Teachers

Stephanie Olivas graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2002 with a BS degree in Bio-Psychology. Immediately following, she worked as an EMT and Health Center Coordinator at a Surf Camp in California for three different summers. It was there that she encountered a lot of different people and cultures from around the world, and fell in love with the idea of teaching and learning on an everyday basis. Shortly after, her adventure in education began.

She ended up working as a Environmental Outdoor Educator for Nature’s Classroom (taught in MA, NH, NY, and CT), drove across the United States six times (through 47 states) within that year and a half period, returned to California, and worked for Los Angeles County Outdoor Science Schools for two years as a Program Manager, Director, and Naturalist. After her wild adventures in the US, she decided to take the learning process overseas and became an Environmental Education Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala.

Her two and a half years in Guatemala were very productive. She worked with three schools in three different communities, taught environmental concepts and ideas, helped build a two room school eco-school using plastic bottles filled with trash, learned Spanish and a little K’iche’ (the local Mayan language), built stoves, and fell even more in love with learning!! She loves the outdoors, nature, animals, Spanish, and learning about new cultures, and is very happy to be a part of the Escuela Futuro Verde team.

Faride Trujillo graduated from the University of South Florida in 2002 with a Master’s Degree in Spanish. Since then she has taught Spanish as a second language to students off all ages and backgrounds. She worked as a Spanish teacher for the public school system in Florida as well as a private k-8 school. 

During the past seven years she taught College level Spanish courses and lead study abroad trips to South America.  She is a native Spanish speaker with a passion for cultures and languages. She came to the area for the first time to volunteer at the Montezuma Elementary School and fell in love with the children, the culture and the natural surroundings.  

Jennifer Ridsdale graduated from Queen’s University with a degree in Political Studies. Immediately following, she completed her Bachelor of Education, in Primary and Junior divisions, with a focus on International Education. Merging her interests in politics and education, it was then she came to Costa Rica, in 2008. In this international practicum she completed research on development through education and the promotion of environmental sustainability. She had the opportunity to volunteer with the National Parks, and teach English in the public school system. Upon completion of her degree she returned to Costa Rica to teach English while completing a specialist course in teaching English as a Second Language. Since then, she has been involved in a non-profit program for improving and promoting adult literacy, as well as various programs teaching English as a Second Language.