The Enviroschools Team

Andrea

Andrea is one of the kiwis on the team!

Growing up on the West Coast of the South Island a lot of fun years were spent exploring the bush and hanging out at the beach. She has had lots of adventures overseas which have made her more appreciative of the beauty of NZ and a passion to protect it. She is a firm believer that if every one of us makes a small change, collectively we can make a difference for a more sustainable future!

Andrea is a trained primary school teacher and is also a qualified dietitian.  She has experience working in public health managing health promotion projects targeting schools.

In her spare time she enjoys biking, tramping, beach walks, reading and anything in the outdoors! (Oh…and a definite weakness for good coffee!)

Hillary

Hilary comes from the land of deciduous woodlands, castles, stone walls, hedges and mountains.

After a geography degree she worked in an outdoor pursuits centre setting up an environmental education programme. Deciding working with young people was great a post graduate certificate in education in geography and outdoor pursuits followed.

Outside the classroom was definitely more her cup of tea than inside so back into environmental education working for the Lake District National Park writing and teaching their Learning through Experience programme, also experiential visits for schools groups to a private nature reserve and having two children.

Moving to Rotorua, NZ in 1991 was followed by running the Outdoor education camp on Motutapu Island in the Hauraki gulf –an idyllic island life for the children and big time kayaking, sailing and snorkeling for Hilary.

In an attempt to move south reached Waiuku whilst working for the Auckland Regional Council –setting up and teaching their LEOTC programmes in the Regional parks. When the EE guidelines came out she helped deliver them to schools and worked on a pilot project with two schools and continued with one as an Enviroschool. D

id her masters in Environmental Education and spent a couple of years with the University of Auckland as an education for sustainability advisor working with Enviroschools was followed by a bigger move south –to Canterbury.

In her spare time Hilary loves mountaineering, painting, growing vegetables and native trees, spinning and felt making.

Toni

Toni is a kiwi who managed to fly.

A born and bred Cantabrian who has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Canterbury and a primary teaching diploma from the University of Waikato Toni taught at Silverdale Primary on the Hibiscus Coast for two years before, in 1997,  packing up and going the way of many other kiwis…the big OE.

Teaching in London offered the chance to experience the multi-cultural melting pot that is the U.K. It also offered many travel opportunities, not just through Europe but also South America. In 1999 Toni ended up at Roxbourne Middle School. She survived Year 7 and they in turn got used to her accent and odd expressions. A down side was coaching the senior boy’s soccer team and not winning a game all season!  She taught there until 2001 when itchy feet struck again and it was off (with Steve) to Sydney via Turkey, India and Nepal.

In Sydney Toni developed an interest in teaching gifted students. She enrolled in the Certificate of Gifted Education and a year and a half later emerged both unscathed and enthusiastic. In 2003 Charlie ‘the girl’ was born and teaching in the classroom took a back seat for a couple of months. After another stint relieving a few days a week a full-time job emerged at a local primary school – too good to be true!  This school became part of a cluster of local schools aiming to actively involve students in environmental education; Toni was her school’s representative.

In 2008, after six years in Sydney and the time nearing for Charlie to start school, it was time move back to Christchurch; after 14 years away! Now they have a house, a beagle, a compost bin, a fledgling vegetable garden and a passion for being involved in the environment. The role of facilitator for Enviroschools Canterbury is the icing on the cake.

Val

Valerie comes from the land of the maple leaf and polar bear. 

After training as a Secondary School teacher (Biology, Geography, Experiential Ed) she taught Environmental & Outdoor Education at a variety of schools in Canada and USA. 

In 2003 she came to New Zealand to work as an instructor for the Outward Bound School in Anakiwa.  Thinking she was staying for a year, Val fell in love with the country and a Kiwi, and is now engaged to Dominic.  They spent a year traveling together through Central & South America, climbing mountains, conversing in Spanish to llamas, and exploring the natural and social environments of many countries.  Upon returning to NZ they chose to jump in to the Christchurch scene, and Val now teaches Environmental Education for the Christchurch City Council, as well as working as a facilitator for the Enviroschools programme.

In her spare time Val rock climbs, road bikes, and teaches her kitten, Chica, to catch mice and not native birds.   The current mouse count is 62.