Andy Jenkinson

1. Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from and what were you doing before arriving at THINK Global School?

This is my second stint at TGS, so it’s something of a homecoming! My grounding was in state schools in the UK, where I was an English teacher, and I’ve tried to apply those early lessons wherever life has taken me since. I left for the Caribbean in 2003 and moved on subsequently to Switzerland and the Middle East; I haven’t worked back in England to date, though I had promised my family I was only going for two years…QA.

2. What are your favorite aspects of your job?

Oh, that’s an easy one – working with the students, especially in anything language-related. And sports, I love sport and believe it brings people together in powerful ways.

3. What aspects of THINK Global School’s educational model do you find most appealing?

The chance to make something new and to move away from models which were outdated in my day, let alone now!

4. If you could make one major change to global education, what would it be?

I’d improve the standards of education for the disempowered and the vulnerable.

5. Which of our core values do you feel you most embody, and why?

Community, I feel that we need each other now more than ever!

6. What is your most memorable travel experience thus far?

My first experience living away from the UK was in the British Virgin Islands, and I have so many great memories of life and the people there.

7. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Right now, I’d say home to my family – it’s been a long time.

8. What is your favorite book, and why?

Catch 22 – I loved Heller’s ability to laugh in the darkest of places when I first read it, and I return to it from time to time, even now, thirty years later.