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Most of our Educators are trained classroom teachers who in addition have successfully completed the Life Education intensive and specialised training in health and drug awareness. The children don’t view our Educators as teachers and their time with us is informal and fun. They work with a very special colleague, Harold the giraffe, who assists them in explaining to the younger children the importance of eating healthily and taking care of themselves. Our Educators are known to the children by their first name only:
Eddie Eddie covers the Devon / Torquay area. He originally worked for the New York City Board of Education, as a substance abuse intervention and prevention specialist in the Bronx, for twenty years. After moving to England, he started a drugs education programme for Year Six children and had, after ten years, worked in every Primary School in the London Boroughs of Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster. This programme is still being run in London to this day. He relocated to the South West and started another drugs education programme, working in over 30 schools in the Exeter area. He has now brought his expertise to the Life Education Wessex team. Karen
Karen works as a part-time Educator in Mobile Classroom 4 which spends its time predominantly in North Dorset. Having obtained her teaching qualification along with her degree in English and Law, she accrued 17 years experience in marketing before joining LECD in 2004. The intensive four months training provided by LEC in addition to her marketing experience, has equipped Karen with the skills and ability to convince children to make healthy choices. The buzz the children get from the mobile classroom and their total immersion in the learning never fails to amaze Karen and she feels privileged to work for such a worthwhile charity and gains immense satisfaction from her role as an Educator. Karen particularly likes working with Harold as he always seems to do what she asks him to. We wonder why?! Katie
Katie works as a part-time Educator in Bournemouth and Poole schools. As a reception and key stage 1 teacher, she applied for the post of Educator as she had heard of the worthwhile work and wanted to be involved in making a real difference to children’s lives, particularly their futures. She firmly believes in LECD’s positive approach to health and drug education, a key part of which is raising self-esteem, and thinks the most rewarding part is to see the excitement and enjoyment on the children’s faces and eagerness to share the knowledge learnt in the mobile classroom. Moira
A full-time Educator and Educator Trainer Moira has visited children in the West Dorset area for almost a decade during which time she and Harold have had immense fun and guided over 300,000 children. She is always impressed with the children and how much information they remember from the year before and feels privileged to be able to contribute to helping the children to understand how amazing they are and how important it is they really think about the choices they will make for their health and futures. Vicki
A part-time Educator working in North and East Dorset since 2001, Vicki, prior to joining Life Education Dorset, taught both key stage one and two classes in primary schools for four years. In addition to this she has worked on a voluntary basis with young people in information and advisory settings and she has a particular empathy with the health and social needs of children and the young. Vicki feels that the most exciting thing about working for Life Education is the unique opportunity to observe children maturing year on year. She is amazed that however mature a class becomes they still want to see Harold at the end of the programme. Following the birth of her son, Finn in 2005, Vicki is keen to engage with Parents with new LED initiatives.
Pat
Pat has been a Primary School teacher for over 30 years, having worked in all kinds of contexts from large urban schools to small village settings. Having recently taken early retirement from headship, she is delighted to have been offered the position of Educator; a new direction and challenge in her life! She shares her country home with her husband Bob, who is an engineer, and 2 cats. She has 2 grown up children who have long since left the nest. Pat enjoys gardening, dancing and riding her horse.
Jacqui Jacqui covers the Somerset area. Helen Helen is a full-time Educator and Educator Trainer working mainly in Somerset. Having obtained a degree in Psychology, she trained as a Primary School Teacher and taught for the next 15 years at schools in Berkshire, Kent and Somerset. She first became aware of Life Education through reports in the local press about fundraising events to bring Life Education to the children of Somerset, and came on board as an Educator a couple of years later. Having previously taught only in Key Stage 2, Helen initially found the prospect of working with pupils as young as three years old quite daunting but soon discovered the immense fun to be had when running these sessions as there is much laughter with Harold and great excitement whilst learning. So much so that parents then pop in to have a look because "it's all he/she could talk about last night." Helen is also constantly impressed by the amount of information the children retain from previous visits and their levels of perception and empathy. Judy Judy usually covers the Somerset area but is currently enjoying maternity leave. Sarah Following he completion of a degree in Performing Arts, Sarah trained as a Primary School teacher and spent 20 years teaching in Christchurch. She always enjoyed the annual visit from the Life Education Centre, so much so that she jumped at the chance to work with Harold and become a full-time Educator. She now works mostly in Mobile Classroom 2 covering the Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole areas.
 Harold
Harold lives in the mobile classroom and regularly visits the children. He is very shy but looks forward to seeing the children, especially his friends who’ve visited the classroom before. The younger children are encouraged to give him advice when he has problems at school or isn’t feeling too well. They generally have a great time together and in addition to helping them remember what they learnt before, Harold tells the children jokes and sings them songs. Even when the children are older they still think Harold is "cool" and have respect for his wisdom and knowledge.
If you would like to hear clips of Harold's Songs click on this link and find out for yourself! |
