Hi, I’m JoAnn!

My name is JoAnn Mannarino and I have lived in Southwest Orlando for over 20 years, currently residing in Windermere, Florida. I have a B.A. in Speech Communications from West Chester University in West Chester Pennsylvania, where I was born and raised. I have two children and have over 20 years of experience as an OCPS ADDITIONS Volunteer. My daughter, Amanda, is now 27 and is currently pursuing a Masters's Degree in Social Work at NYU while my son, Jacob, is 12 years and a student at Southwest Middle School. Both of my children had some academic struggles and I became and still am very involved in their education.

One of the many things that attracted me to Challenge Island is how it encourages children to "learn by doing" and unfortunately that is often not how things are taught in schools today. The majority of learning today is based on delivering information which goes into a child's short-term memory and ultimately doesn't stick. With Challenge Island, children are given a challenge to solve and, using nothing more than their imaginations and simple items in their treasure boxes, come up with a way to solve this challenge. It encourages children to be creative and work together with other children and sometimes they have to make mistakes but at Challenge Island, that is Ok. There is no "perfect or right" solution, however, there are many different ways to solve a challenge and that is exactly how life is and kids are encouraged to be unique and to think outside of the box.

As a Challenge Island Owner, I have experience working in many different settings to include both Public and Private Schools as well as other community organizations such as several local YMCA's, Martial Art Centers and Science Academies. I also have experience running Girl Scout Workshops, which enable these young ladies to obtain Badges and Journey's with their Troop. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing a child's eyes light up because they have successfully solved a challenge or when a child asks me questions that are an extension of the lesson and I have to use google to find the answers. These are the ultimate rewards of being a Challenge Island owner!