Who We Are
A collection of schools and educators giving back through sustainability intiatives
Partners
Niamh Hamill & John O’Connell
,
Institute of Study Abroad Ireland
The Institute of Study Abroad Ireland is based in County Donegal, Ireland. We work in partnerships with schools, colleges and universities to arrange high quality academic and cultural study travel to Ireland. We also provide online content to our partners to globalize the classroom through Irish culture and history studies.
We are committed to creating sustainable opportunities for study trips to Ireland, offsetting our impact through action and education.
Ryan Allen
Irish Gap Year
Ryan is a founding director of Irish Gap Year. He is passionate about his work and brings 15 years of experiential education knowledge to the team. He has taught and worked in management capacities in Ireland, America, Norway and New Zealand and holds degrees in literature and American Studies from The University of Canterbury.
Ryan’s values of community, learning from nature, pushing one’s perceived limitations and fun loving spirit permeate Irish Gap Year programs and company culture. He is an avid surfer, musician and reader of philosophy and history.
Ryan is a member of the Gap Year Association's Sustainability Committee, he loves getting out of the office onto adventures with his students and feels particularly fortunate to have the opportunity to marry his passions with his career.
Ryan spends much of his time with his young family, enjoying the special chapter of life that is new parenthood.
Gina Witherow,
Donegal English Language School
Gina Witherow is the Director of Donegal English Language School (DELS). DELS has 33 years of expertise in providing language experience holidays for students from all over the world.
Gina’s love for languages started at an early age when her Mother opened DELS in 1989. The buzz of meeting students of various European nationalities throughout her childhood was an overriding reason for her taking over the school in 2007. She has over 25 years’ experience in the tourism & marketing industry, as well as 15 years in teaching English. Gina holds a degree in European Languages & Business and CELTA in teaching English. When not working, Gina enjoys spending time with her family, a bit of surfing, swimming, cycling or going for a walk with her dog, Mika. Gina’s has a passion for nature, sustainability and is very involved in her local community.
One of DELS core values is to actively engage all their students, staff and the local community in developing a sustainable environment. It fosters and encourages best practice and emphasises the importance of preparing and empowering individuals to become responsible for contributing to a sustainable future.
DELS is accredited by ACELS, The Green Standard Schools and is a member of MEI
Arantxa Lopez,
ID Languages - Spain by Train
Arantxa Lopez is co-founder of ID Languages and Program Director of Spain by Train. She has designed and directed experiential language learning programs in Spain and Ireland since 2011. Arantxa holds a BA in Education, an MA in Language Acquisition and Diplomas in TEFL/TESOL, Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language, Bilingualism & CLIL (Content & Language Integrated Learning).
Hailing from the Basque Country in Northern Spain, she came to Bundoran as a teenager and fell in love with the place. She moved to Ireland in 2012 and opened her language school with her brother Mikel in 2014. They have been delivering CLIL programs since then, with a strong focus on sustainability through different learning modules. Currently, they are completing a Green Standard School application process with the objective of improving the implementation of their sustainability policies in their school and their new program in Spain, where all travel is done by train, with the intention of off-setting the carbon footprint of their students.
Become a Partner
If you would like to partner with us, fill out the form below and one of our staff members will get back to you.