Elementary

Ms. Elaine Yiu Grade 1 Teacher

Ms. Elaine Yiu is happy to be teaching 1st grade at AST for a fourth year. She has wanted to be a teacher since she was in first grade herself; her teacher, Mrs. Corbett, made her feel so welcomed and important to the class and that has inspired her to do the same for her students. Originally from Toronto, Canada, after graduating with an Honours B.A. (English and History) from the University of Toronto and a B.Ed. (Primary and Junior Divisions) from the University of Ottawa, Elaine spent a year in Korea teaching pre-K before deciding to teach in Taiwan for a year or two. Eight years later, she is still here and enjoying the cultural experience. She has also earned additional qualifications in ESL (Part 1) and Special Education (Part 1 and 2) as accredited by the Ontario College of Teachers. Elaine is excited to be working alongside a team of dedicated educators, but is most excited to be teaching the youngest learners at AST. She aims to provide the learners with an inclusive and culturally responsive learning environment for social and emotional development, as well as academic growth. She also looks forward to connecting with her students’ parents in order to better support the growth and meet the needs of their children. When Elaine is not in the classroom, she enjoys spending quality time with her husband and two young sons, including a baby in palliative care since birth; her unique family situation has made her even more appreciative of the little things in life.

Mr. Derrek Gerughty Grade 2 Teacher

Mr. Derrek Gerughty is thrilled to teach his 3rd year with the grade 2 students at AST! This will be his 6th year in Asia, and he previously taught kindergarten in Vietnam. Even before taking a teaching role in the classroom, Derrek worked for the city of Daly City parks and recreation as a director, program planner, and dance teacher working with students from 3 to 18 years of age in a variety of settings. He earned a BA in recreation and leisure studies and an AA in social and behavioral sciences. Later, Mr. Gerughty earned his California multiple subjects teaching credential. He is an avid traveler, scuba diver, photographer, dancer, and is currently learning the art of video and editing. Mr. Gerughty enjoys incorporating his adventures and passions with his students in authentic ways that inspire student learning!

Mrs. Laura Brown Grade 3 Teacher

Mrs. Laura Brown has served as an elementary teacher for the last 15 years in international schools in China, Vietnam, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and is excited to be joining AST for the 2020-2021 school year. She holds a Masters of International Education (M.Ed) from the College of New Jersey, a Bachelor of Communications with a major in Journalism from Monash University, Australia and a certificate of ESL in the Mainstream. Over the course of her teaching career, Laura Brown has held many workshops for parents and colleagues that include the support and inclusion of technology in the classroom, reading assessments, report card writing and curriculum documentation. She presented at the Educators Tri-Association Conference in Monterrey, Mexico on helping schools’ transition to Standards Based Grading and Reporting and served as a Cognia school accreditation team member to Colombia. She moved to Taiwan with her husband and two daughters who are all happy to return and continue exploring this part of the world. Laura is a dedicated teacher and a life-long learner who feels fortunate to be part of the AST team!

Mr. Kristo Pienaar Grade 4 Teacher

Kristo has been teaching for ten years and this will be his second year at AST. He holds a B.A. degree from UNISA (University of South Africa) and a PGCEi certificate from Nottingham University, United Kingdom. His teaching career started in Taiwan in 2010, and in 2013 he accepted a teaching position in Qatar as a primary homeroom teacher and stayed there for four years. From Qatar, he moved to Indonesia where he taught for two years until coming back to Taiwan last year. He is excited for the 2020-2021 academic year as he will be looping with the learners he taught last year.

Ms. Amber Stephens Grade 5 Teacher

Ms. Stephens serves as the grade five homeroom teacher. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, along with several specialized endorsements. Ms. Stephens enjoys the pleasures and challenges of living overseas as an educator. She has taught in Asia for four years and is happily anticipating many more to come! In addition to teaching, she enjoys reading, music, and culinary arts. She is pleased to be part of the AST family!

Ms. Joyce Huang ES Chinese Teacher

Ms. Joyce is excited to be teaching ES Chinese at AST for the third year in a row! Prior to working at AST, she had 6 years of teaching experience as a Chinese teacher in public elementary schools in Taipei. She majored in primary education and received her B.A. from the University of Taipei. Ms. Joyce also has a certificate for teaching Chinese in elementary schools. She was born and raised in Taichung, and currently has one child studying at AST. Ms. Joyce believes that the most important part of learning a language is developing a reading habit. She is working on promoting a classroom library and picture book programs for the early grades. While learning Chinese, children can be immersed in the world of books, feel the culture and cultivate humanistic accomplishments.

Mr. Jeremy Moyer ES Music and CFL Teacher

Mr. Moyer is originally from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario Canada. The first time he came to Taiwan was in 1990, when he came on a youth volunteer exchange program working as a teacher’s assistant at Huei-Ming School & Home for Blind Children. In the meantime, he has visited and lived in several countries, learning and performing music, and teaching. For many years he was particularly interested in learning and performing Chinese traditional music, especially the erhu; however, the instrument he has played the longest and which he uses the most in teaching is still the guitar. His most recent school teaching experience was at Lycée français de shanghai (Shanghai French School) where he was a Grade 5 bilingual homeroom teacher and a middle school music teacher for seven years. In the last three years, since moving to Taiwan, he has been teaching after school and elective music classes in Taiwan local elementary and middle schools. He is an Orff trained music educator and believes in developing music as a multi-modal collective activity that is an integral part of life no matter where we go or what we do. He lives with his wife in the town of Tianzhong (Zhanghua County) and likes to live an active lifestyle which includes lots of cycling, walking and eating fruit.

Ms. Amber Chin ES Teaching Assistant and CFL Teacher

Ms. Amber Chin is excited to be the teacher’s assistant for the Elementary school in 2020. She has 3 years experience as the grade one teacher’s assistant, 2 years as summer camp assistant director, 2 years as ES after school activity coordinator and 3 years as the ES cooking teacher. Ms. Chin has earned a Teacher Assistant Certificate from ICI. She is eager to help young students learn and grow. Ms. Chin is looking forward to continuing to be part of the AST family.

Ms. Rosalyn Wong ES Teaching Assistant

Ms. Rosalyn Wong will be starting this new journey as a Teaching Assistant for AST's Elementary School this year. She is an alumni (Class of 2013) and received her Bachelor's degree from Fordham University in Communications with a concentration in New Media. She has been doing marketing after graduation for corporate companies within the hospitality and food and wine industry. Although this will be a brand new experience for her, she is excited to be back on campus and is looking forward to meeting everyone.