Our Teachers

Shauna Chandler
Shauna's teaching experiences range from canoes to classrooms, and from Japan to Brazil. She has taught carpentry, gardening, math, science, language arts, social studies, and art. Her love of traveling and exploring have led Shauna to live in France, Japan, South Korea and on both coasts of Canada. Through these travels she has become adept at both French and Japanese. She aims to inspire and foster creativity in learning through the integration of the arts across the curriculum. Shauna loves to explore British Columbia’s beautiful forests and beaches, and can often be found riding her bicycle around the city.

Paul Cordy
Paul has a voracious appetite for life and learning. He is constantly exploring new ideas and challenges. His enthusiasm for knowledge inspires his students and gets them excited to learn. Paul has taught students as young as kindergarten and as old as first year university. He is able to adapt easily to different student needs. His background is as a geologist (currently studying avalanches) and teacher, specializing in Earth and Ocean Science, Physics, and Mathematics. He is also fluent in French and adept at Spanish. In addition to teaching, Paul is a story and educational consultant on Ahimsa Media’s projects and an actor. Recently, Paul was featured as one of the lead characters in the pilot to "The Magic Backpack." In his free time, Paul is an avid mountain man – climbing, skiing, and boarding.

Erica Hargreave
Erica has worked in the film and television industry as a set tutor, child coordinator, creative producer, writer, and actor. She is a passionate educator with specialties in Science, Biology, and the Dramatic Arts. Erica has worked with preschoolers to Grade 12 students, specializing in building curriculum for schools, textbooks, nonprofit organizations, parks and historic sites. Early on in her teaching career, Erica was integral in the development of a new school in which she held the position of Head Teacher. She has also been a Program Director for numerous organizations. Aside from her work, Erica enjoys numerous outdoor pursuits from scuba diving to skiing. View resume.

Brian Hornberg
Brian is a lifelong educator with years of diverse teaching and coaching experience. Over the course of his career he has taught in public schools in the U.S. and Japan focusing on literacy and English as a second language. From infant swimming lessons to retiree language lessons, Brian has taught at almost every level. He earned his master’s degree in children’s literature and likes to inspire students of all ages with illustrated materials. Languages and linguistics interest Brian and complement his love of travel. He is proficient in Japanese and has studied many other languages, including French. Apart from teaching, Brian loves reading and sports, especially basketball.

Sonya Hui
Sonyas thrives on learning and loves that "lightbulb" moment when both the teacher and student just get it, the teacher knowing how to teach the particular topic and the student receiving the learning with excitement. She has had a variety of experience teaching students from grade 3 all the way up to adults! She is a certified BC teacher with a specialization in the Business Education related subjects such as Marketing, Accounting, Economics and Information Technology but has a background with higher level French, Home Economics, and Planning 10. She is also adept at Math, the Sciences, and Japanese. Her teaching style is to be curious, collaborative, enthusiastic and organized. She is not only passionate about education but also world issues by seeing how we can build a global sustainable community. When she's not teaching, she can be found with a camera in hand or creating oodles of fun goodies with her other favourite toy, her sewing machine.

Amy Ng
Living is learning. This is Amy Ng’s motto. Amy has always been passionate about teaching students of all ages and abilities. She is eager to learn and explore new ideas when educating students and developing lessons. Amy is currently a Teacher on Call in both the Richmond and Vancouver School Districts, teaching students ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 7. She has previously been a mentor for the YWCA and a childcare assistant for the YMCA, and has worked in various roles at UBC, including student recruitment and event planning. Amy is fluent in Cantonese and proficient in conversational Mandarin. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys playing golf, volleyball, and tennis.

Lynda Schmit
Lynda is a creative and enthusiastic educator who strives to tap into her student's background knowledge and awaken their curiosity through active participation. When a teachable moment surfaces, Lynda will seize it and encourage the student to reach a higher level of understanding. Lynda's passion for learning led her to obtain two degrees in the Arts and Education, specializing in the French language. As a result she is fluent in written and spoken French. Her teaching experiences include teaching full time in a French Immersion Classroom, ESL Summer Camps, Teacher On Call work and one-on-one tutoring. She has hosted international students and provided English As A Second Language lessons to them during their sojourn. Lynda has taught Language Arts, French, Math, Science and Social Studies to students from preschoolers to adults. In her private time, she enjoys spending time with her family, swimming, reading and dabbling in various creative projects .

Michael Thompson
Michael is a certified teacher in BC and Ontario and has over 15 years experience in the film and television industry. Education is a passion for Michael.  For him there is no greater joy than helping a child to learn. He has over 10 years experience in the educational field, which includes working with schools, private institutions, government and educational television. He’s taught in South Korea and has extensive program development and lesson planning in his repertoire. Locally, Michael has worked extensively with children in schools and daycares and has delivered educational programs to over 500 schools in BC and Ontario. Many of these programs have focused on making science, math, and the environment fun and understandable. Michael is an easy going, adventurous, open-minded, energetic person who likes to live life, not watch it go by. These traits can be seen in his teaching, as he finds the uniqueness in each of his students and is a hands-on, creative and experiential teacher.  Passionate about global and environmental issues, Michael continues to work towards raising awareness. He thrives on change and can adapt easily to new situations. He sees life a journey and isn’t afraid of its challenges.

Michael Thompson
Michael is a certified teacher in BC and Ontario and has over 15 years experience in the film and television industry. Education is a passion for Michael.  For him there is no greater joy than helping a child to learn. He has over 10 years experience in the educational field, which includes working with schools, private institutions, government and educational television. He’s taught in South Korea and has extensive program development and lesson planning in his repertoire. Locally, Michael has worked extensively with children in schools and daycares and has delivered educational programs to over 500 schools in BC and Ontario. Many of these programs have focused on making science, math, and the environment fun and understandable. Michael is an easy going, adventurous, open-minded, energetic person who likes to live life, not watch it go by. These traits can be seen in his teaching, as he finds the uniqueness in each of his students and is a hands-on, creative and experiential teacher.  Passionate about global and environmental issues, Michael continues to work towards raising awareness. He thrives on change and can adapt easily to new situations. He sees life a journey and isn’t afraid of its challenges.

Brian Hornberg (Certified in Illinois)
Brian is a lifelong educator with years of diverse teaching and coaching experience. Over the course of his career he has taught in public schools in the U.S. and Japan focusing on literacy and English as a second language. From infant swimming lessons to retiree language lessons, Brian has taught at almost every level. He earned his master’s degree in children’s literature and likes to inspire students of all ages with illustrated materials. Languages and linguistics interest Brian and complement his love of travel. He is proficient in Japanese and has studied many other languages, including French. Apart from teaching, Brian loves reading and sports, especially basketball.