Meet Our Leaders

Adam studied English and graduated with honors from Franklin and Marshall college before coming to UMass to study Fiction. He has taught courses in both composition and literature and twice has been nominated for Residential First Year Experience Student Choice Awards. He also worked for the Philadelphia Alumni Writers House in Lancaster, PA, where he helped establish a community for local and student writers. His book reviews and fiction have appeared in the Kenyon Review, The Common, The Ampersand, Word Riot, and other publications and he has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Adam loves dogs, bowling, games – both board and athletic – and cooking. He has taught Journalism, and Public Speaking and Debate on our Pre-College enrichment program at Amherst College.

A proud son of the state of Vermont and eighth-generation Orwellian (population: 1200), Adam has lived in diaspora all of his adult life.  After college, including three terms spent abroad, he briefly joined the corporate workforce, strategy consulting for one year in Boston before fleeing to London to pursue a master’s degree and experience life as an expat.  As part of his research, Adam spent a month traveling in Thailand, specifically focusing on the impact of tourism development on environmental resources in Ko Phi Phi.  Also in London, Adam returned to his interests in education, teaching in Notting Hill.  While there, Adam organized and led a cultural tour of the Czech Republic, the first international trip for many of his students.  Returning stateside in 2005, Adam spent a year working on his second master’s degree and developing his teaching skills at the Shady Hill School in Cambridge, MA.  Now at the Park School in Brookline, MA, Adam is in his sixth-year as a middle school math and social studies teacher.  When Adam isn’t giving rein to his wanderlust, he enjoys adventuring with his wife, Esther, and their labradoodle, Moose.  Adam is an avid marathoner, skier, and sailor.  Adam led a Community Service Montana program in 2001 and recently led our summer community service program in Vietnam for high school students.

During her semester studying in Lima, Peru, Alex’s interest in Latin America grew into a deep passion. She spent her last semester at Hamilton College translating the short stories of Peruvian writer Julio Ramón Ribeyro and wading through Proust’s monumental novel In Search of Lost Time. Her work with the Peruvian non-profit Flora Tristán organization piqued her interest in activism and education.  She spent the 2010-2011 school year serving as a tutor, mentor, and role model for elementary school students in Southeast D.C. through City Year and feels that, during the experience, she learned even more than she taught. Her City Year service ingrained in her the value of education and cultural exchange, fields in which she hopes to spend much of her future time. Alex is a full-time staff member in the Putney Barn, coordinating programs in Latin America and Europe, and is also part of the Admissions Team. When she is not traveling, Alex likes to play music, read books and magazines, hike, and do yoga. She is fluent in Spanish. She has led high school community service programs in Peru and in Ecuador.

At NYU Alexandra majored in Medieval and Renaissance literature and history with a minor in Italian studies. As a Putney alumna (of the Community Service in Brazil and Excel China programs), Alexandra has had a passion for travel from a young age. She studied abroad in Florence, Italy for four months where she lived with an Italian family and completed intensive coursework in Italian language, literature and Renaissance art. In her final years at NYU, Alexandra’s studies concentrated on Medieval and Renaissance British literature with a further specialization in English Renaissance drama. She completed a tutorial on Renaissance accessories and gender studies. Her thesis, entitled Ornamenting Richard II, examines Shakespeare’s play Richard II through the lens of material culture and the language of clothing. Alex recently started a blog called That’s So Renaissance, which relates medieval and Renaissance fashion to contemporary world of fashion.  Alexandra was on the Dean’s List all four years of study, is a Fellow of the Newington-Cropsey Foundation Academy of Art, and is fluent in Italian. She has worked on the staffs of our summer Pre-College programs at Amherst College and Oxford and Tuscany.

Alexia grew up in France and moved to Washington State when she turned 13. She graduated from both American and French high schools before going to college. She graduated summa cum laude from WSU with a Bachelor in Fine Arts with both printmaking and painting emphasis. She also received minors in Art History and Spanish. At WSU, she was vice president of the Art Student Union and helped bring art out to the university and the community. She is currently getting her second bachelor’s and teaching certificate from EWU in Secondary Art Education with a minor in French Education. She is presently working with a master teacher at Cheney High School teaching ceramics, painting, and design to high school students, and will complete her student teaching in the fall. At both colleges, Alexia was a French and Spanish tutor to college students, and it was these experiences that inspired her to become a teacher. 2012 was her first summer with our summer pre-college enrichment program in Oxford, UK, and Tuscany, Italy.

Alli is a proud native Vermonter, whose strong passion for community service work was born out of the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.  Since that time, she has spent the majority of her high school and college spring breaks assisting in community reconstruction efforts. Alli’s interest in U.S. foreign aid to Africa brought her to Uganda in the spring of her junior year as a volunteer for Soft Power Education. During her six months abroad, Alli’s fascination with the night sky led her to apply for and receive a travel enrichment grant to conduct a cross-cultural analysis of Northern New York and East African skies and stargazing traditions. Alli loves travel and outdoor adventure, and has backpacked through Peru, hiked in the Adirondacks, and explored Georgia’s Cumberland Island.  After graduating, Alli moved to Portland, Maine, where she has been enjoying her first city-living experience. She is a member of Portland’s ultimate frisbee team and ran her third half-marathon this past spring. Alli is proficient in Swahili and Spanish. She led Putney’s summer community service program in Tanzania twice.

Alyssa’s interests in Spanish and international development started in high school when she traveled to Ecuador with her class to volunteer and take conversation seminars. Her time spent with a host family – from grocery shopping with her host brothers to cooking family dinners – instilled in her a love for other cultures and customs. She continued to explore the world through internships with NGOs such as the Sudan Development Foundation, which focuses on providing education to the people and health clinics in Southern Sudan.  She spent a semester of her junior year in Nicaragua, studying at a local university and taking classes in international economics and Spanish, while climbing volcanoes and exploring the beach in her free time.  The past year saw Alyssa working on a project in St. Lucia, using one-on-one interviews to evaluate the effects of service-learning courses on local community members.  Additionally, she has spent four years working at UVM’s radio station, WRUV, DJ-ing and adding as much music as possible to her music library. Alyssa is from Vermont and enjoys reading, hiking, creating elaborate picnics, pretending to play the ukulele, and eating anything with maple or pumpkin. She led a summer community service program in Costa Rica in 2012. Alyssa is fluent in Spanish.

Amelia spent most of her college years abroad.  She studied at the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France, where she focused on French language, Contemporary French Society, and French History.  She created lesson plans and taught English, music, environmental awareness, and basic math to Indian students at the Gandhi Ashram School in Kalimpong, India. Amelia then went on to study at the CIEE Study Center at Suffolk University in Dakar, Senegal, where she concentrated on Development in Africa, including Environmental Policy, Economics, Public Health, and International Crisis Management.  While in Senegal, Amelia worked at Pouponniere de Medina, where she gave basic care to young orphans.  She has also taught musical theatre at the Looking Glass Theatre Co. in Providence, Rhode Island, for kids ages 8-16, and can be found humming a tune at almost any point in the day. Amelia’s global experiences have helped her recognize the importance of learning about other people and places in the world by interacting with them first hand, rather than simply believing what the media tells us about them. Amelia has led led our summer community service program in Senegal for three consecutive summers and most recently led a summer community service trip to Ghana. She is fluent in French and proficient in Wolof and Spanish.

Raised in the Washington DC area, Andrew has always had a passion for outdoor experiences and wilderness exploration.  He has hiked in Alaska, Peru, Patagonia, Ethiopia, Cameroon, and all over the continental United States.  While at Brown, Andrew spent a semester studying coastal and marine ecology in Turks and Caicos before moving to Ecuador to work for the marine resources department of the Galápagos National Park.  Recently, Andrew managed a field station for Drexel University and the Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program in the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, Equatorial Guinea.  There, Andrew facilitated various research projects and managed other conservation related operations.  Working closely with local communities, government agencies, and international corporations, Andrew helped raise awareness for environmental issues through educational and advocacy programs island-wide.  Andrew’s sustainability and conservation work with international NGOs in developing countries will take him to India this September for a fellowship through the American Indian Foundation. Andrew is fluent in Spanish. He has led our summer program in Costa Rica for middle school students.

Anna Kaiper was raised in Espanola, New Mexico surrounded by Hispanic, Native American, and Mexican cultures. This diversity sparked Anna’s love of people, culture, and travel.  Anna has travelled to Durban, South Africa where she spent several months studying educational systems in South African schools.  After college Anna moved to New York City where she taught middle school Special Education in the Bronx through NYC Teaching Fellows.  While she loved teaching in an urban setting, Anna had always desired to teach abroad. After receiving her M.S., she moved to Thailand where she received her TESOL certification and taught English to high school students in a rural town in Thailand. Anna moved back to New York after a year in Thailand to further her career in both ESL and Special Education and then moved to Buenos Aires Argentina, to fulfill her dream of learning Spanish while also teach Business English to adults. Currently Anna is teaching ESL and GED classes to adult students at Northern New Mexico College and tutoring at the local middle and high schools.  She is also working on applications for PhD programs in International Education and hopes to start her Doctoral studies next fall. She has worked on staff with our summer Pre-College program at Amherst College.

An avid language learner and traveler, Anna’s love for both was cemented during a summer program spent in Granada, Spain, following her junior year of high school.  Later on, as an undergraduate at the University of Delaware, Anna decided to keep on with her language studies declaring the Three Languages major as her second major in addition to International Relations.  Anna’s exploratory nature led her to travel throughout Europe and Latin America participating in study abroad programs in Argentina and Russia, as well as a volunteer program in Costa Rica.  Her passion for language learning, travel, and cultural exploration grew with every new experience and led Anna to stay on at the University of Delaware to pursue a  M.A. in Spanish Literature.  During her time as an M.A. student Anna assisted in leading a study abroad trip to Mexico and taught Spanish to undergraduates.  Additionally, Anna was selected to take part in a faculty exchange in Granada, Spain.  Currently, Anna is teaching English in Israel as part of a new fellowship aimed at advancing the level of English language achievement in underprivileged communities. In addition to her experience with Spanish, Anna is fluent in Russian. She has led our high school language immersion programs in Spain and Costa Rica.

Anna is a costume designer, puppet-builder, and the director of the Western Massachusetts-based puppet company, Talking Hands Theatre (www.talkinghandstheatre.com).  She holds an MA in Educational Theater and studied puppetry on a Fulbright Fellowship in India.  Anna has created custom puppets and costumes for the Macy’s Parade, Carnival Cruises, and a slew theater companies based in New York City and throughout New England.  Anna worked as a seamstress while an undergraduate at Wesleyan University, and has been designing clothes for herself and others ever since. 2012 was her first summer teaching on our Pre-College summer program at Amherst College.

Born in Beijing, Annie has always considered Beijing her second home. On a Civil Liberties and Public Policy grant from her college, Annie studied health policy and HIV/AIDS Anhui Province for two summers while writing her senior thesis. She has also traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, and Accra Ghana to conduct research in public policy. For 2012-2013 she will be a Fulbright Scholar, studying global governance in Oslo, Norway. Annie has a passion for photography, and held a photography exhibition in Lincoln Center, New York on the images that she took of children affected by poverty and HIV/AIDS, and was the head photographer for The LSE newspaper. Annie is fluent in Mandarin. 2012 was her second summer leading Putney’s summer program in China for high school students.

Anthony’s interest in Spanish began as a young child, and led him to study abroad at La Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in Argentina, where he focused on Argentine literature and Hispanic linguistics.  Infatuated with these cultural experiences and the kindness of the Argentine people, he traveled back to Argentina the following year as an intern and taught at La Escuela Superior de Comercio Manuel Belgrano in Córdoba, while also taking time to travel extensively throughout the country.  During college, Anthony tutored and mentored at-risk middle and high school students and served as the University of Texas at Austin mascot.  Currently, he teaches middle school Spanish in Dallas, Texas, at Coppell Middle School West.  He is a sponsor of their Spanish Club and leads a mentoring service project.  Anthony is completing a dual master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Business Administration. In addition to his sojourns in South America, Anthony has traveled throughout Central America, Europe, Canada, and Mexico. He has led a summer community service program in Argentina, a high school community service summer trip to Peru, and summer language immersion program in Costa Rica. Anthony is fluent in Spanish.

Ayala graduated in 2011 from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Environmental Studies and a concentration in Ecosystem Science.  During her Junior year at MHC, Ayala spent her fall semester in Woods Hole, MA at the Marine Biological Laboratory in the Semester in Environmental Science, a program run by Brown University.  There she conducted a semester long project on the impact of soil fertilization on greenhouse gas emissions from plants.  That spring, Ayala tapped into her love of travel and spent a semester in Monteverde, Costa Rica where she conducted a final project on the sustainability of the zipline industry.  After graduation, her interest in soil science, food, and community led her to an agricultural community—a kibbutz—in Israel where she worked in farming produce and with the dairy goats as well as in dairy and fruit processing factories.  She was a 2012 staff member on our summer Pre-College program at Amherst College.

Born and raised in the Boston area, Ben grew up playing guitar in local rock bands and saxophone in his high school jazz band. Ben discovered his love for photography when he took his first black & white film class in high school. He went on to study photography at Bard College where he spent most of his time either in the darkroom or out exploring the world taking pictures. While at Bard, Ben studied with artists Stephen Shore, Larry Fink, and Tim Davis. During his summers in college, Ben traveled with artist Abelardo Morell to Italy assisting him in producing his camera obscura photographs. Inspired by his passion for adventure and desire to photograph, Ben took a road trip down to Austin, TX upon graduating from Bard. After a brief stint in Austin, Ben continued his trip across country to Los Angeles, which he now calls home. Since moving to L.A., Ben continues to make art, play music, and assist other artists for a living. His work has been shown  in numerous group exhibitions, including  VOX VII ,  an  exhibition of emerging artists  at  Vox Populi in Philadelphia, and  The Best  Emerging Photographers  at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn .  2012 was his first year on our summer Pre-College program at Amherst College.

A versatile professional musician based in the Pioneer Valley, Brian studied at U.C. Berkeley before graduating from the New England Conservatory in 1993 with a degree in Contemporary Improvisation. Brian has taught Jazz Ensemble, World Music Appreciation, and Music Theory at Suffield Academy, the Williston-Northampton School, the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter High School, the Berkshire Hills Music Academy, and elsewhere. As a performing and recording artist for a range of groups—the Wholesale Klezmer Band, Black Rebels (African Reggae), the Pangeans (World Music), the World Beatniks (World Music), Little Shop of Horas (Klezmer-World Fusion), Fiddle Hill (Celtic), Big Bandemonium (Celtic), MarkaMusic (Latin-Andean fusion), the Brian Bender Quartet (Jazz), the Gumbo Jumbo Dixieland Band, and a long list of other groups (Afrobeat, Funk, R&B, etc.)—Brian has performed in venues worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, the Presidential Inauguration of Bill Clinton, Israel, Alaska, the Cape Verde Islands (West Africa), France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Holland, the United Kingdom, and the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Brian has been teaching music on our pre-college enrichment programs for ten summers.

Born and raised near Princeton, New Jersey, Brian’s fascination with India began in a study abroad program his sophomore year at Davidson College. The next summer he returned to South India to conduct public health research at a rural leprosy hospital. After Davidson, he went on to conduct research at think tanks in New Delhi and Mumbai, and learned Hindi in the Himalayan foothills. While working on a master’s degree in Washington, D.C., Brian investigated socio-economic responses to flooding and erosion on the Brahmaputra River in Assam. He then taught at a tribal village near the wettest place on Earth (hint: it’s due South of Shillong,) and took time to explore the region around the Thai-Burma border.  His most recent travel has been in Indonesia where he has been learning Bahasa Indonesia and exploring Sulawesi. Brian has recently returned to the Brahmaputra River basin to research climate change adaptation on a Fulbright grant. He is fluent in Hindi and has led our summer development program in India for high school students.

Bridget is a recipient of the 2006-2008 San Francisco Art Institute M.F.A. Fellowship Award, and studied with renowned artists Doug Hall, John Priola and Tony Labat.  In 2008 she was awarded first place for color photography in the Paul Sack Photography Competition.  In June of 2010 she was included in the 16^th Annual Juried Exhibition curated by Joerg Colberg at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts.  Additional exhibitions have included: The One, an online exhibition curated by Peter Max Lawrence; The Photo Review 2009, an online exhibition; Vernissage – SFAI Graduating MFA Exhibition at Herbst Pavillion, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA; Spring Show 2008, Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco, CA; The Big Tiny, Red Ink Studios, San Francisco, CA; Girls, Trees, Teeth, Meat and Strangers, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Evocation, Gallery 4222, Port Jefferson, New York; The Token Women Show, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA; America, Walt Whitman Birthplace, Huntington, New York; Portrait of my Mother . . . Things Left Unsaid, Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, CA.  She has lectured about her work at SUNY New Paltz and the Fine Arts Academy at Missouri State University.  Her affinity for the fine arts also led to work as studio manager and photographer with Spinnato Art Gallery and photography studio and assistant photographer with both Macy’s Photography Studio and the photographic artist Will Faller.  Bridget has taught on our summer pre-college enrichment program at Amherst College for three summers and on one of our pre-college enrichment programs in Europe once.

During his undergraduate studies, Brock lived and studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain, at La Universidad Internacional de Menendez-Pelayo, where he developed a passion for Spanish culture and language.  On campus, Brock was the Spanish Club president for three years and was deeply involved with service learning projects – including time spent as a volunteer teaching weekly Spanish lessons to local elementary students.  He also led student volunteer trips to Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala; Memphis, Tennessee; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; and the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in central South Dakota. Brock spent the last year with AmeriCorps, teaching under-served youth in Houston, TX. For the 2012-13 academic year, Brock will be teaching English through the Fulbright Program in Madrid, Spain. He enjoys playing music, running, snowboarding, and cycling.  Brock co-led Putney’s high school language immersion program in Spain in 2011 and 2012 and is fluent in Spanish.

Caroline’s passion for language learning and travel started in high school when she participated in an exchange program to a small town outside of Madrid, Spain.  Since that trip she has been traveling, studying, participating in community service, and teaching abroad. During her time at the University of Delaware she was president of Study Abroad Ambassadors and co-President of the Italian Club (Il Circolo Italiano), which focused on conversation skills, culture, and current events. Also while at UD, Caroline participated in study abroad and community service programs in Costa Rica, Panamá, Spain, and Argentina. Last year Caroline spent the year in Madrid, Spain, and taught first grade at the American School of Madrid.  While living in Madrid she had the wonderful opportunity to travel to many parts of Spain and Europe, including Galicia, Andalucía, Pais Vasco, Belgium, Holland, and Sicily. This spring Caroline completed her master’s degree in Pedagogy and Spanish Literature. Caroline spends her summers tutoring Spanish and coaching a local swim team. She loves working with students and inspiring the young and old to travel and learn new languages. Her other interests include running, hiking, photography, yoga, and meeting new people.  Caroline is fluent in Spanish. She has led our language immersion program in Costa Rica and our language immersion program in Argentina.

During college, Carter studied abroad in Bali with the School for International Training, studying Bahasa Indonesia and Balinese culture while conducting ethnographic fieldwork for a thesis on the relationship between land use, tourism, and human rights.  Carter also participated in a nomadic program in Tibetan Studies through the School for International Training, where he lived with the personal chef to the Dalai Lama. He is currently pursuing his MSW and interning as a therapist in the inpatient psychiatry department of a Boston-area hospital.  He is proficient in French and Bahasa Indonesia.  Carter has  worked as a staff member on Putney’s Pre-College enrichment program at Amherst College and led one of our high school community service programs as well.

Casey is an alumna of Putney’s Excel Madrid/Barcelona program and has been enthralled with Spanish art and culture ever since her trip. She recently graduated with honors from the College of William and Mary, where she majored in Hispanic Studies and minored in Art History. As an undergraduate she traveled abroad to Spain through William and Mary on five occasions: studying in Cadiz for a summer and Sevilla for a semester, going on two research trips to Madrid, and walking the medieval 500-mile Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. At William and Mary, aside from her studies and travels, she volunteered at the College’s art museum, played club volleyball and did ceramics.  A native New Yorker, she is currently working on her Masters degree in Art History at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and interning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2012 was her first year as an instructor on our Pre-College summer program in Spain. Casey is proficient in Spanish.

Catherine graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University with a degree in Art History and Visual Arts, concentrating in Sculpture. Well before college, she discovered that travel is one of her passions and has studied abroad in Paris, France with Rutgers University and in Dublin, Ireland at University College Dublin and traveled extensively on her own. Catherine has a keen interest in foreign languages, and has studied Spanish, French, Italian, and Irish Gaelic. Catherine has worked as a research assistant, studying the professional development effect student teachers have on their supervising teachers. For the last four years, she has been involved in West-Windsor Plainsboro High School North’s theater department, and was offered the position of costume designer for Peter Pan the musical this past spring. Catherine hopes to return to school for graduate work, and is currently taking time to build experience and create a portfolio of work to reach this goal. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and an alumna of the Putney Excel program in Spain. 2012 was her first summer with our summer Pre-College program at Amherst College.

During his studies at Trinity College, Christian spent a semester living in Barcelona, Spain, where he studied literature and philosophy. Upon graduating from Trinity, he spent a year teaching sixth-grade Spanish before entering the doctoral program for Spanish Literature at the University of Texas, Austin. Christian’s studies at UT have included grant-based research at the National Library of Spain in Madrid, immersion German-language studies in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, and an editorial post at the Working Paper Series for the Rapoport Center for Human Rights at the UT School of Law.  He has traveled throughout most of western Europe, Central America, and several countries in South America, including Chile, where he worked as a translator for Habitat for Humanity. Christian is currently writing his dissertation and teaching high school Spanish and English in Richmond, VA.  He is fluent in English and Spanish, and conversant in German and Catalan. He has led our summer language program in Spain, our high school language immersion trip to Argentina, and taught Spanish on our Pre-College program in Madrid and Barcelona.

During college, Christopher spent a glorious semester abroad in Dakar, Senegal, where he had the opportunity to work with some of the country’s most prominent political figures and HIV/AIDS advocates.  Christopher also worked at Empire des Enfants, a shelter that takes in victims of child trafficking and reunites them with their families. While there, Christopher gained a valuable understanding of an incredible organization that has truly defied the most oppressive odds.  He currently works for the Crime Victims Treatment Center of St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital, which provides services, free of charge, to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, childhood sexual abuse, and other violent crimes.  He is a New York State Certified Rape Crisis and Domestic Violence Advocate.  In his free time, Christopher enjoys his friends and family, card playing, puzzles, and good coffee.  He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at the Tri-State College of Acupuncture.  Christopher led our summer community service program in Senegal for three consecutive summers and most recently led a summer community service trip to Ghana.  He is proficient in French and Wolof.

A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Colin takes cheese and ice cream just as seriously as his love for learning and adventure. His post-undergraduate ambitions took him on a six-month land journey from Lahore to Hong Kong, during which he developed a fascination for the world’s religions. Government scholarships and internships brought Colin back to South Asia where he studied Urdu, made a documentary film on microfinance, and received his  honorary doctorate in Laughter Yoga.  Colin also traveled around Asia, Africa, and Europe for the filming of his upcoming full-length documentary, Bombay to Brooklyn. The film explores the diversity of Islam and Muslims through personal stories. In the summer of 2010, Colin and two co-producers created Urban Chickens, an award-winning documentary highlighting the environmental benefits of raising chickens in urban areas. Colin is currently a writer, editor, and radio producer for UW-Madison’s Inside Islam, a new-media initiative that seeks to challenge misconceptions about Islam and Muslims worldwide. Colin speaks Urdu/Hindi and Spanish. He has led our summer program in Cambodia for high school students.

Conor is a born-and-raised Vermonter who grew up skiing the Green Mountains during the winter and paddling the Northern rivers and lakes of Ontario, Canada, in summer. Conor first found practical application for his leadership skills when he became a professional canoe guide for Camp Pathfinder, leading teenage boys through the pristine lakes and raging rivers of Northern Canada for up to 25 days at a time. He also worked as a junior ski patroller and a ski instructor at Jay Peak Ski Resort while captaining his high school Alpine Ski Team. At St. Lawrence University, Conor developed his interest in the sciences while continuing his passion for outdoor leadership. During his junior year he spent a semester in Kenya, where he applied his ecological studies to ethical problems surrounding nature reserves in East Africa. He continued this work when he arrived back at St. Lawrence, earning a minor in African Studies. Conor enjoys guiding backcountry telemark ski trips, shooting local Class IV whitewater kayak runs, and playing saxophone in his house band. He is proficient in Swahili. Conor has led our summer community service program in Tanzania.

Damen was one of two U.S. recipients of a Princess Grace Award for Acting in 1996. Since 1997, he has worked as an actor and teacher for the Irondale Ensemble Project – an improvisation-based, political theatre company in its 28th season in NYC. He is also a company member with Blessed Unrest (an award-winning NYC theatre ensemble), and is a core member of Strike Anywhere (an NYC-based, improvisational jazz performance ensemble). As an actor, he has also performed at the Lincoln Center Theater, the La Jolla Playhouse, and the Granary and Firken Crane Theatres in Cork, the Republic of Ireland, among others. Notably, Damen played Creon in Antigone (directed by Athol Fugard) at the Firken Crane Theatre in Cork. As a playwright, Damen has had four plays produced in the U.S., Ireland, and Northern Ireland (including The Death of Cabaret, 2001 Dublin Fringe Festival). And as a director his plays have won numerous awards and honors, including Burn, Crave, Hold: The James Wilde Project (winner of the 2008 NY Innovative Theater Award for Best Production of a Play). He has taught courses in Shakespeare, acting and creative writing at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, UC San Diego, Manhattanville College, Marymount College in Manhattan, numerous NYC public high schools, the Riker’s Island juvenile detention facility, and the Port Stewart Community Center in Port Stewart, Northern Ireland. Damen was born and raised in Pasadena, California. 2012 was his tenth summer teaching on our high school Pre-College enrichment program in Oxford and Tuscany.

Dan majored in History and minored in Moral Philosophy at Dartmouth, where he was an Undergraduate Advisor for the colleges’ Office of Residential Life and worked for a year as “the in-school suspension guy” at Hartford High School just over the river in Vermont.  He was an on-air color commentator for the Men’s Hockey team on the Dartmouth Sports Network, and served as Program Director and General Manager of a small commercial rock radio station, 99Rock.  Dan taught SAT preparation courses for The Princeton Review. He spent a year teaching U.S. and Modern World history at Darlington School, a small boarding school in Georgia.  In 2004, he moved to Washington, DC, to be a Program Instructor (and later Program Supervisor) for the Close-Up Foundation, using the city as a classroom and teaching government and grassroots activism to high school students from all over the country.  In 2007, Dan returned to a more traditional classroom at Bullis School in Potomac, MD, where he taught U.S. history and journalism and served as the advisor for The Bulldog, Bullis’ student newspaper.  This past year, Dan decided to return to Close Up to work with their innovative Teacher Program, instructing teachers from around the country how to conduct experiential education and use the amazing resources of Washington, D.C.  In addition to his academic interests, Dan enjoys local music, entering various 48-hour film contests, and anything relating to the preparation or consumption of good food.  Dan spent seven summers with our summer pre-college enrichment program at Amherst College, five as the Resident Instructor of Philosophy and Ethics, and two as the Assistant Director. He has most recently spent three summers teaching on our summer pre-college enrichment program in Oxford and Tuscany.

Dan Sturdevant grew up on a boarding school campus in northern New England and for the last five years, Dan has been teaching Economics, US and Compariative Government, and United States and European History in boarding and day schools in North Carolina.  Additionally, Dan has coached soccer, golf, football, and track and field throughout his teaching career.  While in North Carolina Dan completed his graduate work at Duke University, writing his thesis on twenty-first-century instructional practices.  While in college Dan ran varisty track, worked as a film coordinator for the football program, twice traveled to Senegal on service trips, and interned with SmithBarney Financial Consulting.  Additionally, Dan spent one summer semester in the Black Hills of South Dakota and another traveling throughout western Europe.  2012 was his first summer with our summer Pre-College program at Amherst College.

Daniel is dedicated to exploring the ways in which governments can effectively expand quality education opportunities to marginalized populations.  He first became interested in international educational development during his sophomore year at Yale, when, under the auspices of the Mellon Undergraduate Research Grant, he conducted research on the lack of educational opportunities provided to Sudanese and Somali refugees in Cairo. Since then, Daniel has undertaken several other research projects related to educational expansion and has volunteered and worked for various domestic and international NGOs that target low-income and marginalized children. During his free time Daniel enjoys reading, hiking, running, and, of course, exploring new places. While he is currently only fluent in Spanish and English, he is beginning to study Portuguese. Daniel led a summer community service program in Costa Rica for high school students in 2012.

After graduating from college, Danielle spent a year and a half living in Costa Rica and working as an adventure photographer at a local nature park.  Danielle is also a proud Americorps National Civilian Community Corps alumna.  In Americorps Danielle combined her passion for travel with her interest in community service.  Through this experience she was able to complete varied service projects across the country in locations including New Orleans, Baltimore, Rhode Island and New York.  She currently works as an ESL tutor and ropes course facilitator in Richmond, VA.  She is fluent in Spanish. Danielle has twice led the community service portion of our middle school summer program in Costa Rica.

While at Berkeley, Danny participated in the McNair Scholar’s Program, taught several course sections in Peace and Conflict Studies as an undergraduate course facilitator, and became a tutor, mentor, and program director for the Bears United in Literacy Development program, which brought Berkeley students to local afterschool sites to tutor children. In his senior year, he spent six months studying abroad in Costa Rica, traveling extensively in-country, and also spending time in Panama. Upon graduation, he joined Teach For America.  In his five-year career as a teacher leader, Danny has taught 6th grade English and history, 7th grade writing and history, and 8th grade English. During this time, he has had the opportunity to travel to England, Spain, the Netherlands, and Latin America. Outside of the classroom, Danny has worked as a Learning Team Leader with Teach For America Los Angeles, coaching 1st and 2nd year teachers, and as a Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellow, working to influence policy to improve the teaching profession. For the past three years, Danny has led 50 students in a rigorous six-month training program to successfully complete the Los Angeles Marathon. Currently, Danny works for the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) in Los Angeles, and recently completed the KIPP School Leadership Program in Research for Better Teaching. He led a summer community service program in Costa Rica in 2012. Danny is a native Spanish speaker.

Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, David grew up in a Puerto Rican household, absorbing the rich culture and language of the island from his family and community. Beyond his frequent trips back to the island, David experienced his first taste of international travel as a participant on Putney’s summer Pre-College enrichment  program  in Spain in 2005. During his undergraduate studies at Occidental College, David spent a semester abroad in Spain, where he enrolled as student at the Universidad de Granada. During this time he also worked at the university library, translating their webpage to English. In the last couple of years David has acquired his K-8 Multiple Subjects Credential and is currently teaching Spanish K-4. He will continue his studies this fall at the University of San Francisco where he will enroll in a Masters program in Digital Media and Learning.

While an undergraduate at Amherst, Derek directed the Youth Program at the Trefethen Evergreen Improvement Association in Maine, and spent a year in Paris at Sciences Po and Paris III. After completing his B.A. in French Studies and Political Science in 2009, he packed up his valises and settled in Dijon, France, as a lecturer in American Language and Civilization at the University of Burgundy and English teacher at St. Joseph’s Middle School. Derek has just completed a master’s program in international relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he divided his attention between conflict resolution, security studies, and maritime studies.  At Fletcher, he acted as teaching assistant for the maritime studies courses and worked at the Institute for Global Maritime Studies. Derek is a Boston native and speaks English, French, German, and Spanish. He has led our summer language program in France for high school students.

Eli Evans is a writer and a PhD candidate in the Comparative Literature Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he also taught for the Writing Program. His dissertation focuses on the intersections of modernity and postmodernity in twentieth century Spanish literature and philosophy.  In his non-academic work, he writes about just about anything he can come up with. Essays, fiction, and interviews have been widely and internationally published in magazines and online venues such as n+1, truthout, Zg Press, Quimera, Glimmer Train, and many others, and he has given readings of his work at Book Soup in Los Angeles and BookCourt in Brooklyn. This will be his twelfth summer with Putney Student Travel. He spent nine extremely excellent summers with our Pre-College enrichment program in Spain, including the final two as director. 2012 was his third year   teaching on the summer program at Amherst College.

Upon her graduation from Oakland University in Michigan, Emily moved to New Orleans, where she has been accepted at a master’s program at Tulane University to study Public Health and International Aid. Her goals are to work in Refugee Health and Management in disaster areas. After graduating high school Emily moved to the Dominican Republic to spend a year learning Spanish, teaching English, and serving in underprivileged communities. This is where she developed her love for Latin culture. Every summer during her undergraduate years she has chosen to travel, visiting Peru, Mexico, and Israel. She loves reading, talking to people with a different cultural background, and playing outside. She led our summer community service program in the Dominican Republic in 2012. Emily is fluent in Spanish.

Eric studied abroad in Spain, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, and has traveled throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas doing community service work and making friends.  He has worked with local doctors to eliminate preventable blindness in rural, impoverished areas of India and Ghana, built houses in New Orleans as a leader for a student leadership program, and led students on a community service trip in Vietnam and Cambodia. Eric grew up in Toronto, where he attended intensive arts school.  He sang a cappella and performed musical theater in college, and has continued making music and dancing with friends in the more than twenty-four countries he has visited. He speaks Spanish, French, and Hebrew, as well as a little Twi, and is certified in Wilderness First Aid.  Eric is a high school teacher of photography, art, performing arts, music, and filmmaking in Colorado, where you are likely find him skiing, biking, climbing, or backpacking with his dog, Kiwi.  Eric is fluent in Spanish. He led a summer community service program in the Dominican Republic in 2012.

Erica studied Biology at Colorado College and discovered her passion for ecology in East Africa through her semester abroad in Tanzania with the School for International Training. Back in the United States, she assisted with the development of a learning center and trained animals for educational programs at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo before returning to East Africa. During the next two years, she assisted undergraduate students in field research and community interactions in Kenya and Tanzania through the School for Field Studies, where she also received training in wilderness medicine and managed student health concerns. Erica has led our high school summer program that summits Mount Kilimanjaro. She is fluent in Swahili.

Erika was a member of the Kenyon College Chamber Singers and lettered in both Field Hockey and Lacrosse. Erika has worked as the Director of Diversity at the Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts, where she is currently Assistant Director of Admissions and Director of Financial Aid. She coaches lacrosse, sings karaoke whenever she gets the chance, and consumes sushi frequently and voraciously. Erika has traveled extensively in Italy and Spain and is fluent in Italian. This is Erika’s tenth year with the pre-college enrichment program in Oxford and Tuscany.

Gyuri (pronounced “jury”) a native of Amherst, MA, has an intense passion for education and travel. These interests recently converged through his Masters research, which took him across the globe to Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he studied the educational uses of public computer kiosks by economically disadvantaged urban youth. For this research project he was awarded the University of Hartford 2012 Outstanding Graduate Research Award. Gyuri’s passion for education also extends to his work as a Teacher at the Elementary, High School and Collegiate levels. Most recently, Gyuri taught an undergraduate Public Speaking course at the University of Hartford. His hobbies include playing basketball, drawing, photography, and graphic design. 2012 was his first summer as a staff member on our Pre-College summer program at Amherst College.

Stephen hails from Unionville, Pennsylvania, and attended the St. George’s School in Newport, R.I., before enrolling at Trinity College, Hartford, CT, where he received the Language Award for excellence in Mandarin Chinese. He has studied abroad in Nepal, Australia and China, worked in Singapore, Shanghai, Prague and London, been to more than 20 countries for business, more than 45 for pleasure and all over China. Stephen recently moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where he works as a senior analyst for a London based economic research firm and studies at the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship. He has passions for Sinology, economics, travel, adrenalin sports and horses. Stephen is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and has led our summer language immersion program in China for high school students.

Hanna’s artwork explores the different purposes of language, such as cultural exchange or the documentation of memory. She has exhibited her work in galleries in the Baltimore area and in York, PA. Her work is featured on the cover of The Institute for International Education’s 2011 annual publication Open Doors. During her degree, she wandered around Western Europe, New Zealand, and spent a total of seven months in West Africa. In 2009, she received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study French and Wolof in Dakar, Senegal. In Baltimore, she worked as an assistant for a stained glass artist, as an art model for 5 years, and at her university’s Study Abroad Office. After finishing her degree in May 2011, she completed the Teaching Assistant Program in France, working teaching English in two middle schools in Calais. She moved to Chicago this fall to start her M.F.A. in Studio Arts at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is fluent in French. 2012 was her first summer with our summer pre-college program at Amherst College.

Hannah graduated with honors in Anthropology-Zoology from the University of Michigan, where she studied chimpanzee behavior and vocalizations. She worked with bats at the University of Maryland and at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. before moving to Costa Rica to study the social behavior of the white-faced capuchin monkey. Hannah remained in Costa Rica for six years serving as the field station manager for the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. In Costa Rica she worked closely with the community where she lived, and succeeded in bringing conservation education to local school children. Hannah now works as an Associate Director at Putney, helping to coordinate programs in Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand, and overseeing staffing for Putney’s Excel programs. Hannah is fluent in Spanish and proficient in German. 2012 was Hannah’s sixth summer with Putney. She has led programs in Fiji, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Galápagos, Peru, and Australia, New Zealand, Fiji.

Born and raised outside of Boston, Hannah’s first international travel experience was as a junior at Dartmouth College, when she honed her Spanish skills by studying abroad in Cádiz, Spain.  The following summer, she interned with a rural outreach group in Ecuador, where she traveled to villages promoting mental health awareness (and also found herself convinced to try bungee jumping).  In March 2010, she co-led a group of Dartmouth students to a village in Honduras as part of a program to foster youth leadership skills and establish a regional library.  While at Dartmouth, Hannah was also a pole vaulter on the Track and Field team.  Since graduating two years ago, she has worked as a research fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health, while also volunteering as a tutor for the Latino Student Fund and the Higher Achievement program, both of which promote educational opportunity for disadvantaged middle schoolers.  In her spare time, Hannah likes running, spending time with friends, and trying new foods. She began a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at Yale University this fall. Hannah led a summer community service program in Costa Rica in 2012. She is fluent in Spanish.

A poet, writer, and foreign correspondent, Henk Rossouw grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. From 2001 to 2005, Henk traveled to countries such as Rwanda, Uganda, Liberia, and Congo-Kinshasa, as the Africa correspondent for Washington D.C.’s The Chronicle of Higher Education. He also wrote on the arts and covered the 2005 Zimbabwean election for Newsweek. As a 2005-2006 Sauve Scholar at McGill University, in Montreal, Henk was given a sabbatical to write, and published a personal essay in The Threepenny Review, an interview with Nadine Gordimer in The Virginia Quarterly Review, and a short story in Tin House, which won a Summer Literary Seminars first prize. In 2009, while studying creative writing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Henk won the Poetry Society of America’s Bright Lights Big Verse contest, judged by the former poetry editor of the New Yorker, and read his winning poem at a public event on Times Square. His poems have also appeared in The Massachusetts Review, Transom, and The Boston Review. For the last six years, Henk has taught writing—essays, short stories, poems—to students ranging from high school seniors and juniors in a summer program at the University of Virginia  to first-years at Concordia University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Henk has taught on our summer Pre-College program at Amherst College.

Jack’s interest in India started when he was at Hamilton College and stumbled upon a class on Indian devotional poetry which, in turn, led to a lifetime passion for Indian culture and language. Jack conducted a fieldwork project on Urdu poetry and performance while participating in a study abroad program in Northern India, and after graduating from Hamilton he moved to India for two years, where he worked as a dorm parent at the Woodstock School in the foothills of the Himalayas, while taking classes in Hindi and Urdu at the Landour Language School. In 2010, he served as the assistant director for the New York State Independent College Consortium for Study in India, a program that travels through Northern India educating its students on the region’s diverse cultures and religions. After his return to the U.S., Jack graduated from Columbia Teachers College and he currently works at the Westminster School in Simsbury, CT, where he teaches sophomore English and a senior elective on contemporary Indian literature and film.  Jack is fluent in both Hindi and Urdu, and keeps up his language skills by watching Bollywood films and talking to old friends. Jack has led our summer community service program in India.

During Jake’s first year in Denver he participated in a month-long course in Costa Rica studying Central American culture and politics which sparked an intense interest in the entire Latin American region. During his senior year he studied in Sevilla, Spain for six months and then, following graduation, Jake entered the Peace Corps and was assigned to Sierpe, a small town in southern Costa Rica. As a volunteer, he worked with micro-entrepreneurs to establish a new, community-based, micro-credit cooperative.  His love for Costa Rica flourished during his time volunteering and he decided to stay in the country for an additional 16 months following his Peace Corps service to manage a local family’s eco-lodge in a nearby village.  In addition to his love of travel and Latin American culture, Jake enjoys snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking, and surfing. He led a summer community service program in Costa Rica in 2012.  Jake is fluent in Spanish.

Janyne is a proud Washingtonian (D.C.) by way of Montserrat and Ghana, who has always had a passion for community service, youth, culture, travel, and languages. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Janyne spent summers volunteering and working in small villages in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama as part of AMIGOS de las Americas. With AMIGOS she had the opportunity to build a kindergarten facility; teach adults health and environmental lessons – ranging from dental hygiene to proper trash disposal; supervise 20 youth volunteers; and organize two summer programs alongside national, regional, and local level government officials. While stateside, she works as a Research Analyst at the IMF and volunteers at her local church in the international and music ministries. Janyne enjoys singing, dancing, all genres of music, rock climbing, the beach, outdoors, and spending time with friends and family. She has led our summer community service program in Ecuador.

Jessica has danced professionally with many companies including NJDTE, Cedar Lake II, Connecticut Ballet, Bradley Shelver Contemporary Dance Theater, Ballet Hispanico of NY, and most currently at the Metropolitan Opera and with Nimbus Dance Works, among many others.  Last summer, Jessica was invited to perform in Cali, Colombia in the Fifth Annual International Dance Festival 2011, representing the USA with Earl Mosely’s Diversity of Dance and has traveled the world performing and teaching. She has also performed with the Kirov Ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC. And in 2008, she appeared on the AMICI Television show in Rome, Italy as a Guest Profesionista, in addition to several more recent TV appearances, such as Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Jessica enjoys teaching in addition to her performance career.  She is on faculty at The Joffrey Ballet School, Ballet Hispanico, NJ Dance Theater Ensemble, Columbus Pre-School and holds workshops and master classes all around NYC and abroad.  Her most recent residency was at The Putney School. She taught dance in 2012 on our summer Pre-College program at Amherst College.

While at St. Lawrence, Jesús studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, and San José, Costa Rica. At the State University of New York at Buffalo, Jesús was awarded a fellowship to undertake a master’s degree in Caribbean Cultural Studies. He spent a semester in the Yucatan, taking part in an underwater archeology course, with frequent dives into the ancient Mayan underworld of the cenotes. He also spent time in Spain, moving between the National Historical Archive in Madrid and the General Archive of the Indies in Seville as he researched his recently completed master’s thesis. His best travel memories include hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, riding camels by the  Pyramids of Giza, seeing the Mayan ruins of Tikal, trekking through Central America, hiking a volcano in Lombok, Indonesia, crawling through Vietcong tunnels in Vietnam, and visiting Havana and Santa Clara, Cuba, last summer. He led a language immersion trip to Costa Rica for high school students in 2009, a high school community service trip to Costa Rica in 2010, a summer community service trip to the DR in 2011, and a summer community service program in Ecuador and the Galapagos in 2012. Jesús is fluent in Spanish.

Joanna was a mentor to first-year students and editor in chief of Colorado College’s literary magazine. During her junior year she studied Buddhist meditation and anthropology in Northern India and then traveled to Sikkim to research the effects of tourism on traditional Tibetan culture.  She then spent time traveling in Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos, and quickly became enamored of Southeast Asian culture. After college, Joanna edited travel guidebooks at Random House. She recently completed her M.F.A. in fiction writing at Brooklyn College, where she also taught English composition to undergraduates. Currently she lives in Brooklyn, where she works as a freelance editor and social media consultant and is writing a novel.  Joanna has led one of our summer programs in India for high school students and our summer community service program in Vietnam. She is fluent in French.

During the school year, Joel is the Director of Theatre at Lawrence Academy in Groton, MA, where he has taught theatre for six years. In 2005, Joel repatriated after living and working in Prague, Czech Republic for seven years. There, he taught theatre and directed fourteen shows at the International School of Prague, working with students of sixty different nationalities. In Prague, in addition to working on a variety of film, television and commercial projects, he worked with a number of different theatre companies, creating original shows that toured to Ireland, Bosnia, Germany and Austria. Joel was also fortunate enough to play Hamlet in Prague’s Globe Theatre, a replica of Shakespeare’s theatre in London. Joel has also been a performer and teacher in Chicago and Minneapolis. Joel has worked on the Excel staff for six years. 2012 was his first year as the director of our Pre-College summer program at Amherst College.

In graduate school, John traveled to Ghana for his field practicum and was president of the Maxwell School’s Africa Caucus.  While at St. Lawrence he studied on the Kenya Semester Program and returned to East Africa after his graduation to study Swahili in Tanzania with the Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad.  John’s work in education includes time as a high school social studies teacher, leader of outdoor programs, and health and safety coordinator for a field-based, undergraduate study abroad program.  He is an avid runner, hiker, and skier, and was president of the Outing Club at St. Lawrence. He has climbed the Tanzanian volcano, Oldoinyo Lengai, and has twice summited Mt. Kenya. In 2012, he reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania along with each and every one of his Putney students on our summer program that hikes Mount Kilimanjaro. An EMT for twelve years, John has been a volunteer member of a rescue squad and is trained in wilderness emergency medicine.  2012 was John’s fifth summer as a Putney leader of summer high school programs in Tanzania. In addition to the Kilimanjaro program, he has led the summer community service program in Tanzania four times.  John is fluent in Swahili.

After graduating from the University of Vermont, Jonathan spent several years exploring his inner culinary artist and gaining restaurant management experience as Executive Sous Chef with Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurants in Delaware and New Jersey. While experiencing professional successes, his contemplative and inquisitive nature fueled a desire for international travel and continued personal growth that he could not help but satisfy. After renouncing his chefdom in August 2010, Jonathan spent the following eighteen months traveling Latin America and Israel. Jonathan worked in a supervisory role as a Restaurant Consultant and Chef in Leon, Nicaragua and Mancora, Peru. While in northern Peru, Jonathan worked to recruit and lead volunteers and raise funds for construction projects at the Mama Cocha Orphanage.  In Israel, Jonathan volunteered with Sar-El and the Israeli Defense Forces to oversee the repair and maintenance of equipment and troubleshoot logistical issues. Jonathan’s infatuation with Latin American history and culture keep him coming back for more. If he’s not busy sesame crusting Tuna loins or pounding cobblestone streets abroad, you can find Jonathan exploring photography, creative writing, or playing Jenga. Jonathan is fluent in Spanish. He has led our middle school summer program in Costa Rica.

Although Jorge’s interest in food has always played a prominent role in shaping his life, it was not until he moved to Italy that he realized this passion could be channeled into a successful career. Part farming internship, part gastronomical tour of Tuscany, Jorge’s experience at the non-profit Spannocchia Foundation in Siena, Italy, revealed a world of culinary possibilities. From harvesting grapes to herding pigs, and from curing prosciutto to regularly cooking for a community of food-discerning Italians, Jorge participated first hand in the farm-to-table process and immersed himself in the rich traditions of Italian food culture. After learning the tenants of sustainable farming and later apprenticing for Spannocchia’s artisanal salumi program, Jorge parlayed his knowledge of Italian gastronomy into a kitchen position at Danny Meyer’s famous Roman trattoria, Maialino, in Manhattan. He has quickly risen through the ranks to become chef de partie and continues to expand his appreciation for rustic, ingredient-driven cooking. Prior to cooking, Jorge spent two years as an AmeriCorps teaching fellow with Citizen Schools in Brooklyn, New York. He looks forward to combining his experiences teaching and cooking during Putney’s 2013 summer farm and food program in Italy, which he helped to create. Jorge is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Italian. He led Putney’s summer community service program in Argentina in 2011.

While at Arizona State University, José took every travel opportunity possible to augment his studies as a Spanish Literature major.  After his freshman year he spent half the summer in Mérida, Mexico, visiting many Mayan sites in the peninsula, including Uxmal, Tulum, and Chichen Itza.  Climbing the Mayan pyramids proved good practice for his next hiking endeavor, trekking for four days and three nights to successfully complete the Inca Trail at Machu Picchu – an adventure which he undertook while spending a semester studying at the Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires.  After exploring much of Latin America, José decided to venture east and spent time volunteering in South Korea as an English teacher.  His “relaxing” break between teaching sessions, though enlightening, involved a stay at a Buddhist temple where he lived the austere life of a monk, beginning each day at 3 a.m. for morning prayer, doing physical labor around the monastery, and eating ritual vegetarian meals. José led a high school community service trip to Costa Rica in 2012. He is fluent in Spanish.

Julia has always loved getting off the beaten path and has traveled extensively through Australia, Europe, and New Zealand, where she spent a semester studying and working while a student at Boston University.  Julia has also led weekend getaway trips for GOOT! (Get Out Of Town!), going to off-the-map places and exploring hidden beaches and waterfalls.  One of her favorite memories is teaching a group of students how to make a hangi (traditional Maori-style meal cooked in the earth).  Julia has also spent time in France, living with a French host family, and then leading PST’s Language Learning France. In 2008, Julia rode her bike from Boston, Massachusetts, to Santa Barbara, California, with Bike & Build after raising over $6,000 for affordable housing groups.  In addition to cycling, Julia also loves swing dancing and capoeira.  She led a high school summer program in Europe in 2010, a language immersion program in France in 2011, and high school exploration program to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji in 2012. Julia is fluent in French and knows some useful words and phrases in Maori.

Over the past few years, Kate has deepened her passion for photography and love of art history while spending extensive time in Italy and in France. These trips gave her time to live and research among some of the most captivating works of art in the world. During Kate’s first stay in Italy, she read Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. It completely changed to way she travels and experiences new cities. Kate has worked as a freelance photographer around the US, as an installation artist in Seattle, and as a wedding photographer in Philadelphia. Most recently, her photographic journey has led to experimentation with medium and large format film cameras, and into the world of historical alternative printing processes- an experience which has helped her remember why she loves digital photography so much. 2012 was Kate’s first year with the Pre-College summer program in Oxford and Tuscany.

As a Boston College undergraduate, Kate focused on two of her passions: education and the Spanish language.  She spent a semester at La Universidad Complutense with the Boston College in Madrid program, where she developed her Spanish fluency.  As a fifth year master’s student, Kate studied best practices in curriculum development, effective instruction, and diverse learning needs.  In conjunction with her graduate studies, Kate worked as anassistant at the BC Connors Family Learning Center, and was an instructional assistant at BC’s Learning Resources for Student-Athletes.  In both positions, Kate worked extensively with undergraduate and graduate students, helping them with Spanish, English, and academic skills.  A suburban Philadelphia native, Kate currently lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and has been teaching Spanish in Kennett Square for the past four years. At Kennett High School, “Señorita McKenzie” taught Spanish levels I, II Honors, III Honors, and IV Honors. Kate now teaches Spanish in Kennett Middle School’s World Language Exploration program. Kate loves to travel, and has also been to Italy, Portugal, and Mexico.  Outside the classroom she enjoys water sports and teaches swim lessons to children of all ages.  Kate is fluent in Spanish. She has led the summer program in Spain for high school students.

At Hamilton, Kate worked as a writing tutor, directed the school’s community service organization, and captained the women’s varsity crew team.  After graduation, she moved to Madrid, Spain, to complete her master’s degree in Spanish.  While in Spain, Kate lived with a Spanish family and competed as a member of Madrid’s rowing club.  Upon returning to the United States, she taught Spanish at the Fairfield Country Day School in Fairfield, CT, for three years.  During that time, she launched and directed a study abroad program for her students in Zaragoza, Spain.  Kate currently teaches Spanish at Kingswood Oxford in West Hartford, CT.  She is fluent in Spanish and led a high school language trip to Spain in 2009 and 2010 and a high school community service trip to India in 2012.

Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, Katie first became a global citizen as a foreign exchange student in Chile during her sophomore year in high school. This experience stirred her to finish the rest of high school at an international boarding school in Oxford, England, and to then study abroad in London and Italy for both of her junior semesters at Middlebury College. Taking full advantage of Middlebury’s excellent language programs, Katie studied Spanish, Italian, and German while pursuing a joint degree in Psychology and Sociology. After graduating in 2009, Katie moved to Manhattan as a NYC Teaching Fellow, where she earned a master’s degree in Teaching Students with Disabilities.  She now teaches at a small, public transfer high school for over-aged and under-credited students in the South Bronx. While it can be incredibly challenging, she cherishes the bond she forms with each student and relishes the opportunity to be a part of their transition into adulthood. In her free time, Katie enjoys training for marathons and traveling to new and exciting places. She  led a summer community service program in Argentina in 2012.  Katie is fluent in Spanish.

Katie’s enthusiasm for travel began early.  At age five she accompanied her family on a year-long sabbatical in India. In high school, she took a service-learning trip to Dominica to volunteer, which ignited a passion for intercultural exchange.  While in college, she studied abroad in Parma, Italy, and lived with a local family. After graduation, Katie headed to Cape Town, South Africa, to volunteer with an HIV/AIDS peer education program. She continued work in the public health sector spending two years fundraising for the Colorado AIDS Project in Denver.  Katie then spent six months in East Java, Indonesia, where she taught English at a secondary school and lived with a family.  More recently, she took a position working with a local NGO in Cambodia on climate change education in rural schools.  During this time, she has traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia and Indonesia.  Katie currently resides in Battambang, Cambodia, where she has lived for over two years, establishing a start-up social enterprise project. Katie has led Community Service Nusa Penida in 2011 and 2012 and she is proficient in Italian, Indonesian, and Khmer.

Kelley is a director, teacher, and actor with eight years of experience in the theater. She developed a love of travel and learning during her years at Gordon College, studying theater in England, Scotland, and Italy. After graduation, she worked at the world renowned Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA, as an Education Artist and performer. She has since directed numerous shows with student actors, and last summer founded and directed a theater program at a local clinic for troubled teens.  Kelley most recently played Sister James in Vermont Theatre Company’s production of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Parable.  She began a master’s program this fall in Drama Therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies. A native of Brattleboro, VT, she likes to run, do yoga, drink coffee, draw, and hike in the Green Mountains. She led the summer theatre program in Britain for high school students in 2012.

Kelly stayed in her home state of Oregon for college, where she studied English literature and creative writing. Since graduation, Kelly has lived in La Manzanilla, Mexico and La Rochelle, France. In rural Mexico, Kelly interned with a small educational non-profit, teaching English to local people of all ages, holding a summer camp for kids, swimming in the Pacific every day and learning Spanish. She then moved to France, where she currently teaches English in a public high school and middle school. Here she has discovered how well she gets along with silly teenagers and wants to continue teaching and learning alongside them in the future. She loves to write stories, ride her bike, travel and wander with good friends. She has taught ESL on our summer pre-college program at Amherst College.

While at St. Lawrence, Kelsey spent her junior year in Madrid, Spain, studying literature, art history, ecology, and theater at El Colegio Mayor Isabel de España.  Back on campus, Kelsey worked as a peer tutor in the Spanish Writing Center, a teacher’s assistant for the Spanish department, and in the International Office for the Spain Study Abroad program. She was a member of the women’s lacrosse team and the Outing Club. She most recently directed the Costa Rica program for middle school students. 2012 was Kelsey’s eleventh summer with Putney Student Travel.  She has led a Language Learning program in Spain, worked coordinating Putney’s Global Action programs at Yale University, and led Community Service programs in Ecuador, Nicaragua, community service programs in Costa Rica, community service programs in the Dominican Republic, and community service programs in Ghana.  Kelsey works full time at the Putney Student Travel office as an Associate Director.  She is responsible for organizing Putney’s programs in the Dominican Republic and Ghana, and for coordinating our outreach efforts.  When she isn’t traveling, Kelsey sings in her band, dances West African dance, hikes, bikes, skis, reads, and makes art.

Keola Racela is a writer and director who grew up in Southern California and studied film and digital media at the University of California Santa Cruz. Before entering the MFA Film Program at Columbia he worked as Media Director at Youth Rights Media, a non-profit organization in New Haven, CT dedicated to creating social change through youth-led documentary filmmaking. While studying directing at Columbia, Keola has co-directed and edited a successful web series which has been written about on Gawker, Huffington Post, Time Out New York, New York Magazine, and Splitsider.com. 2012 was Keola’s seventh summer teaching on Putney Pre-College summer programs.

Kerry’s passion for travel started during a summer exchange program to Ecuador during high school.  While in college, she independently traveled throughout Europe and studied abroad in Spain and Morocco on an Islamic Studies program.  She graduated summa cum laude in 2009 from Bowdoin College, where she majored in Government and Economics.  Following graduation, she ventured to Indonesia on a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English and conduct independent research in Central Java.  Since her Fulbright, she has worked at the US-Indonesia Society as a Program and Development Associate and traveled throughout South America and Southeast Asia.  Kerry began a Ph.D. in Political Science at Stanford University this fall where she will focus her research on political liberalization in Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia. She is fluent in Bahasa Indonesia. Kerry has led our high school summer community service trip to Indonesia.

After graduating from Williams College, Kevin moved to Chicago to follow his passions for Creative Writing, Photography, and Video Art.  This training allowed him to work as a freelance film and photo assistant in L.A. and San Francisco, during which time he saved money for trips abroad. Beckoned by the call of Andean music and culture, Kevin first journeyed to Cochabamba, Bolivia, where he lived for four months, studying Spanish and volunteering at a primary school in the middle of La Cancha, the city’s wild and wooly open-air market. He then spent a semester as an assistant English teacher at El Centro de Educación Creativa, a bilingual, environmentally focused K-12 school in Monteverde, Costa Rica. This adventure in teaching was enough to make him seek out similar work in the U.S., and he accepted a position at Buxton School, a progressive boarding school in Williamstown, MA. During his six years at Buxton he taught English, Creative Writing, and Photography, ran an Improv Comedy troupe and led study groups on school trips to locations like New Orleans, Nicaragua, and El Paso, Texas. Over the summers he traveled extensively in the US and abroad. In his year away from teaching, Kevin has written an album’s worth of folk songs, spent time living in a Zen monastery, and traveled in Cuba, where he studied Trova guitar and continued working towards fluency in Spanish. Kevin has led our summer community service program in Ecuador.

Upon finishing his teaching certification and Master’s degree, Kevin embarked on a three month European backpacking trip, ending with a five month stay in Seville, Spain.  Little by little, five months has turned into six and half years as Kevin’s love of southern Spanish life has kept him from returning to his native New York City.  He has held a number of positions as a teacher of English as a second language and currently works as a teacher in a bilingual program in Seville, Spain.  An avid traveler, he spends most of his free time backpacking and has logged trips to Russia, Egypt, Israel, and Morocco. Kevin is fluent in Spanish. He has twice taught on our Pre-College enrichment program in Spain.

Kristin hails from the small town of Erhard, Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes.  She will be graduating in May of 2012 from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and looks forward to the fall, when she will be student teaching in Madison, Wisconsin, to complete her certification in Spanish and English Language Learning (ELL) education. Kristin is a Chapter Development Coordinator for I-ImpactNow, an organization that she co-founded with a group of peers at Luther College.  The organization focuses on creating global projects that foster community collaboration, innovative and sustainable ideas, and self-empowerment, in an effort to alleviate poverty.  In partnership with Ethiopian community members, I-ImpactNow recently finished the construction of an irrigation system in Datu Wereda, Ethiopia.  While in college, Kristin spent four months studying in Lima, Peru, at La Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru. Kristin loves to take pictures, listen to and make music, run, and produce videos.  She is fluent in Spanish and has led the summer community service program in Peru for high school students.

While at Georgetown, Laura concentrated her studies on Africa and Eastern Europe. The most formative and rewarding experience of her education was studying abroad in Dakar, Senegal, her junior year. After graduating in 2008, she spent one year teaching English to young learners in Prague, Czech Republic. A growing interest in education then led her to take a position with a non-profit in Washington, D.C. that provided free tutoring services to low-income students in the area. Wanting to continue to work with young people but itching to go overseas, Laura moved to Nyamata, Rwanda, where she has been teaching and tutoring at Maranyundo Girls School since 2011.  She recently returned to D.C. to begin a master’s degree in International Affairs at American University, and hopes to focus her studies on the social impact of conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. She is fluent in French and can speak enough Kinyarwandan to amuse Rwandans in a variety of settings. Laura has led our summer community service program in Rwanda.

Lauren is a junior at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with an interest in the television industry. In the fall, she will be studying and interning in Los Angeles. Though she loves modern media, her other passion lies in the ancient Latin language. She has recently been reading and studying classic Roman literature in both English and Latin. In addition, Lauren loves reading plays (especially by Tennessee Williams) and writing poetry. She has been playing the piano since she was seven and plays classical music independently as well as pop and rock in musical groups. She is looking forward to working for Excel at Amherst, helping each participant explore his or her own unique passion in this world. 2012 was her first summer on our summer Pre-College program at Amherst College.

Two of Leandra’s passions are traveling and experiencing different cultures. Growing up, she spent multiple summers in Spain with her family. She also spent the spring semester of her sophomore year in Madrid, Spain, after which she worked as an au pair for a family with a six-year-old boy. She was lucky enough to be in Madrid for the 2010 World Cup (which Spain won), out in the streets, cheering on the team together with millions of euphoric Spaniards.  Throughout her years at Columbia, Leandra tutored math, science, and Spanish to high school students, was a joint mentor to a fifth grade student in the IBM Mentorplace program, and tutored in a local elementary school. She loves reading, dancing, traveling, and cooking. Leandra is fluent in Spanish and has led our high school summer language immersion program in Spain.

Born and raised in Washington D.C., Lex has made a lifelong study of the virtues and frustrations of American political life. While leading the College Democrats at Yale he discovered a passion for classics, becoming enchanted by the strange parallels between the political challenges of antiquity and those of modern America. He took a Master’s in contemporary political theory at Edinburgh and studied classics at Pembroke College, Cambridge on exchange from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he graduated with high honors in 2007. In between these immersions in academia, Lex has deepened his understanding of real-world politics on a range of Democratic campaigns, including his own for the Connecticut state legislature in 2006. After organizing for the Obama campaign in 2008 and serving as legislative counsel in the 111th Congress, he moved to Paris to begin a PhD at the Sorbonne and write about how classics can be applied to contemporary politics. 2012 his first summer as part of the staff on the Pre-College enrichment summer program in Oxford and Tuscany.

Born and raised in Vermont, Lizzie got her first taste of international travel during her gap year as an exchange student at a boarding school near Brighton, England.  After traveling extensively across England, Europe, and Morocco, she returned to America to attend Hamilton College, where she majored in French, minored in history, served as a French teaching assistant, organized acoustic coffeehouse concerts, and rowed for the women’s varsity crew.  Lizzie spent her junior year abroad in Paris, where she immersed herself in French life and culture by living with a host family, attending the Sorbonne, and playing midfield on a women’s soccer team.  Following graduation from Hamilton in 2010, she once again fed her passion for travel and cultural exploration by moving to La Réunion, a remote French island in the Indian Ocean, to teach English at a French high school.  Over the course of the year she backpacked several times around the rugged, volcanic mountains of La Réunion and also had the chance to visit Mauritius, Madagascar, and South Africa.  Lizzie loves hiking, cycling, rowing, yoga, Bluegrass music, and making pies. She is currently sharing her love for French and Francophone language and culture as a French teacher in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Lizzie is fluent in French. She has led our summer language program in France for high school students.

Originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Lucia spent her summers at Brown teaching Science and English to bilingual middle school students with Breakthrough Collaborative, Santa Fe.  She first traveled to Spain during her junior year in college to study at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. There she fell in love with Madrid’s vibrant cultural scene, and she returned to the city to work for Boston University’s study abroad program after graduating in 2009.  For the past two years, Lucia has taught second grade at the Benjamin Frankin International School in Barcelona.  This has afforded her the opportunity to learn Catalan and French, and spend her days playing dress up and soccer with her young students. Lucia is an avid swimmer, beach-anything player, and singer.  In the fall, she began her studies towards a M.A./Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics at UMass Amherst. Lucia is fluent in Spanish and has led our summer language program in Spain for high school students.

Lutz is currently  fellow at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany. He has worked for the Red Cross and Mercedes-Benz in Bremen, Germany, and as an assistant to the editorial staff of several German radio and television companies. He was the coordinator of Studentenwerk Bonn, a student housing organization. Lutz taught for Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in Paris. While in Paris, he also worked at the “Cité de l’architecture et de la patrimoine”, France’s national museum of architecture. Lutz enjoys soccer, basketball, running, and windsurfing.  A citizen of Germany, he is fluent in German, French, and English. 2012 was his twelfth summer teaching on summer pre-college enrichment programs.

A native of Venezuela, Madelyn is trained in numerous dance traditions, including Modern Jazz, Ballet, Flamenco, Salsa and other Latin rhythms, Afro-Caribbean, with immersions in Indian and Belly Dance.  She carved out a career performing and choreographing for Venezuelan television, film and other venues. Her relocation to the United States and subsequent Master’s study of Dance/Movement Therapy supported her developing expertise in Improvisation, which she honed by facilitating creative expression through dance and drama with groups and individuals in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Washington D.C., and back in Caracas, Venezuela. Madelyn currently practices as an inner city school counselor in Springfield, MA, where puts her dance and creative passions to good use.  2012 was her first summer with our summer Pre-College program at Amherst College.

Maggie developed her passion for both art history and Italian during her junior year of high school, when she studied with the School Year Abroad Program in Viterbo, Italy. Returning to Italy in the fall of her junior year of college, Maggie studied at the University of Bologna. After college, Maggie worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Drawings and Prints Department.  At the Met, Maggie had the great pleasure of assisting on The Drawings of Bronzino, an exhibition of Italian Renaissance drawings. Maggie has worked at several other art institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, The Frick Collection, and The Lyman Allyn Art Museum. In addition, Maggie taught fourth grade at a charter school in Philadelphia.  Currently, Maggie is pursuing a Master’s degree in History of Art and Archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.  Maggie’s favorite things besides Italy and art include New York City, great food, and a sharp personality. She is fluent in Italian. 2012 was her third year teaching on our Pre-College enrichment program in England and Italy.

Maggie studied abroad in Austria during college and has had the travel bug ever since. After graduation, she moved to the Czech Republic before working at National Geographic as an intern in the Education department. She has led summer community service programs in Dominica and was a staff member on our summer pre-college enrichment program at Amherst College. Maggie coordinates Putney programs in India, the West Indies, and Massachusetts.  She enjoys trivia, riding her bike, playing frisbee, and exclaiming over delicious food.

Born in Quito, Ecuador, Maka started traveling at age 11, and has since lived quite a nomadic life, learning to appreciate the beauty of cultural differences in all their myriad forms. She has done research and traveled as far away as Cambodia, Russia, and Greece, but has also been immersed in community development programs in the Bronx, NY, Manchester, NH, and in her home country. During college, she participated in an alternative spring break program to build houses in Costa Rica and later worked for an international development bank in Washington D.C.  She then took on a project for the Ecuadorian government, traveling around the Amazon rainforest and the Pacific coast, addressing issues of development and poverty alleviation. During her Masters degree studies, Maka discovered a passion for the vast array of historically and culturally transmitted ideas, languages, and ways of life. Maka is currently studying for her Ph.D. in Anthropology, researching the aftermath of the housing bubble among immigrants and non-immigrants in Barcelona. Maka has led a community service program in Ecuador and the Galápagos and taught on a Pre-College enrichment program in Spain. She is fluent in Spanish, English, and French, and is learning Catalan.

While at St. Lawrence, in addition to her classes, Mary spent time on the field hockey field and her semester abroad in Kenya in 2007. After working for the Wolfeboro Camp School for several summers she realized how much she enjoyed working with high school students and has been teaching since. She spent a year teaching English in Korea before finding herself in western Maine, teaching ESOL and math at Fryeburg Academy. In her free time she hikes, bikes and skis in the White Mountains and western Maine and takes advantage of any opportunity to travel, try new food and spend time with her friends and family. 2012 was her first year with our summer Pre-College program at Amherst College.

Matt got bit by the travel bug on his first trip to Europe as a teenager.  In college, he took advantage of opportunities to study in Toledo, Spain, and to explore his Greek heritage while backpacking through the Balkans.  After a few years teaching Spanish at a private school in New York, Matt left the U.S. for a three-year journey spanning 5 continents and over 40 countries.  Inspired by the kindness, spirit, and humor of people living on the margins of society, Matt spent time living and working with refugees in Thailand, enjoyed weeks sleeping in hammocks among indigenous communities in the Amazon, braved monsoon rains with Tamil fishermen off the coast of Sri Lanka, and made wine while living on a farm in Southern Turkey.  In the end, Matt’s travels brought him to Egypt, where he has lived for the past two years while completing a master’s degree in Human Rights Law.  2012 was Matt’s third summer with Putney Student Travel, leading our summer cultural exploration program in Europe.  In the past, Matt has led a summer language immersion program in Costa Rica.  Matt is proficient in 8 languages and speaks English, Spanish, and Greek fluently.

After college, Matt drove from New Jersey to Portland to Guatemala and back to New Jersey before leaving for Ghana to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer. After Peace Corps, he spent a year as a ski bum in the mountains ofColoradoand traveled aroundSoutheast AsiaandIndiabefore returning home to apply for graduate school. Matt finished his M.F.A. in Fiction at UMass two years ago. Since then he has driven back and forth across the continentalUnited Statesno fewer than four times for no ostensible reason. This winter he spent camping in Bishop,California. This spring he somehow found himself in the mountains ofIdaho. Now here he is back inWestern Massachusetts. Matt’s conclusion is that life is a circle. Matt enjoys hiking, camping, yoga, climbing, biking, and driving around in circles. 2012 was his first summer on our summer pre-college program at Amherst College.

Megan’s interest in cross-cultural studies and Spanish language developed during college while spending an academic year abroad in León, Spain at the Universidad de León.  Back on campus at Holy Cross, Megan taught ESL to immigrants in the community and was involved in several housing projects with Habitat for Humanity.  She spent summers during college working for Cape Cod Sea Camps, managing a team of 28 lifeguards and 45 junior counselors.  After college, Megan worked for EF Educational Tours, where she prepared teachers and high school students for their journeys abroad, and spent six months backpacking through South America. Megan recently completed a master’s degree in Clinical Social Work at Boston College with a concentration on Children, Youth, and Families.  Her other interests include skiing, running, camping, swimming, and yoga. Megan led a summer community service program in Costa Rica in 2012 and a summer community service trip to Argentina in 2010. Megan is fluent in Spanish.

While at Wesleyan, Meha studied abroad in China twice. She spent time in Beijing and Hangzhou learning Mandarin and traveled to places like Inner Mongolia and Yunnan province. Meha was also editor of the East Asian Studies Journal. After finishing her bachelor’s degree she worked for a year at a non-profit in Washington, DC but decided she liked school better and started a PhD in history at Columbia University in New York. Her dissertation is on the trade relations between Mexico and China in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the project has allowed her to learn another language, which means she now speaks Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi and English. 2012 was Meha’s fourth summer with Putney. She has led summer Community Service programs for high school students and been an instructor and director on our Pre-College summer programs. In addition to learning new languages, she enjoys dancing, writing and long train rides where she can look out the window and listen to podcasts.

Melanie teaches high school Spanish in the fine city of Philadelphia, PA. As a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at la Universidad del Valle in Sololá, Guatemala, she completed her master’s in Bilingual Intercultural Education, studying with Mayan educators to teach traditional and cultural literacy in Spanish and indigenous languages. She acquired a working knowledge of Mayan Quiche as the only non-Mayan in her program. Melanie has won two National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships to study picaresque literature in Spain in 2010 and Latino literature at Hunter College in New York City in 2011.  When not preparing her students to become multilingual citizens of the world, Melanie enjoys playing soccer, snowboarding, biking aimlessly around the City of Sisterly Love, and scaling mountainsides.  She is also an aspiring photographer and guitarist. Melanie plans to earn a master’s in Fine Arts and may, one day, bike across Spain.  She led a high school community service trip to Ecuador in 2012, a language immersion program in Argentina in 2006, and was a staff member on our Pre-College enrichment program in Spain in 2009.  Melanie is fluent in Spanish.

Upon graduating from Penn State, Mike received a scholarship that, in the past, recipients have used for a week of travel to study a famous design site. Mike instead took the opportunity to plant himself deep in the Central American rainforest where he spent three months criss-crossing the continental divide, living without electricity, and milking goats as member of a self-sufficient mountaintop community, trying to take advantage of the many opportunities for eco-tourism and volun-tourism in Central America. After a brief sojourn in the U.S., Mike returned to Central America with the Peace Corps in Honduras, where he focused on a program of municipal development and eco-tourism. Resettling in Baltimore post-Peace Corps, Mike worked for several years at an urban planning firm focusing on designing LEED/green-buildings, some of which are currently under construction in Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and New York.  While working, Mike also completed his M.S. degree, which took him to such far-flung places as Nanjing, China, to study sustainable water resources and issues. Presently, Mike is pursuing a Ph.D. at Temple University in Philadelphia, focusing on issues of climate change policy in small island states.  Mike has led a summer community service trip to Costa Rica and a summer community service program in Ecuador & The Galapagos. He is fluent in Spanish.

Since 2006, Nathaniel has worked in the field of international experiential education, spending summers with Putney and semesters abroad for companies such as LEAPNow, Carpe Diem International Education, and Where There Be Dragons. Currently he is in Southeast Asia, leading a three-month trip through Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and China. He has also guided students through Europe, Latin America, Nepal, and India. He recently completed a chef certification course from the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City, a unique institute that synthesizes the most recent research in nutrition with Macrobiotics, Chinese five element theory, Ayurveda, living foods, and contemporary international food issues. 2012 was Nathaniel’s sixth summer with Putney Student Travel, during which he led Cultural Exploration Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. He led two high school language immersion programs in Spain in 2005 and 2006, a high school summer language immersion program in Argentina in 2007, a summer community service program in Ecuador in 2008, a Global Awareness in Action program in Cambodia in 2009, and a Putney Cultural Exploration program to the European Union in 2010. Nathaniel speaks Spanish and is proficient in Italian and Portuguese.

Nhu’s long-standing interest in East and Southeast Asia has its early root in a quest for “home.”  In her first journey back to Vietnam after immigrating to the United States, she worked at ENDA (Environmental Development Action) in the Third World. There, she interacted closely with private waste collectors in Ho Chi Minh City’s “urban slums” to develop organizational structures that strengthened their ability to voice shared needs and concerns within their community.  Since then, her focus on areas of international development, governance, and civil society has rewarded her with considerable research, fieldwork, and international project experience in East and Southeast Asia. As part of her master’s thesis at The University of Texas at Austin, she closely examined and compared Vietnam’s transition to a market-oriented economy with China’s economic reforms, and considered the impact that these would have on both Vietnam’s and China’s current and future political developments. More recently, she worked on an international project with The Asia Foundation to monitor recent decentralization developments in Cambodia. Through fieldwork observations and interviews with local officials and civil society actors, she gained a grounded perspective of challenges and local perceptions of local governance in Cambodia. Nhu is fluent in English, Vietnamese, and Mandarin and has led our summer community service program in Vietnam and our summer global awareness program in Cambodia.

During his studies at York College of Pennsylvania, Nick had the opportunity to spend his fall semester abroad at the Universidad de Sevilla in Spain, where he studied Spanish and Art History while also traveling as much as possible around Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal.  Then, during his senior year, he baby-sat for a French family living in the U.S. and traveled with them as an au pair to France, where he became fluent in French and spent the summer traveling and studying in Grenoble, La Londe-les-Maures, and Paris.  These trips led Nick to pursue a double M.A. in French and Spanish Languages and Literatures at the University of Delaware.  While a student at UD, Nick worked as a graduate instructor of Spanish and a graduate travel assistant in Ecuador and Argentina, working with program directors and students while also helping to organize trips to Chile, Peru, and Brazil.  After graduating, Nick worked as a long-term Spanish substitute at a private high school in Wilmington.  Nick spent the following summer working as an assistant editor for Linguatext, Ltd. where he worked on pedagogical editions of important literary works by authors such as Cervantes and Balzac.  He is currently finishing his first year as a Ph.D. student at the University of Virginia. He is fluent in French and Spanish, has a working knowledge of Portuguese, and is learning Catalan. Nick has led our summer language program in Costa Rica for high school students.

Originally from California, Nicole has been a middle school teacher since graduating from Columbia University, where she studied comparative religion and traveled abroad to Bolivia. She taught ESL in the Bronx for the New York City Teaching Fellows before moving to Monteverde, Costa Rica to teach English and social studies in a bilingual Quaker school. Nicole loves languages, especially Spanish which she has studied since 8th grade. She finds all the regional variations of language particularly delightful and can be quite nerdy about comparing the Spanish she knows from California Mexicans, Bolivians, NYC Dominicans & Puerto Ricans, and Ticos! In her free time, Nicole enjoys yoga, gymnastics, and cooking. Nicole is fluent in Spanish. She has led summer program in Costa Rica for middle school students.

Nik was born and raised in San Francisco, and has long had a passion for exploring the intersections of art and politics.  Earning his B.A. at UC Santa Cruz, he majored in both Literature and American Studies.  While at Santa Cruz, Nik taught a variety of community classes around the prison system and political organizing.  In addition to his interest in politics, Nik has extensive experience in the world of publishing, working in the editorial departments of City Lights Bookstore and Publishing, Grove/Atlantic Press, and Souls Journal.  After leaving San Francisco, Nik spent two years earning his master’s degree in African American Studies at Columbia University in New York.  Since completing his degree at Columbia, Nik has begun work on his doctorate in the English department at Duke University.  2012 was his first year on our Pre-College summer program at Amherst College.

Ever since his college days, Paul has looked for ways to express and share his love of the outdoors.  This has taken him and his camera from wilderness and adventure guiding in Southeast Alaska and Northwest Canada, to canoeing through the Yukon, to rafting the Grand Canyon.  Paul currently owns and manages his own video production company, Murry AdVentures, which focuses on outdoor exploration, education, and preservation.  Based in Skagway, Alaska, he has worked on audiovisual projects for clients such as St. Kitt’s Railway and Temsco Helicopters. Paul is a dedicated world traveler, with 36 countries under his belt, as well as an avid tennis player and amateur ukulele strummer.  2012 was Paul’s second summer with our Pre-College enrichment program at Amherst College.

During college, Peter became interested in the politics and policies that shape access to a high-quality education. While at Brown he volunteered in a bilingual classroom in Providence, taught Spanish and world history to middle schoolers in Atlanta through the Breakthrough Summerbridge program, and researched school evaluation and charter schools at the Education Sector – a policy think tank in Washington D.C.  After college, Peter served as a Fulbright Fellow in Ciempozuelos, Spain, where he taught English and ran a literacy workshop at an in-patient mental health center. Upon returning to the States, he studied best teaching practices at the Shady Hill School Teacher Training Course, and he is currently a fourth grade teacher at P.S. 161 in Harlem, NY.   In his free time, Peter enjoys pick-up basketball, playing the trombone, and visiting the poultry on his family’s farm.  Peter is fluent in Spanish and had led our summer language program in Spain for high school students.

Peter has worked with young people in a variety of capacities over the past 16 years. He started as a drug and alcohol counselor, then worked in a teen psychiatric hospital, and spent the past ten years as a high school teacher. Peter taught in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, San Francisco, CA, and was a foundational member of the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he lived for two years.  During the summers, Peter has led community service programs in Brazil and Ghana, and leadership programs in South Africa, Kenya, New York City, and Washington, D.C.  Currently, Peter is a teacher in Oregon City, OR, and a psychology instructor at a junior college. In his spare time, he is heavily involved with sports – especially basketball and volleyball. Peter runs marathons and just completed the inaugural Portland Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathon.  He has led the summer community service program in Rwanda for high school students.

Becky’s passions lie in scientific research, global health projects, and learning about diverse cultures. Half Chinese and half Italian-American, she grew up in Cambridge, England, moving to the U.S. for high school and beyond. In college she studied biochemistry, oil painting, and nonfiction writing, with the odd Korean drumming or chamber music course thrown into the mix. During college she also worked on her first public health initiative, helping start the organization Shining Hope for Communities, which provides education for girls and essential community services in a slum in Kibera, Kenya. Becky fell in love with India one summer while teaching at a village school in the Himalayas, and has since been back to do research at the Indian Institute of Technology, spending nine months in New Delhi. Her dream is to work as a doctor around the globe.  She is proficient in Hindi and has led our high school summer development program in India.

Rob is a screenwriter and Los Angeles native, although travel keeps him away from Hollywood for months at a time. As an undergraduate art history major, he was assistant arts editor for the Daily Bruin and worked kitchen prep in his dorm cafeteria (an illuminating, yet ultimately harrowing experience). In film school, he worked such disparate jobs as phlebotomist, middle school English teacher, and realtor. Currently, he has a feature length script in development (The Unprofessionals) and is shopping a TV pilot (Valley Blvd.). If he hadn’t pursued a writing career, his second choice would have been chef. He is a charter member of Slow Food and once had to move because his library of cookbooks had outgrown his apartment. Rob has taught numerous seminars on our summer pre-college enrichment program at Amherst College and directed that program as well. 2012 was his 16th summer with Putney.

Hailing from Michigan, Russell has enjoyed acclimating to life in Vermont.  For the past several years Russell has been teaching high school in Southern Vermont and traveling during the summers.  He now teaches Pre-Calculus and Calculus at the Vermont Academy, a boarding school just up the road from Putney in Saxton’s River.  He is also a dorm parent and coach of basketball and track and field.  In his free time, he keeps himself busy playing music, hiking in the campus Arboretum with his wife and dog, playing basketball, throwing the Frisbee around, and traveling. 2012 was Russell’s fourth summer with Putney. He has led our high school summer community service program in Dominica (twice), our summer cultural exploration program in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, and our high school community service program in Fiji.

Sara graduated cum laude from UCLA in 2009 with a B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Global Studies.  As part of her education at UCLA, she spent six months in Washington, D.C. at National Geographic Society’s Education Foundation, working on a geography education campaign while also writing a thesis on “Web 2.0.”  Sara spent a semester of her junior year studying abroad in Florence and Rome, examining the political economy of the European Union, where she developed an interest in European affairs and culture. She recently concluded a three-year stint in San Francisco as a financial consultant to hospital systems with Triage Consulting Group, where she analyzed underpayment trends and advised hospitals on revenue cycle risk mitigation. Combining her passions for health, policy, and global development, Sara began a dual master’s degree program in Public Health and International Affairs at Columbia University this fall.  She led the summer cultural exploration program in Switzerland, Italy, France, and Holland in 2012. Sara has varying degrees of fluency in French, Italian, and Spanish.

Sarah currently resides in the beautiful city of Burlington, Vermont, where the majority of her time is dedicated to increasing the quality of education in her local district.  This spring she will be teaching Spanish at Harwood High School while also volunteering as a tutor and mentor at King Street Center, focusing on ways to support Vermont’s growing refugee population.  Her studies at Saint Michael’s College have allowed her to explore the complex issues of race and culture in the classroom, and she uses this knowledge to frame engaging opportunities for her students – recently helping to structure a unit of study examining the experiences of Vermont’s undocumented workers. When not in the classroom, Sarah can be found on the top floor of Burlington’s oldest auditorium dancing to the rhythms of the West-African djembe drums.  She also enjoys yoga, batik dying, and gardening.  Sarah spent a year living Santiago, Chile, where she learned to love the choppy accent and slang terms of the Chilenos.  Sarah has led a summer community service program in Costa Rica, a language immersion program in Argentina, and a community service program in Argentina for high school students.

While at Dartmouth, Schuyler spent two semesters abroad, studying Spanish art history in Barcelona and drama with coaches from the Royal Shakespeare Company in London. After performing and teaching theatre in San Francisco for two years, he moved to Madrid to teach English and acting to Spaniards. Now in his eighth year in Madrid, Schuyler still teaches, but also runs a bilingual theatre company he founded.  A Vermont native, Schuyler enjoys hiking, swimming, and yoga. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and Central America.  Schuyler has spent thirteen summers with Putney; his trips include Cultural Exploration Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Cultural Exploration Switzerland, Italy, France, Holland, Community Service Hawaii, three summers directing Foundations Costa Rica, and six summers with Excel Madrid/Barcelona. He is fluent in Spanish and Italian.

Sean fostered his love of writing, literature, and philosophy, as both a Presidential Scholar at Loyola University in Maryland and an exchange student studying at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. Currently, Sean’s PhD focused on the introduction of new technologies in Irish and British Modernist Literature. He has worked as a Writing Instructor at the University of Notre Dame, a Managing Editor of the academic journal, Religion and Literature, and an Editorial Assistant at the prestigious Field Day Review in Dublin. Sean has been awarded the Mitchel Award in Scholarly Writing, the Cornell School of Criticism and Theory Fellowship (which allowed him summer study at the preeminent program of critical thought), Notre Dame’s Dissertation Year Fellowship, and most recently, the external Josephine de Kármán Fellowship. Sean’s work has appeared in such academic journals as Field Day Review, and Éire–Ireland, and is forthcoming in the edited collection, Visualizing Dublin: Visual Culture and the Making of Modern Dublin.  He currently works as a freelance editor of academic manuscripts and as a contract editor and test question writer for a high-school education company.He has taught on the summer pre-college program at Amherst College for two summers.

Shane earned his master’s degree in Psychology and Conflict Management from Columbia University. After graduation, he moved to the Netherlands for a year to work with GCX Corporation. While there, he took the opportunity to celebrate holidays all over Europe: Easter in Athens, St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, Koninginnedag in Amsterdam, and Bastille Day in Paris. In addition, he hiked through Uganda’s Impenetrable Forest to visit one of the few remaining families of mountain gorillas. Most recently, Shane sailed, hitchhiked, bused, and backpacked to Ecuador from his home state of California. Most striking to him were the hospitality of Mexicans, the howler monkeys in Costa Rica, the bustle of Panama City, the dramatic topography of Colombia, and the Quechua sense of community. Shane has worked with teenagers for years, including several summers teaching about the flora and fauna of redwood forests. Currently, he tutors students in the San Francisco Bay Area. Shane led summer community service program in Dominica in 2012.

Stephanie’s interest in languages and off-the-beaten-track travel is a direct result of her multicultural background. She is half Mexican, half Polish, and her family vacations as a child were eye-opening adventures: hiking the Inca Tail to Machu Picchu or crossing the Sahara to reach Timbuktu. During high school she spent a year in Chile as an AFS exchange student and that trip cemented her love for South America. In college, Stephanie worked as a liaison for AFS Intercultural Programs, volunteered as a tutor and mentor for young Latino students, and spent time in Argentina as an English teacher. She relocated to Hungary in 2008 for graduate school to study water and food security in relation to isolated minorities. Since then she has traveled to diverse countries including Uzbekistan, Ecuador, and Senegal, meeting semi-subsistence farmers and learning about local perspectives on environmental protection. Last year Stephanie was a Fulbright Researcher in Poland, where her topic related to minorities living in the Transcarpathian border regions of Poland, Ukraine, and Slovakia. Her interests include cooking, running, and exploring her beautiful adopted city, Budapest, by bike. She has led a high school community service program in Argentina and a high school community service program in Peru. Stephanie speaks Spanish, Polish, Russian, French, and Hungarian.

Tatiana graduated cum laude from Northwestern University where she studied Learning and Organizational Change and Slavic Languages and Literature.  Having a keen interest in education reform, Tatiana sought out opportunities to immerse herself in different educational environments.  During her undergraduate career she worked with under-privileged urban students through the Breakthrough Collaborative, developed a nursery school in Accra, Ghana, created and taught an English course for gifted children in Russia, and explored European welfare and education systems while on study abroad in beautiful Cork, Ireland.  She also worked for four years in a kindergarten classroom.  Post-graduation, Tatiana received the William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India, during which she worked with an innovative south Indian NGO to create an English program delivering primary school instruction to marginalized rural populations.  After India, Tatiana worked for an academic year in Kigali, Rwanda, to support the Ministry of Education in creating policy around Rwanda’s One Laptop Per Child Program. Additionally, she led large-scale teacher training sessions to create Rwanda-specific computer content for delivery via the laptops.  Currently, Tatiana lives in the Bay Area and works for an education non-profit to deliver free, open-source, customizable textbooks and lessons. She has led our summer public health program in Rwanda for high school students.

Tavia is a Film and Video Production Specialist. She is currently self-employed and specializes in editing short-form documentaries for non-profit organizations. Her film work also includes several personal projects for which she has been involved in writing, directing, filming and editing. She has done editing work for the nationally distributed, award-winning documentary Out of Balance, and is a Director of Photography for its upcoming sequel At Any Cost. She is a 2008 Undergraduate Research Conference Award of Excellence winner for a rhetorical criticism of film research project, and a 2007 Undergraduate Research Conference Honorable Mention for a short-form documentary. She is also the 2008 Wilburn Sims Memorial Award recipient; the highest honor awarded by the University of New Hampshire Department of Communication. She is also actively involved in theatre and her acting resume ranges from Shakespeare (Twelfth Night) to modern theatre (How I Learned to Drive). She most recently studied voice for actors at the Berkeley Reparatory School of Theatre in Berkeley, California and performed in the original cast of a local production. 2012 was Tavia’s third summer teaching a course on our Pre-College enrichment program at Amherst College.

After graduating from Kenyon College, Ted served as a Fulbright Scholar in South India. There, he researched the social movement of the Aravani community, focusing on the ability of community leaders and activists to utilize creative technology and event programming to promote their agenda to the public. During his tenure as a Fulbright fellow, Ted had the opportunity to present his research and also perform Karagattam, a South Indian folk dance, at various conferences and Fulbright alumni association events in India, Pakistan, and Nepal.  After returning to the United States and spending a year as a Marketing Associate at the Corporate Executive Board in Washington, D.C., Ted was named a Peace Fellow by The Advocacy Project. As a Peace Fellow, Ted spent six months working with the Jagaran Media Center, a Dalit rights advocate in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he helped revitalize their print media division and led creative projects profiling the arts of lower caste communities. Ted is currently a fourth year doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology at American University in Washington, D.C. 2011 was Ted’s fourth summer with Putney Student Travel. He led a high school community service program in India in 2008, summer community service programs in Vietnam in 2009 and 2010, a summer high school program in Cambodia in 2011, and a summer public health program in Rwanda in 2012.

Tim is the Artistic Director of Empirical Rogue. With his company, he has directed Romeo and Juliet, played Hamlet (the cell theatre), and led educational workshops across the Northeast. Tim spent much of his middle- and high-school years in New Hampshire acting, directing, and producing theater, and went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Theater Studies at Yale University. He then spent three years acting in and out of New York City, and in 2010 earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the American Repertory Theater / Moscow Art Theater Institute at Harvard. He subsequently moved back to NYC and founded his theater company with fellow ART/MXAT alums. In addition to acting, directing, and producing, Tim tutors privately in Manhattan and through Carnegie Pollak Test Prep in Greenwich, CT. He has led theater education programs at Perseverance Theater in Juneau, Alaska, at Opera House Arts in Stonington, Maine, and at Rye Country Day School. He led the 2012 summer theatre program in Britain for high school students.

During his junior year at Colby, Tim studied in Buenos Aires, taking classes at both the Universidad de Buenos Aires, and the Universidad Católica Argentina.  While there, he seized the opportunity to travel throughout the country – from Jujuy to Ushuaia. Upon graduating from Colby, Tim worked for two years as a paralegal at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP in New York City. From there, he went on to earn an M.A. at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he concentrated primarily on the political economy of Latin America. Tim spent much of his first year of graduate school working in the Ambassador’s Office at the Embassy of Mexico. During the summer of 2011, he worked in the Department of Economic Affairs at the United Nations Secretariat, helping to organize the UN’s International Year of Youth. In September 2012, he will begin working as a consultant in Deloitte’s federal practice. Tim’s interests include skiing, golfing, Mexican politics, and the Boston Bruins. He is fluent in Spanish, proficient in Portuguese, and also happens to be a Putney Student Travel alumnus (Community Service Dominican Republic, 2003). He led a summer community service program in Argentina in 2012.

Originally from Western Massachusetts, Tobey has traveled extensively in Central and South America, including a summer co-leading Putney Community Service Costa Rica. In pursuit of her lifelong dream to be a writer, she received her B.A. in Creative Writing from Brandeis University in 2004 and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon in 2008, where she also taught undergraduate fiction and composition classes. Her story “Suicide Baby” was awarded the Logsden Fiction Prize and published in Red Rock Review, and her fiction and style writing has also appeared in Omphalos, Complex, DC Magazine, and DailyCandy. She currently works as a freelance fashion and lifestyle writer in Washington D.C., which allows her to indulge her other obsession: vintage clothing! Tobey is also a 200-hour certified yoga instructor. Tobey is proficient in Spanish. She was a 2012 instructor on our summer Pre-College program in Spain.

Tom is an educator and theatre professional with extensive educational leadership experience. For over twenty years he has worked with teenage actors at the Storm King School in New York, the American Conservatory Theater and the Hamlin School in San Francisco, Camp Laurel in Maine, and the Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts. Tom has been directing the pre-college enrichment program in Oxford and Tuscany since 2000; previously he co-directed the theater program at Excel at Williams College. Tom is currently the Head of the Theater Department at the Middlesex School, where he lives with his wife, Samantha, and daughter, Zoe. Tom has been with Excel for fifteen years.

Tom’s career in architecture has always held fascination for merging spectacular landscapes with built form. Tom has designed and built residential and commercial projects in incredibly varied cultures and climates in Mexico and Costa Rica, throughout India in Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Pondicherry, and in New York, Florida, California, and Ohio. Tom’s residential projects include both historical townhouses in Manhattan and modern homes just outside New York City. His current project in NYC is a complete restoration and transformation of a landmarked brownstone townhouse built in 1890. Tom has taught architecture at Tulane University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and has been on the faculty of the Yale University School of Architecture for ten years, teaching the Yale senior design studio each year for the past seven.  He has taken his class all over the world to share in his fascination with complex cultural issues and seemingly “impossible building sites” ranging from sensitive eco sites like Machu Picchu, Peru to complex urban heritage site projects in Mexico City and Madrid, Spain.  The projects always seek to maintain the sensitive eco system of the natural environment, while celebrating human experience of remote and sometimes inaccessible areas. Early in his career Tom worked in Los Angeles for Frank Gehry on the Disney Concert Hall and later for Richard Meier on the Getty Center Museum. He was an associate architect with Steven Harris Architects in New York, he then partnered with Bijoy Jain at Studio Mumbai in 2005. Mr. Zook has been principal of his own firm in New York City since 2008. 2012 was his first summer with our pre-college summer program at Amherst College.

Raised in a bilingual household, Tristan has always had a passion for culture, language, and travel.  His curiosity about the global community led him to study International Business at Wake Forest University.  While at university, Tristan dedicated a summer to studying comparative literature in the U.K. and both international corruption and Italian in Venice, Italy.  Tristan has also led community service trips in Honduras and Nicaragua, aiding at an orphanage and formulating coffee-bean marketing strategy, respectively.  After a summer internship at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, Tristan’s interest in implementing effective diplomacy earned him a State Department Fellowship for graduate school at Duke University.  Postponing his foray into becoming a Foreign Service Officer, Tristan recently taught English in an agronomic school in Argentina.  After being accepted into the JET Programme, Tristan’s adventures will lead him to Japan to teach English, to explore the sights and sounds of the East Asian communities, and visit the beaches of his homeland in the Philippines.  He is fluent in Tagalog with working knowledge of Spanish, Castellano, and Italian.  Tristan has led our summer Cultural Exploration program in Switzerland, Italy, France, and Holland and he most recently led our summer program in Costa Rica for middle school students.

Born and raised in Kerhonkson, New York, Troy’s interest in the Spanish-speaking world first took flight on a solo backpacking trip through Chile in high school. He went on to double major in English Literature and Spanish at Kenyon College, where he played on the varsity soccer team and volunteered as a mentor and tutor in Knox County, Ohio. Troy has since worked as a guidebook writer and editor in Quito, Ecuador, and a staff writer for a Spanish language newspaper in Poughkeepsie, New York. Troy spent a semester in Spain during college, studying at La Universidad de Granada. He returned to Spain following his graduation to teach English at a high school in Jerez de la Frontera. Troy has traveled extensively in Europe and Latin America and most recently did some exploring in the Middle East. He currently works year-round at the Putney barn in Vermont, managing our online outreach and coordinating programs in Spain and Costa Rica. Troy has led a  high school language program in Spain, a summer community service trip to Peru, and  the community service portion of our summer program for middle school students in Costa Rica.

During her time at University of Texas, Veronica served as Editor of The Texas Travesty, the largest student-produced humor magazine in the country. Upon graduation, Veronica became a freelance photographer for various magazines, bands, and weddings, and she spent a summer interning for Annie Lebowitz. Veronica then spent a year in Granada, Spain, working as a high school Culture and Language Assistant. While in Spain, Veronica traveled to neighboring Portugal and Morocco, and traversed most regions of Spain, even venturing to the north to complete the Camino de Santiago trek. More recently, Veronica discovered her love of teaching photography in Peru where she worked with Peruvian teenagers for the non-profit photography organization Fairmail. She currently lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, working as a freelance photographer and art director. Veronica is a lover of The Simpsons, Neil Young, Surrealist art, crawfish boils, and critically-acclaimed romantic comedies featuring a strong female lead. 2012 was her second year on our Pre-College enrichment program in Spain. Veronica is fluent in Spanish.

Zufan caught the travel bug in high school, while participating on an exchange program to Costa Rica and a service-learning trip to Honduras.  During college she studied abroad in Granada, Spain, and traveled extensively in Europe.  After graduating, she moved to Prague, Czech Republic, and taught English for two years.  Upon return to the States she fed her creativity, working in design and marketing for a handbag company.  She is now pursuing her Masters degree in International Education, allowing her to combine her love of teaching and learning with international and intercultural experiences.  Most recently, she traveled to Turkey for a field course in Advanced Intercultural Communication.  Native to Vermont, Zufan loves skiing, hiking, food (growing, cooking, and eating), and has most recently taken up Flamenco dancing.  2012 was her first summer with our Pre-College summer enrichment program in Spain.  Zufan is proficient in Spanish.