Community High School

Beth O'Shea: Head of School
As a lifelong Nashvillian, she attended Walter O. Parmer Elementary School; The Harpeth Hall School; Vanderbilt University, B.A, Magna cum Laude, 1973; George Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, M.S. Ed, 1978; and Belmont and Tennessee State Universities for advanced licensure.

Beth began her career in education in 1973 with the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools at Carter-Lawrence Middle School as a sixth grade teacher and reading specialist. After thirteen years of general education experience at Carter Lawrence and Rose Park Middle Schools, she joined the districts team of specialists in gifted education. In 2005 she retired from Metro Schools as Coordinator for Gifted Education where she developed and supervised a programs serving over 2,500 students annually.

Beth and her husband, Ross, have been married for over 30 years. They live in Nashville with their dog, Jacqueline, their cat, Sadie Hamm, and six fish, and as many flowers as she can plant in her yard. They have two adult children. Their son, Casey, lives in Washington, D.C. and is a political strategist. Their daughter, Carley, is a medical student at the UT Medical School in Memphis, TN.

Erin Daunic, M.Ed.: Director of Advancement & Student Services
After receiving her Masters of Education in Human Development Counseling at Vanderbilt University and completing an internship at CHS, Erin joined the staff as the counselor in 2000. In 2001, Erin left the school to start a family and returned to the CHS trenches in 2003. For Erin working with the Camels is a daily gift. "These kids are living proof that hope and courage matter. They are heroes to me. I absolutely love what I do."

Erin lives in Nashville with her husband, Will, and their two children, Evans, who is 5 and her brother, Mahoney, who is 2. Erin totally digs being their mom.

Our Staff

Ted Cowdrey: Math Teacher
Community High School provides an opportunity for Ted to use a combination of all the skills he gained as a past employee of General Motors while giving back to society. "My son graduated from CHS. It was an opportunity for him that made a tremendous difference in his life. Being a part of this school has greatly enriched my life and I look forward eagerly to each day here."

Jason Glassman, M.A.: English Teacher

Tommy Kramer: History Teacher
Born in Paw Paw, MI on May 1, 1957, he was raised in Rochester, NY and moved across the country three times before the age of 5. After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School he picked up his travelin' shoes again to attend Dominican College in San Rafael, CA earning a B.A. in History. He is married to Pam Volk and has three stepchildren, Malina, Jonathan and Nathanael. Nathanael and his wife Kristin have two children, Helena and Xander. Tommy's daughter, Anna, and her husband are new parents to Keanna. Tommy loves being a grandfather.

Lenny Harris: Office Manager
After graduating with Honors from Brentwood Academy in 1993, Lenny attended UT-Martin on a football scholarship. There he received a Bachelor's Degree in Business Admistration with a concentration in Marketing and graduated in the Fall of 1997. Lenny brings 7-years accounting experience to the job. He joined up with the CHS Camels in September 2006.

Louis Levine, M.Ed.: Science Teacher
Louis is Nashville native who has been teaching science for almost thirty years. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and later completed his Master in Education at Belmont University. Louis spent much of his career as a museum coordinator, both at the former Cumberland Science Museum and at Grassmere Wildlife Park. Louis is an enthusiastic proponent of hands-on learning and integrates experiments, field trips, live animals and natural history specimens into his lessons.

Jane Livingston Howerter: Creative Arts Teacher
Jane is thrilled to be back teaching Creative Arts. She has a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Music Performance. Once she fell in love with singing, acting and dancing it took her a while to merge her creative loves together. She experienced the co-mingling of all the arts in college and has spent many years teaching creative arts, private voice lessons, as well as singing opera and choreographing many musical productions.

Jane loves to encourage the creative talents and passions teens and it is her hope that each CHS Camel will continue developing these talents. She thinks that creative highs are some of the best things in life.

For her personally, Jane's sons, Michael and Patrick, also rank in the "best things in life!"

Karen Moran, LADAC: Counselor
Karen Moran is a licensed alcohol and drug counselor who has worked in the counseling field since 1989. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Florida Atlantic University and became licensed in Tennessee as an A&D counselor in 2002. Prior to joining the CHS Camels, she was a counselor at Cumberland Heights in the residential youth program for 5 years and a school-based counselor at the Alcohol & Drug Council of Middle Tennessee for 5 years.

On a personal note, Karen is orginally from south Florida, but has lived in Middle Tennessee since 1996. Karen is also the mother of Kate the Great, her two and half year old daughter and wife to Ronnie.

Melissa Snider: Spanish Teacher
Melissa was born and raised in LaCrosse, WI. She moved to Nashville in 1998 and earned her Bachelor's Degree from MTSU n 2003. Her major areas of study were Spanish and secondary education. Melissa loves the Spanish language and brings that enthusiasm into the classroom. The quality relationships that are built through the community and recovery environment at CHS ringher much joy.

She became Mrs. Jeff Snider on August 18, 2007.