Who We Are

After years of hanging out at the same dives (most likely), these two kindred spirits finally found each other.

Las dos Fridas, Cynthia & Elizabeth
Cynthia would love to consider herself an honorary Austinite, having spent more than half her life here. She eagerly moved into the University of Texas at Austin’s Jester dorms in 1992, ready to learn what it meant to Keep Austin Weird. While on her quest, she quickly discovered that she fit right in and that Austin would always be home. In 1997, after many live shows, festivals, hikes and studies she received her BA degrees in Spanish, Latin American Studies, and Bilingual Education from UT. Now, she is raising her own little Austinites with her partner Da’Mon and has been teaching with Austin ISD since 1999. Presently she is working as a bilingual special education teacher at Ridgetop Elementary. However, she has developed a new love…teaching literacy with a maker state of mind.
Elizabeth, much like a unicorn, is one of those rare creatures we have all heard about, and unlike Cynthia, she IS a born and raised Austinite! She grew up in central Austin and is now raising her kiddos here with her husband, Patrick. Having danced with Roy Lozano Ballet Folklórico and having lived in Saltillo & San Miguel de Allende, Elizabeth nurtured her connection with Spanish and the culture the language brings. Eventually she connected her love of the language with her studies, graduating from Southwest Texas State University with BS degrees in Bilingual Education and a Masters in Education. Most recently she received her Masters in Library Science from the University of North Texas. After 10 years as a bilingual classroom teacher, she has now started a ‘new chapter’ as a librarian with Austin ISD, playing an important role in bringing makerspaces into AISD libraries and classrooms.

Ask about our summer camps! Summer 2017 dates are here!

All camps will include wellness, social emotional learning, team-building games, tinker time, high-tech & low tech making and literacy.

Students will be encouraged to use both academic and conversational Spanish if they would like the challenge.  However, Spanish experience is not required.

The entire day revolves around the idea of challenge by choice.
After being exposed to a variety of books, the kids will develop their own adaptations via a discipline of their choice whether it be a stop motion project, a screenplay, characters built out of Legos, or programming a song.   Together they will become makers and a maker only needs a space big enough for their desire to question, collaborate, and create.

“Education is teaching our children to desire the right things.” – Plato

What is S.T.E.A.M.?
Science Technology Engineering Art and Math

The STEAM movement is based on the idea that kids should actively participate in a fluid, interdisciplinary framework that facilitates problem-solving through inquiry and collaboration. 

The goal? ...to create learners for the future! ...to create learners who like a challenge! ...to create learners who see mistakes as opportunities for growth! 

So let Tinker Teachers encourage your kids to question, explore and imagine.  Together we will make the movement happen!