Jensen Blevins - Second Language Support
Ms. Jen is originally from a small town in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. During her first visit to Guatemala to work in orphan care, she absolutely fell in love with life here. She has her undergraduate degree in Human Development and Family Science, as well as Spanish from Virginia Tech, and a master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Virginia. She has taught in India, Colombia, and for 2 years in the United States. When she isn’t teaching English, you can find her playing guitar, hiking, camping, making sourdough, or looking for the best ice cream in town. If you have any questions about English as a second language, please reach out to her, she would love to talk with you. |
Olga Silva - Support Program, 3rd - 7th Counselor
Ms. Gabriela was born in Guatemala City and has lived in Antigua Guatemala for 30 years. In 1999 she graduated as an elementary school teacher from Colegio La Salle. She has a Specialized Teaching Degree in Learning Disabilities and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychopedagogy, obtained at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. She has been working for more than 10 years in the area of education, where she has taught classes in different grades at the primary level. During the last two years she worked as a coordinator in a school in Antigua, supporting students, teachers and parents in the different problems that arise at the student level. In 2021 she dedicated herself to work independently as a tutor teacher supporting children of different school grades in virtual and hybrid education. She enjoys working with children providing them with support and tools so that they can develop independently in their daily lives. 
Madeline Lusk - Service Learning Coordinator
Ms. Madi grew up in San Francisco, California and studied International Affairs and Spanish Language and Literature at Skidmore College. Before the pandemic, she worked in Guatemala City as a Princeton in Latin America Fellow at Campus Tecnólgico, also known as Silicon Valley con frijoles. She returned to San Francisco in 2020 and worked for two years at Marshall Elementary, a school whose population is predominantly newcomer students from Central America and Mexico. There she supported teachers and planned and facilitated bilingual afterschool and summer programs. She is really excited to be back in Guatemala and in a role where she can share her passion for service learning with AIS students. In her free time, she likes reading, gardening, baking, volunteering, eating comida típica, and learning about Guatemalan history and culture. |