Meet Summit’s New English Teacher!
Summit Achievement is pleased to announce the hire of their new English Teacher, Edy Kizaki. Edy (short for Edythe) has completed her Summit orientation and is enjoying her new role.
Edy comes to the position with a long history in education. After receiving her undergraduate degree in creative writing, she traveled with a friend to Japan to teach English. Planning to be there for a year or two, life took a turn and she married and lived there for 12 years, teaching English in University and to all levels, owning her own children’s English school, traveling to China and Korea, and starting a family before returning to the states for her Masters. While receiving her MA in Monterey Bay, California, she taught first and second year Japanese in the University, the local community college, and for grades 1-8 in a local Waldorf school. She has continued teaching for many years, including stints abroad in Canada and Uruguay.
Edy joins the rest of the Summit faculty in the Academic department, which is overseen by Academic Director Doug Dobkowski. Summit Achievement is unique among other adolescent wilderness therapy programs or residential treatment centers, because Summit is accredited as a school. Students at Summit are able to earn full and/or partial credits at Summit that are transferable to whatever school they attend upon leaving. Classes are held three days a week (five days a week for those who have transitioned to Traverse, a short-term therapeutic boarding school) in the academic building, under the supervision of faculty. The academic component allows our students to practice and transfer therapeutic skills from wilderness expeditions and clinical work directly into the classroom. It also allows students to stay relatively on track in their academic trajectory.
The Summit community is thrilled to have Edy on board as an educator. It is the presence of educators like her that make the Summit experience different from many other treatment options.
