Originally from San Francisco, James Pewtherer, became one of the founding teachers of Hawthorne Valley School in Harlemville, NY after graduating from Emerson College in England in 1973. He took two classes through 8th grade and then taught in the high school. After working as the Eastern Regional Chairman of AWSNA and then Chair of the PSC, he returned to class teaching with a first grade at the Hartsbrook School in Hadley, MA in 2010. He joined the PSC from its beginnings in 1982.