreams came true when serving in the U.S. Navy on the 7th Fleet and doing magic for orphans. Then, I became the opening act for Zola Taylor Platters, the #1 group in the world at that time. Along the way, I have traveled the world over and returned with a “bag full of tricks” from Osaka and Tokyo, to Aotearoa (New Zealand) and the Philippines.
In 1990, I started performing at Marla’s Supper Club owned and operated by Marla Gibbs. In 1996, I collaborated with other national and international stars of magic to form Magical Voyage Productions, and with the help of Ms. Gibbs, the first “ABRA KADABRA” THE MAGIC SHOW, was performed at the Vision Complex Theater in Leimert Park in February 1998. Along with many other performances throughout my life, I am currently enjoying my membership at the World Famous Magic Castle in Hollywood.
I have facilitated magic classes for thousands of young people in LAUSD classrooms, and I am honored to be in learning with the children and families at Savage Learning Environment.
