Rives Barksdale has been lucky in life. She attended Salem College in North Carolina where she received a BA in Sociology. Not quite ready to take on the “real world” after graduation, she raced up to Nantucket to work for a summer and then onto England with a six month working visa in hand and no job. She did find work and there began her relationship with travel, new adventures and a love for life-long learning.

Upon returning to the States, Rives freaked out because most of her friends had “real” jobs or were back in school pursuing second degrees. After some “deep thinking” and many long “What do you want to do with your life?” conversations with her parents, she decided to go back to university in Virginia in order to obtain a degree in Elementary Education.

Upon graduating, Rives accepted a job with the Nations Head Start program and quickly realized that education was the right fit for her. During this time she received a Golden Apple Teaching Award for excellence in education in the state of Virginia.

Having been bitten by the travel bug years back Rives volunteer taught for a summer in Thailand and a longer stint in Nepal. These experiences exposed her to new cultures, customs and places, all of which she found fascinating.

Back in the States, after these wonderful opportunities, Rives found life somewhat mundane. So she got her paperwork together and went to job fairs in order to work in international schools around the world.

There began a ten year adventure of living overseas and teaching in international schools. She taught in China, Indonesia, Spain and the Netherlands. Each of these assignments was a unique and colorful experience that Rives feels changed her life and her outlook on people and places. She thinks of herself as an international citizen and a globally minded individual who has a huge respect for others and their cultures. All of this she brings into her classroom and feels that it has a positive effect on the children she teaches.

How did Rives end up in New York City? She finally got the itch to put down some roots and longing for an international vibe and a necessity to understand her bills, she moved to NYC.

This has been the right move for Rives. She has been teaching Nursery at the British International School since the program began in 2007. She loves her children and the talented staff members with whom she works. She feels extremely grateful to go to work each day in an environment where she can create, learn and motivate young children. Rives has a happy sense of belonging in crazy New York and her family is happy and relieved that she is staying put – at least for awhile!

Qualifications

B.A. Sociology, Salem College, NC, USA
B.S. Elementary Education, Virginia Commonwealth University, VA, USA