Gretchen has been with Avalon since the beginning. She has a license in the field of Language Arts and a Masters in Experiential Education. She continues to teach writing seminars, but has moved out of an advisory position and has been working as one half of the Program Coordinator since the fall of 2006. She continues to work three days a week so that she can volunteer at her sons' school and be involved in their school life.

Before coming to Avalon, Gretchen taught Language Arts at the Teen Pregnancy Program in Anoka. She also spent two years teaching English on a very small island in the Caribbean as a Peace Corps Volunteer. During those fantastic years, Gretchen found time to continue her Spanish studies, play on a women's basketball team, and compete in mountain bike races. Mountain is in italics there because the highest point on the island was only a couple hundred feet above sea level!

Outside of work, Gretchen is part of a group called the Amish Envy Club- a crew of four families who help each other out on home improvement projects and share in some delicious potluck meals when the work is completed. During the summer she escapes with her family for a week at Camp DuNord, a YMCA family camp outside of Ely. She also enjoys eating fresh veggies from her garden, going to her book club, and competing in the odd triathlon. She does not enjoy training for these events, however. Since 2005, she has served as the co-coordinator of the Croixathlon, a sprint triathlon event that raises much money for her old camp, YMCA Camp St. Croix.