We are incredibly excited to introduce our new faculty hires for the upcoming academic year! They bring with them a wealth of experience from schools all over the globe, including some UWCs, and are just as culturally diverse as our student body. Read on to find out more about them!
Ann van der Borne
Ms. van der Borne will be joining our Physical Education department with 10 years of middle and high school experience in The Netherlands, India and China under her belt. She grew up on a potato farm at the border of The Netherlands and Belgium with an active childhood that involved a lot of outdoors exploration. In her free time, she enjoys travelling, readering, and staying active in all sorts of ways — her favourites include hiking, swimming and skiing. She also loves playing cards and board games! She is accompanied here by her partner, Jaya, who will be joining our Science department.
Cary Reid
Hailing all the way from the lovely Caribbean island of Jamaica (where he wish he spent more time), Mr. Reid is the newest face of our Theory of Knowledge/Social Sciences department! As a UWC Atlantic alum who has worked at UWC Mahindra College, Mr. Reid is no stranger to the movement. He is a big supporter of project-based learning and self-directed learning, and incorporates this into his classes. Outside of school, he spends his time playing basketball, eating dessert, and playing board games. He is happy to be coming back to live in Japan again.
Damien Pitter
Mr. Pitter comes to us from Yokohama International School with his wife, Monna, and will be joining us as a University Advisor! A Canadian by birth, he has worked in Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Thailand and Japan in a variety of roles, including teaching English, Drama, Leadership, and Design. For the past four years, he has been a Social, Emotional and University Counsellor. In the recent past, he has also been a Technology Learning Coach, Online Learning Coordinator, and Global Citizen Diploma Coordinator. In his spare time, he makes things as a writer, photographer, graphic designer, filmmaker and general dabbler.
Estella Wong
The newest member of our English department was born in Malaysia, but has spent the last 10 years teaching ESL and IB English A and B in different schools in China! In her free time, Ms. Wong enjoys practising yoga, mindfulness meditation, volunteering with charities, and pondering about life philosophies. She is looking forward to the natural scenery in Karuizawa and learning from the international community here at UWC ISAK!
Jaya Ramchani
Joining our Physics department is Ms. Ramchani, who was born and raised in Liberia, but has lived in Mumbai, the Netherlands, Goa and Shanghai. She studied physics and astronomy, largely driven by a desire to find out more about the unknown universe. New to the teaching field, she has spent the last decade or so editing research papers, and organzing a number of informal learning programs to empower people, young and old, to understand the deepest mysteries of the universe — from particle physics to consciousness. She enjoys writing, cycling and travelling — she has been learning by travelling alongside her partner, Ann, for the past five years! She is looking forward to spending time with everyone in the community.
Jennifer Paddock
Ms. Paddock hails from Southampton in the U.K., but is currently studying in the Norway after having worked in the South of China for the last few years. She will be the newest addition to our Mathematics department! Her background is in mathematics, and her current study is Education in Global South, which has led her to working in some varied and enriching development projects that she hopes to continue at UWC ISAK Japan. She is an avid reader of non-fiction — currently in the line of economics/behavioural economics/geopolitics — and also enjoys racket sports and running. She is looking forward to improving on her skiing skills, amongst many other things, when she moves to Japan!
Jonathan Osario
Coming to us from UWC Changshu China is Mr. Osario, who will be part of our English department! Originally from Austin, Texas, he is an avid bookworm (somewhat the main reason he is an English teacher) who loves being active, whether in competitive sports or experiencing nature. He plays a lot of basketball, and is hoping to get a paragliding license this summer! He is looking forward to becoming a fluent skiier and spending a lot of time exploring the Japanese Alps. He will be joined here by his wife and two daughters.
Mineko Kobayashi
The newest member of our World Languages department, Ms. Kobayashi is from Shiga Prefecture in Japan. She is currently working at K. International School in Tokyo and teaches MYP Language Acquisition Phase 3 & Phase 5 and DP Japanese B SL. She enjoys teaching all grades, from Grade 6 to Grade 12! She likes yoga, jogging and travelling, and is into healthy eating. She is excited to be joining the community.
Monna McDiarmid
Joining us as an Emotional Counselor is Ms. McDiarmid, who has spent the past 13 years as a counselor at international schools in Japan, Thailand, Spain, and Mexico. Before she trained as a counselor, she worked as an English teacher in Colombia and in Canada, where she is from. Her favourite things include writing YA fiction, reading everything, talking with people about their lives, oceans in all their forms, learning new things, and travelling to big European cities and to wild and rugged places. She is also a life coach! She is joined here at UWC ISAK Japan alongside Damien, her partner and our newest University Advisor!
