About Us

Director, Speaker, Author, Educator, Culture Catalyst

Steve has two sons, two daughters, four grandkids, a dog, and 1 cat.   The cat can be easily delivered to anyone’s house if they would like.   Steve is the Co-Director of Wild Heart Teacher and Corporate Culture/Personal Development for JRI Hospitality.  In addition to being a middle school principal and superintendent for the past 30 years, Steve is sought after to speak across the nation on issues dealing with educational and corporate leadership, employee revitalization, connection and motivation, relationships/connection, as well as culture and climate.

Steve is the author of the book, Heart 2 Heart Teaching: Building An Enduring Legacy In The Lives of Our Kids.  Educators across the nation are using this book as a support to the power of relationship on learning and life.

In his third year as a principal, Steve was named the Kansas Middle School Principal of the Year.   He has been the recipient of the $25,000 Milken National Educator Award and was inducted into a few different educator Hall of Fames.  Steve most recently served as the superintendent at Woodland Park.  Steve has devoted his time now to WILD Heart Teacher which focuses on building up teachers’ hearts, minds, and relationships to continue to make huge differences in the lives of kids and leading the nation-wide corporate culture effort for the JRI Hospitality corporation.

In 2016, Steve founded a new state student organization in Kansas – WILD. These are school clubs designed to get kids outside and engaged in the outdoors for all grade levels. WILD has taken off across Kansas with clubs in elementary, middle, and high schools across the state.  It has started in Woodland Park in a major way in Colorado.

In addition to time spent with his family, school, and speaking, Steve has been involved with “Mountain Man” reenactments, competed in the Scottish Heavy Throwing Events, and still plays on a fast pitch baseball team.  Steve has also acted in several “Focus On The Family” film bits, commercials, and has even acted in film.  Steve serves on many committees locally and nationally.

Oh… and Steve also tied for first place at his 1st grade field day competition in the 30-yard dash.  Honest… he has the ribbon and everything.  

Assistant Director of “Everything Steve Forgets To Do” 

Tami is the Assistant Director of keeping the Director and Founder of Wild Heart Teacher, Steve Woolf, in line and on task. No easy job, as many of you know.

Tami is the mom of a 21 year old son who lives in Georgia and is perusing a culinary degree. She grew up all over the country, being the Army brat of a career Army Colonel.

Having graduated in 1986 with Associated Degree in Equine Management from LCCC in Cheyenne Wyoming, she continues to fuel her love and passion for horses by volunteering with Faithful Hearts Equine Leaning Center here in Woodland Park, Colorado. This gives her a way to both train horses and give back to the community in a meaningful and life changing way.

Veterinary medicine has also been her background. Tami was a Veterinary Technician for 7 years before becoming a Veterinary Pharmaceutical Rep. Although she loved the job, she decided to become a stay-at-home mom and raise her son for the next 18 years. During that time, she volunteered at her local hospital for 11 years in a guest relations role at the front desk. This became a full-time job during Covid that eventually turned into a job as the Intensive Care Unit Secretary.

Having a love for adventure and the great outdoors, Tami also volunteers at Mueller State Park as a volunteer naturalist, leading hikes for the park and our Wild Heart Teacher groups during the year. She loves to teach people about the environment so they can connect and feel more a part of this wonderful planet we call home.

Not only is Tami’s passion for horses and the great outdoors, but also for the transformation of people. Her desire is to help people realize their gifting, uniqueness and that they have so much to offer, no matter what their journey has been.  Tami will lead our heart/mind coherence time as well.  This has been powerful for those who choose to participate.

Assistant Director & Speaker, Volunteers & Transportation

Amy Cordova serves as the Assistant Director of Wild Heart Teacher, where she is responsible for transportation and volunteer coordination while also supporting the organization’s vision, programming, and educator development—demonstrating daily that calm leadership and moving parts can, in fact, coexist. She is one of the keynote speakers at Wild Heart Teacher conferences and a seasoned public speaker at the local, state, and national levels.

Amy retired from public education in June 2026 after a distinguished career marked by leadership, innovation, and service (and an impressive ability to keep large systems running on trust, relationships, and the occasional well-timed laugh). In retirement, she looks forward to giving back by mentoring educators, supporting mission-driven organizations, and continuing to say “yes” to meaningful work that makes a difference.

Throughout her career, Amy received numerous awards recognizing excellence in education, including the Northland Excellence in Education award. She also secured multiple competitive grants that allowed her students to innovate, design, and sometimes outpace the lesson plan—further reinforcing her belief that curiosity deserves both structure and funding.

Amy was a founding force behind many initiatives within her district, including the development of a teacher preparation program that now produces “homegrown” educators serving the community. She also participated in a state-level data team initiative, helping turn numbers into insight, insight into action, and meetings into progress.

A published author in the Missouri Principals Association Magazine, Amy is currently working on her first book. A lifelong learner, she is continually seeking new perspectives, skills, and challenges—proof that retirement simply means learning without bells or passing periods.

Beyond education, Amy’s leadership extends into community and youth development. She founded a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to support fundraising for a competitive dance team, ensuring that every dancer—regardless of financial circumstance—could participate fully. She has also served as a manager for competitive soccer teams, gaining advanced expertise in scheduling, conflict resolution, and cheering enthusiastically in all weather conditions.

A mother of four and a grandmother, Amy brings a deeply personal understanding of families, learners, and community systems. An active adult who enjoys spending time outdoors, she believes growth often happens just outside one’s comfort zone—something she proved by taking up skiing for the first time during Christmas vacation in 2024 (with equal parts determination, humility, and joy).

Amy’s superpowers are relationship building and cultivating cultures where every person feels valued, supported, and positioned to succeed. Through Wild Heart Teacher, she remains committed to helping educators and communities do meaningful work together—with purpose, compassion, curiosity, and just enough humor to keep everyone moving forward. 

WHT Camp Concierge & Crags Historian

Tom is the youngest of 7 kids.  His Mother, a firm believer in the desegregation of public schools, had Tom become an unofficial ambassador of the Head Start Program. He was raised in the 3rd Ward of University City, MO. 

Tom attended KSU 1983-86 and finished the Pre-Design Profession program. He went on to work at Camp Lincoln the summers of 84-87, Andrus Children’s Home in Yonkers, NY 1987-91, and then started working at The Westchester Marriott Hotel in Terrytown, NY.  Tom then transferred to the St. Louis Downtown Marriott – serving as their concierge.   

In 1991, while working at Marriott he helped a friend get a small business off the ground, Dave’s Cast Of Characters is still in business in the Tri-State are of NY.  As part of this job, Tom played Baby Bop from Barney.  When pressed, he can still do the dance.  It is roughly similar to his attempt at Irish dancing. 

In 2005 Tom married my wonderful wife Marilyn and moved to Los Angeles CA where they still have a small apartment. Tom and his wife spend most of their year in their home in Malinao, Aklan, The Philippines. Marilyn and Tom have 7 grown children and a 12 year old granddaughter that melts Tom’s heart! 

Tom likes to tell people that he is responsible for keeping Steve in education after confiding in Tom one evening that he planned to drop out of education and move to Hollywood to be a professional rodeo clown. To this day, Steve still Thanks Tom for helping him stay focused on education. (You can imagine how much truth there is to that. ) Tom has many stories to tell – none of which are true. This will be Tom’s fourth summer in this position.

Director of Art, WHT's "Bob Ross"

Wayne is the Director of Art at Wild Heart Teacher as well as the Wild Heart JRI retreats. Wayne is also a graduate of the University of Nebraska with studies in art, architecture and engineering. He spent most of his career working in architecture ending his career six years ago as The Chief of Operations at a major medical hospital. His art career parallels many other activities and started when he was around 5 or 6 years old. Wayne’s first art class was when he was in the third grade. It has been history ever since. In addition to teaching art at Wild Heart Teacher, he also teaches at Aspen Assisted Living and other venues when they arise. 

Wayne has won awards with some of his artwork and has also had art published in newspapers, calendars and other media. He is also a past Vice President and active member of the Mountain Artists of Woodland Park. This also includes participation in many of the local art festivals and shows. Wayne has a large selection of his artwork on display and for sale at the Hunt and Homestead Marketplace and Maker Space in Woodland Park, CO

In their spare time, Wayne and his wife are also actively involved in their nonprofit business Freedomtrain Ministries, which assists married couples and individuals with gaining freedom from past trauma and negative experiences. 

Rumor also has it that Wayne has been a protege of Bob Ross. Well, you’ll have to come to one of the retreats and find out for yourself!

Speaker & Volunteer

Marilyn and Wayne Gray have no biological children but do own one very special Maltese dog (Miss Abigail Grace) who will be ten years old next year and weighs in at a whopping six pounds. They have been married 46 years and have lived an adventurous life.  Marilyn has been involved with commercial real estate, teaching at her local church, seminars, and conferences.  She is an ordained minister and specializes in helping others for the past 25 years in freeing themselves from trauma.  Marilyn has overcome much in her life – drug and alcohol addiction, skin cancer (twice), a heart attack, two shoulder replacements, hip replacement and recently a knee replacement.

Marilyn is the author of “Jewels of Wisdom,” a 365-day devotional designed to help get started with your day.  She is currently writing another book entitled “Unmasking the Heart” which deals with hurts and bondages around the heart that cause the heart to shut down because of trauma.

Wayne and Marilyn have been volunteering at Wild Heart Teacher from the very beginning – being the very first volunteers.  They love encouraging staffulty!!

Wild Heart Teacher Keynote Speaker & Author, Purveyor of Fine Karaoke 

Kevin Honeycutt is an internationally acclaimed speaker, thought leader and performer who shares big ideas on stages around the world. He is an Instagram & TikTok icon with over 60 million channel views. Legends of educational thought like: Steve Woolf, Ken Shelton, Thomas Murray, Don Wettrick, Mitch Weisburg, Miguel Guhlin, George Philhower and many more recommend Kevin for inspiring audiences and providing much needed insight in these sometimes dark times.

Kevin has worked with teachers and students in 49 states plus Puerto Rico and has delivered keynotes to audiences all over the world in places such as Norway, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Barcelona, New Zealand, London, Manila, multiple provinces in Canada and multiple cities in Australia including locations in the Outback such as Groote Eylandt. He is a husband, father, grandfather, published author, and entrepreneur. In 2021 he partnered with his wife of 31 years to start his own company, Honeycutt Consulting, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Kevin initially gained notoriety for his performances onstage at conferences and events and posted on his widely viewed YouTube channel. Kevin's success as an educator and communicator have taken him all over the world. His sought-after STEM & STEAM events can involve entire schools and leave communities with huge PR gains and long lasting school pride. His guitar lessons on Youtube have hundreds of thousands of views as do his online Drawing Lessons.

Kevin's presentations and staff development events are praised for their originality, creativity, humor and emotional impact. He weaves in his poverty informed background through his book and his personal stories that help educators see what is actually behind some of the classroom behaviors they deal with daily. 

He is careful to remain true to his "teacher" experiences and is still doing weekly substitute teacher duty in his home district in Colorado Springs.

Director of Fishing & Author

Whenever Anthony spends time in front of a crowd of adults or kids his heart goes back to a pond in New Jersey where, as a kid, he taught myself to fly fish. It was during those several years as a child, teaching himself to fly cast and tie his own flies that brought him his greatest educational experience. Applying flyfishing to life is a passion for Anthony. When he thinks back to that pond in New Jersey, he realizes he made a decisive choice to fish, mostly alone. He learned to stand, as an individual, firmly on the banks of that pond.

He took nature inside of me; the water, the fish, the trees, the bugs, as they became a part of Anthony. Nature comforted him and taught him well.
By walking the banks of the pond, casting to the fish, he learned to love my solitude. He taught myself to 'sight fish', to cast to specific fish I could see cruising along weed beds or a drop off. Many years later, as a young adult, he moved to Colorado where he learned to use similar fly fishing skills to catch trout in rivers and lakes. Those skills, including a love of the sport, allowed him to become a fly-fishing guide, which he ended up doing it for 35 years. It’s odd for him to now look back to his childhood pond as being the place where he first taught himself to fly fish and to stand as an individual and as a teacher. 

Fly fishing is a vital part of his life story that he learned to share with my students and staffulty, whoever and where ever they might be. Over the years he has taken many kids and adults flyfishing, allowing them to feel the tug of a trout upon the line.  He has done this for Wild Heart Teacher for four years.  This year will be his fifth!

Speaker  & Volunteer

Ben Honeycutt lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Natalie, and their two children, Alex and Olive. He has taught in middle school classrooms for 10 years and have spent the past 3 years teaching Yearbook, Broadcasting, and Entrepreneurial Design at Horizon Middle School in Colorado Springs.

In addition to teaching, Ben has worked in educational non-profits since 2010 and serve as the Chief of Operations for the Open World Cause (OWC). His work with OWC has led to K-12 students in the United States starting entrepreneurial projects that have led to the construction of classrooms in Kenya and Nepal. 

In 2020 Ben published a young adult novel called Bleak: A Story of Bullying, Rage, and Survival and his novel’s anti-bullying curriculum is now taught in classrooms throughout the United States. 

Ben believes students today are the most well-connected generation in human history and have the power to change the world from the screens of their devices. I work every day to help students find their purpose.  Ben has been a speaker and volunteer off and on for the past two years at Wild Heart Teacher. 

Speaker, Educator & Coach 

Kip Shubert is a speaker, educator, coach, and author from Woodland Park, CO. He has spent 30 plus years in education and dedicates his life to leading others to believe that they are the greatest miracle in the world. 12 years ago, Kip was homeless, battling addiction, and was losing it all but found his light again in recovery. Since then he has been awarded teacher of the year, coach of the year, published a book and is now speaking around the country sharing his message of resilience, grit, and leaving a legacy. He is also currently the Dean of Students at Woodland Park High School and Head Boys Soccer Coach after being recruited to Colorado by Steve Woolf 5 years ago. Kip and his wife Cindy live currently in Florissant, CO.