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Ricardo, Marianna, Victoria and Carmela Mata

Who Are We?

We are natives of Venezuela and Spanish is our native language. Carmela has a B.A. in Education from Universidad de Carabobo in Valencia, Venezuela.  She has 21 years of teaching experience. Carmela designs and develops the curricula, themes, activities and material used in class.
Ricardo holds degrees in Business Administration and Hotels Management. After several years in the corporate world, he returned to his true passion: working with children. During his college years in Caracas, he taught English as a second language, including two years at a private school where he worked with 5th and 6th graders, and as a private tutor working with Middle and High School students.

On a more personal note, we met in September 1992 and married in December 1994. In January 1995 we settled in Charlotte and began to build a future in this wonderful city we now call home. In April 1997 The Lord blessed us with a daughter, Marianna. In September 2003, we were blessed again with another beautiful girl named Victoria. Both girls are fully Bi-lingual.  

We are totally committed to the success of PlaySpanish® --it is our present and our future. A key part of that commitment is our objective for the program: To make PlaySpanish® the best foreign language program for children in North Carolina.

The foundation of that objective is our staff. We have selected a group of highly qualified professionals who teach some of the classes. These individuals have been carefully screened --including thorough personal and criminal background checks-- and have received extensive training in the PlaySpanish® methodology. They are native Spanish speakers who bring to the classroom vast knowledge and experience.

Occasionally, we also have American teachers, with impeccable domain of the Spanish language, who bring a different perspective to the classroom -the perspective of an American with first-hand experience about the life and culture of Latin American countries.

Additionally, all our teachers receive training in First Aid and Child/Infant CPR –one of our requirements before they can begin working with the children.

This is a partial list of the current teachers and their credentials and qualifications:


Sandra Valencia
is from Lima, Perú. After 18 years in the corporate world, she decided to pursue a different career and became a teacher. She has been in our staff for 6 years and, during that time, has gained the hearts of many children including both our daughters. Sandra is a very tender, playful individual who fits perfectly in our organization.

Alicia García
is a teacher from Guayaquil, Ecuador where she earned a B.S. in Biology. Alicia brings to the classroom more than 30 years of teaching experience at all levels of instruction.

Isabel "Ina" Borjas
is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. She holds a B.A. in Education from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello and a B.A. in Psychology from Adelphi University in New York. She is full of energy and very playful. Children simply adore her!

María José Dávila
is a Graphic Designer from Quito, Ecuador. She has been blessed with an outstanding ability to work with children. Her personality is very sweet and children fall in love with her at first sight!

Adriana Makowski is a Systems Engineer from Bogotá, Colombia. She has been in our staff since December 2010. A gifted teacher, she was able to gain her students' hearts in just a few weeks.

Dr. Manuel "Manolo" Perez-Rojas
is a Venezuelan cardiologist who retired and relocated to the U.S. after 41 years of practice. He graduated from Universidad Central de Venezuela and then completed post-graduate work in cardiology and neurology at Harvard University in Boston. He was Visiting Professor at the University of California-San Francisco's Moffit Hospital. He also holds post-graduate degrees in Management and Administration from IESA in Caracas -- one of the most respected Business schools in Latin America. Manolo is working with us as a substitute teacher.


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