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Holly Dupre - Co-Director

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Hi I'm Holly I started work at YogiArt Center in the season 2014/2015, when the school was a few students with only one classroom. I assisted the class to begin with and the school began to grow into 2 classrooms that season. Those first 5 months inspired me greatly, discovering teaching and my love of spending time with children every day, helping them learn, create and grow. I have been teaching the age 4-6 class for 5 seasons now. This will be my third season co-directing the school and I am honoured to be helping keep the vision alive and to improve what the project already achieves.

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My passion for stories, art and nature are a few of the things that inspire my varied teaching techniques. I was born and brought up on a farm in rural north wales so nature and outdoors are a strong part of my holistic upbringing. I attended a small village school myself so feel the importance of primary education being in smaller groups, ensuring time and love to each child every day.


I have always felt an affinity with teaching and being around children it has led me to now offer a holistic childminding service when I am back in the UK, grown through my years of experience working for and with kids. Helping them evolve their mind body and soul in gentle and encouraging way.
 

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Iola Kreizman - Co-Director

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Hi I am Iola I have been working at the Yogi Art Centre since 2016. Over the years I have taught the Dragons class, Peacocks class and now I am the Sparrows teacher. I will be co-directing the school again this year alongside Holly and I'm very happy to be part of such an evolving project. I am quite the actress and love to use performance and playfulness as part of my every day activities with children.

 

I have been working professionally with children for over 15 years.  At the age of 16 I started working with children in London and realised what a natural connection I had with them so I went on to work as a Nursery Nurse. I travelled the world for some years while volunteering in schools abroad and later on I developed my studies at university. I focused my degree on early years/child development and sociology. I completed my PGCE in PRIMARY EDUCATION in 2012 and have been working as a devoted teacher for 8 years in both London and Goa.

 

I first travelled to India 7 years ago and fell in love with the beautiful chaos of it. However I realised that there was much help needed and started volunteering with young children and co-founded a charity with friends. This is where i  found my mind, body and soul through yoga and meditation and love the benefits it has on children. 

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Hi I am Vajra, Founder of the Dunagiri Foundation of Himalayan Herbal Research and Yogic Studies (www.dunagiri.org), a Charitable Trust and non-profit organisation. The aim of the organisation is to support marginalised farmers in high altitude Himalaya to grow rare and endangered medicinal plants. I have also has built Samata Holistic Retreat Center (www.samatagoa.com) in Goa, India as the fundraising center for Dunagiri. Samata hosts International Yoga Retreats and also does local organic agriculture outreach programs.

YogiArt School was built from Samata earned funds, to support the growing need for expat families living in Goa. A concerned parent who wanted the best for my son Kian, I felt the only way to achieve a suitable school environment was to do it myself, and such is the birth of the YogiArt School. 

Hi, I am Elisabet Maza and I am very happy and excited to be the new teacher of
Hummingbirds class. I graduated of my Early Childhood Education Degree in 2013 in
University of Lleida (Spain). I believe that creating a more peaceful and respectful
society is in the hands of educators, so I decided I wanted to be part of the change
when I chose my career. Since I graduated I have been living and travelling in different
countries around the world and I have had the opportunity to work in schools with
various alternative learning methodologies such as Montessori and Reggio Emilia. I was
introduced to yoga about five years ago and slowly it has become part of my life style.
Being a passionate for yoga, music and dance, I love to integrate these into my classes.

Hello! I'm Catherine from Galway on the west coast of Ireland. I trained in Froebel College, where creativity, play and outdoor learning were key to each lesson. I have a nomadic soul and have 15 years of travelling and teaching in many different countries from the superlative Finland system to the resourceless slums of Kenya and Haiti, to the primitive jungle school in the Amazon in Bolivia. I grew up in a bilingual fishing village where sports, traditional Irish music and story telling brought our community together. My mother taught meditation and yoga in prisons around Ireland and so it was natural every morning to stretch and meditate to start our day. I'm happiest when I'm in the sea, outdoor adventuring in my camper, storytelling and dancing!

I'm very excited to be apart of the yogi art centre team and to be teaching the peacocks this season

Jack Simpson

Teacher - Dragon Class

Jack was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During his university years he took a break to travel to southern India, where he volunteered on community and environmental projects. After graduating in 2015 with a degree in biological sciences he began work as a lecturer of science at a local college. At the same time he began to deepen his practice of Yoga and meditation and in 2016 completed Yoga teacher training with Himalaya Yoga Valley in Cork, Ireland. Jack then went on to further his studies and assist on teacher trainings and retreats at their centre in Goa, India for 7 months. Since returning in summer 2017 he has continued to lecture part-time in sciences, particularly Anatomy & Physiology, while also working as a learning support assistant at an inner city secondary school and as a Yoga teacher in Belfast. Jack will be teaching the Dragon class and is excited to combine his knowledge in these areas and provide the children with an academic education as well as practical tools for life in Yoga and meditation.  

Claudiu Oprea

Permaculture Teacher

Claudiu Oprea is a Romanian born artist, linguist and permaculturist based in India and Europe. His deep reverence and connection to nature was inculcated by his herbalist grandmother who raised him as a free range child at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains in Romania. His teaching work and artistic practice are informed by natural systems. The forest is his teacher. The scope of his work is reigniting the connection between humans with the magical kingdoms of plants and fungi with a view to heal and regenerate degraded ecosystems. 

Claudiu's heart and current focus is in alternative education. He loves children and over the last 4 years he has run experimental arts and permaculture projects in schools in London, Latvia, Hungary and Romania. 

In February 2018 he was invited to pilot an experimental outdoor edible classroom project following permaculture ethics and principles at Yogi Art Center. He set the foundations for an interactive and edible learning space with the kids as co-designers. The outdoor edible classroom is a safe space where soil, highly nutritious plants, natural medicines and trees are nurtured and grown with the stewardship of the kids and the forest as their mentor. Claudiu is excited to return in November  2018 to continue the project.

Rosina 

Teacher assistant - Hummingbird class

Rosina was born and brought up right here in Goa. She comes from a large family where where she often had responsibility of taking care of younger siblings or neighbours. Later on in life she grew a family of her own.  She has been a caretaker to international families for almost 10 years. Rosina has been with YogiArt Center from the very beginning. She emits a nurturing and mothering energy in the classroom, helping the children feel safe and at home. She has an incredible and wonderful passion with children and loves to see them grow.

Robbie - Teaching Assistant 

Hello all, I’m Robbie and I am blessed to be working with the Eagles and Sparrows for what will be my first year at this wonderful center.  My journey working with children began in 2015 through an NGO in India that builds upon the principles and practices of Yoga in which to educate and empower the children. Since then I have practiced and studied Yoga as much as possible, making trips to India, undertaking a course with the TeenYoga Foundation in London, running family retreats in Spain, and regularly teaching Hatha Yoga to adults.  I believe children are our biggest teachers and so often, they are the most honest mirror we have to both the world we inhabit and to our own deeper selves.  When working with kids, I always try to ensure that they have a voice and I relish seeing the world through their eyes. Freedom of expression, positive encouragement, music and movement are the qualities I endorse to hopefully contribute towards the amazing manifestation of infinite possibilities that are inherent in every child.

Katie - Teaching Assistant

Hello everybody! I'm thoroughly pleased to have the pleasure of joining Yogi Art School as an assistant and TEFL teacher this year. I taught English as a foreign language for about 5 years, mostly in Italy and I taught cycling and sustainability for 4 years in the UK. I aim to make lessons as fun, dynamic and interactive as possible. I personally  love being active mentally as well as physically through exercise and continuous learning. I especially enjoy learning languages and new teaching techniques. Namaste

Ambareen Sungkar - Secretary 

I am Ambareen Sungkur. I am the assistant teacher of Sparrows and Eagles. This is my first season and I am thrilled to join yogi art center. I am from Mauritius island and speak English, French and little bit of Hindi. Within my 12 years of working experiences, I had the opportunity to work as secretary, back office, sales executive, etc for many multinational companies all around the world. I adore kids, animals, music, nature and adventure. I had the opportunity to travel to different countries like Reunion Island, Rodrigues, Dubai, North India and Africa and have a great interest knowing about different cultures. I came to Goa to learn meditation, Yoga and to dance in the best parties around  Thank you Yogi Art for giving me this amazing opportunity to learn and grow while working with such an awesome team

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