Explore • Experiment • Exceed
(909) 918-5522 • (909) 918-5525
Blue Ribbon Academy Proudly Presents
Fern Academy Educational Childcare
Fern Academy’s parent school, Blue Ribbon Academy of Youth Education, grew up in the local Chino community. After five years of experiencing its own triumphs and tribulations, Blue Ribbon expanded as it realized the value it brought to students. Like the children it taught, Blue Ribbon was resilient upon facing challenges and never faltered in achieving its own goals of empowering children to succeed by establishing meaningful connections.
At Fern Academy, we continue to instill values and challenge our children to be the best they can be by bringing bigger and better experiences to our future leaders.
MEET OUR EDUCATION TEAM
Listed in alphabetical order
Candie Cheng
Ms. Candie is very happy working at Blue Ribbon Academy. She likes constantly to learn new skills, for education and for life. Ms. Candie enjoys making crafts and has her own workshop to create a lot of hand made artworks and things can be used in daily life, like soaps and candles . She is hard-working and passionate about education, has been working with children for many years in teaching crafts, Chinese, and other creative classes. Ms. Candie also teaches Orff Music, and creates the Chinese learning class with Orff Music. She also has many experiences in helping children to adapt to new environments. She is good at discovering the strengths of each child and positively encouraging every one of them. This is not only a job for her but also it is her expectation in life
Chrysanthia Cheung-Lau
Ms. Chrysanthia has over ten years of experience working with children. During her time at Claremont McKenna College, she spent a few years assisting preschool teachers while tutoring in her spare time. After graduating, she spent five years teaching in South Korea before traveling around Southeast Asia. With her international experience, Ms. Chrysanthia is excited to be a part of the Blue Ribbon team and expose students to other cultures.
Claire Chen
Ms. Claire is one of the friendly staff at Blue Ribbon Academy. Born in Taipei and studied
nutrition while working as a part time at a tutor center before she moved to Japan. In 2003, she received her bachelor degree in Multi Media Information System at Tokyo University of
Information Science, Japan with full scholarship. Claire can speak five different language includes English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, and Fook Kin. Claire has two children. During her spare time, she enjoys cooking and discover new recipe from all around the world. Claire also has her blog teaching how to make organic baby food and authentic recipes. Healthy baby and kids was thriving her ever since her first son was born. She also enjoys traveling and would like to visit all 7 wonder of the world one day. So far, she has visited Colosseum in Rome, Grand Canyon in Arizona, Chichen Itza in Mexico, and counting…
Gabriela Reyes
Ms. Gabriela Reyes has been teaching at Blue Ribbon Academy since February 2018. She recently graduated from California State University of San Bernardino where she double majored. Ms. Gaby received her bachelor’s degree in Cultural studies and Spanish for teaching (teaching track). She has an associate’s degree in math and science. Ms. Gaby currently attends Norco College as she completes a 12- core unit certificate that will allow her to be an associate teacher in the state of California.
Ms. Gaby has worked as a Spanish tutor at Norco College and as an advisor at CSUSB. During her time at Norco College, Ms. Gaby met a Spanish teacher who influenced her to become a teacher. This Spanish professor frequently talked about how she loves making a difference in the lives of students and enjoys helping them to make the right decisions. This insight made Ms. Gaby want to major in teaching because she also wants to motivate and encourage students to keep going and never give up. The best part about teaching for Ms. Gaby is seeing the students’ expressions as they learn something new. “These moments are priceless and leaves me with joy. The students not only learn from me, but I also learn from them as well and about their different cultures.”
Gianina (Gigi) Nunez
Ms. Gianina (Gigi) Nunez is an artist, painter, and teacher. She graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 2015 with a Bachelors of Fine Art, an emphasis in Painting & Drawing. Gigi is currently pursuing a teaching credential in art education at Cal Poly Pomona, where she is focusing on developing a curriculum to engage young children in exploring and finding their creativity in the arts. She also has 4+ years’ experience teaching art to students from ages 4 to adult. Gigi has extraordinary patience when she is teaching her young students and will be an outstanding mentor to her students. She is tremendously excited and honored to be part of Blue Ribbon Academy.
Jenna Wyatt
Ms. Jenna grew up in Massachusetts, and has aspired to pursue a career working with young children since a very early age. In her 6th grade yearbook, she listed her life-long ambition as “becoming a preschool teacher”, and by high school she was already volunteering in early childhood classrooms. Jenna attended Wheelock College in Boston, earning a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education with a minor in Human Development and Family Culture. During her undergraduate career, she completed four years of student teaching and also served as a nanny for several families. By the summer of 2016, she had earned a Master of Science in Early Childhood Education from Brooklyn College, and a New York State Teaching Certificate.
In 2011, Jenna moved to New York City, where she worked in a variety of different educational capacities. In September 2016, Jenna (along with her husband Matt and pet cat Lorelai) moved to Southern California in search of year-round blue skies and sunshine with no more snowy winters. She immediately began working as a lead preschool teacher with additional administrative responsibilities, becoming well-versed in California licensing requirements. She now holds a California Child Development Program Director Permit, and will serve as the Program Director for the new preschool program at Blue Ribbon Academy. She is dedicated to building a supportive, nurturing, and fun learning environment to help children thrive.
Jennifer Schmidt
Ms. Jennifer is happy to have found a home at Blue Ribbon Academy. After graduating from the University of Oregon, she moved to Taiwan where she has spent more than 25 years educating children of all ages, teaching them the tools they need to thrive in the multicultural environment of today’s world. For the last 9 years, she has been the Head English teacher at Principal American School in Zhong Li, Taiwan. Her program focuses on teaching students from 3 years old to 6th grade. She believes that encouraging and instilling confidence in her students prepares them to face every challenge and achieve success throughout their lives. She loves traveling, reading and exploring the world with her family!
Lucy (Jun) Zhang
Ms. Lucy earned her Master degree from Nankai University (Chinese: 南开大学）majoring in British and American literature and she earned her B.A degree in Education from Tianjin Foreign Studies University. (Chinese: 天津外国语大学). With her passion for education and her training in Tianjin Foreign Languages Normal Middle School (Chinese: 天津外国语师范学校) as well as her twenty years of teaching experience, , Lucy not only proved herself to be one of the excellent teachers but also became one of the best friends of the students. Lucy loves travelling and she has been to most parts of China except Tibet. She would like to lead your kids into the world of the profound Chinese culture. With her, your kids will not only learn about the customs and traditional culture of China but also learn to speak as a native Chinese. Last but not least, because Lucy is a bilingual teacher, the kids will also learn to read and write Chinese without too many difficulties. Lucy’s Class is full of activies and explorations, and your kids will enjoy and learn in her Chinese lesson.
Rachel (燕子老師)
Ms. Rachel graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Chinese: 上海交大）in Intl' Business major. And with her passion for education, Rachel earned another B.A degree in Education from East China Normal University (Chinese: 华东师范大学). Rachel has earned many awards and certificates as a teacher. The certificates she owns include National Teacher Certificates, Bilingual Teacher Certificates, National Intermediate Nursery Teacher Certificates, and Mandarin Proficiency Test Certificates. In addition, she was awarded the first place in the competition of Shanghai Young Teachers Original Class with the teaching methods designed by herself. Outside of her professional field, Rachel is very passionate about music. She is proficient in playing lute and piano, and is especially interested in folk and western music.
Yan An (ShaoLin Kung Fu Master)
Shaolin Kung Fu (Chinese: 少林功夫), is one of the oldest, largest, and most famous styles of Chinese Kung Fu. It combines Zen Buddhism and martial arts and originated and was developed in the Shaolin Temple, China during its 1500-year history. Popular sayings in Chinese folklore includes "All martial arts under heaven originated from Shaolin", indicating the influence of Shaolin kung fu among martial arts. Shaolin Kung Fu Master Yan An started his Kung Fu training at Shaolin Temple since he was 5. In the next 15 years, he had mastered various Kung Fu forms, and kept exploring the true essence of Zen. While he was in Shaolin Temple, Master Yan An participated in filming many movies, documentaries, and taping various TV shows to promote the traditional culture of Shaolin Kung Fu and Chinese Zen philosophies. In recent years, Master Yan An has traveled many countries and hundreds of cities spreading Kung Fu culture around the world. In the year of 2011, as a member of Shaolin Cultural Exchange Group, Master Yan An traveled to the United States and began his journey of introducing Shaolin Kung Fu and Zen philosophies in Shaolin Cultural Center located in Temple City, CA. Today, Master Yan An will bring this most famous martial arts and 1500 years of cultural inheritance to our Class at Blue Ribbon Academy.
