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Faculty
Since 1982 a number of graduate students have been specially trained and certified as teachers of the Ageless Wisdom in the WMEA certification teaching program. Those who graduated from the seminary program leading to ordination into the ministry, as well as those graduates who transferred from other spiritual organizations into the WMEA leadership training program have become the faculty of the St. Sergius College. It has been 18 years in preparation, and now many of our graduates will be serving as teachers.
Joleen majored in music with a minor in psychology at the University of Iowa, and later supplemented her academic education with further training in music theory and performance at Simpson College. Joleen holds the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Divinity degrees. She was ordained into the ministry in 1981.
She is a member of the American Association of University Women and in 1993 selected as one of 2000 notable American Women in recognition of her outstanding achievements in community, state and national service. In 1994 she was awarded and named as distinguished member of Who’s Who for worldwide leadership and achievement in education.
As a professional violinist she has performed with the Asolo Chamber orchestra, the Tampa Philharmonic, the Midwest Symphony orchestra and also the Florida West Coast Symphony and has performed with well-known conductors such as Arthur Fiedler, Dimitri Metropolis, Irwin Hoffman and the composer Samuel Barber. Joleen said that she often times would take her two boys to rehearsals with her when they were at a pre-school age.
As an accomplished musician she has written several compositions for choir, with a focus on the poetry, prayers and mantrams of the Ageless Wisdom. She has also written many hundreds of articles and lectures on the Ageless Wisdom Teachings some of which will be published during the next few years.
Prior to founding the White Mountain Education Association in 1982, Joleen taught French and Spanish at the well-known Prew School in Florida and part time with the Manatee Community College while at the same time continuing her professional status as violinist with the Tampa Philharmonic and Florida West Coast Symphony.
Lewis majored in both Art and Theater at the University of Minnesota, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1972. In 1975 he received a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Florida State University. Lewis taught art at a private school in Bradenton, Florida for a year and then spent 12 years as a graphic designer/illustrator at the Sarasota Herald Tribune, functioning as the Chief Artist.
Lewis has been studying with the White Mountain Educational Association since the mid 1980’s where he studied the Ageless Wisdom through what he calls “the crown of esoteric teachings” – the Teachings of Torkom Saraydarian, Helena Roerich and Alice Bailey. In 1995 Lewis entered into WMEA’s leadership training classes where he, along with his wife Kathryn were trained in the art of personal leadership, lecturing, and teaching the Ageless Wisdom.
With the childhood influences of his father (a graduate of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts) creating drawings and paintings on the family’s dining room table, impressing the young boy with his father's attention to artistic detail and skill with an ink pen, to his Mother’s interest in the Ageless Wisdom, Lewis was raised with a foundation of beauty and the esoteric truths. Later, in his adult life, Lewis passed the influences of his early foundation and studies in the Ageless Wisdom tradition on to both of his children. He has a son who is presently attending college in Florida; a daughter who upon graduation from Emerson College in Boston, entered the professional world of video creation; and a stepson, who is presently attending Florida State University, majoring in political science.
Lewis is the head of the college of Art and Culture of St. Sergius University and Seminary, developing its courses in art and culture in both the general study as well as the more advanced courses.
After graduation from high school, Kathryn Agrell entered the world of academia attending the California Institute of the Arts, and the New School for Social Research, majoring in humanities. Kathryn’s interest in esoteric subjects began in college, a search, which eventually found her in the state of Florida registering for classes with the White Mountain Education Association. Kathryn holds a B.A. degree in World Religion. As a faculty member of St. Sergius University and Seminary Kathryn continues to enjoy writing, teaching, and lecturing on various subjects from the Ageless Wisdom.
In addition to teaching the Ageless Wisdom, Kathryn is also a well-known professional in the world of writing where her expertise includes scriptwriting, editing and proofreading.
Kathryn’s career in writing began by working first as a freelance writer for magazines and as a reporter for local New York newspapers. In her early twenties she combined her love of baseball and love of writing, creating a book outline, which she submitted to Doubleday & Co. publishers. “We Won Today: My Season with the Mets,” presented a girl’s-eye view of the world of baseball; it was accepted and published by Doubleday in 1976.
At an early age Kathryn enjoyed the beauty of music, dance and theater. During her teen years she expanded her artistic schooling adding singing and acting lessons to her instruction in dance. As a teen she began to focus her attention in the field of acting, appearing in print ads and commercials until 1971 where she landed the role of the younger sister on the ABC-TV soap opera “A World Apart.”
Tired of New York winters, she left the city moving to Florida, where she worked as a sports reporter, a freelance copywriter, as well as a daily columnist for the Sarasota Herald Tribune, a New York Times subsidiary newspaper.
Kathryn is married to Lewis Agrell, head of the college of Art and Culture of St. Sergius University and Seminary. Kathryn has a 21-year-old son, and two beautiful stepchildren.
Rev.
Valarie DrostValarie attended Manatee Community College in Bradenton, Florida, and then went on to Florida State University where she majored in Theatre Arts. After leaving Florida State, she lived and studied in Europe. Her education did not end there. Upon returning to the states in December of 1983, she soon found the Ageless Wisdom Teachings and has been a student ever since.
Her work experience has been mainly in the field of health.
Working with developmentally disabled adults volunteering as a counselor
on a Crisis Line, and presently, working in the field of Alternative Health.
She began taking classes from the White Mountain Educational Association
in September of 1984. She has participated in classes, seminars, and meditation
courses throughout the years. She enrolled in the Teacher Certification
Program and gained experience as a teacher in the Little Pilgrim’s
classes, the Teen Classes, as well as teaching adult classes and giving
lectures. After graduating from the Teacher’s Certification Program,
she enrolled in the Ministerial Program. In June of 2000 she was ordained
and now serves as an Associate Minister for W.M.E.A.
As a faculty instructor of the St. Sergius University and
Seminary program, she looks forward to the challenges and rewards of helping
other students come to know, understand, and apply the Ageless Wisdom
Teachings in their lives. She is also focused on helping degree-seeking
students earn a teaching certificate or certificate of ordination and
attain their academic goals (A.A. or B.A. degrees, Master or Doctor of
Divinity degrees, or advanced degrees in Transformational Education and
Esoteric Psychology).
Shary
Singer After graduation from high school in Virginia, Shary pursued her interest in computers, attending the Indiana College of Business and Technology . She reminds us that in the early years computers took whole floors of climate-controlled buildings where they still used keypunch machines. In fact, she says with a smile, most of her female classmates decided to continue with keypunch training as a more secure future. Since that time Shary has put her degree in Computer Programming and Systems Analysis to good use. In addition to her serving on the staff of the White Mountain Education Association as office manager, Shary is also the W.M.E.A. website designer and manager. She presently holds a B.A. degree in the Ageless Wisdom with the St. Sergius University and Seminary.
Being raised in a military family, Shary spent years in Europe and Panama while growing up. There she was exposed to cultures and peoples very different from the United States. The beauty and history of the centuries old cities in southern Europe made a great impression on her, with the castles of Spain and Germany and the abandoned bunkers and other evidences of World War II being in stark contrast. She loved to learn about history. She enjoyed studying about the ancient Egyptian culture and Greek Gods, as well as the stories about King Arthur and the old Druid beliefs. She looked for connections between the pyramids in South America and Egypt but was unable to find answers that satisfied her until she found the writings of Helena Blavatsky in The Secret Doctrine and Isis Unveiled.
Shary’s spiritual training began at an early age when her parents realized she was unable to discern the difference between the two terms “Cavalry and Calvary.” All her life Shary has questioned “truth.” She was unsatisfied with the answers from any one religious tradition; which took her into a search for the Ageless Wisdom Teaching.
After studying an introductory book to the Living Ethics, she continued her spiritual studies in depth with the writings of Manly Hall, the teachings of Helena Roerich and Living Ethics and the writings and correspondence courses of Torkom Saraydarian with whom she studied directly for several years up until his death. Her studies with the Right Rev. Saraydarian coincided with her five years of participation in the transformational leadership courses with the White Mountain Educational Association as well as many elective courses, which covered a broad range from esoteric astrology and philosophy to the history of comparative religions. She has studied with Rev. Joleen DuBois and the White Mountain Education Association since 1984.
As a member of the faculty of St. Sergius University and Seminary she looks forward to sharing what she has learned and hopes to inspire the students to look within and without for the answers to all their questions in life.
Carol
WoodardCarol Woodard earned her BA from Williams College in 1980 and her Masters in Counseling Psychology from Northwestern University in 1986. She has provided counseling services in a community mental health center, private practice, and a community college. She has also taught classes on self-image, student success, and career discovery at the community college level.
As a student of the Ageless Wisdom Teachings for 15 years, she strives to apply the principles in her daily life and work. In her teaching and counseling work she fosters healthy personality development and relationships from the perspective of the Ageless Wisdom. She has a love for sacred dance and has participated in a sacred dance group.
As a faculty member and educator of the St. Sergius University and Seminary, her greater goal is to assist spiritual seekers to build a bridge to their Soul and help them to be of greater service in their field of human endeavor.
Carol is married with three children.
Richard Woodard earned his AA from Brevard Community College and is presently completing his B.A. with the St. Sergius University and Seminary in World Religion. While attending college he became interested in different religions and understanding the foundations on which they were created. His personal search led him to the conviction that all religions and cultures are united in spiritual Brotherhood.
As a student of the Ageless Wisdom for the past 12 years, Richard’s convictions that all religion and culture are united in spiritual has been reinforced through the Wisdom given to humanity by Teachers of the Spiritual Hierarchy.
Richard continues to attend classes, seminars, and lecture in his capacity as a spiritual student of life. The Teachings of Agni Yoga, a branch of the Ageless Wisdom have become an integral part of his life. He finds nature a great teacher and enjoys hiking when time permits.
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