I have been an educator since 1994, teaching, leading, and writing curriculum across K–8 schools. Whether in the classroom or as a school principal, I’ve always believed that education is about more than academics. It’s about nurturing whole children. In every setting, I’ve worked to create learning environments where students feel safe, valued, and deeply engaged.

Over the years, I’ve developed project-based, constructivist curriculum that brings big ideas to life. From co-designing workplace learning programs for high schoolers to crafting rich, integrated units for elementary classrooms, I’ve always preferred to write the materials students truly needed. And at the heart of my teaching, always, were read alouds that opened the door to authentic conversations and meaningful connections. Even my middle schoolers loved story time.

Co-creating Wildhaven Tales is a way to put that kind of connection into the hands of other educators and families. These stories reflect the curriculum I wished I’d had when I was teaching, and the lessons I believe every chilI’ved deserves. 

Outside of work, I love spending time with my daughter, two spirited dogs, and one very opinionated cat. Look out for their antics in Wildhaven Tales.

Hello! I am Yara; artist, photographer, writer, mother, nature-lover, advocate, and teacher. I earned my Multiple Subject Teaching Credential in California and spent years teaching grades 1–4, where my classrooms were always filled with art, music, and joy. I created and implemented language arts, math, science, music, and art curriculum, and used Responsive Classroom practices to weave social–emotional learning into everyday teaching. I saw firsthand how relational, heart-centered learning could transform classroom culture.

As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse in a school setting by a trusted teacher, I know all too well that most children are harmed by people they know. That experience gave me a deep conviction that education must be part of the solution. I wanted to build the very resources I wish I’d had as a child, the tools that so many of us desperately needed but never received.

In recent years, I became an advocate for child safety on a national scale. I worked with Keep Kids Safe to co-create the U.S. National Blueprint to End Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents, a survivor-led initiative that addresses prevention, healing, and justice. As part of a coalition including The Brave Movement, 1 in 6, SNAP, Together for Girls, and The Army of Survivors, I helped represent this blueprint at the White House and on Capitol Hill to a bipartisan task force.

Wildhaven Tales grew from my belief that prevention must begin early, in ways that are gentle, empowering, and joyful. It brings together my background in education, my love of art and storytelling, and even the antics of my two cats, Lestat and Nadja—whose “consent skills” are still a work in progress. These stories are deeply personal, inspired by real-life moments with children and infused with the hope that every child will grow up protected and empowered.