Introducing Our Superstar English Teaching Team
The new school year has just begun here at Na’atik, and for the first time since the outbreak of Covid we are excited to have a full English language teaching team here in Carrillo. Our amazing new team of teachers and a Library Activities Coordinator give our students exposure to accents and speech patterns from different parts of the United States and the United Kingdom. Under the leadership of experienced Na’atik teacher, Erick, the new team has hit the ground running, with students already loving their classes and being excited to learn and share with their new teachers.
Ariel - Teacher
Ariel hails from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of the prestigious Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. They took their first steps in English teaching while spending the last year working in France. They are passionate about ecology and biodiversity, and are particularly interested in seeing how the local Indigenous communities interact with nature and how that compares to their past experiences of spending summer with Indigenous communities in Ecuador. They are also an experienced scuba diving instructor, and with access to some of the world’s best diving along the region’s coast, have come to the perfect place to enjoy the sport.
Why did you choose to teach English as a foreign language?
There were two main motivations behind wanting to be a TEFL teacher. Firstly I love making connections with people, and there is no better way to do that than through teaching, learning and sharing experiences in the classroom. I also love travel, but prefer longer term immersive experiences through which I can gain a better understanding of a place, and TEFL teaching is a great way to see the world while making a positive impact on people and communities.
What is your favorite thing about teaching?
I really enjoy watching my students build their confidence, going from being afraid to speak in front of their classmates to creating their own sentences and communicating assuredly.
What is the hardest part?
Having to be the classroom disciplinarian. I love connecting with students and making friends with them, but being a teacher also means needing to control a classroom and that role can take some adjusting to.
Why did you choose to come and teach at Na’atik?
I felt extremely motivated by the school's vision and mission, and wanted to be part of an organization that was trying to do more than just teach English for the language’s sake. While learning the language is valuable and can make a big difference in students' lives, sharing cultures and developing student’s confidence and wider understanding is also very important.
What are your initial impressions of life here in Felipe Carrillo Puerto?
The main thing I have noticed is how community-minded everyone is. Everyone is interconnected and understands those connections; it is great to see a whole town of people supporting one another.
What are your goals for your time here?
My biggest goal is to do my job well, both by imparting knowledge but also making my students feel secure and confident going forwards in their education. I also hope to learn from the experience of being part of this community and to continue to draw life lessons from those around me.
Welcome to the team, Ariel!
Sam - Teacher
Sam is from the city of Bournemouth on England’s south coast, and graduated from Falmouth University, a well respected creative arts college located in picturesque Cornwall. Sam has been teaching students of all ages in TEFL schools in his home country, and brings experience and enthusiasm to the team. Outside of teaching Sam is an experienced traveler, who loves hiking in nature and has a particular interest in atmospheric phenomena. Serendipitously, the Zona Maya is due to see a significant partial eclipse in October, which Sam is excited to experience.
Why did you choose to teach English as a foreign language?
Teaching English allows me to be exposed to different cultures, peoples and ways of life and to visit places that I have always had an interest in seeing.
What is your favorite thing about teaching?
People! I love working with people and having the chance to do something of value for someone, especially when they are motivated. It can be very rewarding.
What is the hardest part?
Some classes have a wide range of levels, interests and motivations. It can be challenging to give individuals within those classes the attention and support they need to make the most from the class without neglecting others.
Why did you choose to come and teach at Na’atik?
The authenticity of the program. Na’atik offers a chance to develop my skills as a teacher whilst working with a small close-knit team. Being part of a community is the best way to become a better teacher.
What are your initial impressions of life here in Felipe Carrillo Puerto?
It's certainly hot! The people have been very open and very friendly. I stand out a bit here as a gangly white guy, but everyone is always so nice and they just want to talk and ask questions wherever I go in the town, which I find quite charming and pleasant.
What are your goals for your time here?
Improving my proficiency in Spanish would be great, and I would love to learn some useful phrases in Maya too. I am a big nature lover as well, so I am excited to learn about the beautiful flowers and trees of the region.
Welcome to Na’atik, Sam!
Rosa - Teacher
Rosa is from near Newscastle in the North-East of England and graduated from London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, a specialist language and culture university. She speaks fluent French and is working on her Spanish, German and Arabic. She has taught in both France and Uganda, and has traveled in Kenya, all over Europe and through Central and South America. She is a keen musician and funded the majority of her travel through busking with her guitar.
Why did you choose to teach English as a foreign language?
I am very passionate about languages, and being multilingual I have experienced the benefits it brings. I want to share this love of languages but also the opportunities it brings to both travel and explore different careers.
What is your favorite thing about teaching?
The moment when what you are teaching resonates with a student and they have those visible breakthrough moments of understanding.
What is the hardest part?
The planning can be very challenging, especially when there are a lot of classes of different levels. It can also be difficult to get kids interested and motivated in certain difficult grammar topics.
Why did you choose to come and teach at Na’atik?
I really wanted to return to this part of Mexico which I had loved when I visited before. I also really liked the emphasis on cross-cultural exchange at Na’atik as well as loving the non-profit model. It is the kind of project I just wanted to be part of. I also wanted to be part of the team. I am also really interested in Maya culture, and here seems like a special opportunity to learn more about that.
What are your initial impressions of life here in FCP?
People are really friendly and welcoming. Everyone is curious about why I am here and they want to talk to me, even in the supermarket. I like how different it is to the more touristy places. I love the authenticity.
What are your goals for your time here?
Develop my skills as a teacher by working with the team here. Become more confident at facing challenges. Learn some Maya, practice Spanish, meet some great people.
Welcome to the team, Rosa!
Kaia - Library Activities Coordinator
Kaia is from California and also graduated from Massachusetts’ Mount Holyoke College. She taught in France for a year and speaks fluent French. She is taking on the challenge of running a trilingual lending library that is also a place of learning for students and an intercultural activities hub for the community. She is passionate about literature and the role it can play in language learning.
Why did you choose to teach English as a foreign language?
I enjoy learning languages myself, and because of that I understand their value and I want to impart that enjoyment and value to others. I love watching people learn and also love the inherent exchange of experience and culture that foreign language learning entails. I am also interested in the relationship between literacy and fluency.
What is your favorite thing about teaching?
The moments that you students understand and then implement the things you have taught in their own ways. I also love the excitement students have when identifying differences and contrasting their own language with a new one. It is always fun to watch people learn in general. Teaching a language feels like sharing something deeply personal to you.
What is the hardest part?
The library is its own challenge because there is not always the same widespread culture of reading and a love of books that I am used to. Trying to impart the value of reading and also that reading can be fun to people without experience of reading for pleasure can be a real challenge. Getting people to not only read, but to read because they want to and most importantly because they enjoy it.
Why did you choose to come and teach at Na’atik?
Having lived in France and studied the language, I felt the time was right to learn another language, and having chosen Spanish, Mexico felt accessible. Once I began looking at opportunities in Mexico I came across Na’atik, and the school's mission and values resonated with me; the project was something I really wanted to be a part of. I also wanted to be away from more touristy areas of the country, as in my experience being away from English speakers makes learning the language a lot easier.
What are your initial impressions of life here in FCP?
People have been very welcoming and friendly, from coworkers at Na’atik to strangers you pass on the street.
What are your goals for your time here?
To learn Spanish is one of the top ones. Also to make the library not only a functioning space, but also a vibrant one that is a community for both learning and fun. To make the most of being in this incredible part of the world, whether that is eating the food, traveling and seeing amazing places or forming connections in the community.
Welcome to Na’atik, Kaia!
Erick - Program Director
For many people in the Na’atik family, Erick will need no introduction. From the nearby Maya community, X-Pichil, Erick was one of the first local students to benefit from a scholarship to study at Na’atik, taking classes at the school for six years from the age of eleven. He has since studied English at the Autonomous University of Quintana Roo, become a teacher of both English and Spanish (and occasionally Yucatec Maya) and has now taken on the role of leading our team of foreign teachers and the program that started him on his language journey.
Why did you choose to become an English teacher?
When I was studying English at Na’atik, I was taught by teachers from many parts of the world: Mexico, the US, England and even Kenya. I saw so many different ways of teaching and was fascinated by all of the methods and styles. During my classes I began to realize that I loved helping my classmates when they did not understand something, and seeing which teaching techniques worked for me.
How did you come to be a teacher at Na’atik?
During Covid when Na’atik’s teachers had to leave Mexico, Catherine (Na’atik’s founder and director) wanted to ensure local students could keep learning. She knew I was just finishing my degree in English and had a passion for teaching. I originally just helped out by covering classes when needed, but that developed into teaching full time.
How does it feel to be running the program that you joined as a student?
It is surreal! It is a big responsibility and a new challenge for me, but I love the school and the program, and think my understanding of what local students and parents want from the school will enable me to help the teaching team.
How do you see your role?
My role is to help the team of foreign teachers in their adaptation to living and teaching in a different place and culture. My role is to be a guide and to share my experiences to help them and to always have their back; like a big brother.
The biggest challenge for foreign team members is adapting to the way of life we have here in Carrillo. Culture shock can be very difficult when combined with developing a career in a new job. Whether it is our different cultural values of punctuality or the expectations of how classes are delivered here. The degree of organization and patience that is required to teach and live here can be a surprise for some.
What are your goals for this year?
I want to ensure the students keep up with their classes and that we help those students who are struggling, whether with the language, teaching methodology, or for financial reasons. I also hope to increase the amount of intercultural exchange we can offer above previous levels. I want to learn more about administration and how to be more efficient and how to offer the best support for the teachers. Finally I want to run some great and memorable events.
Are you happy that you can still teach in the classroom in your new role?
I feel like myself when I am teaching, I feel free, it is my place. I love offering classes that are the kind I would have liked to receive when I was younger. More dynamic, fun and relaxed. To take away the idea that English is hard, and show that with the right attitude it can be fun. I always like to take students through their first steps on their English language journeys and give them confidence to take forward in their classes with other teachers.
My favorite part of giving classes is creating a place where students feel safe making errors and can laugh together at the parts of language that can cause confusion.
Do you have a message for the Na’atik family?
I just want to say thank you for all that you do. Your support, visits and generous donations make a huge difference to students and their families. Thank you for changing the lives of these students. Your support can change their lives forever like it did for me. A place like Carrillo can feel lost in the jungle sometimes, with its needs ignored by everyone, so for there to be so many people offering help from abroad is truly amazing and means so much to us.
Thank you, Erick, for all the great work you do. We know the program and team are in great hands.
To learn more about the Na’atik English Language Program, visit our Impact page. Na’atik is a nonprofit language and culture institute, every immersion program and online class contributes to our efforts to offer local students access to education and intercultural experiences. We also run a Maya Youth Scholarship Program, to ensure that background is no barrier to education for local and Indigenous students.
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