Forest Friends Staff
Megan Recupero
Director
Tuesday/Thursday Co-Teacher
After teaching 3rd grade (indoors) for 11 years, Megan transitioned to teaching children ages 18 months to age 8 outdoors and writing curriculum for Tinkergarten. Megan also taught STEM and robotics classes for kids PreK- 8th grade and science preschool. She holds a MEd in Elementary Education from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA and a BA in English from Middlebury College. Her time with Tinkergarten and teaching preschool contributed to her philosophy that young children learn best through a play-based approach that allows them to guide their learning with support from teachers and the environment.
Growing up in Vermont nurtured Megan’s love for spending time outdoors and on farms. She lives in Arlington with husband and two sons. Her favorite outdoor activities include cross-country skiing, sailing, paddling, and gardening.
Sadie Brown
Monday/Wednesday Co-Teacher
Sadie is entering her 5th year as a youth educator at Wright-Locke Farm (she also leads caregiver-child Sprouts classes, Friday PreK groups). She is thrilled to become a Forest Friends teacher this year alongside the wonderful educators who taught her daughter during her years as a Forest Friend (2021-2023). Sadie is deeply grateful for the passion she developed and first-hand knowledge she gleaned spending her early childhood in the woods and fields of Vermont being raised by an avid natural history educator (author and photographer, Mary Holland, of Naturally Curious blog and natural history books). For many of her young adult years, Sadie pursued studies in neuroscience and public health. But the great outdoors and farm-based education lured her back into their fold through beekeeping, urban gardening, CSA farm work and beyond. Sadie has spent many of the past 18 years as a farm to school and nature educator. She is most at home when outdoors connecting young people with a sense of awe and reverence for the natural rhythms and myriad of expressions of life happening in their local green spaces. Sadie brings an ecological justice perspective to her role as an educator, and believes that learning to perceive and live one’s life as one of many coexisting in a vast interconnected world of living beings (most of whom are not human) begins at a very young age through building a respectful, curious and wondrous relationship with the land and its many inhabitants.
Sadie lives with her blended family of 5 (plus a dog and a gecko) in Melrose and loves to walk in the woods in all seasons and weather (aspires to backpack more of the AT), cook farm fresh ingredients with and for others, plant garlic in the fall, go on bicycle rides with her family, and recently rediscovered the joy of creating wheelthrown pottery.
Sarah Phoenix
Monday/Wednesday Co-Teacher
Sarah joins Forest Friends as a parent alumni and advocate of nature-based play and learning; this is Sarah’s third year with Forest Friends. Her family has been part of Forest Friends since its inception, and she is enthusiastic to support the program and the amazing opportunities it provides its community.
Sarah’s love of nature started with her own childhood of exploring and learning from the conservation land and farms she grew up around. As a parent, she has devoted her time to exploring the outdoors with her two daughters and integrating nature-based learning into their lives.
Sarah enjoys road and mountain biking, swimming, skiing, hiking, tennis, yoga, and spending time with her family. She also coaches soccer and cross country skiing, holds a B.S. from the University of Vermont (UVM), and lives in Arlington, MA.
Bryan Morales
Tuesday/Thursday/Friday Co-Teacher (September – December, 2025)
Bryan is originally from Los Angeles, California, ancestral home of the Tongva. His ancestors came from Mexico and Europe. Despite being an only child and having pretty limited exposure to the natural world, he eventually became a full-time outdoor educator.
Bryan has been involved in outdoor education for the past 13 years. Much of his experience has been doing experiential education and expeditions with adolescents for Outward Bound (OB). After moving to the Boston area several years ago and becoming a stay-at-home parent, he began a process of becoming rooted to this place, though he still works for OB (most recently in Costa Rica).
Thanks to countless magical and impactful learning experiences in the woods with his older daughter, he decided to pursue early childhood education as a career. In the past year, while pursuing a degree in said field, he has worked at Waldorf School of Lexington, LexFarm, and Boston Outdoor Preschool Network. Bryan is passionate about learning from the Land, i.e., Indigenous perspectives on place-based education, and child-led education.
In his free time, Bryan enjoys running, gardening, surfing, and pretty much any active outdoor pursuit you can think of and being an awesome father to two incredible girls.
Jen Taber
Friday Co-Teacher
Jen’s Bio is coming soon!
Maggie Del Re
Forest Kindergarten Teacher
As a child who enjoyed hiking and running through the woods, Maggie found a love for nature and a curiosity for science at an early age. When they grew older and learned about the effects human actions can have on the environment, their love for the outdoors evolved into a passion for environmental justice and sustainability. They found their niche in outdoor education when they began teaching after-school programs for Wright Locke Farm’s youth programs department while also working as an undergraduate teacher’s assistant at Brandeis University, where they became fascinated by pedagogy and understanding how different people learn.
After completing their bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, Maggie continued teaching farm after school programs while teaching at the Boston Outdoor Preschool Network. They are thrilled to be returning to Wright Locke Farm with the Forest Friends team for another school year! Maggie is also the Youth Programs Assistant Manager where they work collaboratively to create and implement outdoor curriculum. Maggie hopes to help facilitate kindness, a lifelong love of learning, and a passion for protecting the valuable wonders of the Earth in all of their students.
In their free time, Maggie loves playing guitar, singing, and traveling.
Ian Miller
Forest Kindergarten Teacher
Ian’s background in outdoor education began as a summer camper in 2006. From an early age he aspired to be like the educators who taught him. Now, after a decade of working and teaching at summer camps with kids of all ages Ian is delighted to join Forest Kindergarten! Ian has a degree in Community Education and Social Change and a minor in Natural Resource Conservation from The University of Massachusetts Amherst.
When he is not at Wright Locke Farm, Ian also coaches Cross Country and Track and Field at Arlington High School. During his spare time Ian enjoys running, hiking, spending time with his two cats, playing frisbee, listening to and playing music, and visiting his friends.
Elaine Anderson
Director of Daily Operations
Elaine’s Bio coming soon!
Sarah Doyle
Education Director
I am thrilled to be returning to support the Forest Friends team. I have enjoyed seeing our Forest Friends flourish in this amazing place. My role is to support the families, the teachers, and our Forest Friends. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to reach out.
I am the Education Director at Wright-Locke Farm where I work closely with Youth Programs, Adult Education, Interns and Enrichment as well as with Forest Friends. I continue to be an adjunct professor of Education and Sociology. In some form, I have been an educator for over 25 years because I always love to learn! In my freetime, I’m an avid runner, spinner, and hiker; I love to practice yoga and meditate; and books still captivate me (especially while lounging on a hammock); and I LOVE to travel. I’m a mom of 3 BIG kids, a dog and a couple of cats.