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Clint has been with us for over three years now and is Head of Butterfly. Clint has four years of experience in child education, including long term projects with children with learning/emotional challenges and in hospitals. At school Clint balances the academic and arts based programme beautifully, and has brought to Kspace some wonderful inspiration for themes and activities.
Clint (third generation Japanese - USA), classifies himself as both ‘serious teacher‘ and a “multimedia artist”, and has a fabulous portfolio to prove he means business! Although Clint is a full time teacher, his private work has been shown internationally since 1998. When he first joined us he had an exhibition at New York's Drawing Center, and he regularly works/collaborates on projects globally.
Clint has a degree in Fine Arts but took a less conventional path than many artists, and used his skills to provide needy children and adults with art therapy. He has worked with children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), introducing visual teaching strategies to help them communicate effectively, express and relate with their family and communities. Clint’s work was predominantly with children aged 3 to 5 years old – which is why he has a gift with the Butterfly age group. Clint also taught art for the Louis Vuitton Creative Arts Program, within the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific. This was a project that integrated art into physical and recreational therapies for patients recovering from quadriplegia, paraplegia, stroke and brain injuries.
Hidden Talent: Clint is quite the connoisseur of Japanese baths or ONSEN – so please ask him for some recommendations! |
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Mati is in his third year with us and has vast experience with children of all ages in the school, including the mother & child classes. Not only is he a captivating teacher but Mati is also a classically trained musician, introducing children to the amazing world of music through song. Mati and his lovely wife Aya create wonderful stories and even puppet shows, for which they hand-craft the props. He has a superb rapport with the children and a very large fan club!! He is an incredible musical talent and his wise cracking song lyrics and punchy one-liners allow him create a song in minutes.
Mati is part of the musical and creative team at Kspace and has been instrumental in the development of many popular CDs and DVDs. Mati has an extremely interesting background and tells fascinating stories about his many travels. Born in Chile, he spent an extended time at university (6 years) earning Degrees in Social Science (major in Anthropology), classical guitar, musical composition and arts. After some globe trekking he settled in India and studied Classical Indian Music under the famous Pt.Channulal Mishra. Mati was based in Varanasi, India for 4 years! During his time there he volunteered in many youth aid projects and discovered a pure talent for teaching children. He developed an interest in the magical art of puppetry and is currently researching this art form as a medium for teaching many subjects to infants.
In early 2005 music brought Mati to Japan, where he was able to enhance his skills and continue projects with digital recording, in an MTR portable studio. He also won a great job in a renowned, progressive International school, teaching children between 1 and 5 years old. Although he loved his job very much he couldn’t resist contacting Kspace and asking for a quick tour – the rest is history! We are delighted that he sought us out. His gentle character is loved by all the children and he is indeed the perfect teacher.
Mati has two lovely daughters and is a very dedicated daddy!
Hidden Talent: Mati loves carving wood. If you are lucky, you will see evidence of this through the year! |
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Benjamin has had a fabulous first year with Kspace and we are delighted to be able to welcome him back for 2009!
Benjamin has been working as a preschool teacher in Tokyo since early 2006 and is experienced in teaching children in an International School environment. He has a Certificate of child Care Development and is a Child Development Associate; awards which he earned in Michigan , U.S.A. With a genuine passion for his job, Benjamin ensures that any of his classes are fun and informative and that the children go away happy and well educated.
Whilst studying in the USA, Benjamin took Japanese lessons and quickly sought a job in Tokyo as soon as he had graduated. He joined a thriving establishment in Tokyo and was Head Teacher of his kindergarten class and also ran a successful after-school programme. Benjamin uses his love of art and music in his teaching and his classes are as popular with mums as they are with the children!
Hidden Talent: Benjamin composes his own electronic music! We think that he secretly wants to be the next Depeche Mode!
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David has been described (affectionately!) as a ‘child in an adult body’! He has an inexplicable ability to connect with children and manages to win even the saddest of moods over with his wonderful sense of humour.
Now in his 3rd term with the school, David S is in high demand at the school as his professional scope is very broad and he mingles well with every developmental level in the school. David S is a fluent Japanese speaker, whose language ability is so perfect that he was chosen over many Japanese nationals to join Noriko and her JLIP team too! He is also a superb phonics, science and academic subject teacher, whose huge smile gets the children involved. Whenever you walk past his classes you can see the children laughing, and he offers an excellent balance for the children.
David has a Bachelor of Science in Physics (University of Washington, Seattle) and prior to teaching children in Japan was a Math and Computer Science Teacher for children of all ages – including young adults. He is an energetic sports enthusiast! (Soccer, Frisbee, Skiing & Snowboarding, Hiking & Camping, Baseball, Football) and enjoys contemplative strategy games, like Chess/Go etc.
Hidden Talent: David is also a fabulous saxophone player and also plays drums and piano!
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Noriko has been with us for many years now – seven actually - and she has played a massive role in the development of Kspace. Noriko’s passion and love of teaching, and her enthusiasm for bilingualism, eventually manifested itself into the Japanese Language Immersion Programme. This wonderful option at the school has allowed many children to gain a fabulous insight into Japanese language and culture. Noriko and her team create a very exciting, dynamic and comfortable environment for the children to learn.
Noriko’s Background
Noriko is a trilingual speaker (Jap/Eng and Chinese) and amongst her academic achievements she holds a Bachelor of Japanese Language and Literature and gained a Certificate of Chinese Language at Beijing Language and Culture University, CHINA. Having completed her language studies Noriko then studied to gain entrance to university in Australia and then went on to receive a Bachelor of Teaching Primary Education from The University of New England, New South Wales.
Noriko has a great deal of energy, is enthusiastic about teaching little ones and has a great balance of both firmness and fun. She thrives in an environment of organization and has adapted beautifully to our special blend of characters at Kspace. We have learned a great deal from her too and she is an ever lively inspiration to the whole team!
Hidden Talent: Noriko can shop with the best of them and knows the shopping streets in Paris like the back of her hand. |
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Wakana is a key member of our JLIP and Japanese Studies Department, with many years under her belt with us. Her daily Japanese classes are excellent - so good in fact that a lot of the teachers and mums at Kspace want to take her class too!
Wakana is a lovely, genuine, teacher. She is a personality-plus and cannot fail to get the children’s undivided attention. A music and dance lover, she exudes confidence. On a more serious note, she is 100% dedicated to providing the children with top quality care and is also passionate about raising children to be curious and confident about learning new languages and culture. Through a combination of stories, crafts and song, all of our Butterfly children will go home with a wealth of knowledge on Japan and may even be able to teach Mum and Dad something.
Wakana’s Background
Wakana earned a Bachelor of Arts in General Education (and ESL quals), and studied at universities in both Japan and the USA. She is completely bilingual (Japanese and English) and confident and expressive in her delivery of English. She also worked her to earn an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts, and her digital art and PC skills are excellent too.
For the last three years Wakana has taught a combination of maths, reading and English language skills, and has helped children aged two to seven years old. She spent the last 6 months before joining Tspace caring for very small children (in a preschool environment) and has plenty of experience.
Amongst Wakana’s many talents she has also been part of a dance troupe (Japanese and modern), aided the set up of an art gallery and worked as a librarian.
Hidden Talent: Wakana is a master of a type of dance known as "Lock Dancing". Ask her to show you a few steps!
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Alex enters his fourth year with us and does so with a huge “Genki?”. Alex works on special projects with all age groups in the school and loves inventing new artistic projects for the children in the Upper School. His sense of humour and vivid imagination are a massive hit with the Big Bugs, who follow every word he says and shadow him like the Pied Piper!
Alex has built up a following of adoring fans and his workshops at the school have covered teaching children basic photography, video and creative arts to dance and mime. He is also a skilled teacher of academic studies – and has also spent many terms caring for our youngest babies at the school too. His sensitive and caring approach translates to young and old and he has much to offer.
Hidden Talent: It is a little known fact that Alex has a very serious side too! He was brought to Japan to create his own independent production company, with the body of his work aimed at raising awareness for children’s rights. Alex’s short films were used by some schools and Alex became a key speaker to children. Alex’s work is still exhibited regularly throughout Tokyo. He is also quite at home on the catwalk, having modeled for Prada and other big name brands!
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