Our Team
As smart as we are, we won't transform your kid into Einstein. But if you've never tried it, you can visit this statue at the National Academy of Sciences and see if proximity to his likeness works any wonders ...
Each and every The Great Adventure Lab instructor is trained, enthusiastic, has extensive experience with children, has passed a recent and rigorous background check and can quickly tell the difference between LEGO®’s version of a spur gear and a crown gear, even when blindfolded.
We pay and perk our people better than any similar organization, we don’t force them to wear costumes and we never force them into shifts or commutes they don’t want, so we always get the best.
Between us, we have bachelor’s or higher degrees in engineering (electrical and chemical), physics, computer science, mathematics, economics, biology, biochemistry, epidemiology, business, education and the liberal arts.
We love to travel, run, canoe camp, bicycle tour, mountain bike, orienteer, play piano, watch space shuttle and rocket launches, sew, mess around with robots, duel with light sabers, build catapults, play Blokus and play with kids, especially our own (four of us are moms and two of us are dads! We have 12 kids between us!) Many of our homes are awash with LEGO®s.
Plenty of us have or once had day jobs as scientists or engineers. Our ranks include alumni from BAE Systems, Stanford, Harvard, Capitol Hill (plenty of former hill staffers here) and the Peace Corps. One of our customers’ favorite party leaders works as a traumatic brain injury research associate by day. [And he grew up with LEGO® Mindstorms - there must be a connection!]
When we can, we do our best to help our instructors achieve their career goals, even when those goals take them away from our world of LEGO® robotics. Because we’re that nice.
Between us, we speak fluent Russian, Italian, Hindi, French and LabView. Our founder can order beer and chicken fried rice in Bahasa Indonesia. Most of us regularly volunteer in our communities. And most of us are partial to either Nava Thai or Ruan Thai in TGAL’s amazing gourmet-ghetto community of Wheaton, Md.
You may be hearing from Amie, who’s in charge of customer relations and human resources around here. Amie regularly polls The Great Adventure Lab parents about how their kids like our LEGO® robotics and science classes and parties.
You’ll also hear from Michelle, our miracle-working office manager. Michelle works with all of our PTAs and handles all of our scheduling and invoicing. She’s the driving, smiling force behind getting us all to the right classes and parties with the right equipment at the right time. The Great Adventure Lab wouldn’t be the same without her.
All of our classes include at least one instructor who is certified in both CPR and first aid. Just for good measure.
Want The Great Adventure Lab to teach LEGO® Robotics or another science in your school? Invite us!