About Us

George Cook

George manages the Community Based Learning program at U32.  In addition to CBL, George is responsible for teaching Financial Literacy and "Inc" here in East Montpelier.  "Inc" is short for Incorporated, which is U32's Project Based Learning course with an entrepreneurial theme.  George lives in Montpelier with his wife Carrie and children Cameron and Alex.  In his free time he enjoys running and being active.

Karen Liebermann

Karen coordinates the Branching Out Program and co-teaches Changemakers.  She feels very lucky to have been included in the visioning stages of Branching Out when it was founded in 1999 by community members, and to have helped it evolve over the years.   Karen's passion is helping students follow their interests, and figuring out how to create out-of-the-box learning opportunities.  

Karen and her family live in E. Montpelier, on an overgrown homestead with way too many projects. When she isn't milking goats, she loves hiking and traveling and long walks on beaches.

Amy Koenigbauer

Amy runs the Pilot Program and has been involved with personalized learning since the program's inception in 2011. She became an educator in 2007, following two amazing art teachers that she had growing up in the Detroit area in the 80s & 90s. 

Amy and her family live in Montpelier, Vermont. They like to dance, sing, play music, and create many different things. Creativity plays a key role in her life and she enjoys traveling to seek out new experiences. Bringing new understandings back home has helped her become a better teacher. Amy believes that giving students more autonomy as they grow revolutionizes their education and makes a more empathic world. 

Liza Semler

Liza is the Work-Based Learning Coordinator, and a former U-32 Branching Out student.  She has been a documentary photographer and educator since 2005, working with students all over the world developing experiential learning opportunities. At U-32 Liza works closely with the team of personalized learning teachers to develop, coordinate, implement, and assess a range of community-based and work-based learning opportunities.

Liza lives with her husband and 3 daughters in Moretown and enjoys hiking, playing ice hockey, reading and traveling.