Leadership

Mr. Lyle Moltzan is qualified with a Masters of Education degree. He has also been in education for 29 years. His teaching experience includes Mathematics, Science, and Information Technology. In addition, Lyle served as a Technology Director, Curriculum Coordinator, Department Head, IB Coordinator, Principal, and School Director. He started his teaching career in Alberta, Canada where he met his wife, Rita. After getting married, they decided to experience overseas teaching and have not looked back after 24 years of International education. They are proud to have lived in Jordan, South Africa, Indonesia, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

Mrs. Anita McCallum has worked as a Primary Principal, a Deputy Principal, and Curriculum Coordinator in her 20 plus years teaching experience, including over a decade in international schools. While she joined RAS as the Elementary Principal in 2019, she has held leadership roles in schools around the world for the past sixteen years. Anita has worked internationally in Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and the Sultanate of Oman, as well as in rural and city schools in her home country of Australia. Her credentials include a Masters in Educational Leadership from the Australian Catholic University, and she is a visiting team member for the Council of International Schools. Although she has many interests when it comes to education, Anita is particularly passionate about personalizing learning through differentiation, the importance of developing strong literacy skills, and Early Childhood education.

Mr. David Hornby began his education career in Vancouver, Canada, as a Social Studies and PE teacher. His first experience abroad to Japan was a 2-year plan; it’s now his twenty-sixth year of teaching and leading international schools. His international experiences expand to China, Indonesia, and now Malaysia. David studied for a master’s degree in educational management and has held roles as Pastoral Coordinator, Vice-Principal, Secondary Principal, and Head of School. He is keen to support RAS students and families in reaching their unique goals and further developing RAS’s academic and extracurricular programs both on and off-campus. David met his South Korean wife while teaching in Japan. They have two sons who graduated from the IB diploma program and are studying at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Yinkon Her holds a bachelor’s degree in Intercultural Studies with a concentration in Community Development from Nyack College, in New York; where he also met his wife, Darla. He began his career in Information Technology in the Higher Education system, before eventually moving to the Primary and Secondary Education sector in 2018. Before Raffles, Yinkon and his wife worked at Jackson R2 School District in Jackson, Missouri, where she taught Elementary Special Education, and he continued with Information Technology. In addition to his work, Yinkon has held various community development roles such as mentoring youth and coaching a variety of sports.

Mr. Christian Choyce has been in education for 13 years and has a Bachelor of Education degree. His teaching experience includes History, Business Studies and Geography. He has been involved with boarding facilities for the majority of his schooling and professional career. Chris has been a head of department, head of a boarding facility, and a grade head. He is married to Natalie, a Pre-K teacher, whom he has known since Grade 1. Guiding and nurturing childrens’ development is a passion, a calling and a pleasure for Chris.

J. Casey Hammond joined Raffles American School in August 2022 as College Counselor. He brings a wealth of experience to this position. He previously worked at the university level in the United States and Singapore, where he developed and taught undergraduate courses for first-year students and helped them transition into tertiary education. A speaker of Mandarin Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia, he is a longtime resident of this region. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame, a master’s degree from MIT, and a Ph.D. from Penn.

Gisou Ravanbaksh, known as “Ms. Ravan” by her students, began her teaching career in her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia (USA) after graduating from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Education in Secondary Social Sciences. She holds a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Massachusetts and a Certificate of Advanced Educational Leadership from Harvard University. She has seventeen years of classroom teaching experience in a range of subjects and grade levels, including preschool music, elementary school EAL, middle school math, and high school social sciences. She has served in various leadership roles including Curriculum Coordinator, Head of Department, and Founder of a Cooperative Preschool. After 15 years of working in China, Gisou is excited to be serving the RAS community as the Schoolwide Curriculum Coordinator and IBDP Coordinator. She is passionate about student well-being and creating cultures of thinking at school.

Garth Taylor graduated from Liverpool John Moores University, England with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and a post-graduate degree in PGCE Secondary Education. He has taught in various schools in England and Malaysia. For 22 years, he has taught a number of subjects, specialising in Physical Education, Math, Science and Design. Mr.Garth’s leadership roles include Head of Physical Education, Head of Year, and Able Gifted and Talented Leader and Enrichment lead. Mr. Garth is incredibly pleased to join RAS as Athletic Director and CCA coordinator.