Our Story

Perspectives was born from a need to bring a different learning experience to the standard curriculum. We provide enriching, loving, out of the box classes that will inspire and nurture our youth. With small, engaged classes we create an intimate environment where kids can be curious and are free to ask a million questions. Your child will be encouraged to voice their thoughts and opinions and will be respected for what they bring to the group.  We have a deep desire to go beyond “typical”  educational boundaries, to expose our students  to multiple perspectives and points of view that will deepen their understanding of the diverse world we live in.  We believe that a better world starts with our youth, and the time to reimagine their education is now.

Managed by Ashley Thompson and Sue Bell, these two women have spent a combined 35 years honoring the wonder, creativity and spirit of children across California.  They have handpicked knowledgeable, fun and supportive teachers, and have co created classes with them around their passions and expertise.  This results in unique classes led by teachers who share their enthusiasm to ignite and engage the youth of today. 

SUE BELL

Sue Bell’s passion for imagination, curiosity and education has led her on many amazing adventures. Originally hailing from Canada, Sue has taught all over the world including China, where she created an international curriculum that marries the importance of education with the excitement and wonderment of being a child.  Sue brought this same philosophy when she moved to LA in 2008 and started her preschool, Giggles and Grass Stains, which ran successfully until its closing 10 years later, when Sue became a mom.  Sue is co-owner of the magical summer camp, Fairy Camp LA that has just launched a new division, Fairy Camp at Home. When Sue isn’t imagining and exploring with her students or campers, she is adventuring with her family in her home in Lake Arrowhead, CA

CAROLYN ELLIS

For the past eleven years, Carolyn Ellis has worked as an academic and performing arts educator in radically diverse settings. In all contexts, her work focuses on the creative process, social-emotional development, and endless curiosity. Starting in college, Carolyn developed social justice arts workshops for middle and high school students in literacy programs and at Rikers Island. She then served as the head of movement and drama as well as an outdoor educator for preschool-8th grade at Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences. Carolyn then went abroad to further her studies in performance and visual art, where she continued tutoring English in both France and Japan. For the past four years, she has been working as a private educator, developing personalized learning programs for students grades K-6. Carolyn has also been a guest teacher at Geffen Academy at UCLA’s after-school theater program since 2017. She holds a BA from NYU’s Gallatin School and a professional certificate from L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq.

YUMI IWAMA

Yumi Iwama is a Certified Restorative Hypnotherapist and guided meditation teacher, and has also been a theater, film and voice over actress for many years. Yumi loves using her creativity as a vehicle to work with children in mindfulness. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and teenage twins. For more information please visit www.mindspahypnotherapy.com.

NATY PRIMO

Natalia’s passion is working with children; she loves to teach through play! She believes the ability to work with children  is a privilege, and has done so as a babysitter, camp counselor and a caretaker at church nurseries.  Originally from Argentina, she has lived in Los Angeles for 20 years. In addition to loving to have fun with children, she owns a coffee shop.  She’s looking forward to meeting new families and introducing children to the magical world of the Spanish language!

CLAUDIA HERNÀNDEZ ROMERO

Claudia Hernández Romero is a scholar, environmental and food justice activist, yogi and dancer who looooves making art, especially with kids. Claudia has expressed herself through art-making, crafting, writing and movement since she can remember. Although she has taken some art classes, Claudia is for the most part, self-taught and while she is adept in life drawing, she prefers making abstract art that involves use of found materials, getting messy and turning mistakes into something else; her motto is “there’s no mistakes in art.” Claudia does not think of herself as an “art teacher,” and she doesn’t teach kids how to draw. Instead, she invites them to interpret what they see, to explore the feel of different mediums—pen, markers, crayon, pastels, etc—and to give color or shape to their emotions and reactions.

YOHAN SERRANT

Yohan Serrant has over two decades of experience with tutoring and teaching Math throughout Los Angeles. He has worked with students from private schools such as Crossroads and Brentwood School, as well as students from public schools, and has worked with students with various accommodations and learning capacities. Yohan is dedicated to making sure children know that no matter where they start on a subject, there is always a way to learn how to be better than how you started. After his own struggles with math as a teen he can empathize with many who have math anxiety. Yohan believes Math should always be taught with compassion and emphasizes to students that mistakes are part of the process of problem solving. With this in mind he takes pride in making sure that students focus on their executive functioning abilities to aid them in navigating  problem solving with less pressure and more ease. 

CHARLOTTE SWANSON

Charlotte Swanson earned a Ph.D. in Endocrinology at the Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden. In the course of pursuing her Ph.D., she enjoyed teaching biology at the University of Gothenburg.  Charlotte discovered the joy of teaching younger kids about the body and how it works after having children of her own. This crystallized into something quite special when she started teaching science at her children’s preschool. Three years ago, she co-founded a monthly science camp in Griffith Park with Sue Bell. Recently, she has taught science working one-on-one with home schooled students, grades K through 8th. The subjects have ranged from anatomy, physiology, cell biology, genetics, and embryology, to the flora and fauna of Griffith Park. Last year, Charlotte taught biology, biology lab, earth science, LA ecology, physiology, and anatomy to elementary, middle, and high school students at two homeschool centers.

MARCELA WASHINGTON

As a Black womxn, mother of two Black children, an athlete, and leader, I strive to utilize personal and familial experiences with the navigation of various spaces in order to improve systems of injustice and inequity. My educational experiences and expertise covers working with entities within k-2 homeschooling, charter schools, Waldorf education, and private schools. I hold a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University. Specifically, I am in certificated Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction practices, and run a mindfulness based fitness practice. Ultimately, my work as a wellness professional and behavior based nutrition coach is keenly informed by the racial medical disparities of womxn of color (particularly Black women), as it is my intention to positively contribute to the amelioration of high statistical health risks found within these demographics. I use she/her/hers pronouns.

HAGUAY WIGDOR

Through the emphasis of visual representations and breaking down concepts to their fundamental building blocks, Haguy uses a unique method that enables students to raise their self esteem and truly master Math and Physics concepts. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Davis. His professionalism is mirrored by his dedication to teaching, to which he has devoted over 20 years of his life. Mr. Haguy founded Elite Academic Services, and has become a well known educational leader in the California academic and business communities.

LAUREN WHITE

Lauren White is a Queer comic, writer and voiceover artist from Los Angeles. She discovered her love of teaching the performing arts during her time at CalArts (Film and Video 2011) where she taught puppetry and filmmaking to middle and high-school students at Plaza de La Raza. She has had the awesome fortune of learning from her students in both traditional and non-traditional educational settings. She leads improv workshops through the Women's Center for Creative Work and teaches creative storytelling and improv theater at Oakwood Secondary School. She's worked with kids for 15 years, inspired to do so by her favorite babysitter of all time, Ashley Thompson. She is blown away by this young generation of activists and storytellers and all they have to teach us.

MICHAEL ANDERSON

Michael Anderson is a Jamaican-born, US raised student, educator, and poet. Michael uses he/him pronouns. He was raised in New Jersey by his mom and has two younger sisters. Michael interests surround understanding oppression in its different forms as a means of stopping it and providing alternative routes to living healthy sustainable lives in community and right relationship with others and the earth. Michael’s primary interests are critical theories such as black feminist theory, cultural/media theory, Marxist analysis, and critical race theory. Michael researches the sociology of education and how power plays out in education policy, teaching practices, and curriculum development. He looks at all of those things in detail through his research on the History of Black Education during Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras in United States and Global history. He strongly believed looking at the past can help us understand the present and help us shape the future. Michael has also written and published a book of poetry in 2017 called “Pulchritude: A Black Poetic Journey to finding Beauty in the Struggle”. He has taught creative writing courses, mentored high schoolers, along with being a Teaching Assistant for various college level courses. Michael has degrees in Media Studies, Africana Studies and Education.

DR. HEATHER ASHLEY HAYES

Dr. Heather Ashley Hayes is a scholar, writer, and educator of over eighteen years. Her scholarly work focuses on histories and circulations of violence as they relate to race, symbolic practice, and colonialism as well as policing and incarceration. Her first book, Violent Subjects and Rhetorical Cartography in the Age of the Terror Wars, dropped in 2016, among other research she’s published. She presents work across the US, Middle East, and Europe to audiences in academic spaces and outside the university. She’s also authored poetry, some exhibited in a 2018 Untitled collection in eastern Washington.

Heather has taught at institutions ranging from small liberal arts colleges in the Pacific Northwest to a large public high school in Texas and many spaces in between, including prisons and refugee camps outside the US. She currently resides in Portland, Oregon where she teaches in the Department of Rhetoric and Media Studies at Lewis and Clark College. She also facilitates a Zoom-based community project, The Teach Out, focused on racial justice and community change.

Heather was born in northeast Texas. She’s a proud alumna of the public school system. She completed her PhD in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota, with an outside member from the Department of Anthropology. Before that, she received undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Speech Communication from Trinity University with focuses in Middle Eastern & North African politics. She holds an MA from Texas State University in Communication Studies with an emphasis on rhetoric and race. She also retains active, transferable SBEC 6-12 teaching certifications in speech and social studies. She is a brain tumor survivor and advocate; she loves sunshine, her pup and family (spread across the Southern US), travel, reading, film, poetry, and good food (especially fried chicken and spaghetti).

NATALIE GODFREY

Natalie is a queer, mixed media artist living in Seattle, WA. She has a day-job and a dream of helping communities communicate. She is a graduate of Whitman College with a BA in Rhetoric Studies and a minor in Studio Art. Depending on how this next year unfolds, grad school may be on the horizon. In her art practice, Natalie uses cardboard and collage to explore relationships with the everyday. She is foremost a collector and an observer, taking pride in the act of caring for the unassuming and disregarded. This practice extends to zine-making, where studio art, design, and rhetoric collide. Recent projects include Background, a 5-piece show of cardboard quilts with an accompanying zine, and Good Things, an extensive zine composed of gratitude lists from over 100 participants. See more at nqgodfrey.com.

ASHLEY THOMPSON

Born in the SF Bay Area, into a family of educators and performing artists, and raised in New York, Ashley was enveloped by art and culture. She grew up acting (her first performance was at the age of 3 as Medea’s child in a disco version of the Greek Tragedy), dancing, (Dance Theatre of Harlem), and singing (performing in Porgy and Bess at The Metropolitan Opera House for 2 years). 

After moving to Los Angeles at 15 where she graduated from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, she attended U.C.L.A for a degree in World Arts & Cultures.

As Ashley worked and studied, she realized the missing component in all that she was doing, was children. Arts Education became her path. She’s taught in schools throughout Los Angeles County with The Music Center, Inner City Arts, and her own arts space, Creative Seeds. The last 20 years of teaching has brought Ashley a never-ending world of magic and joy.

When not working, she is collaborating with educators and artists, and spending time with her 2 sons, 2 cats, and dog.

EMILIA DELGADO HEINZ

My focus is always advancing the public interest and directly addressing intersectional, systemic inequities. I specialized primarily in pretrial criminal justice issues while part of the ACLU of Colorado’s public policy team. Since then, I have focused on affecting systemic change by fighting to put progressives in office at the state and national level, including organizing with Senator Elizabeth Warren’s campaign for president.

Currently, I am developing a career fighting for marginalized communities through applied research that informs law, policy, and politics. I am always looking for new ways to expand my activism. Recently, this has included co-creating and -hosting a podcast, Mixed and Confused, focused on race, identity, and the mixed experience in the US through conversation and storytelling.

I am a cis, mixed race, bisexual Latina—half Mexican, half white (pronouns: she/her/ella). I hold a degree in psychology from Colorado College. In my free time, you can find me caring for my plant babies with the ferocity of a mother bear and writing vignette-style prose.

KELVIN O’BRYANT

Kelvin O’Bryant was born and raised in South Carolina and graduated from the real USC (University of South Carolina) He was an Infant room assistant at the USC Child Development Center and lead teacher in the Blue Room (3-5 year olds) at Children’s World; the preschool he attended as a child. He is a classically trained, New York Times mentioned, SAG actor. He was a power hour volunteer at The Boys & Girls Club Santa Monica and ILA preschool teacher. He is a proud dad to Olivia Anne (Human), Hayes William (Human), and three fur baby foster failure pups. Additionally he is a volunteer youth basketball coach. Kelvin’s other qualities include being mildly naive, an eternal optimist, and a hugger.

LUKE ROBERTSON

For the past fifteen years, Luke Robertson has worked in children's literature and education in the Los Angeles area. During that time, he has been a School Librarian for all ages (from Pre-K to High School), a Graphic Design instructor, a Middle School English Teacher, and he has been moderating children's & young adult book clubs all the while! Luke is a passionate reader who looks to spark a similar passion for literature and art in the next generations.

LISA SANTILLY

Lisa Santilly learned to sign as a young child as her best summer friend at her family cottage was Deaf. This early exposure to the language forged a lifelong passion for learning and teaching in American Sign Language.  Lisa has 25 years experience teaching Deaf and hard of hearing students in a variety of grade levels, modalities, classroom settings and school boards throughout the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada.  She holds an Hounours BA, B Ed, and a Specialist in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education from York University, Toronto. Currently she is teaching in a Signing Classroom in a public school in York Region, north of Toronto, Ontario. As ASL is Lisa's second language, she feels that she is never finished learning about the nuances of this complex, beautiful visual language.  She is a step-mother and mother to teenage daughters and continues to enjoy her conversations in ASL with her summer friend at the cottage.

ARIANA SPEIGHT

Ariana Speight (she/her/hers) is a recent graduate of the Mason Gross School of the Arts program at Rutgers University - New Brunswick with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Africana Studies. She is certified as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) under Om Factory School of Yoga/Yoga Alliance. She is a world traveller and an enthusiast for life. She hopes to share her passion for life and movement through vocal and artistic dialogue.

CHEROKEE WASHINGTON

As a cis, womxn of color, Cherokee -she/her/hers pronouns- has dedicated her educational and professional paths to dismantling systems of oppression through interdisciplinary means and spaces. She graduated from Whitman with dual bachelor’s degrees in psychology and honors rhetoric studies and was a member of the Varsity Volleyball team. She was the first Associated Students of Whitman College Diversity and Inclusion Director, and she has authored and collaborated publications and material regarding the topics within intersectionality, nationally and internationally. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in cultural sport psychology with a focus on developing methods for cultural competency and anti-racism within the field.  Additionally, she co-hosts the podcast, “Mixed and Confused,” that explores the complex, intimate relationships we share with identity as multicultural individuals. 

DAVID WASHINGTON

David worked as a professional photographer for 15 years, working with film and later digital cameras.  During this time he developed his skills using all levels of cameras from slrs, to medium and large formats.  David worked in the entertainment world, specializing in music shooting advertising, CD covers and promotional material.  He also worked in the areas of product and portraits.  David ‘s clients have included Sony, Chrysler, K-Mart, and worked with personalities such as Halle Berry, BabyFace and Stevie Wonder.David taught basic and advanced photography during his eight years at Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, CA while also teaching math and being the head track and field coach there.

KYLE DONALD

Kyle Donald is a college graduate in Jazz Piano, slam poet, rapper, producer, songwriter, artist, and musician living in Los Angeles. A piano teacher, a mentor, a freelance musician and producer, and an artist, Kyle Donald has been making his way in the music industry, performing live shows around Los Angeles, including The Avalon, The Echo, The Mint, multiple SoFar Sounds shows, The Viper Room, Whiskey-A-Go-Go, The Hi Hat and The Study. As a prolific producer, Sugi Dakks was a producer on Wale’s latest album, “Wow, That’s Crazy”, and major label artist Chika’s Debut EP “Industry Games”.

JACOB MOSS

Jacob Moss is a freelance director, photographer and published author. Born, raised and based in Los Angeles, he received a BA from Pitzer College in 2013 and a MFA in Documentary and Experimental Arts from Duke University in 2019. Jacob’s current work, an ongoing project entitled One Arm Dove Hunt, is a large format documentary photography project about individuals with Ectodermal Dysplasia, a rare genetic condition he also has. In addition to his freelance/personal photographic and video work, Jacob previously served as a volunteer photographer for the Los Angeles City Fire Department, and a Teaching Assistant and Visual Arts Coordinator at Duke University in Durham, NC.