WOLO Team

Meet Our WOLO Team

Meet our team of talents consisting of committed, passionate and experienced teachers!

Monica W.

Anne H.

Fiona Y.

Centre Director

WOLO Head Teacher

WOLO Head Piano Teacher

Monica is a Reggio Emilia-inspired Learning Advocate and Early Childhood Educator who has worked with children for over 20 years. As a new mom of two she is a philanthropist as well as a supporter of sustainable living, loves animals and enjoys giving back for such causes. With her background in business and previously being a Shop Steward for a union, she decided to build WOLO to be a space teachers wake up excited to work at. She believes in teaching children to have a sense of humanity and compassion to make the world a better place. Our children are our future!

Anne has been working with children for fifteen years. She has worked and taught for several children’s institutions and top private schools in the Philippines, having experience with toddlers to grade school aged children. She also ran her own toddler class and tutorial centre before moving to Canada. She has worked with children in Vancouver for five years before joining WOLO. Her passion and sincerity for the development, well being, and happiness of young children makes her a dedicated teacher to this day.

Fiona is a piano teacher, preschool teacher and Behaviour Interventionist who has worked with children for over 5 years. Through teaching children with autism, she believes that every child is unique and born with numerous potential. She is patient, caring and passionate about teaching piano and music.

Fiona strives to create an engaging and fun musical experience for children and inspire them to develop their strengths and interests. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and minors in Education from Simon Fraser University and is a certified ECEA.

Angela C.

Operations Supervisor

TBA

Cara L.

WOLO Teacher & Admin

Cara has a great passion for teaching and stimulating young minds to feel inspired to learn in their everyday lives. She has worked with a wide range of youths, from toddlers to high schoolers, for over 6 years in various settings, such as at day camps, musical therapies and in the classroom.

Cara is currently studying social work at the University of British Columbia, and is working towards her B.S.W. She believes in the importance of empowering young minds and instilling confidence and independence in all children, and hopes to support them in striving to reach their fullest potential.

Kennedy D.

Multi-Age Educator

Kennedy has always loved being around children and setting them up with the best opportunities in life. She believes that early child care is an important stage in life and that quality teachers can have a great influence on youth outcomes and global outcomes. She graduated has a B.A with a major in psychology, including specialized courses surrounding the topic of child development, and a minor in human geography. Her hopes for the future are to attain a B.Edu. to teach.

From a young age, she has always loved music and began taking singing lessons in grade 6 after being cast as Mrs. Potts in the live musical "Beauty and the Beast". During high school, she competed in the Calgary Performing Arts Festival winning Gold in Opera, Musical Theatre, as well as Classical Vocal performances. She also holds a Grade 8 Royal Conservatory of Music certification and attended the Royal Conservatory of Music Intensive Vocal Program in Calgary, Alberta.

Solmaz M.

WOLO Art Teacher

Solmaz is a resourceful and imaginative Art educator and artist, highly trained in a wide array of artistic mediums and styles. She has experience working with students from different ages and different styles of learning. She explores modes of instruction inspired by Reggio Emilia's philosophy and pedagogy, fostering creativity.

Solmaz started her teaching career as a college instructor in 2011, she loves being around children, her love and care for early childhood education was the main reason she shifted to teaching children, she has been teaching art to children since 2015.

Solmaz graduated with a Bachelor of fine arts (BFA) with a major in painting and sculpture, and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines where she received the best thesis award of the year in 2010. She has recently graduated with her second Master in Art Education, with a focus on early childhood art education from the University of British Columbia.

Ashley G.

WOLO Group Piano Teacher

Ashley is an optimistic teacher whose goal is to help her students discover a love and passion for music. She began teaching voice and piano lessons in 2013 and has discovered a love for helping her students reach their musical goals. Music has always been an integral part of Ashley’s life. She began music lessons at the age of 4 and went on to pursue a Bachelors of Music degree with a major in Vocal Performance from the University of British Columbia School of Music. She is currently working towards a degree in Education.

Melanie H.

Isabelle W.

WOLO Teacher

Melanie has been working with children since 2018, and joined WOLO in 2019. She believes that guiding and caring for children is an important step in their childhood and hopes to enlighten their days at school.

Melanie is currently finishing her Early Childhood certification at Burnaby Community and Continuing Education and hopes to continue working with and inspiring children for many years to come.

WOLO Dance Teacher

Isabelle has a passion for dance and creativity which she discovered after completing her training in both RAD and Cechetti methods in ballet. Her experience extends to other styles such as lyrical, contemporary, and jazz. She is currently studying at the University of British Columbia with the Sauder School of Business.

Isabelle enjoys working and inspiring younger students to learn to love dance as well as be creative with their movement. After volunteering and teaching toddlers, Isabelle wishes to promote a healthy balance of movement, lifestyle, and education amongst all children. “Dance brings out a new level of uniqueness in everyone. It is very refreshing to see children express themselves through dance,” she mentions.

Chad G.

WOLO Piano & Guitar Teacher

Music has been an integral part of Chad's life since he began piano lessons at the age of 4. He has since obtained a high level of RCM piano studies, a bachelor’s degree in jazz studies at Capilano University, and has toured throughout western Canada. With over 19 years of experience playing a multitude of instruments in a variety of styles - from 1920’s jazz to classical Indian repertoire to old-school rock and roll (and just about everything in between) – Chad has developed a diverse and adaptable musicality.

Everyone studies differently, and Chad strives to create individualized lessons for each student while giving them all the tools they need to be confident and creative on their instrument of choice. He has taught high school masterclasses at multiple jazz festivals in BC, and is an established freelance musician in Vancouver.

Alvina Y.

WOLO Piano Teacher

Alvina is an inspiring musician and music instructor. She studied two years in Music at the University of Victoria under the guidance of Professor Arthur Rowe. She has a Bachelor of General Studies degree in Education with a Double Minor in Early Learning and Psychology from Simon Fraser University. She has been recognized for her musical achievements with her Associate Diploma (ARCT) in Piano Performance and ARCT in Elementary Piano Pedagogy. She has also competed in numerous music festivals and has performed in a Piano Quartet for the Vancouver Orchestra Club. Alvina has participated in Master classes with highly respected pianists including Edward Parker and Ian Parker.

Alvina has extensive experience in working in various settings helping children develop their musical talent. She incorporates her years of experience to provide a method of learning that encompasses the basics of music principle and theory, psychology, and communication techniques. She tailors her teaching method to accommodate the child’s learning ability. She uses creative, engaging, and imaginative teaching through storytelling, singing, and movement in her program. Alvina believes in building a positive and secure relationship with her students to enhance their cognitive, emotional, and social development

Emily L.

WOLO Piano Teacher

Emily began playing piano at a very young age and has studied with master pianists from both China and Canada. With their expert guidance, she has completed her ARCT piano studies, theory music and has participated in an array of music festivals such as the Kiwanis festivals. She also actively performs in various community recitals and concerts and has won various trophies and awards from her performances.

Eileen L.

WOLO Piano Teacher

Eileen began playing piano at the age of six and has participated in numerous music festivals such as Kiwanis festivals in Vancouver and Richmond. In 2008, she completed her ARCT with a high mark of 90 and subsequently won the ARCT trophy for piano for highest mark in Richmond branch. Following this achievement, she was invited by the chairperson of Trophy to perform at the honours recital for BCRMTA. Ms.Liu continued her musical education with Professor Arthur Rowe for her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Victoria and graduated with honours. She also holds a Master’s degree from University of Ottawa for piano performance under the guidance of Professor Andrew Tunis.

She has performed actively in concerts as a trio group and soloist, and has played for pianists such as Jamie Parker and Shoko Inoue in Master classes.

Anny S.

Cantonese Class Teacher

Anny came to Canada from Hong Kong in 1997 with her family and grew up learning English as her second language, and continually spoke in Cantonese with her friends and family. She has dedicated her entire career to Early Childhood Education, working with children from infant to preschool age and she enjoys doing it everyday. She has two children of her own.

Anny has been a Licensed Early Childhood Educator for more than 10 years and currently holds the ECE, Infant & Toddler, and Special Needs Licenses. She also hold a Montessori certificate from NAMC. She has been a Cantonese Teacher since 2012.

From being a ECE teacher, she learned that each child is unique and talented in their own different way. Her goal is to provide a non-traditional and age appropriate Cantonese learning experience to cultivate the attitudes, habits, and appreciations that will enable the child to explore, question, and discover the Chinese culture. The goal of our program is to provide the basic knowledge of the Chinese culture which inspire their interest to pursuit on their own.

Sakura Z.

Mandokids Head Teacher

Sakura is a native Mandarin speaker, born and raised in Tianjin, China. She obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Education at Simon Fraser University, and minored in curriculum and instruction as well as contemporary arts. Sakura is currently studying for her Master of Education in Second Language Teaching from the University of Ottawa.

Sakura has 5 years of experience working as an Early Childhood Educator. She is highly proficient at designing curriculum based on the individual child's needs. She received her certificate of accreditation in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL) in 2013.

She has years of experience from teaching Chinese Mandarin to children of all age groups, and she is also passionate about teaching with a strong background in the BC Early Learning Framework.

Kerry Z.

Mandokids Teacher

Kerry is a native mandarin speaker, born and raised in Changchun, China. She is currently majoring in Sociology for her Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University of British Columbia.

Kerry has 2 years of experience working as an assistant in the UBC Chinese Language Program. She is passionate about early childhood education, and child psychology and development.

Wendy Q.

Mandokids Teacher

Wendy is a native Mandarin speaker, born in Shandong, China. She completed her Bachelor's Degree in Education at Simon Fraser University, minoring in curriculum and instruction, as well as Early Childhood Education.

Wendy holds an NAMC International Montessori Teaching Diploma and a TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). She has extensive teaching experience with kids in China for both Mandarin and English.

She loves working with children of all experience levels and emphasizes the importance of respect, equality, and freedom to express in the classroom.