Life’s an adventure, and you must be prepared for anything…

From free writing activities to web-based classes and tutoring, we provide you with convenient content that entertains and enriches your child(ren)… leaving you time to prepare for life’s next adventure… did someone say dinner?

Meet Our Instructors

Alissa Watts

Alissa was raised in Chicago, Illinois but has lived in many other places, including Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Argentina, Mexico, South Korea and Thailand. She speaks Korean, English, and Spanish.

Alissa is the Parent Support Specialist for Adventures in Writing. She can answer any questions regarding the program.

She was an elementary school teacher for both English and Spanish immersion programs. She also taught ESL to adults from South America and other parts of the world to help them pass the TOEFL exam and to enter universities in the U.S.

While being a teacher, she created her own activities and curriculum to enhance learning and help build confidence in her students. She assists in the creation of the AIW curriculum so the campers fall in love with writing!

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Caitlin Orr

Caitlin works with schools, districts, and churches to arrange optimal facilities space for Adventures in Writing Camp’s sessions.

She is also involved in interviewing and assessing the prospective camp staff members to ensure that AIW Camp teams continue to be comprised of exceptionally talented, dynamic teachers.

Prior to her work in Adventures in Writing Camp’s “home office,” Caitlin served as a camp director at both the Fullerton and Tustin AIW Camp locations. She has coordinated grants for the Fullerton School District’s non-profit arts education program “All the Arts.” In this role, she has helped develop after-school programs, summer camps, arts education professional development activities, student art shows, and community outreach strategies.

In addition, Caitlin has been a project liaison for several years, taught art lessons to elementary school students, and taught English for three years in rural Japan. She is an award-winning, cum laude graduate from Mount Holyoke College.

Writing has always been a passion for Caitlin, and she enjoys writing book and play reviews for local media organizations, and working on her own collections of short stories. Beyond her talents and experience, Caitlin is an infectiously upbeat and creative person. She can’t wait to nurture that love in elementary students through Adventures in Writing Camp! Caitlin believes that fostering a love for writing in students at an early age is a vital part of their success in academics.

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Annie Lavin

Breanne earned her English credential from Cal State University, Fullerton in 2013 and has been teaching ever since.

Over the last several years Breanne has had the opportunity to work with students of all grade levels in both English and dance. In 2017 she earned her M.A. in Dance Education from the University of Northern Colorado. Breanne currently works for the Fullerton School District in the Innovation and Instructional Support Department as a Focus Teacher. Breanne is excited to use creativity and technology to influence student writing!

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Maddie Alvendia

Maddie Alvendia is a recent May 2019 graduate from Harvard where she earned her Master’s in Education.

Prior to earning her master’s at Harvard, she earned her B.A. in History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 3 years. She’s a complete history nerd and her favorite era is 20th century racial justice movements. Maddie has recently just completed designing curriculum for PBS’ new curriculum on Asian Americans, and she is looking forward to getting into more history curriculum development. She also volunteers at San Quentin State Prison tutoring incarcerated students in their college program. She is an avid reader, Netflix binge-watcher, and sleeper as her first year of teaching has been a roller coaster ride!

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Amber Medina

Amber is a recent graduate from UC Davis. She is now attending UCLA to obtain her Masters in Education and teaching credential.

She has worked with children as a bicycle instructor and classroom teaching assistant. She has put on numerous educational events including crafts with upcycled materials, musical performances, and pumpkin carving contests. She plans to become an elementary school teacher and is looking forward to the opportunity to interact and invest in helping each student. She plans to give them the best “virtual” experience possible! When asked what she is most excited about, she says, “Writing was my creative outlet as a kid and even in my adulthood, I find myself jotting short stories and enjoying writing papers in college. I can?t wait to plant the seed for love of writing in these children so they can grow to use this new skill in and outside of the classroom!”

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David Carter

Hello, I am David Carter. I’m inspired by the rich song of life and learning to teach with the warm, curious adventure of music!

For two decades I’ve been captivating students’ imaginations in a sing-along Language Arts, History, and Government public school classroom, eventually branching out into Economics, Geography, Engineering, CAD, 3-D printing, and creative product development. Honestly though, don’t you agree that music really is the best?! I was a baby laying under the piano as my father and sisters played pure classical music- so did I by the age of 4, got into rock, improvisation, Jazz, Americana and studied voice into College- world music, guitar, percussion, accordion, and now clarinet with my 3 musical children and flute-playing wife, who is also a teacher. We Carters often enjoy making up music at home. I perform with Loganville- a cool Western Swing originals band, and Manantial- a very live Puerto-Rican and Cuban originals band, and around town from time to time….

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