.Speakers...................................................
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Born and raised by the beach in Melbourne, Australia, Peter has almost 30 years of experience in education. After 10 years teaching close to home, he spent almost a year backpacking in India and south east Asia. He ran ski chalet in St. Anton, Austria before joining an IB boarding school in southern Germany. Peter has been a member of staff at St. Gilgen International School since 2011 where he has taught English and Economics, and is currently the Theory of Knowledge Coordinator. A passionate cyclist, Peter receives his best ideas when out on one of his many bikes.
Peter Bennett
Declan Fleming has taught for 13 years in comprehensive, grammar and international schools in the UK and Austria. In 2011 he was appointed as a School Teacher Fellow to the University of Bath, UK, by the Royal Society of Chemistry where he worked on projects to increase the recruitment and retention of undergraduate chemists. During this time, he took on the regular Exhibition Chemistry column for Education in Chemistry magazine which aims to support teachers worldwide in the effective and safe use of demonstrations in the teaching of Chemistry. He continues to contribute to a wide range of other science communication projects. Declan currently teaches in St Gilgen, Austria. He has a keen interest in photography and loves being outdoors, preferably at cloud base under his paraglider.
Declan Fleming
John Patton is the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Coordinator, Head of Science, Director of University and Careers Guidance and teacher of Biology and Sport Science at St. Gilgen International School (StGIS). After beginning his teaching career in a public high school in Colorado, then moving on to another school in Wyoming, John became increasingly dissatisfied with the focus of education on graduation numbers and test scores. He relocated to Austria in an effort to redesign education in such a way that emphasises why students should be learning, not only what they are learning. With a heart for positive change, John has focused much of his teaching on living sustainably and the role we need to play in our current climate challenges. In his time at StGIS, John has contributed to the design of a new curriculum in grades 7-10 which is skills and growth oriented, reshaped a scheme for advising and mentoring, delivered multiple in-house professional development sessions aimed at character development in young people, designed cross-curricular learning sessions, contributed to writing the school’s mission statement, and designed an information management application for schools. John holds a Master of Education in Educational Leadership, a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Secondary Education, and an Associate Degree in Music Performance.
John Patton
Marie Therese Gumpert
Marie Therese Marina Gumpert is an international student and is currently in her finishing year of the International Baccalaureate. Originally born in the small Republic of San Marino, she grew up speaking two languages; German and Italian. Thus with an already present linguistic predisposition for romance languages, she begun studying Spanish in Italy, before leaving her republic for her first year abroad, aged 11. Being exposed to her mother’s diplomatic relations at a young age, Marie Therese soon developed an understanding for the importance of language and communication. Consequently, she dedicated the following years to expand in this field, focusing on learning English, whilst also investing her time into apprehending ancient Greek and Latin, to further understand the origins of most modern words and languages, as well as French and the American Sign Language, whilst studying in Austria. Throughout her seven years at the St.Gilgen International School (StGIS), Marie Therese has contributed to the creation of a Mentoring program; designed to assist young students, aged 13 to 15, often times living far from home, by offering them an “older sibling” to confide in. As a result this project, Marie Therese was also able to acknowledge that through the combining of different nationalities, backgrounds and ages, a more informed and thus understanding society was being constructed. This inspired her to continue in believing in the mind-set she possessed. Now convinced, that the use of language and communication as a tool to not only educate but also help understand and connect people, had to be preserved and encouraged, she invested the last three years of her education, to learn and practice how to speak not “at” but “with” larger crowds of people, and from those experiences, educate and grow as a community, as well as an individual.
Lorenz Ehrlich is a student at St. Gilgen International School, entering the IB diploma program in the 2017/2018 school year. He has chosen diverse subjects to study, but has a deep rooted passion for the sciences and mathematics, leading to his decision for the chosen topic for his talk focusing on artificial intelligence. When not at boarding school, he dwells in the Tyrolian town of Kitzbühel, known for its immense ski resorts, a popular tourist destination. In the future, he wishes to go on to study mechanical engineering after having strayed from his childhood dream of becoming an actor. Although a very different path, this is something he also thoroughly enjoys. He has recently discovered an interest for music that serves as his creative outlet.
Lorenz Ehrlich
