New Teachers - 2010

Tristan Clifton, Music Teacher (Moshi Campus) Dear Members of the International School of Moshi Community, We have been asked to provide a brief biography for you as one way in which you can begin to know a little more about us. My academic history includes a BA degree in Drama and Speech with a Masters Degree in Education. I am a certified elementary classroom teacher as well as a qualified school administrator. Both of the certifications are held in the state of California in the USA. My career in education began in California as a classroom teacher and soon transitioned into an administrative post. Amelia’s academic background includes several Bachelors Degrees, a Masters in Education as well as National Board Certification in the USA. She also has training and work experience as a speech pathologist in Portuguese from Brazil. My first international experience was in Saudi Arabia where I worked for six years. This was followed by a nine year working experience in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which is also where Amelia and I met. From Rio we moved to Alexandria, Egypt for four years and have been working the last six years in Helsinki, Finland. We have two children, actually young adults who are both in university. Tatiana is in university in London while Felipe is attending class in Southern California. We remain close thanks to the internet and SKYPE talking daily as though we were all still in the same house. I have always had a favored physical activity in my life. The activity itself has changed with place and time. The activities I have favored include open ocean outrigger canoe racing off the California coast, distance running, and volleyball. Since Amelia and I met, we have shared learning karate and scuba diving. The current favored activity is indoor rowing. With our own machine we can workout when we have the time and we don’t have to worry about a gym or special hours. I hope to have passed my 5,000,000 meter mark by the time I arrive in Tanzania. We hope this gives you a small idea of some of the experiences that have gone together to make us who we are today. We are extremely excited about the prospect of becoming members of the ISM community. At the time of our visit we felt very welcomed, almost as though we were returning to a place we had been before. We look forward to learning more about the school, its practices and traditions and are eager to contribute to the next page in the history of ISM. We look forward to seeing you again in August. Bob & Amelia Woods

Maggie Dobson, English, Drama and Theatre teacher; Maggie is British Greetings, Sawubona, Salut, and Jambo everyone. Ashley and I are the only Swazis living in Sri Lanka at the moment. Both of us are very excited about joining ISM in 2009 and being back on our home continent. About me..... I am presently teaching Performing Arts and English at The Overseas School of Colombo in Sri Lanka. Before that I was at Waterford Kamhlaba UWC Swaziland also teaching PA and English. I really enjoy sports and will swim, run and cycle anytime. Next year's Kili half marathon is already in my diary! I look forward to seeing East Africa and learning some Swahili.

David Glazier, Visual Arts teacher. David is British. Hi, my name is David Glazier. I'm from Gloucestershire, England and am currently working at Wymondham College in Norfolk. I have lived and taught in India at the International school Bangalore for 2½ years where I benefited from the fantastic community spirit and also learned to enjoy a spicy breakfast. Before working in India I worked at Penketh High School just outside of Manchester. I like a game of football, going trekking, camping and am looking forward to the Kilimanjaro marathon. I love painting and photography and at the moment I'm working on a piece to enter into the Royal Academies Summer Exhibition. Prior to teaching I worked as a freelance Graphic Designer. During this time I illustrated clothes, produced brochures, posters and T-shirt Graphics. I have a BA honours in Graphic Design and a PGCE in secondary Art. I love teaching and am very much looking forward to meeting the students and staff at International School Moshi.

Patricia Hermes, History Teacher, IB Diploma Coordinator. Patricia is from the USA. Hello everyone! I will be coming to Moshi from Lima, Peru and am looking forward to living under African skies. I have been working internationally for almost my entire teaching career, living in Venezuela, Chile, Poland and Peru. This will be my first ever assignment in Africa and I feel privileged to be offered the opportunity. Everyone I know who has spent time in Tanzania has said how wonderful it is, so I am looking forward to experiencing the country for myself as well as sharing the experience with my daughter, Hannah, who will be a D1 student. Although I grew up in the mid-west of the USA, I earned my BA in history from the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating, I entered the world of advertising working for a small firm in San Francisco. I quickly advanced at the agency, but felt less than satisfied with the work. I had a classic 'is this all there is?' moment on my commute home one day; watching one of my projects (a Macy's newspaper insert), being trodden upon by an array of passengers while it blew down the rain-soaked aisle of the bus, I realized that I needed something more. I gave notice the next day and a month later started the graduate program in education at UC Santa Cruz where I earned my teacher certification. I taught in Boston for a year before heading overseas and haven't looked back since! While overseas, I continued my studies earning an MA in International Education from Framingham College in Massachusetts. I am excited about joining the ISM community, in particular, because of the extensive community service program that the school has developed. CAS is my passion - I worked closely with Habitat for Humanity in Poland for years and can't wait to undertake my first 'hard labor' project in Tanzania! When not working, I enjoy undertaking hard labor of my own: I recently purchased a 100+ year old farmhouse in Maine that I am in the process of renovating. I also enjoy gardening, read extensively and practice yoga. Until August!

Cindy van den Heuvel, P5/6 Teacher. Cindy is from South Africa. Ni Hao from overcast and rainy China. I was born in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up on a chicken farm/racehorse stud. After working with racehorses for two years, I decided to study teaching and trained to become a teacher at Cape Town Teachers' training College. My first teaching position was in Umtata in the then Republic of Transkei. I remember being excited that the school had children from 34 different nationalities.. Since then, I have taught in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Angola, New Zealand, Korea and China. After being away from Africa for 10 years, I am definitely ready to return. I have taught PYP for 5 years and couldn't believe my luck when I saw that ISM had a vacancy in the PYP area. I had earlier identified ISM as a school I'd most like to teach at, so this is truly a dream come true. I have three children, Kerri, Tony and Siobhan. Only Siobhan will be accompanying me and she'll be going into Grade 9, or M4 as you call it. Kerri has already completed university and has a B.Visual Arts, and is currently teaching at an English language school in China. Tony completes Grade 12 this year and is hoping to be accepted into the International Hotel School in Cape Town. I'm not really a city person, and enjoy spending time in the outdoors and exploring new places. I enjoy cooking and when I discovered I couldn't buy sausages in China, started making my own, so I guess sausage-making can be listed as a hobby. Besides painting the odd picture when I'm in the mood, I also write books and have published two books already. Sioban loves drama and music and I have to say that I think she has a lovely voice. Siohan is also quite a fluent Chinese speaker and picks up languages very quickly. She also enjoys taking part in MUN conferences. Although she takes part in most of the school's sporting activities, I'd say that Siobhan was more into cultural activities. She does help me make sausages though. Both Siobhan and I are really excited about moving to Moshi. We really feel that it is a wonderful opportunity for both of us.

Lindsey Hicks, P1/2 Teacher. Lindsey is from the USA. Theron Tate, PE Teacher, Sports & OP Coordinator. Theron is from the USA. Hello Everyone! We could not be more excited for our move to Tanzania. We hail from opposite sides of the United States. Lindsey from Rochester, NY and Theron from Port Angeles, WA. Our paths crossed when we were both teaching on the island of Maui and we will be married in New York on June 20th. We both share a passion for the outdoors and everything athletic. Theron played collegiate tennis, loves to run, enjoys all sports, and is a crazed Seattle Seahawk (American Football) fan. Lindsey also was a college tennis player, marathoner, and avid hiker. We both spent the fall working for the Obama campaign in Florida and currently are located in Seattle. Professionally Theron spent five years teaching Physical Education and Health in Hawaii. A great deal of his summers were spent commercial fishing in Alaska and coaching baseball and tennis. Lindsey's teaching career has taken her from elementary education in the Bronx, to ESL in Vermont, to Special Ed in Hawaii. AloHa until then!

Kelli Holm, P3/4 Teacher. Kelli is from the USA. Eric Schlapp, ESL Teacher, Eric is from the USA. Hello, our names are Kelli Holm and Eric Schlapp and we're going to be the P3/4 teacher and the ESL teacher, respectively, at ISM (Moshi Campus) next year. We are both from Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. and married there seven years ago. Right after getting married, we moved to Bonn, Germany, where Kelli taught fourth grade at Bonn International School for two years and Eric worked as an in-class special needs aide. After two years in Germany, we moved to Tokyo, Japan and have lived there for almost five years, working at Tokyo International School. Kelli was the Grade 4 teacher for three years before becoming the full-time PYP Coordinator, the position she's currently in. Eric is the Grade 6 Math teacher and Middle School EAL teacher. Kelli received both her Undergraduate (Anthropology) and Graduate (K-8 Teaching) degrees from the University of Washington and Eric received his Undergraduate degree (Psychology and Sociology) at Western Washington University and his Masters (TESOL) at Temple University. Our hobbies and interests are varied. Kelli loves writing poetry, traveling, learning language, photography, dancing, singing (much to the chagrin of her students and husband!), cooking and reading. Eric is an avid sportsperson and loves playing American football, basketball, and baseball. He's even willing to give Cricket a try! He also enjoys traveling, writing our humorous travel journals, and eating (whereas Kelli is a vegetarian, Eric eats whatever she doesn't!) While we've lived in Tokyo, we've started an ice cream business, selling homemade sorbets, gelato and ice cream to the staff and parents at the school. We've also created archival projects of some of our friends and families' lives, which involves making movies, scanning old photographs and creating a narrative book about their life, in order to pass down to future generations. We've been very busy these past five years! Since accepting the jobs at ISM, our excitement about joining the school community and living in Moshi has continued to grow, and we now carry a perpetual giddiness around with us! We look forward to taking advantage of all of the life experiences that living in Tanzania affords and we simply can't wait to meet all the students, parents and school staff at ISM. Best wishes for the rest of this school year and we'll see you in August.

Leif Hopkins, Ecosystems & Chemistry Teacher and Boys Boarding Parent. Leif is from the USA. Hi, I'm Leif. Like the explorer Leif Erickson, also known as "Leif the Lucky", I feel lucky to be coming to teach IB Environmental Systems and Societies and Chemistry, as well as serve as a secondary boarding parent in Moshi! I am passionate about science and the environment and am eager to guide students' inquiry and raise our environmental awareness. I was born in Vermont and had the opportunity to live and study in Ecuador, Egypt and Malaysia. During the summer, I work for a public conservation agency on Martha's Vineyard, USA. I kayak to barrier beaches, spearfish, garden, practice gamelan music and catch swell off the occasional tropical depression let loose from the West Coast of Africa. Since my first experience visiting Tanzania via safari, now almost a decade ago, I have completed a BS in Marine Biology from UC Santa Cruz, trained as a scientific diver in California studying Kelp forest ecology, Invertebrate Zoology, Marine & Plant Botany and Conservation Ecology. While completing an MAT in Science Education at Plymouth State University, I learned wilderness first aid, conducted mycological research and hiked the White Mountains to study the region's geology and natural history. I am actively involved with conservation work helping to preserve and protect natural areas and endangered species. I have experience organizing volunteers for a university's field research station, supervising property attendants who promote environmental awareness and chaperoning IB environmental science field study to a marine protected area. When I am not kayak fishing, snorkeling, surfing, hiking, or foraging for wild edible mushrooms, I like to play basketball, soccer, swim and bike. I look forward to joining the ISM community of life-long learners.

Paul Johnson, Technology Teacher. Paul is from the UK. Hi, I'm Paul I trained in the UK as a teacher in Secondary Design and Technology. I have been teaching MYP Science and Technology in Norway for the past 2 years with the long dark winters and short bright summers where it's a touch colder, ok, a lot colder than Tanzania. I lived in Zambia next door to Tanzania for a couple of years when I was younger and it's had a lasting effect on my life, so the chance to teach and live in Tanzania and to give my family the same opportunities I had can't be missed. We're an Anglo-Polish family, my wife Magda and I have 2 girls: Marika nearly 3, and Milla nearly 1. As a family we enjoy walking and travelling, enjoying the outdoors, BBQs, cooking and having fun. I'm looking forward to working at ISM.

Jeff Mayo. Economics Teacher and Librarian. Jeff is from Canada. Greetings to all members of the ISM community! My name is Jeff Mayo and I will be teaching IB Economics and managing the library next academic year at ISM. I am delighted to join the ISM community because I share many similar interests and values that the community holds. Most notably, it appears the school places importance on learning from outdoor experiences and hands on activities. I was raised in a rural community and appreciate and understand the importance of being connected to the environment, especially given the many urgent challenges we face with our use of finite resources and climate change. I earned a BA at the University of British Columbia in Canada, and my studies focused primarily on political economy, environmental studies, epistemology, and literature. I place a lot of emphasis on interdisciplinary studies in my teaching profession in much the same way I did as an undergraduate student. I am currently doing an MBA at the University of Warwick in the U.K. I am excited to bring some fresh, new ideas from my Economics classes at ISM. I have worked in Lebanon and Kuwait as both an Economics and English teacher. I have many athletic interests such as volleyball, tennis, running, skiing and hiking. I look forward to hiking Mount Kilimanjaro and exploring the rest of Tanzania. See you all in August!

Jaimala Ramchurn, French Teacher and MYP Coordinator. Jaimala is from Mauritius. Jaimala Ramchurn, born and bred in Mauritius. Attended primary and secondary schools in Curepipe, a town found on the central plateau on the beautiful paradise island, Mauritius. After successfully finishing high school, she decided to explore the world and the only way was to attend university in a foreign country, much larger than the small island. At 18, very determined to succeed in life, she headed for USSR to pursue further studies. After 6 years spent in the then communist Russia, she was awarded a Masters degree in Geography with specialisation in Environmental studies. Jaimala has worked in International schools in Kenya and in Mauritius and Norway, teaching French and Geography for the past 18 years. She loves travelling and exploring other cultures. She speaks French and English fluently. She can also converse, read and write Russian, Swahili, Hindi and Norwegian. She will be accompanied by her Canadian partner Daniel Quinlan. Daniel Quinlan born and raised in Canada, attended and graduated primary and secondary schools in Hamilton Ontario, Canada's steel city on the shores of Lake Ontario, one of the Great lakes, the largest fresh water lakes in the world . At 20 he moved to Calgary Alberta in the foothills of the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains, where he began his hospitality career with Westin hotels, a major International hotel chain, becoming a Guest Service professional for many years, later joining the Sheraton and Fairmont family of hotels. Much later in life, Daniel studied and graduated from TESOL a leading international ESL course with an International teachers license, and taught for many years at Young Academy, a private Korean school as well as Metropolitan College in his home town of Hamilton. Both Jaimala and Daniel have always wanted to continue their careers in Africa and are very excited at the prospect of joining the ISM community and share their experiences with today's youth.

Dominique Turner, French Teacher. Dominique is from France. Hello ! I am Dominique Turner and we are the Turner family. Sam, Lucas, Louisa and I are delighted to come to Tanzania. I am French, I grew up in France and I graduated from a French university. I then went to England where I took my teaching certificate (PGCE). From 2002 to 2004, I taught in Christchurch (UK). We are currently living in Burkina Faso where I teach French at the International School of Ouagadougou (ISO). I have classes both in primary and secondary school. We came to Burkina in 2006 and we fell in love with Africa. Sam (my husband) is British and still works in the UK. He flies in and out of Burkina every 2 weeks (I know, It's crazy!). Lucas is five and is in his second year of Pre K here at ISO. He is an aircraft and Lego enthusiast (He is really happy when he can make airplanes out of Lego!!!). Louisa is just one year old and we are not sure what she is into yet!!! We love spending time together as a family and we are really looking forward to the outdoor lifestyle of Moshi as the climate of West Africa does not exactly lend itself to outside activities. We also enjoy swimming, reading and eating out.