Nani, who has roots in Vietnam, was born and raised in Germany by Vietnamese immigrants. She lived there for over 2 decades. She speaks fluent German, Vietnamese, English and knows a little bit of French as well - oui oui! Ready to embark on an epic new adventure abroad, she came to Fairbanks in 2014 to study and continue on with her athletic endeavors. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from UAF and was part of their collegiate swim team. Overall, her competitive swim career spanned over 18 years. She is a 3x national youth champion in Germany and a 4x All-American. During her active time as an athlete, she also coached kids and adults of all ages.

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Nani is a yoga teacher and studio manager at Yellow Bird Yoga. She also teaches prenatal yoga at Heart Stream Yoga. Her other specialties are vinyasa, yin/restorative, and kids yoga. She works part-time as a Wellness Intern at Elevate Wellness Center. She aspires to become an Integrative Health Practitioner as helping people achieve optimal health & wellness is where her passion lies. 

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Nani co-led two yoga kids camps this summer (ages 5-8 and 9-12) in which kids were guided through evidenced-based mindfulness practices such as kids yoga, breathing, meditation, mandala drawing, and plant care. Kids were given ample time to free play outdoors, build forts, and create their own story time.

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In her leisure time, Nani delights in spending time with mother nature - hiking, exploring, and admiring the outdoors, always looking for new adventures. She has a special connection to trees. Nani likes to exercise, bake bread, cook food from scratch, and attend to her growing garden. She also loves spending time with her husband and her two fur babies.

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Nani is incredibly honored to be part of the Small Forest School family this Fall. Being multicultural, she brings in this unique element to SFS. There, she can’t wait to spark in kids her love of nature and to foster an environment in which they can discover magical moments in the beautiful vast boreal forest, finding natural elements they resonate the most with and creating beautiful artwork that spark joy in them. Nani looks forward to guiding them in their adventures, fantasy, and play. Nani firmly believes that the outdoors is the place where the greatest adventures and mystical moments lie ahead of them and each single day, kids can find something new to learn.