Student Support Specialists

Student Support Specialist

Ms. Tabitha Pearson Learning Support

Tabitha Pearson is new to AST this year. Tabitha has been a special education Learning Support Specialist for 15 years. She has taught grades K through 12 and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the AST Team. She earned her bachelor's degree and her teaching credential at Humboldt State University. Tabitha has worked with students with learning disabilities, autism, and behavior disorder in low income schools in Portland Oregon, Vancouver Washington, and Eureka California. She specializes in teaching reading. Tabitha is very excited to be joining the AST team.

Ms. Lauren Leach English as an Additional Language

Ms. Lauren Leach is excited to be returning to AST as the ESOL specialist for her fourth year! Lauren has eight years of experience teaching English as a Second Language. Prior to AST, Lauren taught in the Czech Republic and South Korea. Lauren earned her B.A. at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in English. She is currently pursuing her M.Ed in English language teaching and is passionate about learning and applying strategies to best support language acquisition and literacy development. Lauren grew up in a small town in Alabama, but was bitten by the travel bug early. She has traveled to over 30 countries and looks forward to exploring more. She also enjoys composing and performing blues and folk music. Lauren is looking forward to another great year at AST!

Ms. Diane Wilson Counselor

Diane Wilson is excited to be coming back to AST for her 4th year, as part of a new counseling team. She is happy to be able to stay in her favorite location EVER, for at least another year. Prior to AST, Ms. Wilson worked in Saudi Arabia, China, Syria, and in Colorado, USA. She earned her B.A. at the University of Colorado in 1994, in Fine Arts/Museum Studies. Ms. Wilson has a Master's degree in Counseling and Human Services from the University of Colorado (1996), earning a double degree in School and Community Counseling. She has been a counselor for over 30 years, and she loves working with students and watching them grow and develop. Ms. Wilson grew up in the southern part of the States, in Kentucky, but since then has lived all over the States, and in 6 different countries. She loves working with the talented and caring people at AST and looks forward to an exciting year.

Ms. Jenny Chen College Prep and Guidance Counselor

Ms. Jenny Chen is the new guidance counselor at AST. She will be working with students in guidance and college counseling. Ms. Chen has over two decades of experience in education and 6 years of academic and college counseling. Her goal is to help students resolve their anxiety, discover their strengths and potential, and make informed academic and career choices. Ms. Chen is looking forward to a great year ahead!

Ms. Genevieve Murphy Social Emotional Learning Teacher

Genevieve has worked at AST as an elementary classroom teacher for eight years, and she is thrilled to be returning this year to continue sharing her passion for the social and emotional well-being of our students as the Social and Emotional Coordinator for the second year. The faculty, students, parents, and admin over the years have become like family and she is looking forward to continuing to build connections with all of them this year. In 2012, she co-founded Know My World, a global nonprofit organization designed to inspire administrators, teachers, and students around the world to virtually connect and participate in social, emotional, and cultural learning. Ms. Murphy holds a B.S. in Elementary Education with a concentration in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Before coming to AST, she taught English for three years through the JET Programme in Aomori, Japan. While there, she directed a local charity organization that focused on providing equal education opportunities to female students in Nepal. She worked with local NGOs, to promote quality education in Cambodia. Ms. Murphy has presented workshops at EARCOS conferences in Thailand, China, and Borneo. She has facilitated additional professional development workshops in the United States, Nepal, Japan, and Taiwan. Taiwan is definitely Ms. Murphy's second home and she loves exploring this beautiful island and spending time with her incredibly supportive partner of eight years and sweet fur baby, Sasha.

Ms. Charlene Chen Chinese as a Foreign Language

Ms. Chen was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan and has traveled and worked in the U.S. She completed her M.A. in TESOL at the University of Florida. Ms. Chen has 12 years of teaching experience as a Chinese and English teacher. She has taught dual languages from K- 12 and community college. Ms. Chen's teaching experiences in the U.S. and in Taiwan has allowed her to understand students from different cultural backgrounds. She is excited to teach Chinese non-native speakers at AST for the seventh year! Ms. Chen's goal is to create a safe learning environment and make Chinese learning a life-long journey for her students. She is also looking forward to teaching AP Chinese this school year.