Igel
Hedgehogs
Johanna Petosa
Teacher
I grew up in Kärnten (Carinthia), Austria where I studied for five years at a high school for economics and gastronomy. I finished my education in Klagenfurt at a private academy for languages and business. Since I wanted to gain some work experience abroad, I came to San Diego in October 1999 on a student visa and started my practical training in the beautiful Westgate Hotel in Downtown San Diego.
I met my husband Mike here, and in December 2000 we got married in San Diego. Soon after I gave birth to our daughter, Sophia. When my second child, Michael, was born in November 2002, we were already part of a German playgroup. Eight months later, my friend Heike Paulsen and I decided to form a German cooperative preschool and named it “Die Rasselbande” – yes, Die Rasselbande was born in late summer of 2003! We had six children enrolled in no time and rented a room at a recreation center in Pacific Beach three mornings per week. The group kept on growing and we soon realized that we were on to something and needed professionals on board. We hired a German preschool teacher to guide us, and I started to take courses at the community college in Child Development to become a qualified teacher. Over a few years I acquired more than 30 units and am continuing to work towards the bachelor’s degree.
My family grew even bigger in February 2009 when my son Cornelius was born. I enjoy working with children and I am thrilled to be teaching in German, my mother tongue! I am also happy to be able to practice and pass on the traditions I grew up with. When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with my husband and children, hiking, swimming, dancing, and playing soccer or board games
Johanna Petosa
Teacher
I grew up in Kärnten (Carinthia), Austria where I studied for five years at a high school for economics and gastronomy. I finished my education in Klagenfurt at a private academy for languages and business. Since I wanted to gain some work experience abroad, I came to San Diego in October 1999 on a student visa and started my practical training in the beautiful Westgate Hotel in Downtown San Diego.
I met my husband Mike here, and in December 2000 we got married in San Diego. Soon after I gave birth to our daughter, Sophia. When my second child, Michael, was born in November 2002, we were already part of a German playgroup. Eight months later, my friend Heike Paulsen and I decided to form a German cooperative preschool and named it “Die Rasselbande” – yes, Die Rasselbande was born in late summer of 2003! We had six children enrolled in no time and rented a room at a recreation center in Pacific Beach three mornings per week. The group kept on growing and we soon realized that we were on to something and needed professionals on board. We hired a German preschool teacher to guide us, and I started to take courses at the community college in Child Development to become a qualified teacher. Over a few years I acquired more than 30 units and am continuing to work towards the bachelor’s degree.
My family grew even bigger in February 2009 when my son Cornelius was born. I enjoy working with children and I am thrilled to be teaching in German, my mother tongue! I am also happy to be able to practice and pass on the traditions I grew up with. When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with my husband and children, hiking, swimming, dancing, and playing soccer or board games.
Jil Rudolf-Vazquez
Teacher
My name is Jil Pia Rudolf-Vazquez and I was born and raised in a small town near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In 2008 I moved to Innsbruck, Austria for my undergraduate studies in Psychology and Political Science, while working as a public relations assistant for the Austrian sister team of the Oakland Raiders and an event manager. As a student I had the opportunity to work with children in different settings, which made me realize that I wanted to work with children for the rest of my life. In 2012 I moved to San Diego for my graduate studies in Political Science at SDSU. After graduating in 2014, I joined Die Rasselbande as an Assistant Teacher (Bären group), which motivated me to take further classes in Early Childhood Education to complement my Psychology Bachelor. In September 2017 I became the lead teacher in the Löwen group and in Spring 2020 I graduated from SDSU with a M.S. in Child and Family Development and a Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood-Transdisciplinary Education and Mental Health.
In September 2019 my husband and I became parents of a little girl, who is growing up in a multicultural, -generational and -lingual (German, Spanish, English) household. Although I wasn’t able to come back as a teacher right away, Die Rasselbande has always held a special place in my heart. Since I loved working there, missed my preschoolers, and wanted to give back to the community, I joined the board in 2020. In 2021 our family grew and in August 2022, my daughter was able to join Rasselbande (Hasengroup), too. I’m a huge defender of play-based learning, free-play, child participation and including children in decision-making and very excited to be back as a teacher.
Allyson Kennett
Teacher
My father was in the US Navy my entire life and for my most formative years we were stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. There my younger sister and I decided we did not want to attend the American school on the base, but rather the German school like our neighbors. I went to a local Gymnasium for 3 years before we moved again, and during that time I became fluent in German.
When I had completed my Bachelor’s Degree at the University of San Diego I missed living in Europe so returned to London on a student visa to get a Masters in English Literature. After that I came back to San Diego and met my husband. We discovered die Rasselbande preschool when our oldest daughter first started preschool in 2016. I became a teacher in the Bären Gruppe in the ‘old’ Rasselbande location for two and a half years. During that time our oldest daughter and our son both attended (and loved!) the school. I also obtained my Early Childhood Education units during that time and was so excited to share my love of the German language and culture with my children and the children who attended die Rasselbande. In January of 2020 my husband’s job took us to Chicago and we were very sad to say goodbye.
We returned to San Diego in March of 2021, and in January of 2023 our youngest daughter was able to start at the school that both of her older siblings adored and still talk about! With three young children personally, I love continuously learning about Early Childhood Development, how children learn and the best ways to connect with them. I have many years of experience working with children from infancy through to highschool age and am so excited to be bringing all of those experiences back to die Rasselbande community again.