Forest School Singapore Team

The Forest School Singapore Team, consists of the Managers and Coaches. We work closely together to enable the continuity, equilibrium and balance of the Forest School presence in Singapore. The team undergoes changes throughout the year, as we evolve. Our Team members grow, develops and evolves along with the evolution of Forest School Singapore. 

Updated as of 8 October 2023


Core Team : (Weekly Session)
Team Refresher Training @ Rifle Range Forest (2023)
🪺 Homenest Friday

COACH LENORA
FSS Master Coach | 4 years
8 years in the field of Marketing, Graphic Design, Theatre, Coaching
Experienced in Thinking and Rethinking and Giving everything a benefit of doubt
(Quirky) Thinking about or seeing plastic waste makes me cringe and sometimes throws me into fits of despair.

Words from Lenora: “I am a better person now.  You’ve taught me how to be sincere and real, how to not be afraid to be myself, and finally to forgive myself and let go.  Thank you Girl.  This is a tribute to you, working hard, yet to understand the world, to understand your feelings and reactions, like Mommy is still trying to do.  Hoping FS is gonna make this journey a little less bumpy, with more pauses to sit with trees and ourselves.  Thank you All.”


COACH DEAN
FSS Senior Coach | 3 years
15 years in the field of Nutrition (20 years in Police Force)
Experience in animal behaviour and creating health nourishing food
(Quirky) I’m always hungry 😋

Words from Dean: “Trust that nature has your back. Everyone is here for a purpose. We just need to slow down and observe, give them space. No one is useless. Not even a sloth. And health is the ultimate expression of love 🥰”


COACH KAIRA
FSS Master Coach | 4 years
6 years in the field of Urban Farming Education
Experienced in Yoga, growing plants
(Quirky) Was a cat in a previous lifetime

Words from Kaira: “The forest is a living playground where Nature graciously imparts its precious knowledge to all, only if one is willing to enter its sacred grounds with a listening ear, open heart and curious mind. It is a space where one learns the forgotten language of the trees, and discovers the entire world in a raindrop.”


🐻 Sunbear Saturday

COACH CHELSEA
FSS Master Coach | 7 years
10 years in the field of Early Childhood Education
Experience in Early Childhood Education & Special Needs Education
(Qurky) Enjoy taking long bus rides😄

Words from Chelsea: “I enjoy being in the nature & being in the company of young children. Children’s innocence, courage and willingness in whatever they do, inspires me to be true to myself!”


COACH HUIYING
FSS Master Coach | 4 years
12 years in the field of Hospitality and Community Building
Experienced in Volunteer Management
(Quirky) Loves eating Indian food with hands and the smell that stays afterward!

Words from Huiying: “Finding meaning is a conscious effort, and no effort is ever wasted. I am glad to be part of this Forest School ecosystem, to unlearn and relearn and dive deeper into the concept of holding space :)”


COACH HUDA
FSS Master Coach, 5 years
18 years in the field of Education
Experienced in D-I-Y and Nature projects
(Quirky) Right-hander who wears her watch on her right wrist

Words from Huda: “No action is too small to make a difference.”


🦜 Bulbul Saturday

COACH CHERYL
FSS Master Coach | 4 years
6 year in the field of independent Art-making
Experienced in dancing and moving in water
(Quirky) I love cooking for people; just the sensations of touching different food makes me happy!

Words from Cheryl: “Connecting with my creative energies bears more than one shape. I enjoy exchanging with such diverse people as a result. Every body has a story, and I am thankful to wake up in the embrace of Mother Earth every morning to the unfolding miracles. Shhh… still listening…”


COACH CLARA
FSS Junior Coach | first year
15 years in the field of Education
Experienced in having fun
(Quirky) I can fall asleep anywhere

Words from Clara: “I’ve seen what spending time in nature has done for teenagers and adults. I believe nature’s impact on children will be even more far reaching. It’s also probably what our children need to build up their resilience against what the world will throw at them.”


COACH JAMES
FSS Junior Coach | first year
20 years in the field of Education
Experienced in physical education, outdoor education and experiential learning
(Quirky) Can’t sit still

Words from James: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every purpose.”


🐿️ Squirrel Sunday

COACH GENEVIEVE
FSS Master Coach | 4 years
Spend years in the field of Care work & Inner work
Experienced in meeting people where they are
(Quirky) I sometimes feel like a TARDIS – bigger on the inside.

Words from Genevieve: “In no particular order: Go with the flow. Enjoy the surf. Give from your overflow.”

My sharing: I’m looking forward to applying these skillsets beyond the family unit.
Happy to be a part of the Forest School community and pitch in for the environment and holistic development of people


COACH AYDEN
FSS Junior Coach | 1 year
14 years in the field of Design Communication
Experience in crafting and creative thinking
(Quirky) Sophisticated exploratory nuturist, P.s* I’m a meerkat, always curious and exploring the world.

Words from Ayden: ““unexamined” life – is not worth living.”


COACH JEZAMINE
FSS Junior Coach | first year
16 years in the field of visual arts & architecture
Experience in everyday playing and learning
(Quirky) I dance and wrestle, and yearn a state where my senses can’t tell one from the other.

Words from Jezamine: “Leave it to nature”


Core Team : (Others)
FSS Team Training @ Pulau Ubin (2022)
From 2017 – 2019

COACH ZIYUN
FSS Master Coach, 7 years
15 years in the Military
Experienced in Listening & Data Analyst
(Q) Doesn’t believe in positivity motivation

Words from Ziyun: “I believe that forest school can bring a more balanced and holistic well-being to our future generations.”


COACH JUMILIA
FSS Master Coach, 7 years
13 years in the field of Education (Secondary English & Geography)
Experienced in Environmental Education
(Q) Avid Rock Climber and Foodie =p


COACH BEN
FSS Master Coach, 6 years
6 years in the field of Military
Experience in Jungle Survival
(Q) I love gummies

Words from Ben: “Education to me, is about distinctions. The different colors of innumerable leafs, the gradients of the land, the smell of different types of weather and the never ending wonder of nature. These are the exposures that fascinates and captivates the young minds of an generation that will eventually take over the nation from our hands. I just want to be a part of an effort that educates and empowers, every child could be that beacon of light the future needs.”


COACH ISABELL
FSS Master Coach, 5 years
10 years in the field of Engineering
Experienced in bush walking
(Q) Stays away from anything slimy and moves

Words from Isabell: “The forest changed me and I hope it will for many other people too.”


COACH EMILY
FSS Master Coach, 5 years
5 years in the field of Education
Experience in Creative Thinking, Art and Fun with Children
(Q) I love all things Green

Words from Emily: “I love being with children because they constantly remind me to express myself freely, to put my emotions into simple words, to bravely announce the things i want or dont want, to pay full attention to what i do and not be bothered by the stares by the side, to be so unaware that I can truly be mysef again. There are so many things we can learn from them.”


From 2020 – 2021

COACH TESH
FSS Senior Coach, 4 years
10 year in the field of Outdoor Education
Experienced in everything Mountaineering, Hiking and Rock Climbing related
(Q) Because of storage issue, i let go of my bicycle and I now use a unicycle to commute for grocery

Words from Tesh: “Never let go of your dreams. Keep focusing on them and the universe will conspire to make them happen.”


COACH ADELINE
FSS Senior Coach, 3 years
3 year in the field of Edible Gardening (1.5 in Therapeutic Horticulture)
Experienced in Exploring new places with no fear and noisy piano playing
(Q) I can make a really ducky duck face. It is really ducky.

Words from Adeline: “Why does nature speak to us? Sometimes it seems that life is all about dualities – until it isn’t. Deep inside nature we are gifted with the light and dark, the comforting and frightening, the hills and valleys of the undulating land of the soil and our minds. The necessity of everything breathes within each space: every leaf, every shaft of light, every bird call. Distinctions dissolve. Our desires for control hit a blessed wall, and we blossom like a flower…”


COACH NATASHA
FSS Master Coach, 3 years
5 years in the field of Environmental Policy
Experienced in hiking and rock climbing
(Q) I love walking barefoot

Words from Natasha: “We come from and belong to nature. That’s why we should protect and be in touch with the natural world around us.“


COACH AMMARAH’
FSS Senior Coach, 3 years
5 years in the field of Food & Beverages
Experience in Café management and coffee brewing
(Q) I can spend my whole day just brewing different cuppa coffee!

Words from Ammarah’: “Life is all abt unlearn and relearn. Coffee is here to make it simple 😏”


COACH IVAN
FSS Junior Coach, 2 years
20 years in the field of Accounting & E-Commerce
Experienced in Turning life stories into songs
(Q) Secretly tagging 1,2,3,4 to the common colours – Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and have a compulsive need to arrange them in order.

Words from Ivan: “Never lose the child in you.”


COACH MEIYU
FSS Junior Coach, 2 years
10 years in the field of Early Childhood Education
(Q) I don’t like peas

Words from Meiyu: “Have fun!”


From 2022

COACH JANEBELLE
FSS Senior Coach | 2 years
6 years in the field of Badminton
Experience in running, hiking and seeking discomfort
(Q) A (not so) secret lover of pop punk music

Words from Janebelle: “Here’s to never growing up :’)“


COACH GERALD
FSS Junior Coach, 2 years
6 years in the field of Forest School (from participant to coach)
Experience in hiking and exploring places in Singapore
(Q) I like when it drizzles but hate when it rains

Words from Gerald: “I think that we live to have fun. There is no other reason that I know of. So, I believe that the kids playing and having fun is them fulfilling their purpose in life.”


COACH DANIA
FSS Junior Coach, 1 year
5 years in the field of Outdoor Education
Experience in climbing and spending my solo time with nature.
(Q) I love soggy fries and I don’t fancy durian.

Words from Dania: “Let go and let nature.“


COACH RIAM
FSS Senior Coach, 1 year
5 years in the field of Marketing, Copywriting & Proofreading
Experience in reading books and playing with cats
(Q) I’ve always wanted to live in a house with secret passageways!

Words from Riam: “Some stories are written, and some are lived, but every story contains within it the power to change the world. Never forget: you are the protagonist of your own life.“


COACH BRENDA
FSS Senior Coach, 1 year
20 years in the field of the Financial industry
Experience in dealing with difficult people 😉
(Q) Likes to mix different song lyrics into a poem . 😈

Words from Brenda: “It’s never too late to start … It’s now or never”


COACH ALISON
FSS Junior Coach, 1 year
13 years in the field of Graphic Design (5 Years Lecturing it)
Experienced in creative thinking, looking at details and rock climbing
(Q) I am right-handed but when I write with my left hand, the alphabets automatically come out mirror-image..

Words from Alison: “ We learn so much from observing children. A simple expression/action they do can be so profound.”


COACH ILYA
FSS Junior Coach, 1 year
3 years in the field of Special Education
Experienced in Anthropological fieldwork and writing 🤓
(Q) My favourite kind of days are the ones spent by the sea.

Words from Ilya: “If the last hour strikes and finds you carrying a sapling to the grove for planting, go ahead and plant it. – Prophet Muhammad”


From 2023

COACH MARIEL
FSS Junior Coach, first year
12 years in the field of Arts
Experienced in Creating, improvising, learning
(Q) I can’t do the same thing twice

Words from Mariel: “Don’t just do something, sit there”


COACH LINDA
FSS Junior Coach, first year
30 years in the field of Finance
Experienced in forest therapy guiding and tennis
(Q) Talk to trees

Words from Linda: “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is achieved”


COACH JIAMIN
FSS Junior Coach, 1 year
6 years in the field of Education, Arts, & Community Work
Experienced in Writing, learning, finding beauty
(Q) I’m the kind of person who, if you gave me paints, I’d start signing up for a painting class instead of having fun with the paint. So I banned myself from taking classes in 2024 because I want to learn to play by myself.

Words from Jiamin: “Even if there’s 1000 things you want to do, narrow it down by choosing what feels alive to you now.”


COACH MICHELLE
FSS Junior Coach, first year
3 years in the field of Marketing, Education
Experienced in Writing, Editing
(Q) I have double-jointed thumb

Words from Michelle: “The unexamined life is not worth living”


COACH KAIXIANG
FSS Junior Coach, first year
13 years in the field of Outdoors and Guiding
Experienced in Exploring and taking risks
(Q) I’m a hoarder of books and ideas.

Words from Kaixiang: ““Adventure is out there!”  – Up”


COACH CHARMAINE
FSS Junior Coach, first year
10 years in the field of Design
Experienced in Drawing, cooking, crafting
(Q) I push the limits as a homecook and have made my rice cooker explode and set things on fire in my oven.

Words from Charmaine: To cherish everyday, for every day is a gift


Managers
Leadership Meeting (2023) … a little fun out of the seriousness

Manager Shin Ee
Media Manager, first year
3 years in the field of Literature & Art
Experience in Tarot Card Reading
(Q) I’m a messenger


Manager Ben
Contingency Manager, 6 years
6 years in the field of Military
Experience in Jungle Survival
(Q) I love gummies


Manager Chelsea
Manpower Manager, 7 years
10 years in the field of Early Childhood Education
Experience in Early Childhood Education & Special Needs Education
(Qurky) Enjoy taking long bus rides😄


Manager Shirleen
Finances Manager, 7 years
10 years in the field of Event Coordination Services
Enjoys supporting behind the scene
(Q) Dislike attention


Manager Zoe
General Manager, 2 years
12 years in the field of Early Childhood Education
Experience in Inquiry Based Learning
(Q) Scared of all animals


Uncle Darren
Director-Principal, 8 years
15 years in the field of Education
Experience in Conflict Management, Forest Spirituality
(Q) Loves annoying people


Advisors
Geramine, Donovan, Rebecca (@ Team Meeting in 2018)

Germaine
Ex-Vice Principal | 2016-21


Rebecca Ko
Ex-HR Manager, 2017-22


Donovan Wong
Ex-Operation Manager | 2018-23



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