Secondary Staff

Anke studied at the University of Twente, got her teaching degrees in Economics and Business Studies and recently finished a Masters degree at TIAS Business School of Tilburg University. She teaches Economics and Humanities at IST. Anke feels that teaching is about giving students a broad and deep understanding of the world in which we live, and Economics gives us a good view on what people, firms and governments do. Her hobbies are textiles, arts and crafts, gardening and reading.

Carin Serrano – den Breejen teaches IGCSE Chemistry to Year 10 and 11. She was born in Enschede and obtained a MSc degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Twente. Before moving into teaching, she worked in Coatings Research and Development as well as Human Resources. She spent 17 years in England and the USA, where she worked as an AP Chemistry tutor as well as substitute teacher. Upon moving back to The Netherlands in 2022, she started teaching at IST and College Zuid and she obtained her first-degree teaching licence in July of 2024. She loves travelling, running, singing and showing students the different aspects of chemistry: exciting (sometimes explosive!) and interesting but also logical and organised.

Carmen joined the IST team in July 2019 after previously teaching at several Dutch schools. She grew up in the International School Community in Germany and Poland and has always seen the benefits in social wellbeing and cultural awareness that international education provides. Since then, she’s wanted to be a part of an international team to pay these benefits forward. To her, teaching students to the best of their and her ability, and getting to know students and seeing them grow into respectful, global citizens is the best part of her day.

Carola is an Educational Psychologist and International School Twente’s Spanish teacher. She is from Lima in Peru and came to Enschede to obtain a master’s degree at the University of Twente. She has a wide experience in teaching children and adults. Carola is married and has two daughters. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking and baking. She loves to share her language and culture with her students.

Chris joined IST in July 2019 after living abroad as an international educator. He has worked at international schools in China and Malaysia as a history teacher and head of the humanities department. He is committed to increasing the quality of education by implementing the latest knowledge on learning, to fostering international mindedness, and to the growth of IST. Chris and his family greatly value being part of an international community. Chris’ wife comes from Thailand and he originates from The Netherlands. They have two children, one of whom is born in Malaysia and the other in the Netherlands.

Dorothee teaches German from year 8 to DP2. She also supports Mother tongue learners (SSST) and students who choose to study additional subjects online (Pamoja). She is also the CAS-coordinator in school.

Dorothee grew up in Erfurt and attended the Universities of Jena, Göttingen and Groningen. 

She has a Master’s degree in European Culture and German Literature and Language as well as a Teaching Degree for Secondary Education. 

Before joining IST, she worked as a copywriter, translator and as a recruiter for a university. She also develops teaching material for an educational publishing house.

Edwin joined the team at IST in 2017 as a teacher of Economics but also as a mentor. Edwin studied International Marketing and he started his career as an Investment Advisor at a bank. After ten years, he switched careers and started teaching Economics and Management & Organization at Saxion university of applied sciences. Edwin is excited about helping students to see connections between theory learned in class and experience Economics and Business in ‘real life’.

Emma.soeiro@istwente.org
Emma was born and raised in the United Kingdom and was always interested in the way the world worked, so she chose to study chemistry at Durham University in England. After completing a Master’s degree and spending one year working in industry, she moved to Switzerland where she obtained a Ph.D degree in organic chemistry from the University of Zurich. It was during this time, while helping with the undergraduate teaching, that she discovered a passion for teaching science. She also spent a year living and working as a postdoctoral researcher and teaching assistant at a university in Brazil on the beautiful island of Florianopolis. Upon returning to Switzerland, she started to work at a Swiss secondary school teaching IB biology and chemistry, while completing a teaching diploma. Four years ago, she moved to the Netherlands with her family and has been teaching chemistry at the German International School in the Hague. Emma speaks English, Dutch, German and Portuguese and loves to work in a multicultural environment. She especially enjoys doing experimental work with students and teaches Chemistry and Sport, Exercise and Health Science at IST. 

Additionally, Emma is married and has three children. In her spare time she enjoys exploring new places with her family, reading, embroidery, walking with friends and spending time in the garden.

Esmée was born in the Netherlands, in the “Achterhoek” region. She graduated as an educational assistant and earned her Bachelor degree in Human Resource Management. She worked at ROC van Twente and Reggesteyn as a career counsellor. Esmée started in 2024 as a career counsellor at IST. She enjoys helping students plan their next step in their career. In her spare time Esmée enjoys playing volleyball, going to the gym and she loves to travel.

Fokion is the English B teacher. He has a BA degree in English, a BA in Romance Languages and a MA in Foreign Languages from University of Delaware. He has worked in various schools in different countries. He has worked as a professor of  English for Academic purposes at the University of Twente and he has also taught HAVO and VWO classes. 

He has experience as an oral examiner for different Cambridge examinations  (FCE, CAE, and ECP) and he is an experienced IGCSE and IBDP teacher.

He enjoys helping students improve their English skills and realize their potential.  He enjoys the warm and yet multicultural environment of IST. 

In his free time he likes reading anything related to humanities (literature, anthropology,philosophy, history, human geography, psychology etc.)

Gonny Sikkes teaches Biologie IGCSE and DP and is the mentor of year 10. She grew up in Friesland, the north of the Netherlands. She studied Biology and received her Teaching degree at RUG in Groningen. After that she moved to Enschede where she taught Biology and biology-related subjects in different Dutch schools in Dutch and in English. The last four years she worked in the Dutch part of Het Stedelijk Lyceum (College Zuid). A few years ago she also taught Biology IGCSE and DP for one year at another International School in the Netherlands.

Gonny likes to help the students to develop themselves and to find their own way in learning. She challenges them to get more out of themselves then they thought they could.

Leon was born and raised in the beautiful area of Losser, a village near Enschede. He went to the Pabo where he earned his Bachelor of Education. After he accomplished his study, he taught for several years at primary school. He had a chance to work at a secondary school for special needs. This goes well with his interest in the human brain and the behavior of people. Along his career he got the opportunity to study for his second degree to teach Dutch at secondary schools. After a few years he decided that it would be time to do something different and started at the International School of Twente, where he is now a Dutch teacher. Besides being a teacher, Leon likes to help people get further in their lives. One way to do this is by helping a special needed person with chores like go to the supermarket and drink coffee. In his free time he likes to be busy at his house, walking the dogs or meeting friends.’

Manon Niemeijer has a masters degree in pedagogical sciences from the University of Groningen and an educational masters in social sciences form the University of Twente. She taught mostly social studies at different Dutch secondary schools, but also English, Latin, Philosophy and Epistemology. Besides teaching she always fulfilled different coordinating roles within the student support. She developed the education of/and was a teacher in the Pre-University Honours Program of the University of Twente. After years of working with the Dutch educational system, she now is Principal of the lower years at IST Secondary.

Marc Stronks teaches science and chemistry and will also teach mathematics and computer science. Marc studied at the University of Twente (MSc Chemical Technology) and also obtained his teaching qualifications there.

Previously, Marc has been associated with the Stedelijk Lyceum Enschede for a long time as a chemistry teacher and for the last 9 years as a team leader. Marc takes the position that every student has a talent and that this talent should be given space.

In his spare time, Marc enjoys travelling: he has already visited about 50 countries in the world, enjoys the many cultures and hopes to be able to experience them also at the IST.

Marjolein is International School Twente’s (IST) enthusiastic Physical Education teacher. She believes the power of sport goes beyond physical fitness; it is a language that transcends borders and cultures, a universal connector. She regularly arranges activities to introduce students to sports and clubs in the area. Marjolein is a mentor teacher of the younger years and also a teacher coach.

She studied English literature and obtained a Masters degree in teaching English in Syria. After moving to the Netherlands, she continued her educational journey by attending a Masters programme for teaching in international and bilingual schools at Utrecht University. It’s been a pleasure and an honour for her to be a scout member and leader. She realised from this experience that by helping others we also help ourselves and discover our potential. She enjoys doing sports, reading, and travelling. 

Nienke teaches English language and literature. In addition, she has taken on the role of group 1 & 2 curriculum leader. Nienke obtained a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Culture and a Master’s degree in English Literature from Radboud University. Pursuing her interest in education, she completed a teaching degree in international and bilingual education at Utrecht University. She lived in the UK as a student attending Sheffield University through the Erasmus programme, and as a pre-service teacher in Wales. She is passionate about the IB programme and its holistic approach to learning. In her spare time, Nienke loves to read and watch films and series. She is looking forward to making more time for painting and drawing.

Onno received his Masters degree in Marine Biology from the University of Groningen and his PhD in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Amsterdam. After working as a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Faro he moved back to the Netherlands to assist biology classes with practicals and help students with their research.

Patrick is the Physics teacher and teacher of experimental sciences at IST. He finished Electrical Engineering and his MSc in teaching Physics at the University of Twente and worked in Indonesia for nine years at an international school near the capital.

Patrick has a strong passion for his profession and believes one has never finished learning. He likes to show his students the wonders that nature has to offer and – through a ‘hands-on’ and ‘minds-on’ manner – scrutinise a myriad of these wonders.

In his spare time, Patrick does his utmost to enjoy the wonders of nature himself, while hanging off rock walls (bouldering), or exploring the sea (SCUBA diving). He also spends his time on the mat doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Petra comes from Limburg, the most southern part of the Netherlands where she studied teacher education for primary schools and worked for 15 years at several primary schools. After she met her husband on a round trip to Thailand, she moved to Twente.

Petra likes to travel and meet people from different cultures. She did voluntary service at a school in India for underprivileged children and she participated in an exchange program at the University in Belarus. After her study to become a teacher of Dutch, Petra taught Dutch to refugees at the ROC and secondary school. She enjoys her work at IST because communication connects people and learning the language of the country where you live is a part of feeling at home. Besides traveling Petra also likes camping and walking with her dog.

Remko obtained his degree in Physical Geography and has been teaching Geography, History, Humanities and TOK at IST for many years. He is also a mentor teacher. He would like his students to learn to be polite and considerate to others and respect the differences between people. In his lessons, he encourages students to be inquisitive with respect to events in the world but also to be critical. ‘Your actions at school shape your future.’

Renate Beulen joins us from the South of the Netherlands where she has worked in Primary and Secondary education for over 30 years. She studied at the Pabo ( Pedagogische Academie) in Maastricht and has a Master’s degree in Dutch Language and Literature from Fontys Tilburg.

Renate is interested in teaching philosophies such as Freinet, Jenaplan and Dalton. In these three schools of thought the interests of the student is central. 

At IST she will be teaching Dutch A & B.

Sharon Stegeman is class and education assistant at International School Twente as well as Exams officer, EAL teacher and DAL (Dutch Additional language) teacher. Sharon supports students and staff  to ensure that they have all the facilities to make teaching and learning easier. Sharon is Dutch and was born in the Twente region.

Stacey Roos is the Mathematics Teacher for the IGCSE and DP years. She coordinates Computer Science for the junior grades and is the teacher liaison for the Student Council. Stacey has a Masters degree in Applied Mathematics and taught in a top South African secondary school before moving to the Netherlands. Stacey believes that mathematical literacy is an essential tool to understand our modern data-rich world, and strives to give every student a comprehensive understanding of the mathematical concepts necessary to be well-informed, proactive global citizens. She loves board games and genuinely thinks that algebra is as much fun as Candy Crush!

Yamini Jain is an urban and mobility planner and has two decades of experience working in the corporate, government and research sectors. She studied and worked in India and moved to the Netherlands 15 years ago. After completing her PhD, she continued her work here on sustainable urban development, delivered TEDx talks and also authored a book (which has been translated to Persian). She loves to work with young adults who are our future and believes that they have amazing ideas and solutions to world problems. She teaches IGCSE and IB curriculum at IST and is also a mentor teacher. You can find more information about her on www.yaminijsingh.com.