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Our Team

They were born for this role.
They have dedicated their lives to teaching, have traveled extensively, and want to share their passion for travel with the next generation.
Spend a minute with any member of our Program Director Team - ask them about their favorite spots, or their fondest memory of traveling with students - and you'll want to drop everything and go travel with them.

Kristin Gillett

Kristin Gillett began learning German in seventh grade in Massachusetts. Everything clicked for her when she participated in a three-month homestay during her junior year in high school, and she fell in love with the culture of Germany, and with travel abroad. Kristin went on to study German, earning her B.A. (including a junior abroad year in Salzburg) and M.A. in the language she loves.
She has worked tirelessly to share that love with her students during her 25 year teaching career in both high school and middle school, including a year as a Fulbright Exchange teaching year in Magdeburg, Germany. Kristin believes that travelers are stewards and students of the world, and takes special care to engage students in viewing their experiences as more than just tourists.

Jennifer Hunter

While growing up in northern Maine, Jen was inspired to learn languages by the region’s French Acadian heritage and the many exchange students her family hosted. During a high school exchange year in Arras, France she took her first Spanish class. Her love of French and Spanish led her to McGill University in Canada, which led to working/living on a coffee cooperative in Costa Rica for a month. After earning her teaching credentials in California, Jen taught at a bilingual school in Puebla, Mexico before returning to Maine. She has been teaching Spanish at the high school and junior high levels for the past 13 years, leading many student trips to Quebec for the French Club and to Puerto Rico for the Spanish Club.
During the fall of 2017, Jen took her family on a sabbatical semester to Spain during which time they lived and studied in Salamanca, and hiked the Camino de Santiago del Norte.

Abbie Andrew

Abbie Andrew traveled to Quebec as a high school junior, to France as a high school senior, and by sophomore year of college Abbie knew she wanted to be a French teacher.
She has been teaching French and Spanish at Goffstown High School since 1984 and has been traveling with her own students to France and Quebec since the early 90’s. Her students have come away from these trips with an appreciation of the region as well as the valuable skills of a traveler. The beauty of language and culture paired with new abilities in navigating previously unknown places is a lifelong gift Abbie is proud to share.
Abbie has traveled exclusively with Students Love Travel since 2012!

Cheryl Berman

A New Hampshire native, Cheryl began her World Language journey at a very young age. Her family has French (Quebec) and Greek (northern Greece) ancestry and language has always been a passion of hers.
In high school she studied French, Spanish and Latin and earned her B.A. in Spanish from the University of New Hampshire. She continued her French studies post secondary and attended Rutgers University Summer at the Louvre Graduate program in 2007.
She has been teaching FLES grades K-6 in the seacoast SAU 50 for over two decades. She is NH certified in both Spanish and French and is recognized in the seacoast for her hands-on ingenuity in the classroom and on-site travel.
Cheryl is also a flamenco dancer and brings this Spanish art to classrooms throughout NH with her Artist in Residence Program. She has family in Spain and Peru and loves to visit schools and lead teacher workshops while traveling.
She will not miss a beat in making sure you receive a comprehensive educational field trip filled with travel savvy.

Colin Burke

Colin grew up in the Seacoast area of New Hampshire as an avid athlete playing golf, hockey and lacrosse. He attended the University of New Hampshire earning a B.A. in History with a focus on medieval and ancient Rome and a Master's in Education while playing on the school's lacrosse team.
It was not until after graduating that Colin caught a case of “itchy feet” and began expanding beyond New England. His love of history first brought him to Italy and then to many of Europe's major cities. A highlight of his travels was walking the Camino de Santiago through Northern Spain. More recently he has begun exploring Latin America. In April of 2013 he had the opportunity to volunteer with Project Eden in rural Honduras building a community garden in a village outside of San Francisco de la Paz. Colin is passionate about sharing his experiences with his seventh grade social studies students in Exeter New Hampshire where he has taught for the past nine years. His relationship with Students Love Travel began as a group chaperone with a Spanish language group to Puerto Rico.

Amber Burks

Amber Burks grew up in Saratoga Springs, New York and didn't start learning a second language until seventh grade when she fell in love with French. She continued studying French at SUNY Albany during which time she spent 3 months in Tours, France and came home wanting to see more of the world. So far she has traveled to Spain, Belgium, Canada, Haiti, Mexico, and Morocco.
She received her Bachelors degree in Math and French in 2001 and her Master's degree in World Language Secondary Education in 2006.o.
Certified in both French and Spanish, Amber has taught for 15 years at the elementary, middle and high school levels, and now teaches both languages at Falmouth Middle School. She is a past-president of FLAME, has served as a World Language Teacher Leader for the state of Maine, and has presented as "Best of Maine" at NECTFL.

Wenyi Chu

Wenyi is a native of Xi’an. In 2004 an English summer program at Xi’an Jiaotong University taught by a group of American volunteer teachers sparked her love of immersion language programs and her belief in experiential learning as a way of life as well as a journey of self-growth and discovery.
Since 2005, she has participated and led various experiential learning projects including: co-teaching with American volunteer English teachers in a rural area in Henan Province; serving as teaching and residential assistant at Harvard Summit for Young Leaders in China (HSYLC); and leading the University of Virginia in Shanghai Intensive Chinese Language Program.
Wenyi is also a Chinese language teacher. Since 2008, she has taught Mandarin at an International Baccalaureate program in a private school in Maryland, the University of Virginia, Brown University, and University of Macau.

Sarah Cole

A New Hampshire native, Sarah pursued her passion for languages by moving to Canada for college; she studied Spanish and French at McGill University, graduating with the Spanish Embassy Book Award. While calling Montréal home Sarah traveled around the world to further her language skills, including a summer working and traveling throughout southern Spain. Sarah also studied at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in Chile, during which time she traveled from the desert north to the glacial south of Chile and visited Argentina. Additionally, Sarah has explored Puerto Rico, France, Andorra, and eastern Canada. She knows four languages and hopes to learn more!
Sarah now works full-time at Students Love Travel as a Customer Care Associate, and serves as Program Director for our Québec locations.

Evan Czyzowski

Evan Czyzowski is a NH native and a first-generation American of Polish and French-Canadian decent. He teaches English, drama, and philosophy at Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston, NH. He graduated from UNH with a BA in English, minors in philosophy and history, and an MA in literature.
Evan lived and taught in Kraków, Poland from 2006-2007, and from 2009-2011 he was Co-Director of the Polish-English Summer Program in Krotoszyn, Poland. He has taught in China with the Sino-American Bridge for English and Health (SABEH) each summer since 2012 and is currently their Director of Education.
Since 2007 he has led student trips Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Spain, England, Ireland, and China.
A lover of food, words, music, and art, he is always ready for travel.

Robert Delorie

A New Hampshire native, Robert is a Co-Founder of Students Love Travel.
He attended Middlebury College where he studied German, French, Spanish, and Italian while earning his B.A. in German Language & Culture.
While pursuing a career in business management Rob lived and traveled extensively in Europe, but his favorite place will always be Germany.
Now, as a veteran of the educational travel industry and a former high-school French teacher, his favorite part of the job is sharing the joys of language and travel with the next generation.
CONTACT ROBERT

Peggy Durbala

Peggy grew up in northern Illinois, fell in love with Spanish during high-school, and majored in Spanish at college before spending several years teaching Spanish at the middle-school and college levels. She has traveled to Mexico (extensively), Spain, Guatemala, Argentina, Uruguay, and Costa Rica. But Illinois is still home.
In 2014 and 2016 Peggy served as co-director of a summer study abroad program in Tuscany, where she fell in love with all things Italian. She returned to Italy in 2018 and spent the summer living with a wonderful Italian family in Cesena, helping them learn English while simultaneously learning Italian and immersing herself in the culture.
Through all of these experiences, Peggy has seen first-hand the life-changing power of international travel and thoroughly enjoys nurturing this change in others!

Brad Johnston

World travel became a driving force in Brad's life beginning in elementary school when his family moved to Caracas, Venezuela and he has continued to explore the planet ever since - as a student, public health promoter and expedition leader.
While in college Brad moved to Spain for a year to study at the University of Barcelona and he traveled extensively throughout Europe. After earning a B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of California at Berkeley, Brad joined Amigos de las Americas and carried out a variety of public health projects in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama and Mexico. Soon after, Brad became a field instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School and, over a ten year span, led dozens of kayaking, sailing and mountaineering expeditions in Washington State, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Chile and India.
Today Brad lives in New Hampshire and teaches Spanish at the North Hampton School while raising a family and coaching a variety of sports. For fun, he surfs, climbs and runs. Although Brad enjoys his work in the classroom, he knows in his heart that the best learning happens in the field, when perceptions are challenged and comfort zones are stretched. He is committed to experiential education and loves to help students discover the power of world travel.

John Maattala

Originally from the great state of North Dakota, John graduated from Syracuse University with a B.A. in International Relations.
During this time, he spent a year studying at universities in Chile and Argentina and continued to live, work and travel throughout South America.
John spent six years teaching Spanish in New England before joining Students Love Travel.
He now enjoys planning trips as our full-time Travel Operations Manager and occasionally serves as a Program Director where he can share his love of travel with a new generation of global citizens.
He also holds a Master of Tourism Management degree from Colorado State University and loves any itinerary that involves bicycles. Even as a long-tenured New England resident, he continues to root for his Minnesota sports teams.

Peter McGowan

Originally from Ireland, Peter founded Students Love Travel with Robert Delorie.
Growing up he was fortunate to have parents who loved to travel abroad, and as a boy scout he spent his youth exploring the island with friends by foot, bicycle, and train.
As a sophomore in high-school he heard about Camp Counsellors USA and the following summer he found himself working with the Boy Scouts of America on the waterfront at Camp Yawgoog in Rhode Island. This was the first of many summers in the USA.
Peter graduated from the Waterford Institute of Technology as a Computer Scientist and was sponsored for a US Permanent Resident Visa by Digital Equipment Corporation. He spent the following decade designing systems for Healthcare, Finance, and Media companies, eventually finding himself designing systems for a travel company that specialized in "bus tours" for large groups of students. That's where he met Robert and found they agreed that smaller groups would be WAY better.
Over the Summer of 2009 they founded Students Love Travel to provide an alternative "no bus" approach to educational travel for small groups. They never looked back!
CONTACT PETER

Carolyn Nichols

Carolyn Nichols grew up in a lighthouse on the Massachusetts seashore where she developed a passion for the beauty of the natural world.
She circumnavigated the Caribbean Sea with Sea Education Association and graduated from Wheaton College (Massachusetts) with a double major in biology and fine art. Carolyn then earned a Master of Fine Art degree in Medical Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.
She escaped from academia to southern Chile where she guided four-month sea kayak expeditions for Raleigh International to the San Raphael Glacier. During her time off Carolyn traveled extensively in Bolivia and Peru.
Carolyn and her husband, Chris, have traveled extensively in Alaska, Iceland, and Canadian Maritimes and currently reside in Brunswick, Maine. She works as a high school science teacher and teaches graduate courses for teachers on Burnt Island in Boothbay Harbor for the Department of Marine Resources.
Carolyn’s passion for the outdoors is palpable and her students (young and old) thrive with her creative hands-on learning environment in and out of the classroom.

Matt Pachniuk

Matthew Pachniuk is a Connecticut native and the History Department Head at the Oxford Academy in Westbrook, CT.
His zeal for soccer and literature cultivated a strong interest to travel at a young age. As an International Relations major at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, Matt studied global politics and economics and was able to visit Italy and England with the Men’s Soccer team. Upon graduation, Matt backpacked the majority of Western and Central Europe. After living and working in Manhattan for a few years, the need to explore further became too much. Embarking on a four month trip around the world, Matt traveled to Japan, Thailand, Laos, Nepal, India, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Europe. He has traveled to 28 different countries to date.
Matt holds an M.A. in Education from Fairfield University, a National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and is an AP European History teacher.
He has led students on trips to France, Quebec, and Italy and is constantly amazed how travel harnesses genuine enthusiasm, curiosity, and growth in young people. He is also an avid supporter of Tottenham Hotspur F.C."

Tracy Peterson

Growing up in Chicago, I developed a passion for other languages and cultures. Studying Spanish Education at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana provided me with an experience that changed my life: I spent six months living in Granada, Spain.
During that incredible time I developed a desire for travel and for having experiences outside the guidebooks. I have traveled extensively throughout Europe, and have also traveled to Africa, Mexico, Honduras, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Each experience has enriched my life.
I currently I teach ELL (English Language Learners) at a suburban high school near Chicago and my students enrich my life as we share cultures, languages, and a common passion for learning. I have traveled frequently with my students over the past 15 years throughout Europe - I have returned to my beloved España seven times!

Chris Pomeroy

Chris Pomeroy grew up in and currently lives in the small town of Manistee, Michigan where he teaches high school.
He graduated from Central Michigan University where he majored in Social Studies and minored in History. While studying to become a history teacher, Chris decided that the best way to learn about the people, places, and ideas he was going to teach about was to go and see those places in person. His favorite book is On The Road by Jack Kerouac which was a driving force behind his move to leave Michigan on his own to teach in Virginia, where he taught World History for seven years. He was able to fulfill his goal of visiting the historical places he taught about after his second year of teaching when he travelled with a group of students and teachers to Spain, France, and Italy.
One of his goals while teaching history is to constantly encourage his students' sense of adventure and independence as they leave his classroom and explore the world on their own. He has chaperoned students on two trips with Students Love Travel; one to Paris, France and San Sebastian, Spain, and the other to Ireland.

Karalee Rocker

Karalee Rocker was born in upstate New York, raised in Durham, North Carolina, and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Unable to go on the high school French trip with her class, she became determined to travel when she could. As one administrator put it, she was the only graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill to actually do two Junior-year abroad, one in Montpellier, France, and the other in Lima, Peru.
She taught Spanish in North Carolina for 3 years at a middle school, then she moved to Paris where she studied at the Sorbonne in Early Childhood Bilingual Education while teaching English and working as a Tour Guide for EF Tours. She led tours with American students through Paris, the Loire Valley, Geneva, Switzerland, and London, England.
On her return to the US she worked for four years at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. - including a mission trip to Antioquia, Colombia - before returning to teaching.
She's been a teacher for the last 11 years at Galileo Magnet High School in Danville, Virginia, and has taken her students on to London and Paris, then Spain, then Italy and southern France.
Recently she brought students on a trip to Paris and San Sebastian with Students Love Travel, and then a trip to Ireland. Delighted with the experiences, she joined the team!

Liz Ross

Liz grew up in NH and developed a love for traveling at a young age. Visiting family in California, Wisconsin, and North Carolina evolved to visiting Costa Rica, Spain, Canada, and the British Isles. During her undergraduate studies, Liz lived in Dijon, France for 9 months, studying alongside French citizens at the Univeristé de Bourgogne.
Liz started learning French in middle school and fell hard for languages, picking up Spanish and Latin in high school. She received a BA in French from UNH in 2013, as well as her Master's of Education from UNH in 2014. Liz has taught French to middle school students and now teacher French and Spanish to high school students at Pinkerton Academy.
Liz's love of languages and cultures has led her on many adventures and she loves sharing that passion and experience with students!

Peter Schmidt

Peter grew up in New Jersey and Massachusetts where he developed a love for foreign language, travel and culture as a young child. He began his linguistic journey in nursery school where he was taught Italian. In school he studied French, Spanish and Latin.
Peter earned a BA in Business from Saint Anselm College with a minor in Spanish. He studied International Business at the Universidad de Sevilla in Seville, Spain and then completed some graduate work at the Universidad de Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica. Recently, he finished his M.Ed. in Educational Administration at Rivier University.
Peter is the Global Studies Coordinator at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire where he has taught Spanish and coached for many years. He was a recipient of the U.S. Department of State's Fulbright Fellowship where he conducted research in the field of Global Education before traveling to Brazil for a diplomatic teaching visitation. He was a participant in the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Think Tank on Global Education and a recipient of the Turkish Cultural Foundation's study-tour grant to Turkey.
His educational endeavors have recently brought him further afield to China where he taught American Culture and English at Pinkerton Academy's sister school in Tianjin.
Peter has traveled to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, China, Morocco, Canada, Turkey and much of Europe. He loves traveling and is passionately shares his love of cultures and languages with students.

Colleen Sheehan

Colleen Sheehan grew up in Upstate New York where she dreamed of traveling far away and imagined she would live somewhere new and exciting. After travelling the world and living in Spain for four years she realized the beauty in rural New York and has now lived in the same house for 29 years!
She studied abroad in Salamanca, Spain and after graduating college returned to live in Salamanca for one year and then spent two years in Alicante, on the Costa Blanca. While in Alicante she met and married her best friend, Said. Then they moved to the US where Colleen has spent the last few decades teaching Spanish and traveling with her students. Fortunately, Said enjoys traveling and has accompanied her on numerous student trips to Canada, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Spain. In addition, Colleen has traveled to the Dominican Republic, Panama and Peru.
She has taken three trips with Students Love Travel and on her most recent trip with students Colleen realized that she had many years of experiences leading student groups and could do it with ease and confidence. We were delighted when she asked to join us!