Nathan Gygar

Growing up on Meanjin country, under the governing present-day colony known as Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Nathan’s own education has always had a strong connection to environment and community. After graduating from Griffith University with a Bachelor of Leisure Management in 2003, Nathan spent years involved in community development organizations, event coordination, and service-related industries, while pursuing a personal passion for creative arts. During this time, Nathan worked alongside diverse groups of people, sharing and learning from a variety of interests, backgrounds, and cultures. It was when he moved to Thailand in 2011 that he discovered the rewards of teaching. Based in Bangkok, Nathan first trained to support ESL students and quickly understood the importance of incorporating play into learning and building rapport through shared experiences. Transitioning and drawn to instructing within early childhood classrooms, he spent several years as a kindergarten teacher with Singapore International School of Bangkok, completing a Graduate Diploma in Teaching & Learning in the Early Years through the Association for Early Childhood Educators Singapore (AECES). Since Immigrating to Chicago in 2016 to start a family of his own upon Potawatomi land, Nathan has remained engaged with educators and practices responsive to children’s developing sense of identity and informing an evolving understanding of a world filled with experiences outside of their own.

Nathan looks forward to another year of SK learning at Bennett Day School driven by the creativity, curiosity, passions & talents within his team. Built upon strong, smart community partnerships and connections, Nathan aims to help empower his young scholars to pursue inquiry through physical exploration, making the process, co-construction, and languages of our learning a visible foundation for future collaboration.