Our presenters

Richard Alexander Hoffman is an American poet from San Antonio, Texas.

Richard has studied writing and poetry for over 30 years under some of the most influential writers of today including Naomi Shihab Nye, Yusef Komunyakaa, Mark Doty, Li-Young Lee, Chuck Palaniuk, Margaret Attwood, Grace Paley, Irvine Welsh, and Wole Soyinka.

In 2006 he was named Alden B. Dow Creativity Fellow of Northwood University for his “contributions to American poetry” and for developing and naming the poetic form known as Parallax Poetry.

He currently resides in Wellington, New Zealand with his wife and two sons.

Richard (Ricki) Pointon was adopted by his grandparents and became Deaf at the age of 2 years old through an allergy reaction to penicillin.  In spite of him being Deaf, his parents nurtured him into a well-loved child who grew up to be well-known in the Deaf Community.  Ricki is a natural, articulate and fluent New Zealand Sign Language user. 

In theory, Ricki still has to complete his Deaf Studies Teaching NZSL course at Victoria University and is currently doing his practical teaching in parallel to what he is studying.  His wife Karen who is a qualified NZSL Teacher and employed at WHS CEC is mentoring him.

Ricki understands American Sign Language (ASL) which has excellent video resources and signers to support his understanding of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.  Ricki's knowledge and understanding of the scriptures in the Bible helps to re-translate ASL context into NZSL with an aim of sharing the Good News and support Deaf people to have an opportunity to access signed Bible video literature in their own language.

Ricki is currently a NZSL Tutor supporting the delivery of sign language classes NZSL 1A and 1B at the CEC. His masterful demeanor and empathetic approach make students feel at ease and enjoy learning in a safe, Deaf-friendly atmosphere within the classroom.

Ricki's aim is to support students from all walks of life and learn the true language of the Deaf community.  Teaching NZSL makes him feel satisfied to see student's faces light up in the classroom and just have fun! 

I have a background in art, biodiversity conservation, and science.

Papermaking meshes these interests with my passion for communication and hands-on making. I have been providing papermaking workshops around the greater Wellington Region since 2015 while also developing a papermaking business (Paperscape) which helps support biodiversity conservation through the sympathetic management and harvesting of plant material.

Paperscape is a small batch paper mill located on the Kāpiti Coast. We make our pulp from New Zealand native plants such as harakeke (flax), tī kōuka (cabbage tree) and raupō (bulrush). We carefully select our raw materials to create positive environmental outcomes, and the key principles that guide our production process are efficient resource use and responsible waste management

Rod Gibson is an A Grade Technician with many years’ experience in the Automotive industry.  He started as an apprentice in Wanganui at a BMC dealership before moving to Wellington to work for a Ford/Mazda dealership and stayed there many years gaining valuable experience.  

Following this, he went to a private garage for a year then to Toyota and Stevens Motors Ford/Mazda in Lower Hutt, where he was a senior Technician and helps control the workshops.  Over the years he has specialised in Automatic Transmissions overhaul and repair.

"The reason I’ve developed this course is for people to get to know their vehicles and become familiar with them and to carry out certain repairs and maintenance.  If you know nothing about cars at all, that’s great, you soon will".

Ryan has been playing chess and competing in tournaments since childhood. Utilising his skill and passion for the game he seeks to share this knowledge and enjoyment with you.

Sara Dore is an experienced post graduate trained physiotherapist with over 25 years of clinical experience. She is the director of Empower Physio and Pilates which has been operating on the Kapiti Coast since 2003. She has been involved in the teaching and training of physiotherapists in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore since 2006 as a Senior Presenter for DMA Clinical Pilates.  

Sara completed her Diploma in Manipulative Therapy in 1994 and Post Graduate Diploma (Rehabilitation) in 2012. She is a certified DMA Clinical Pilates clinician who began her Clinical Pilates training in 2002 through Dance Medicine Australia (Melbourne) and is one of the most experienced DMA Clinical Pilates physiotherapists in New Zealand. Sara is credentialed in the McKenzie method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT) which she gained in 2016. She has been a certified BradCliff physiotherapist since 2009 and helps clients on the Kapiti Coast to manage breathing pattern disorders. She is also a pelvic health physiotherapist, having completed the training and certification with Dr Melissa Davidson. She has completed numerous pelvic health courses over the years. Sara continues her education attending conferences and other physiotherapy courses in NZ and overseas.

Sara is passionate about physiotherapy, clinical pilates, pelvic health physiotherapy and breathing retraining exploring the benefits that it can provide to everyone.

Sarah Hewitt has been doing her family tree for over 20 years, following in the footsteps of her two New Zealand-born grandparents.  In that time she has solved family mysteries, uncovered scandals and met (electronically and in person) cousins from around the world. 

She has also witnessed how the changes in technology have affected genealogy in the 21st Century.  When she started, you had to go to the records, now the internet helps the records come to you.  This has helped Sarah research family in the British Isles, Pennsylvania and Shanghai.

Sarah has written articles on using newspapers, blogging your family tree and her gg-grandmother's bible for the New Zealand Genealogist magazine, published by the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG).  She has also contributed biographies of the women who signed the 1893 Women's Suffrage Petition to the He Tohu exhibition.

She is an active member of the NZSG.  She is currently Convenor of the Kilbirnie branch of the NZSG, as well as technical editor for Genealogix, their monthly newsletter.

Sebastian Milla has over 20 years’ experience working in technology, music and marketing – as an architect and multimedia specialist.

He is excited to offer these courses utilising his knowledge and skills to help the community learn to make quality smartphone videos and to create engaging and successful podcasts.

His goal is to equip you to make creative media projects to the best of your potential!