Elementary

Ms. Elaine Yiu Grade 1 Teacher

Ms. Elaine Yiu has been teaching first grade at AST since 2017. 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 Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Education 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. Ten 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 feels privileged to be working alongside a team of dedicated and passionate educators, but is most excited to be teaching the youngest learners at AST. When Elaine is not in the classroom, she enjoys spending time with her husband and children.

Ms. Beatriz Lopez Grade 2 Teacher

Ms. Beatriz (Bea) Lopez has been an elementary teacher for the last 10 years and has worked in Chicago, Vietnam, and China. She is thrilled to be joining the AST family for the 2022-2023 school year. Ms. Bea holds a Masters in Reading and Literacy (M.Ed) from Benedictine University in Lisle, IL and a Bachelors in Elementary Education from University of Illinois in Chicago. Throughout her teaching career, she has been a classroom teacher for grades 1-3 and 5. She has also held the roles of Head of Lower School ESOL and English Language Development Teacher (K-2). Ms. Bea is a strong advocate for inclusion and ESL students and believes learning happens when students are engaged, appropriately challenged, and when learning is relevant. She will be moving to Taiwan with her 8-year-old son and is excited to call AST home.

Mrs. Laura Brown Grade 3 Teacher

Mrs. Laura Brown has served as an elementary teacher for the last 16 years in international schools in China, Vietnam, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and continue at AST for her third 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, Mrs. Brown has held workshops for parents and colleagues and served as an Elementary School Coordinator. 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 twelve years and this will be his fourth 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 2022-2023 academic year as he will also be filling the role of Responsive Classroom trainer at AST.

Ms. Amber Stephens Grade 5 Teacher

Ms. Stephens serves as the grade five homeroom teacher. She attended the University of South Dakota as well as the University of Missouri-Kansas City and holds a degree in music and education along with several specialized endorsements and certifications. In addition to her time teaching in the both private and public education sector in the United States, Ms. Stephens has enjoyed the pleasures and challenges of living overseas as an educator for several years. She has taught in Asia for six years and is happily anticipating many more to come!

Mr. Will Henry Grade 5 Teacher

Mr. Henry has been an elementary teacher for the past seven years. He grew up in a small town nestled in the hills of Upstate New York. Before coming to AST, he taught in North Carolina, New York, and Shanghai. Mr. Henry holds a Bachelor’s in English from Alfred University and a Master’s in the Science of Education from Johns Hopkins University. In Shanghai, he supported his school as an elementary homeroom teacher, instructional coach, and professional development facilitator. Some of his passions in education are culturally responsive teaching, service learning, and developing critical thinking skills in the classroom. He is excited to be returning to Taiwan, where he lived and worked for two years after graduating from college.

Ms. Joyce Huang ES Chinese Teacher

Ms. Joyce is excited to be teaching ES Chinese at AST for the fifth 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 education and received her B.A. from the University of Taipei. Ms. Joyce also has a certificate for teaching Chinese. 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.

Ms. Amber Chang ES Chinese Teacher

In her 15 years as a Texas and International educator, Amber has been privileged to work with students and teachers in a variety of K-12 settings in the U.S., Taiwan, and China. She holds a BA in Education- Applied Learning and Development from the University of Texas in Austin. She is also a certified educator in EC-12 TESOL and LOTE- Mandarin Chinese. She has worked as a classroom teacher in grades K-3 in both Title 1 and private sectors. She has also had roles in coordinating AST Summer Camp and after-school programs. Her goal is to create academically engaging learning experiences through an environment that fosters creativity, curiosity, and kindness. Committed to sharing her passion for literacy and learning, she also volunteered and organized story time in her neighborhood community.
Amber has been married for 9 glorious years and has a spirited daughter who is turning 4 this year. Whenever she is not teaching, she enjoys reading, music, cooking, church fellowship, and spending time with family and friends. She is very excited and looking forward to returning to the AST community!

Ms. Evelyn Kuo ES CFL Teacher

Evelyn Kuo is excited to rejoin the AST community for the 2022-23 school year. She began her teaching career in 2011 as a summer camp Chinese teacher in Taipei, Taiwan. In 2013 she moved back to Taichung which was her first time joining AST and taught elementary school Chinese for five years. She left her hometown and started her overseas career in Shanghai since 2019 where she taught grade 1-5 CFL students and participated actively in a school-wide committee “SEL (Social Emotional Learning)”. Evelyn earned her Bachelor degree, Chinese literature at Tunghai university and her Master degree, TCSOL (Teaching Chinese as second/other language) at Taiwan Normal University. She started to study her second masters this spring which focuses on special education. Evelyn enjoys building relationships with her students and school community, and she likes outdoor activities such as hiking and swimming. She has two rabbits with her now. She is ready for her “new” journey in rejoining AST!

Mr. Jeremy Moyer ES Music

Mr. Moyer is from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario Canada. He first came to Taiwan in 1990 on a youth volunteer exchange program working as a teacher’s assistant at Huei-Ming School & Home for Blind Children in Taichung. Since then, he has lived in New York, Montreal and Shanghai, always learning and performing/recording/producing music, and teaching. He holds a BA Arts (French/Music) from University of Waterloo, a PGCE from University of Sunderland and a M. Ed from University of Alberta. Mr. Moyer is an Orff and Kodaly certified music educator.
For seven years, Mr. Moyer worked at Lycée français de shanghai (Shanghai French School) as a Grade 5 bilingual homeroom teacher and a middle school music teacher. More recently, prior to joining AST, in Taichung, he taught middle school elective music classes at Stella Matutina Girls’ High School and after-school elementary music classes through the National Taichung Normal University “International Education” program.
Mr. Moyer lives with his wife in the town of Tianzhong (Changhua County). He likes to live an active lifestyle which includes lots of cycling, walking and eating fruit. Although he has played and performed on the Erhu and Guitar for many years, these days he continues to develop his own musical skills by practicing the violin and singing.

Ms. Rosalyn Wong ES Teaching Assistant and CFL Teacher

Ms. Rosalyn Wong will be starting her second year at AST, continuing as a Teaching Assistant for Grades 3 and 4 as well as teach CFL 1. She is an alumni (Class of 2013) and received her Bachelor's degree from Fordham University in Communications with a concentration in New Media. Currently, she is pursuing her Masters of Education in early childhood education and is expected to complete in 2023.

Ms. Maggie Tsou ES Teaching Assistant

Ms. Maggie Tsou is excited to be the teacher’s assistant for AST’s Elementary School in 2022. She received her Bachelor's degree from Brigham Yang University-Hawaii in piano pedagogy. She has also received TESOL certificate from the American TESOL Institute. She has a great passion of helping students learn English and piano. She has been a tutor for English and piano for more than 20 years. She used to work for Hess English, Ocean English, and also substituted for Future-Heir Bilingual Elementary School and IE class of NE-Shin Elementary School. Ms. Tsou is looking forward to helping students learn and grow.