New Faculty 2016-2017

Julie Arnold
HS Psychology and TOK

jca_sunshine@yahoo.com

Julie Arnold is from the United States, where she earned a BS degree in Secondary
Education (Psychology & Sociology) from Clemson University. She taught for 15
years in the United States (Georgia, New York City, and Florida), teaching
psychology, history, geography, economics, sociology, and government. She is
moving from Shanghai, China, where she has taught DP Psychology and Theory of
Knowledge for the past three years. She and her 6-year-old daughter enjoy travel,
cooking, and the great outdoors. They are thrilled to move to Hungary and join
AISB.

Elif Cmert
ES Intern

elifkurcaloglu@gmail.com

Elif Cmert is Turkish and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language
Teaching from Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey. Prior to AISB, Elif worked for
three years teaching 3-6 year old children, and for four years teaching grades 1 to
4 in Turkey. She was also the Programme Planner of grade 2. In 2014, she
attended an intensive course to learn the methodology and techniques of teaching
adults which is called CELTA, and graduated in the top 10% World wide.
Immediately after she got her CELTA certificate, she and her husband relocated to
Budapest because of her husbands new job. Now they are a family of four thanks
to their twins! Elif spends most of her time meeting with other expat mums and
dads and having the kids play together. She is very excited to start working at a
school again after two year of break.

Adam Gaensler
MS Music

gunsella@gmail.com

Adam grew up in Australia and received his BA in Music from Sydney University.
After teaching private guitar lessons for several years, he moved to Shanghai, China
in 2006, where he expanded his professional repertoire - in addition to earning his
PGCE and teaching middle school music at the British International School. He
taught guitar and ensembles at the JZ School, a jazz and rock school in Shanghais
French Concession. Whilst in Shanghai, Adam also played in several bands and
produced many albums for bands in Shanghais underground rock scene.
He and his wife, Catlin, were founding members of the Illumin8tors, who wrote,
performed and produced Solar/Lunar, Shanghais first rock opera. In 2013, they
moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, where their son, Jonah was born. Adam has been

teaching elementary music and Catlin has been the elementary dance teacher at
Jakarta International School. Whilst Adam is very excited about moving to Budapest
and returning to middle school, Catlin is equally excited about being a stay-athome mum for the first time!

Camille Johanssen
Elementary Teacher

camillejohanssen@gmail.com

Camille Johanssen was born in the United States, and is half Argentinean and half
American. She holds a Master's degree in Elementary Education with a
specialization in Educational Technology from the University of Florida. She first
worked at a public school in Gainesville, Florida before accepting her first
international post at Escola Americana de Campinas in Campinas, Brazil. In 2012,
she moved to Lima, Peru where she has taught 4th grade at Colegio Franklin D.
Roosevelt for the past four years.
Camille has taught 4th and 5th grade, and has been an Eco-Club after school
sponsor at all her previous schools. She was a technology integration coach at FDR,
as well as the PYP lead for the Global Citizenship Program (GCP). As GCP lead,
she coordinated service and community action projects for the elementary school.
She enjoys tech tools, environmental issues, running, cooking, traveling, and eating!
Camille is moving to Budapest with her husband Jacob, who will teach high school
math at AISB. They are very excited to be a part of the AISB community, and eager
to begin their new adventure in Budapest.

Jacob Johanssen
HS Math

jjohanss@amersol.edu.pe

Jacob Johanssen is originally from Columbus, Ohio, USA. He and his wife Camille
(5th grade teacher) are very excited to join the AISB team in August. Jacob holds
a B.A. in Mathematics and Spanish from Ohio Northern University and a M.S. from
SUNY Buffalo. Jacob taught for 3 years in Columbus at a STEM school where he
taught both Mathematics and Spanish in a mastery-learning environment. For the
last 7 years he has been teaching Mathematics and Theory of Knowledge at
Colegio Roosevelt, The American school of Lima. For the last two years he has
been the Mathematics Subject Area leader for grades 6-12 and has enjoyed the
fresh perspective on education. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, eating,
cooking, crafting and meeting new people. He is excited to experience all that
Hungary has to offer and hopes to take advantage of living in Europe!



Jeff Leppard
HS Principal
jleppard@asij.ac.jp

Jeff, joining us from Tokyo, is originally from Canada. He holds a BA in English and
History from the University of Victoria, a BEd from McGill University in Montreal, an
MA in English from York University in Toronto, as well as graduate degrees in
Educational Leadership and Counseling from Lehigh University in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania. Jeff has spent the last 16 years in Asia, most recently at the
American School in Japan and Taipei American School. Before becoming a building
principal, Jeff taught English, psychology and TOK. Having started his career in
education as a TA at a boarding school in England, Jeff is very excited about the
return to Europe and about learning more of the fascinating history of Hungary.

Karen MacMeekin
ES Librarian
karen.macmeekin@gmail.com
Karen MacMeekin is American and holds a Masters in Library and Information
Science from the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, specializing in school
librarianship. Her previous librarian experience includes 4 years at Peak to Peak
School and 3 years at Colorado Academy, both in Colorado. She is currently the
elementary librarian at Monarch Montessori in Colorado. After spending 2 years
traveling and volunteering in South and Central America with her husband, she
decided that international teaching would be a perfect opportunity to combine her
love of teaching children and her desire to see more of the world. She enjoys
reading, skiing and hiking, and traveling with her family. She is very excited about
joining the AISB team and is looking forward to beginning her adventure in
Budapest.


Leah Mulder
ES 1st Grade teacher
mulderle@gmail.com
Leah is American, originally from a small town in Michigan. She received a BS
degree from Michigan State University where she majored in Child Development
and Language Arts. She also earned her Elementary Teaching Certificate through
the state of Michigan during this time. She later earned a M.Ed in International
Education. Leah has been teaching internationally for the past 10 years; working in
Korea, Thailand and Bangladesh where she has taught Kindergarten through 5th
grade. In addition to her love of teaching, Leah enjoys rock-climbing, yoga, hiking,
reading, eating delicious vegetarian food and traveling around the world. She is
looking forward to her new adventure in Hungary and at AISB.
Bernadette Saunders

Bernadette Saunders
ES Grade 3 teacher
bsaunders@biss.com.cn

Bernadette Saunders comes from Victoria in Australia, and spent her early years
growing up on a dairy farm. She commenced her teaching life in 2001 and loves
helping her students to discover and pursue individual passions, interests and
learning goals. Bernadette attained her Master of Education in 2009, focusing on
wellbeing in education. She has continued to build her professional knowledge
through additional postgraduate studies in areas such as numeracy intervention
and literacy development. During the past two years Bernadette has
been teaching in Beijing.
Bernadette loves working within a team of dedicated teachers and is excited about
living in the amazing city of Budapest. In her spare time she enjoys baking,
geocaching, fishing, surprises, reading, games of all kinds and opportunities for
spontaneous travel.

Lisa Ball
MS Language Arts Grade 8
lotuszahra23@gmail.com
Lisa is a Canadian with 17 years of international teaching experience. She holds a
Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in English Literature as well as a Bachelor of
Education from the University of Ottawa. Lisa began her international teaching
career in Seoul, South Korea. She then went on to teach at the American
International School in Cairo, Egypt, where she met her future husband, Andy.
Married in the summer of 2003, the new Mr. an Mrs. Ball then moved to
Guatemala where Lisa taught in the Middle School at Colegio Interamericano. 3
years and 2 baby girls later, Lisa and Andy moved to Dubai in 2006. During her 9
years at Dubai American Academy, Lisa taught Middle School English. Having
already been so warmly welcomed when her family arrived in Budapest this past
August, Lisa is thrilled to be returning to the classroom and officially joining the
AISB staff.

Catlin Smith
Maternity leave cover for Heather Macmichael
catkingcole@gmail.com
Catlin comes from the wide open arms of the high desert and mountains of Utah.
She has always loved engaging with her community through the Arts, and enjoys
the innate creativity of children. She has her MA in Elementary Education from
Grand Canyon University and has worked with children EY- Grade 5 for the past 13
years as an Arts specialist (dance, drama and Art) and as a classroom teacher. She
sees childrens sense of wonder as the entry to learning and appreciating our
world.

Karen Ramirez
ES Interim Associate Principal

kramirez@aisb.hu

Karen Ramirez is an American citizen who joined AISB in 2012 as a Grade Three
teacher. Karen has a B.S. in Political Science and History from Belmont University, a
J.D. from St. Mary's University, and a M.Ed. from George Mason University. Karen
has been a teacher for sixteen years in the USA, Germany and Portugal.