ALICIA FESSENDEN

McGill University, BA; Bank Street College of Education, M.Sc.

Before beginning her studies at McGill University, Alicia spent a semester studying painting in Florence, Italy. During her undergraduate years, she focused on Geography and Art History and returned to Italy for a year’s study through Middlebury College. After graduation, she returned to Montreal where she took up pottery and began a small craft business. She has traveled extensively in Italy and France, and recently hiked a section of the Grande Randonnee 5 trail near Mont Blanc in France and Switzerland. She currently works as a 2nd grade special education teacher at Community Day Charter Public School in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Alicia is fluent in French and Italian.

TIM LAUGHLIN

Syracuse University, B.M., Music Composition; University of Texas at Austin, M.M., Orchestral Conducting

While at Syracuse, Tim focused on music composition, music history, and, languages, and volunteered with EMS. He studied abroad in Strasbourg, France at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg. After graduating with a master’s in Orchestral Conducting, Tim moved to Lille, France, where taught English at the Academie de Lille and conducted orchestras. He has teaching experience as a coach, in the classroom, and as a tutor. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe, including to the Gotthard pass, the Nordfjord, and la Villa Doria Pamphili. Tim is a certified EMT. This fall, Tim will be returning to Lille, France, to start a chamber orchestra. He is fluent in French and conversational in Italian and Spanish.

JONATHAN MCCARTHY

University of Vermont, B.A., History

After graduating from the University of Vermont, Jonathan spent several years exploring his inner culinary artist, gaining restaurant management experience as Executive Sous Chef with Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurants in Delaware and New Jersey. After traveling through Central and South America, Jonathan moved to the Bolivian Andes to work as the Assistant National Director of Sustainable Bolivia, a non-profit volunteer placement organization that works in the fields of education, social services, and environmental sustainability. Jonathan still lives and works in Cochabamba, Bolivia, as a high school history and government teacher at a local international school. When he is not busy cooking or pounding cobblestone streets, you can find Jonathan snapping photos, cycling the Andes, or tilling his urban garden. Jonathan is fluent in Spanish. He has been a staff member and Director of Putney’s Foundations Costa Rica program and has led a Putney Cultural Immersion trip to explore the history and culture of Italy and Greece.