My first formal education teaching experience fifteen years ago, was two years as Music Theory and Course Coordinater at Wits University. I then spent a few years working as a musician performing in concerts and shows, teaching piano, theory and composition and accompanying instrumental students while completing my Masters in Music. I then moved into a full time post in a school and until the end of 2023 had been teaching in schools for 7 years. My first full time position was as Music Teacher as St Mary's Waverley where I taught middle school students' music and worked with all the senior instrumental and vocal students in performance. The most exciting aspect of my job was being able to collaborate with the Drama and Visual Arts department in projects and performances. We eventually joined our three arts subjects with six other subjects and created a large interdisciplinary course, involving nine fully academic subjects. The courses created incredible freedom, both on the timetable and with the curriculum. Many of the projects were mindblowing and the process was challenging in a healthy way for the students and teachers. Because there was so much time allocated during the school day, the interdisciplinary course successfully juggled building subject specific skills with those which applied to all the discplines. As a result of my experience at St Mary's I was very fortunate to be appointed HOD of the Arts in the Prep School at Redhill School, a large coeducational school in Sandton with a dynamic Arts department. In my job I could draw on my experience and knowledge in multiple disciplines to impact many children - mostly to develop a love and appreciation for all the Arts. Very soon I was appointed Head of the Campus Visual and Performing Arts which broadened my potential impact even further - from Kindergarten to Matric. My job involved Music, Drama, Visual Art, Film and many cultural cocurricular acitivities - ranging from Chess and Photography to Debating and a wide range of others. I was also fortunate to be involved with many successful shows, plays, concerts, Arts Immersion programmes, building projects, choirs, arts festivals, exhibitions, musical theatre and even liasing with sports, giving me a distinctive overview and insight into all the apsect of the academic and cocurricular school life, including both the successes and failures of formal education. When Covid struck, we had the most wonderful time creating online platforms for the Arts subjects. While many students naturally preferred in person education, there were certain students - those passionate about particular areas - who thrived being able to work online at their own pace. I could not believe how giving them the flexiblity and time to spend doing what they loved enabled large leaps forward in their skills in those areas. Ever since then, I have been eager to broaden my reach further to offer these opportunities to any student from anywhere. The result in the creation of The Imagination Lab online Arts platform.