Christine Köstlin is a trained special education teacher from Germany. She has worked in primary and secondary school settings in Germany as well as an international school in Hong Kong, where she taught and lived for 5 years. During her time abroad she entered the international teaching community and started her journey as a speaker and author. She is currently working for the government of her state in the Ministry of Education, where she is on the team of the special needs department.
In her free time, Christine enjoys arts and crafts, traveling and learning something new. She loves spending time with her friends and is active in her neighborhood where she brings people together.
Jillian Nichols is currently the Student Safeguarding and Support Services Coordinator at the American International School of Bucharest. She has over a decade of experience as a Learning Support educator and coordinating programs of support for students within international school settings in Thailand, Kenya and currently in Romania. Jillian began her career in education in the United States public school system working alongside students with mental health disorders and behavioral challenges. Jillian is a certified Special Education teacher for students of all ages, and a licensed administrator, with an educational background in secondary Special Education and Educational Leadership. Jillian proudly hails from Portland, Oregon and enjoys traveling and partaking in outdoor adventures with her family.
April J Remfrey, MS, is an educational consultant that focuses her time working with globally mobile families that have children with special needs when they are searching for a new school. April has also created an ILP/RTI goal documentation cloud-based program for international schools called STEP.
She has a BA in special education and elementary education at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, USA and received a Master’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA in Exceptional Education. She has been a teacher for 20 years in three different countries and has experience in the public, private, and international school environments.
Since 2013, April, her husband, and daughter have lived in the Zurich, Switzerland area. Never one to sit still, April likes to hike in the Swiss Alps, cook gourmet food, and play clarinet in the local concert band.
Joy Meyer, M.ED, is a passionate advocate of inclusive education and a big promoter of differentiation practices to address the diverse learning needs of all students. She has been a teacher since 2012 and has experience teaching using a multitude of curriculums. She has taught in preschool and elementary levels in both private and international schools in the Philippines, China and Singapore.
She values learner diversity and strives to support all learners by working collaboratively with families and other educational professionals. She holds a Master’ degree in Education focused in Curriculum and Instruction from George Mason University and another Master’s Degree in Public Management. Joy moved to Switzerland in 2020 with her husband and two kids and is in constant awe of this amazing, beautiful country.
Amanda Frank,
Jodi Kittle is in her second year as the High School Student Support Coordinator at the American School of Barcelona, and has recently joined the board for SENIA Europe. She was involved in the founding of SENIA Korea when at Chadwick International, and presented at multiple SENIA and EARCOS conferences on specifically the IB MYP and differentiation, accommodation and modification to meet diverse student needs. As she nears the end of her third decade in education, Jodi has been a middle and high school classroom teacher in English and History, as well as a learning specialist in both levels. Currently she supports grade 11 and 12 students in the IB Diploma Programme and other pathways. Married to Maker Educator Andrew, and the mom to middle schooler Annika, Jodi spends her non-school energy exploring and documenting her surroundings with urban photography, and being an active advocate for child mental health, LGBTQ+, and social justice as it pertains to the climate crisis (especially reading the recent work of Kim Stanley Robinson!)
Nicole Demos is proud to be a Third Culture Kid herself with over 25 years of experience in the US and overseas. She holds an M.A in Education from the University of Connecticut, an M.Ed in International Counseling and is currently enrolled in a pilot Social Emotional Behavioral Wellbeing Certificate also from Lehigh University. For the past ten years, Nicole has been a Learning Support teacher for students in 6-12 at the International School of Helsinki. Advocacy, Inclusion and Social Emotional Wellbeing are core beliefs that Nicole values and implements daily. Spending time with loved ones and her toy poodle Sisu, singing, reading, traveling and cooking are Nicole’s hobbies when she is not at work.