Summer Camp Instructors
Anselmo Arguelles
Anselmo comes from Asturias, Spain, where he grew up playing soccer along with several other sports. He holds a Spanish Teaching Certificate, a BA in English and an MA in the History and Literature of Scotland. He has researched and taught in Spain, Scotland and the U.S. Anselmo also developed a liking for the Scottish bagpipes, which he still plays today, sometimes for veteran associations and recently at Gilkey's 8th grade Graduation ceremony. He has taught at FAIS since 2000.
Beth Clifton
Beth grew up in Washington State and attended the University of Oregon. With a BA in Health and Physical Performance and experience as an athletic trainer, she began her professional career in sports medicine. She is an avid fan of the outdoors and teaches forest ecology and science for GIMS. She has been a science teacher for 5 years and with GIMS for 2 years.
Baba Wagué Diakité
Baba Wagué Diakité was born in Bamako, Mali in West Africa. His mother gave him her father's name of "Wagué,” which means "A Man of Trust". He spent his early childhood with his grandmother, and later moved to Bamako. His best education came from stories that were told to him by his grandmother and mother about animals and the First People. Wagué grew up drawing. He moved to Portland, Oregon in the US in 1985. There, he began using clay as his canvas. Wagué had his first solo exhibition in 1988. He has taught in the Oregon public school system through the Art-in-Education program since 1989. He has traveled throughout the U.S. for author visits and workshops. Scholastic Press has published several of his books. Wagué is presently in the process of building a cultural center in Bamako, Mali, to enable artists from other countries to live, meet, study and collaborate with artists of Mali.
Sebastien Dos Santos
During his competitive career, Sebastien Dos Santos was a member of the French National Modern Pentathlon team, four-time national champion and international gold medalist. He earned his trainer degree at the age of 26, and founded the Bordeaux Pentathlon Club where he was head trainer for 5 years. In addition to his Pentathlon Trainer Certification, he received an MA in Physical Education, Swimming and Fencing.
He has mentored several coaches, trained the Cadet and Junior French National Team and was head coach for the 2004 French Women's Modern Pentathlon Olympic team.
He is currently starting a new fencing club in Fairbanks, Alaska where he currently lives.
Barent DuBois
Barent DuBois holds a Level 1 coaching certification from the United States Fencing Association Coaches College in foil. He coaches the Youth and Youth Competitive programs at the Northwest Fencing Center, is a 3-weapon competitor, and is a biology/education major at Concordia University.
Emily J. Eldred
Emily J. Eldred is from Oregon. She holds a BA from the University of Oregon in Comparative Literature and French. She speaks French and English. She taught English at three primary schools in France for one year. Of her several hobbies and interests, she especially likes literature, hiking, sewing, traveling and writing. She has been working at FAIS for one year.
Erin Heckle
Erin moved to Portland almost two years ago from New Jersey. She got her teaching certificate and substituted for a year before finding FAIS. She is fluent in French, as she lived in Belgium from the ages of three to eleven. She enjoys many activities such as hiking, camping, tennis and bike riding. She had been a substitute for one year at FAIS before becoming an English teacher in preschool, pre-kindergarten, and second grade classes.
Leif Olav Jenssen
Leif Olav Jenssen is originally from Central Washington. He has a BA in Theatre from Eastern Washington University, where his studies were focused mainly on performance. While attending college, he worked for the Stage Door To the Future summer theatre camp where he taught acting and stage combat. He also wrote and directed plays for young people as well as acted on stage with them. After college he attended IFALPES in Chambery, France for 7 months. He has been working for FAIS since late November.
Suzanne Kenney
Suzanne received her Classical Theatre training at UCLA in San Diego, California. She comes from an artistically rich background in theatre, dance, voice and costume design and now leads a company dedicated to innovative concepts in performance. In 2000, Suzanne launched her own artistic vision of a company, Pendulum Aerial Dance Theatre. She works with dancers from diverse backgrounds and training who often have no aerial experience. She is also a producer and choreographer. In 2005 she founded "The Pendulum Flyers,” an aerial dance company for youth ages 11-18 who have been hand-picked to create an explosive, energetic, dynamic troupe. The company enters its 7th year as Artists in Residence at FAIS.
Nadia Khazem
Nadia was born in Algeria. She speaks Kabyle, Arabic, French and English fluently. She has been working with children as a social worker and in summer camps for more than 20 years in Algeria, Italy, Spain and France. She likes teaching, cooking, fabric painting, knitting, crocheting and several art and craft activities. She loves reading, cooking, sports and other outdoor activities. She has been working at FAIS for two years and is currently a preschool assistant.
Nelli Kreidi
Nelli was born in Lebanon. She speaks Arabic, French and English fluently. She previously worked as a social worker in a poor neighborhood in Lebanon, where she created an after school program to prevent delinquency. She was camp leader and CEMEA director (Centre d`entrainement aux methodes d`education active), has studied advanced ceramics and art at the Museum School of Fine Arts-Boston, and has taught art classes in After Care in Lebanon, Boston and at Gilkey Middle School’s Ace Week.
She has been working for two years at FAIS and is currently a preschool assistant.
Laurence Le Mercier
Laurence Le Mercier was born in France on the coast of Brittany. Laurence got her BA in Elementary Education and has been teaching in her native country and here in the USA for the past 20 years. Her passion: the children she works with on a daily basis. Her hobbies: From the mountain range to the ocean shores, and for the past 14 years that she has made it her home, she has been exploring and hiking in Oregon. Her second favorite activity is learning about new technologies and being impressed by the positive impact they have had on her teaching. From creating websites, to using the web as a research tool, to creating multimedia presentations, she sees the great benefits of these technologies for children.
Tessa Luk
Tessa emigrated from Hong Kong 7 years ago. She got her MA in Education at PSU and became a licensed elementary (plus ESL) school teacher. Besides English, she speaks both Cantonese and Mandarin. This will be her second year working at the FAIS summer camp.
Jonathan Mascaut
Jonathan is from Normandy, France. He graduated from Caen University France in English and American Studies. He speaks fluent French and English, as well as a little German. He spent 5 months working in Aspen, Colorado in 2001 and has been living in Portland for the past 3 years. He has played collective sports all his life, especially basketball. He was a player, referee and coach for a number of years. He has been working at FAIS for one year.
David Olson
David's teaching is informed by a varied educational background, as he holds both a Bachelor of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as well as a Liberal Arts degree from Lewis and Clark College. David has performed both as a soloist and in chamber music throughout the western United States in addition to having over ten years of experience teaching.
Marion Rosier
Marion was born in France. She has traveled all over Europe and also in Japan, New Zealand and in the U.S where she has been living for 7 years. Marion speaks both French and English fluently. She has a BA in English. She taught in Middle, France before coming to the U.S. Marion likes sports and outdoor activities. She also loves reading and cooking. She has worked at FAIS as a substitute for 2 years. She now teaches 4th grade.
Emily Scotton
Emily grew up in Portland, Maine. She went to Carleton College, a small liberal arts school in Minnesota, where she received a degree in psychology. During her years at Carleton she took many French classes and spent a semester in Paris during her sophomore year. She also traveled in Spain, Portugal, and France the summer after she graduated from college. Emily has a lot of experience leading art projects, playing games and working with children on social skills. She has worked as a FAIS aide for three years and also was involved as a teacher for the PS and PK division at the 2004 summer camp.
Maryam Troncelliti
Maryam was born to Italian parents and spent the first few years of her life in Indonesia. As an adult, she has worked and traveled extensively throughout Europe and Africa. She was an Assistant Director at a children’s art workshop in Burkina Faso. She lived in France as a teenager as well as an adult, studying at the Sorbonne University and teaching English. She obtained her BA in French and Linguistics in 2003. Her hobbies include cooking, art, music, travel, and studying languages. She has been a FAIS aide and camp instructor since 2004.
Cynthia Vancil
Cynthia is from Portland, Oregon. She is currently enrolled at PCC. She speaks French and is learning Spanish at the moment. She lived in France for ten months and has traveled all over Europe since 2001. She is excessively interested in special art, especially where color, fabric and lighting are concerned. She loves anything to do with music (listening to, writing, playing). She has been affiliated with FAIS for four years.
