Whole School Specialists

Mr. Mike McCool Library/Economics

Mike McCool is excited to be starting his third year at AST. This year he will continue teaching AP Economics, but will be transitioning out of middle-school English Language Arts into a position in the library. A native Seattleite, Mike left his job in the University of Washington Libraries in 2002 and moved to Taiwan where he initially worked in the public elementary schools in Hsinchu and eventually earned his teaching credentials in secondary ELA. He began his international school teaching career at Pacific American School in Hsinchu where he taught ELA, AP Econ, and Spanish. He also met his wife, Lucy, in Hsinchu. They were married in 2013, have one daughter and another one on the way. Before coming to AST, Mike taught AP Economics and high school ELA at Yangon International School in Myanmar for four years where he was also the WASC accreditation coordinator and a student council advisor. He holds bachelor’s degrees from the University of Washington in Spanish and Comparative Literature, an MBA from National Chiao Tung University in Hsinchu, and a M.Ed. from the College of New Jersey. He’s currently working on an Education Specialist (EdS) degree in Human Services with a specialization in Learning Resources at the University of Central Missouri. When he’s not studying, Mike likes reading, writing, playing the guitar and ukulele, and watching old movies.

Dr. Yasmin Pakzad-Mayer Physical Education

Dr. Yasmin Pakzad-Mayer is excited to be returning to teach PE at AST for the 2020-2021 school year. After teaching 2 years at AST, she is looking forward to continuing improving the PE program. Yasmin brings experience from teaching middle school and high school in Germany and teaching ESOL in an elementary school in Taiwan. After studying at the premium Sports University in Cologne and earning her Master's degree and education degree, she came to Taiwan with her husband and taught ESOL in an elementary school, learned Chinese and started a PhD program at the Taiwan National Sport University in Linkou. After taking a break to spend some time with her new son, Yasmin finished her PhD in Sport Science (2019). Yasmin has a passion for martial arts and has been practicing it since she was a child. She strongly believes being active is key to a healthy lifestyle and models this by actively participating with students in PE classes.

Tambi Mutharika Physical Education

Tambirai (Tambi) Bingu Mutharika is excited to be joining the AST family in August. Before working at AST, he taught for ten years at Washington Elementary Bilingual School, International Department. As a teacher there, he taught a variety of subjects including Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Computers and Physical Education from grades 1-6. Eventually, Tambi was promoted to Headteacher, a position he held for four years. Tambi was born in Zimbabwe but was raised and schooled in Michigan, USA. Tambi is both a certified US soccer and USAB basketball coach. Growing up, he traveled the world learning about many different cultures, and this has helped make him a people person! As a teacher, Tambi strives to motivate and encourage students and athletes to realize and reach their full potential! Tambi believe in teamwork and believes that as a unit, people are capable of the impossible!

Dr. Michael Wiles Music

Dr. Michael Wiles is excited to be teaching performing arts at AST for a seventeenth year. Prior to working at AST, he taught music for two years at Taipei American School. He holds a doctorate in education from the University of Durham with an emphasis on creativity education, and a diploma in performance studies from the Royal College of Music, London. His research has been published in Musicae Scientiae, the Journal of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music. He is passionate about teaching, learning, and nurturing students’ artistic talents. Michael lives in Taichung with his wife, Jenny, and looks forward to another amazing year as part of the AST community.

Mr. Godfrey Semwaiko ES Art and Technology

Mr. Godfrey Semwaiko is excited to be returning to teach at AST for the 2020-2021 school year. In addition to the two years he spent teaching art and digital media at AST, Godfrey also brings his experience from paintings, sculptures, and digital arts including interactive books, animations, graphic design, and video production. His projects as a Children’s Book Illustrator, Designer, and Animator have won recognition from UNESCO, Heinemann-UK, Water Aid project, PACE - UK, FEMA magazine and Mkuki na Nyota Publishers to name a few. For nine years, he worked as a creative producer and graphics designer at the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, helping establish TBC’s new interactive, online media convergence department. Godfrey holds a MultiMedia and Film Technology Diploma from Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) with an emphasis on emergent digital Broadcasting and New Media industries. In 2016, Godfrey designed a project for DIT to create a 3D Virtual Tour Guide, the project won him the Best Student of the Year Certificate (2016). Godfrey is looking forward to continuing to be a part of the vibrant AST community along with his daughter, Jada.

Ms. Christine Lin Art

Ms. Christine Lin is the new visual arts teacher at AST. She is an AST alumni and grew up in Taichung, Taiwan. Ms. Lin studied at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia; majored in Art Education and minored in Art History. She moved to Northern Virginia for four years after she graduated and became an art teacher at Freedom Hill Elementary School and Bailey’s Elementary School. Ms. Lin also pursued her early childhood education Master’s degree at Arizona State University while she was working. She enjoys traveling, going to music concerts, cooking, and painting. Ms. Lin is very excited to come back to AST and looks forward to meeting everyone. She has a passion for art, especially 2D art like painting, graphics, illustration, and drawings. Ms. Lin cannot wait to work with children who also have passion in art!

Ms. Elizabeth Houston Computer Science

Elizabeth Houston is thrilled to be joining the AST community this school year. Ms. Houston grew up in Ohio but moved to Florida for college, partly because of the sunshine and access to the beach, so the weather in Taiwan will be a familiar experience. Elizabeth received her B.A. in Economics and Sociology, with a minor in Education, as well as her M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction, with a specialization in Educational Technology, from the University of Florida. She taught computers at an elementary school in Florida for 4 years before catching the travel bug, which took her to South Korea. After teaching ESL in Korea for 7 years at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, Ms. Houston wanted to get back to her first teaching love: technology. Elizabeth is currently pursuing a graduate certificate in K-12 Computer Science Education through the University of California San Diego and cannot wait to share what she is learning with the students at AST!