Meet the Ticino Ambassador: Nicole Jaks

I was born in Chicago, Illinois but grew up in Delaware, Connecticut, Texas, California,
Arizona and São Paulo, Brazil. After graduating from UCLA with a BA in Geography and
Environmental Science, I moved to the Italian part of Switzerland and completed a MEd in
International Education with an ESL specialization. Besides teaching English since 1997,
I’ve also taught Geography at the middle schools in Ticino as well as “Chat and Cook” classes
to English language learners. In 2016, I completed the teaching certificate for Swiss
vocational schools at the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training
(EHB/SUFFP) and am part of the SUFFP alumni committee. I currently teach at SPSE Tenero
(Swiss Olympic Commercial School for Elite Athletes) and adult classes in Ticino. I’ve been a
regional ambassador for Ticino since 2006. In my free time, I like hiking, snowshoeing, doing
yoga and traveling.