Tenley comes from the Pacific Northwest, U.S., where she trained and graduated as a Pre-Kindergarten teacher from Oregon State University and has received her master of arts in teaching from National University, U.S. She has specialised with Pre-K and First Grades since qualifying as a teacher and has also helped manage a private kindergarten. Tenley shares her sporting skills with AISR and has coached Under 14 volleyball and High School tennis.
Lize undertook higher education and trained as a teacher in South Africa, receiving her Diplomas from the Peninsula University of Technology. Lize taught in the United Kingdom before moving to Rotterdam in 2003. Amongst Lize’s passions is teaching yoga to young children.
Beth is a Californian, born in Santa Cruz. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of California before securing her Teaching credential at the National University in California. Beth has extensive experience as a teacher, gained in Japan, China and in Israel. In the United States, she was a founding member of a cooperative childcare program and a school board member and volunteer for Simcha Pre-School. From her various international experiences, Beth has acquired a little Japanese, Hebrew and Chinese to add to her native English. She completed her Masters’ degree with specialization in Early Childhood Education in May 2011.
Nicole Bakker trained in the U.K. and is a fully qualified NVQ 3 Teaching Assistant. Between 2002 to 2005 she worked as Teaching Assistant in Chester, U.K., at the Newton Primary school and then at the Dee Banks Special Needs School until 2008. Nicole brought this invaluable experience in both primary and special needs education to AISR, when she joined us in 2009.
Olivia has been working as an aide at AISR for 12 years and has helped in many different departments along the way. Most notably in the Music department, where her performance skills, guitar playing, singing and musicianship have been put to very good use. She is a very valuable and talented member of the AISR community.
Merle is an art academy graduate with a bachelor degree in fashion design and previously has worked as a textile and handicraft teacher in a Swedish primary school. She also has experience working as a teaching assistant in a Dutch 'Cluster 4' school and is currently in her final year studying for a bachelor degree in Elementary school education.
Amanda is from Hampshire in the United
Kingdom.During the last 13 years
she has lived overseas in the U.S.A, Hong Kong, Chile, Denmark and The
Netherlands.Amanda worked
previously in child care in the U.S.A. and in an International Pre-School in
Hong Kong.She is certified as a
Teaching Assistant (BTEC); further qualifications in Care Practices (BTEC) and
holds a Diploma in Child Psychology.
Erin is from London, Ontario, Canada. She attended Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for her first degree and obtained her Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa. Erin has training in English as an Additional Language, differentiated learning and curriculum design. She speaks French and has had international teaching experience in Egypt and Korea.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sue earned a bachelor of science in Elementary Education from Penn State University and a master’s degree from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA. She was a teacher in the Pittsburgh Public Schools for the first 14 years of her career. Sue moved to the Netherlands with her partner and now has a young daughter, Isis. She has been teaching first grade at AISR since 2002. While teaching at AISR, Sue has received training in curriculum design and differentiated learning. Sue enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Running, golf, skiing and biking are some of her hobbies.
Born and raised in across the bay from San Francisco in Berkeley, California, Bradley earned a bachelor of science in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University in Chicago. Subsequent to this, he returned to the Bay Area to teach P.E. and science at Berkeley's School of the Madeleine, while simultaneously earning a masters degree of history from San Francisco State University. After two years of teaching U.S. history and Constitutional Law at St. Mary's College High School in Berkeley, Bradley moved to Washington D.C. to become an assistant baseball coach George Washington University. This move quickly led to an opportunity to coach and play baseball professionally in the Netherlands. After a period of living on two continents, Bradley moved to the Netherlands on a permanent basis in 2008 and now lives in Rotterdam with his wife, one-year-old daughter, and dog, Groovy. When he's not enjoying working with the students at AISR, Bradley likes to spend his free time with his family, in addition to skiing, golf, tennis, reading and backpacking.
Tracy grew up in Western NY, but comes to us from Michigan, US. She trained and graduated with honors from Wayne State University with a degree in Special Education K-12 and Elementary Education K-8. She is dually certified in the states of MI and TX. Tracy has taught grades K-6 in an inclusive environment in MI and a push in program for children with Autism K-6 in TX. Additionally, she ran her own Pre-K program for 3 and 4 year olds at a private child care center in TX. While at AISR, Tracy has worked as a substitute for grades Pre-K through grade 5, including Music, Art and PE. Currently, Mrs. Ruprich is working full time as a Teacher Assistant in Grade 3 where she utilizes her learning support and teaching background. While not working, Tracy enjoys spending time biking and traveling with her husband, Brian and her children Ryan and Emily, who also attend AISR.
Aleksandra was born in Serbia, where she graduated from the University of Belgrade. She was awarded a MA in English Language and Literature. Aleksandra has taught at various Grade levels before joining AISR. Besides teaching she also has experience as an interpreter and was the literary translator on a dramatisation of the novel "The Mad Prince". This work won two prestigious international theatre awards. Her experience and talents are greatly valued by AISR.
Lynne Stewart graduated with a Bachelor of Education Honors Degree in Primary Education from Strathclyde University in Scotland. After teaching in Scotland for a while, she moved to Bogota, Colombia and taught 3rd grade at The English School. Next, Lynne came back to Europe to the International School of Prague, where she taught 5th Grade. Finally, in the summer of 2011, after 5 years in the Czech Republic, she joined the American International School of Rotterdam.
Middle and High School Dutch and French & IB coordinator
Profile:
Marga studied French and Dutch in the Netherlands, has a teaching degree in Personal and Social Education and a Masters Degree. She has taught French and Dutch GCSE (UK) and IB level B, A1 and A2 at both British and American International Schools in Egypt and Poland where she was also the Head of Languages and the Curriculum Coordinator. In Warsaw, Marga was the Director of the Dutch School. Marga is an IB coordinator and an assistant-examiner for the International Baccalaureate organization. Marga has been part of the AISR community since 2005
Sylvie was born and educated in France. She lived and worked in Scotland with her young family for six years and has taught in the Middle East, predominantly in Quatar and Abu Dhabi to children of all Grades. Whilst living in Gabon, she taught in the Shell Training Centre. Sylvie moved to the Netherlands nearly twenty years ago and has been teaching at all Grade levels in AISR for the last fifteen years, supported by her considerable knowledge and experience.
Dutch Elementary, MS & HS. Field trip coordinator.
Profile:
Ruud was born in Indonesia and moved back to the Netherlands when he was a child. He graduated in1975 from the Pedagogische Academie Haarlem, Volledig Bevoegd Onderwijzer + Akte J (PE) and, in 1977, from the Gehoorgestoorden A, Semenarie Voor Ortho Pedagogiek, Zeist (his specialisation being for teaching the hearing impaired). He worked as a Special Education teacher in Amsterdam and Haarlem, before joining AISR in 1982. Ruud has a particular interest in drama and brings his expertise with sound and lighting to many of our productions. Amongst his professional accomplishments is the authorship of a Dutch text book. In addition to his native Dutch, Ruud also speaks French, German and of course, English.
Sara grew up in Boston and commenced her third level education in New York where she qualified with a BA in Political Science from Fordham University, New York City. Sara also holds an MA in Urban Education and English as a Second Language from Florida International University in Miami and is Certified in Elementary Education and ESL K-12 by the State of Virginia.She has taught many different age groups ranging from pre-K to adults and has taught in both public and private schools in Ecuador, Miami and Virginia over the last 16 years. Sara brings her wealth of training and experience to bear on the development and implementation of the English as an Additional Language program.
Ms Rizor grew up in Beaverton, Michigan and has been teaching since 2000; prior to which she worked in public relations, development, and human resources. She completed her undergraduate majors in Michigan at Alma College in English and the academic study of world religions. Jessica was an exchange student to Germany and The Netherlands. Following this she pursued her M.A. in teaching middle school and high school language arts at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Jessica enjoys learning the basics of other languages and has studied a bit of German, Russian, Spanish, Mandarin, Lithuanian and Dutch.
In 2009 she was a teacher consultant to Eastern Michigan University's chapter of The National Writing Project.
Ms Heinonen's hometown is Peräseinäjoki, Finland. She took her Master’s Degree in education at the University of Helsinki, Finland. As part of this course she taught at the University of Helsinki and at Delft University of Technology. She joined AISR in 2009. In her free time she enjoys experimental cooking and the Dutch biking culture.
Nina is from the Chicago area of the United States. She received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Brigham Young University and went on to receive a Ph.D. degreee in Immunology from the University of Utah. Despite an enjoyable career in research, volunteer work in the public schools inspired Nina to pursue teaching. She earned a secondary teaching degree with advanced certification in Biology from St. Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania. Before coming to AISR in 2011, Nina taught Science in Shanghai, China.
Mr. Holcomb comes from the state of California. He has worked in China and Israel during his career and has many years of experience at both the middle and high school levels. He has maintained a passion for mathematics
HS Social Studies/TOK & CAS, IB CAS Coordinator, IB History and AISR Heritage Officer
Profile:
Lynda is British and majored in English and American History at the University of East Anglia, U.K. She qualified as a teacher of History, English and Music at the University of London Institute of Education. Lynda also has teacher certification from the state of New South Wales in Australia, where she taught in two different secondary schools in the early part of her career. She also taught for both the Department of Adult Migrant Education, and for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, as well as being an examiner for the State of New South Wales School Certificate English Examinations. Upon her return to the United Kingdom Lynda taught in a number of inner London schools.
On marrying a Dutchman, she came to live in Rotterdam and raised a family. Following the birth of her son, Lynda gained an Educational Psychology Diploma with the Open University in the field of “Language and Cognitive Development from Birth to Teenage Years”. The knowledge gained from this course, plus the fact that she had studied Philosophy as a part of her first degree, put her in a good position to teach Theory of Knowledge when the International Baccalaureate courses started at AISR. She is now a Team Leader Examiner for the Theory of Knowledge with the International Baccalaureate Organization.
Lynda has attended numerous IB courses in most of the capitals of Europe, for the teaching of IB History, the Theory of Knowledge and for IB, Creativity, Action and Service, which is an integral part of the IB Program. She is the coordinator of this program at AISR. Furthermore, Lynda has attended many educational courses in the United States over a period of more than 20 years. The last course she attended was one on different ways of Assessment, given by the organization, American Education Reaches Out. From her last course of study, which is still ongoing, she gained a PGCM (Music) from the Open University in the United Kingdom. The latest challenge which Lynda has taken on, is to become the AISR Heritage coordinator, which is a position designed to foster and develop the history of AISR and to keep in touch with its former students and teachers. Lynda has 38 years of Middle and High School experience and, besides her native English, speaks French and Dutch. Presently, she is also undertaking to learn Spanish.
Irene is another of our staff with roots in South Africa. Born in Johannesburg, Irene attended the University of Natal, Durban. She has a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Applied Mathematics and Environmental Biology. Irene completed a post-graduate diploma of Education, at the University of the Witwatersrand and also holds a (South African) National Certificate of Computer Programming. Irene gained her teaching experience in South Africa, before moving to the United Kingdom and, finally, the Netherlands, where she joined the staff of AISR in 2007. Irene knows her international and locally based students particularly well, being fluent in Dutch and Afrikaans, besides, of course, English.
Joining AISR in 2009, Mr. Gutiérrez, our Spanish teacher, hails from Kansas City, Kansas, USA. He earned a Bachelor of Science of Education and trained as a teacher of Social Studies and Spanish at Emporia State University, in Emporia, Kansas. Josué has been teaching Spanish, History and Economics courses for six years and has also coached High School wrestling throughout that time.
Athletics Director, Grade 8 P.E., HS Physical Education and Health
Profile:
Rob grew up in Californian but was born in the Netherlands. Immigrated to the USA at age one, he came back to his birth land to play professional basketball. Married a Dutch girl and stayed. He has given over thirty years of dedicated service to our school. Passionate about AISR, Rob is particularly enthusiastic about "adventure" within the curriculum. His classes aim to lead students to believe in themselves and develop a "can do" feeling in the gym and outdoors. At AISR, there truly are opportunities for sports for everyone.
Rob obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO and his Masters in Health and Physical Education from East Stroudsburg University, PA. He has given workshops in Physical Education at teacher conferences and speaks fluent Dutch, along with some French and Spanish.
Born and raised in upstate New York, Glen Badyna received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University. Glen had been teaching for over ten years within the Los Angeles Unified School District before joining the AISR team. Mr. Badyna is thrilled to be teaching Grade 6 English while continuing to spread his love of music and movement as the Early Childhood music teacher. In his spare time, it is all about Glen's enjoyment for travelling and seeing the new sites of Europe with friends and family.
A native of Long Island, NY, Sharice Welch has worked as a school and college counselor since 2003. She enjoys encouraging students in their individual interests, leadership styles, and decision making processes; and she views her role as a combination of friend, advocate, advisor, consultant, and personal counselor. She holds a M.Ed. & Human Development with a specialization in School Counseling from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Sharice also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology which she started at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and then finished at The George Washington University.
Katie has a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been a Special Education Teacher since 2005, working in Texas, Colorado and Florida. Katie is currently studying for her masters through the School of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Dini Benard was educated in here in Rotterdam and holds a Teaching Certificate from the Dutch Teacher's College in Rotterdam. Dini has also received her qualification from the Dutch Ministry of Education to teach Dutch to foreign nationals and has worked in Thailand (where she was a Board member of the New International School of Thailand), Dubai and indeed previously in Rotterdam, at AISR. Having taught in both Dutch and International schools, Dini has extensive experience as an Elementary teacher.
Stuart was educated at the University of Greenwich, London, where he attained a joint B(ed.) Honors degree in Physical Education and Science. During this time he also played professional soccer for the historic Leyton Orient F.C. Later retiring from playing professional soccer Stuart gained coaching qualifications in football and spent 10 years coaching professionally in the U.K. and around the world. His coaching ultimately brought him to Holland where he worked with professional clubs including AZ, Sparta Rotterdam and Excelsior. He is, at present, the Technique Advisor to AZ Alkmaar of the eredivisie alongside his Elementary PE teaching role at AISR. He is remarkable asset for AISR and its community.
Elementary & Middle School Art, School publications and AISR website Coordinator.
Profile:
David comes from London, England and has taught Art and Design since 1997. He received his Art Specialist teaching certificate from the Institute of Education, London University and his B.A. (Hons.) from Leicester University and is currently studying for an M.A. in Art History with the Open University (U.K.). Prior to becoming a teacher David worked in the UK music industry in design and production. Teaching at AISR since 2006, David also maintains many school publications and the AISR website. He is a member of the National Art Education Association (U.S.).
Nikki comes from the north of Scotland and has taught Art and Design since 1992. She studied Fine Art in Cardiff, Wales and exhibited her paintings in a number of exhibitions throughout the UK, including London, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Aberdeen. She briefly worked in Edinburgh within the antiques trade and as a freelance illustrator.
After gaining her initial teaching experience within a local art gallery's art education program, Nikki moved to Aberdeen for formal teacher training at the Northern College of Education. Following on from her qualification she taught in Aberdeen schools for five years.
After leaving the UK Nikki taught at a number of International schools, including Manila, Bonn, and Antwerp. She joined AISR in 2000
Paul was born and bred in Rotterdam by Irish parents. He has been a guitar player and teacher for over fifteen years, with lots of experience both onstage and in the classroom. He is very excited about his appointment as music teacher, and looks forward to bringing music into the lives of all the children at AISR.
Ruth Godfrey is a performing clarinet and bass clarinetist based in the Netherlands but originally from the UK. In 2007 she graduated from Leeds College of Music with a BA (Hons) in
Jazz studies and received the Red Prince prize for her final
performance. Between 2007 and 2009 she worked as a musician
in the Yorkshire area was active in a number of projects, such as the
Sleaze Orchestra, LIMA and Swinepipe, as well as teaching clarinet.
In 2009 she crossed the North Sea to study at Rotterdam Conservatoire
and in 2011 she finished her Masters of music in World music
specialising in Hindustani Improvisation. Through the study of Hindustani music and Western contemporary
improvisation and composition she is able to bring a different approach
to the sound of her instrument.
During her musical life so
far Ruth Anne has performed, collaborated and studied with many
different musicians and ensembles such as Jesse Bannister, Dharabir
Singh, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Dhruba Ghosh, Henri Bok, Henri Tournier,
Dave Kane Orchestra and LIMA.
Ruth joint AISR in 2010 and hopes to pass on some of her considerable knowledge to our students.
Melissa is afrom Long Island, New York and began teaching at AISR in 2003,as a First Grade Teacher.After teaching the First Grade for several years, Melissa took
a 2 year family leave.She
returned back at AISR as the Elementary Librarian.Melissa holds a BA in Elementary Education from
SUNY, Palttsburgh, New York and a Masters in MulticulturalInternational Education from the
Univeristy of San Francisco.
