About Us

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About Us

	Devon Thagard - Co-founder/Managing Director Devon is one of the voices you hear on the Super Simple Songs CDs, and one of the teachers you see in several of the Super Simple Songs YouTube videos. He is from Los Angeles, California and has a BA in Psychology from San Diego State University and studied in the Second Language Studies MA progam at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Devon has been a teacher since 1993, and conducts teaching workshops for Super Simple Learning and Oxford University Press throughout Asia.
	Troy McDonald - Co-founder/Creative Director Troy arranges and produces our music and coordinates the design of teaching materials and web content. He is from Nova Scotia, Canada and has a Bachelor of Music degree from Mount Allison University. Troy began teaching in Japan in 2000 and soon after combined his music background with his teaching experience to create songs for young learners. He's also co-written a number of songs for Oxford University Press alongside several other award-winning songwriters.
	Tanja Yoder - Co-founder/Educational Consultant Tanja is the Director of and the Head Teacher at Knock Knock English School in Tokyo, Japan. She is from Alexandria, Virginia and has a BA in Psychology from Spelman College (Atlanta, Georgia) and a Masters in Second Language Studies (University of Hawaii at Manoa). She taught high school German and English for young adults in the US, and she was a high school English teacher and a teacher trainer through the Aichi Prefecture Board of Education. Tanja began teaching in Japan in 1993. Tanja loves proofreading, writing, and singing when nobody's listening!

	Hiroya Higashi - Sales Director Hiroya has lived and worked in the UK, Australia, San Diego and Hawaii in the U.S., and now in his hometown of Tokyo, Japan. He's been involved in education as President of Knock Knock English school for children in Tokyo, study-abroad coordinator for the Institute of Intensive English in Hawaii, and now Sales Director for Super Simple Learning. He enjoys playing soccer and spending time with his wife and 3 sons.
	Tomomi Sugiura - Graphic Desginer After earning a degree in Graphic Design in BC Canada, Tomomi began working as Designer for Super Simple Learning in 2010. Activity sheets, posters, picture cards, web design, promotional materials...Tomomi makes it all happen. Originally from Osaka, Japan, she is also an experienced English teacher (3 years teaching English to children in Osaka) and coordinates social networking in Japan.
	Naoko Ihara - Office Manager Naoko is the Office Manager and makes sure that everything runs smoothly here at Super Simple Learning. Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, she speaks Japanese, English, and is studying German. In her free time she enjoys hiking and heli-skiing.

	Sara Wall - Social Media Director Sara is a world traveler with experience teaching in Thailand, Japan, Mongolia and the United States. She's currently a teacher at Knock Knock English and is in charge of coordinating social outreach for Super Simple Learning. (It helps that she's such an enthusiastic user of our materials! You'll read her on our blog, see her tweets and hopefully have a chance to meet her in person at one of our workshops or events. Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Sarahas called seven states and four different countries “home.”
	Mike Dorr - Senior Web Developer Mike heads up web design and development for both Super Simple Learning and Knock Knock English, in addition to teaching for the past 3 years at Knock Knock English. He's originally from Seattle (Go Mariners!), graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in trumpet performance, and began teaching in Japan in 2006. Mike enjoys playing music and taking pictures.