Educate Tomorrow is the founding organization of the Field Academy Project. To see full biographies of our team members please visit the Educate Tomorrow website.
Virginia Emmons McNaught, MSEd, President & Co-Founder, Educate Tomorrow
A social-entrepreneur and education advocate, is co-founder and President of Educate Tomorrow, and is a co-founder of the SEED School of Miami. Virginia began visioning the Global Field Academy while developing her first school in the Peace Corps in West Africa. She sought to create a option for all children, including her own, where no matter your socio-economic status, all members of the family could participate in the learning process and use the world as their classroom. Read Full Bio
Dr. Amy Rubinson, Educate Tomorrow, Chief Program Officer, Research & Development
Dr. Amy Rubinson is a scholarly practitioner who has worked as a formal educator, an informal educator, a program director, and a school board chair. At Educate Tomorrow, as a senior level staff person, Dr. Rubinson inspires and manages the programming and program staff. She also directs the grant-reporting, manages internal database, and conducts internal evaluations on programming.
She completed her PhD in Education from Colorado State University. Her research is related to understanding factors that contribute to academic
outcomes for underrepresented students who participated in an out-of-school-time STEM college-readiness program. She earned her Bachelor's from Emory University in Biology and a Master's of Science in Community and Social Change from the University of Miami. Dr. Rubinson is a life-long learner who is consistently excited for the opportunity to grow from her professional settings and disseminate her knowledge with others.
Cecilia Palavecino, Home-School Enrichment Center Manager
Cecilia Palavecino is the manager of the Field Academy enrichment center and Montessori workshop. Cecilia was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina where studied Anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires. She is a Certified Montessori Educator in Early Childhood Education by the American Montessori Society, and holds her Director's Credential for Infant through School Aged Children. Ceclila has been practicing since 2005 an is an expert in the Montessori method. When students, staff and parents enter the workshop Ms. Ceci assists then in understanding the use of materials and how to incorporate the method in their daily lives. Ms. Ceci is also a certified Yoga Teacher. The influence Cecilia had during her childhood and adolescence by being surrounded by children, adolescents and parents that were walking in and out of her home to receive psycho-pedagogical therapy since her mother
was a psychopedagogist, have shaped the foundation on which Cecilia became an educator today: understanding that children learn at their own pace, that family environment and circumstances of each child contribute and determine their learning and development process, and that each child achieves his level of excellence with appropriate and right stimulus. Cecilia is an active member of the American Montessori Society.
Monique Moyer, M.Ed., Success Coach, Upper Elementary, Curator & Director of Earth Lab at the Green Urban Living Center
Monique Moyer is currently a Success Coach for Educate Tomorrow’s Global Field Academy. She has taught, developed and directed unique environmental education programming for over 10 years in the South Florida area, working in a variety of different environments from public to private schools, camps, afterschool & homeschool programs. She takes a holistic approach to education, blending the arts and sciences, social-emotional
learning, and mindfulness into her teaching and programming. Monique’s passion is to help people develop deeper relationships with Earth and to truly
understand how the health of our planet and the health of ourselves, as a people, are dependent on one another.
She received her BS in Art Education from FSU in 2003 and her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with a Science focus from American College of Education in 2021. She loves traveling, new adventures and exploring nature with her son.
Orianne Tairum, MA, M.Ed, Success Coach, Middle & Secondary Education, Director of Enrollment
Orianne Tairum is a lifelong learner born in Switzerland, where she spent most of her life driven by two passions: education and travelling. In her teenage years and early 20s, she explored British and Australian classrooms to learn English, before obtaining her Master’s degree in Literature and History, and her Master of Advanced Studies in Secondary and Higher Education. She then became a high school teacher and felt incredibly grateful for the opportunity to accompany students in their life journey. In 2016, motivated by her desire to continue to explore the world, she moved to Miami, where she became a school accreditation program manager and later on, the director of education for a not-for-profit organization. Orianne is passionate about making an impact in students’ lives; as an educator, she wants to make sure that students feel valued, respected and celebrated as learners and as individuals.
Henry Cunningham, MS, Success Coach, Upper Elementary Education
Henry earned a Master of Science Degree in Exceptional Education from Barry University. He served as an Aircraft Maintenance Specialist in the United States Air Force and worked at Miami Dade College from 1990 to 2006 in various capacities. Henry also worked as a private tutor for approximately 20 years prior to joining the Educate Tomorrow team. He has served as a passionate advocate for families of children with disabilities both officially and unofficially. He is the proud father of a special daughter, Persha Keturah. He enjoys singing and is a member of Cornerstone Christian Center Church Praise Team. He believes that a teacher who intentionally teaches and mentors to facilitate breakthroughs molds students who experience breakthroughs in every area of their lives. He is a highly driven person who loves to enhance the academic, social and spiritual devlelopment students of all ages.
Paola Saralegui, Montessori Workshop Coach and Parent Liaison Administrator
Paola Saralegui is the Support Specialist for Global Field Academy. Paola studied design in Uruguay with a background is in the hospitality industry. Finding herself frustrated with the traditional academic system, she transitioned to homeschooling. She started as a volunteer with GFA and then began working, she supports families by ensuring their needs are being met and handling multiple tasks including director of summer camps and all administrative work.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION TEAM
The Field Academy model is distinctly unique in that families are authentically involved as co-educators and expected to work alongside their children in every aspect of their experience. This includes but is not limited to acting as classroom instructors, planning and participating in field days and learning activities, managing student learning plans, and engaging not just their own child(ren) but other students as well. Co-educators are a central part of our methodology and our global education community.
Frances Trombly, Co-Educator, Curator & Coordinator, Cultural & Fine Arts Experiences
Frances was born in 1976 in Miami, FL where she currently lives and works. She received a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD. Selected exhibitions consist of Frances Trombly: Over and Under at Locust Projects, Miami, included in Americana: Formalizing Craft, Perez Art Museum Miami, and united states, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT. Her work has been featured in various publications including The New York Times, Art Papers, Sculpture Magazine, Surface Design Journal, and The Los Angeles Times. Trombly’s work is in permanent collections of the Perez Art Museum Miami and Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Florida among other institutions. She is represented by Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL, and Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA. Frances also co-directs Dimensions Variable, an artist-run exhibition space in Miami, FL. Frances and her husband Leyden design, create and deliver GFA Fine Arts immersive experiences.
Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova, Co-Educator, Curator, Cultural & Fine Arts Experiences
Leyden was born in 1973 in Havana, Cuba and currently lives and works in Miami, FL. Select exhibitions include The Center for Architecture and Design, Miami, FL; Factoria Habana, Havana, Cuba; Alejandra von Hartz Gallery, Miami, FL; ZONA MACO Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL; Prosjektrom Normanns, Stavanger, Norway; Museo de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL; Abrons Arts Center, New York, NY; Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Locust Projects, Miami, FL; Frost Art Museum, Miami, FL; David Castillo Gallery, Miami, FL; Casas Riegner Gallery, Bogota, Colombia; Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, NY; Sculpture Center, Long Island City, NY; Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL. His work is in the collection of Sayago & Pardon Collection, San Diego, CA; Alfredo Hertzog Da Silva, Sao Palo, Brazil; Cintas Foundation Collection, Miami, FL; The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, FL; Capri Palace, Capri, Italy; Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO) Miami, FL; and more. Leyden and his wife design, create and deliver GFA Fine Arts immersive experiences.
Diana Fonseca, Co-Educator, Malabarista, Nutrition & Environment
Diana's background is in Waldorf, anthroposophy, and homeopathic medicine. Since 2018, Diana has served as the nutrition coordinator and has developed a series of programs in alignment with her background. As a biodynamic agriculture enthusiast, she is leading the development of education programs at the GFA Outdoor classroom located at the Green Urban Living Center.
Since 2011, non-profit and for profit leaders, social entrepreneurs, educators, way researchers and most importantly students and their families have been meeting to vision a way to create the most robust educational experience these leaders and organizations could think of. They include but are not limited to:
Learning One to One Foundation
University of Miami, School of Education & Human Development
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