Hi, I’m Rebecca!

I have a degree in Business and have held various positions such as Executive Director for a non-profit organization that provides emergency financial assistance to active duty and retired military personnel and their families, Accounting Manager for a local manufacturing business, and Contracts Administrator and Cost Analyst for an international DoD contractor. My husband was in the military and when his first tour of duty was completed, he continued to work for the Department of Defense as a civilian engineer. We have two wonderful sons who are now on their own. They enjoyed tremendously their years growing up in Japan where we lived for over 8 years, and then Hawaii for 6 years before returning to California. All my teaching experience came from over 10 years of volunteer work in the education ministry of my church as a teacher for primary- and junior-level kids as well as homeschooling my youngest son for a year.

I came to a point in my life where I wanted to have my own business – to do something that I would really enjoy and which would make a difference in people’s lives. Being my own boss and helping shape the future of the next generation through Challenge Island Enrichment Program are the reasons I am a Challenge Island Franchise owner. Challenge Island’s unique approach to learning - the multi-disciplinary content of the instructional materials; lessons rooted in real-world application; concepts and activities connected with real-world places and things; introduction of new vocabulary, which is built into the context of the challenge; fun and engaging hands-on projects that blend science and engineering concepts with arts and crafts; and all its programs encourage and foster collaboration among kids, perseverance, creative thinking and problem solving – a growth mindset. These skills developed at an early age help prepare a child to confidently face the challenges of their future career in the competitive new global economy. And it is my hope that kids who experienced Challenge Island will continue to have engaged curiosity that will lead them to careers in science, engineering, and technology.

There is a lot of learning in the Challenge Island classroom - in a fun, exciting way! Parents and teachers share about their students talking about Challenge Island for many days after attending a class. And many parents say their kids try to replicate at home the challenges they learned in Challenge Island. What a joy to hear such a report!