Meet our Staff
Dave and Judy
Operating Owners since 2013. Dave and Judy have a combined 70+ years of educational experience. Dave has experience from preschool – high school and enjoys the aspect of learning through play. Judy is a former First Lego League coordinator for the site where she taught and at one point had 1/4 of all teams from the Central Valley competing in the qualifying tournament. The two started J&D Mind Builders and brought Bricks 4 Kidz to the Fresno/Clovis area over 10 years ago, seeing the need to bring STEM education to the students of the Central Valley.
John and Teresa
Operating Owners since 2023. John and Teresa joined the Bowers in running J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz this past year. Together, John and Teresa have 80+ years in education. They are excited to be a part of the Bricks 4 Kidz family and bring an excitement and enthusiasm for STEM learning to the community.
Robert
The original…Robert has been with J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz since day 1! Robert has been in education for 15+ years, specializing in students with special needs. He’s a big kid with a big heart who knows how to learn through play. He not only does after school classes, but runs summer camps including themed camps, robotics, and his favorite, stop motion animation.
Mr. Mike
Mike has been with J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz for 6+ years. He is the master of disguise often found showing up to classes dressed for the theme. Mike puts the FUN into learning. He does morning workshops, after school classes, as well as themed camps, robotics, and stop motion animation. He is a past member of Buchanan’s Bird Brain FLL teams and has volunteered for countless tournaments.
He was awesome. Just a big kid enjoying his job!!! Please send him every time!!!
– Gibson Elementary
Bill
Education first…Bill has been in education for 40+ years in the Central Valley and has been with J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz for 6+ years. Bill understands the importance of hands-on learning and its role in education. He loves working with students in our morning workshops and after school classes.
Bill had great classroom management skills and had clear Bill is wonderful with the children. He engaged with all of them. We had a great time!!! Can’t wait for Bill to visit again!! Fantastic experience for the children!!!!.
-Easterby Elementary
Rick
Rick joined the J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz team 4+ years ago and has been a valued member of the team. He brings over 40+ years of educational experience to the team and loves working with the students doing our in-class workshops.
Rick was amazing! He was great with the kids and they were all very engaged and excited to build their police car.
-Figarden Elementary
Ella
Ella has been a great addition to the J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz family. She enjoys working with kids and has a sweet and caring personality. She joined the team Fall of 2022 and has been a valuable member of our team.
Students were engaged and enjoyed the lesson.
-Sunset Elementary
Nathan
In Spring of 2022 Nathan became a member of the J&D Mind Builders/Bricks4Kidz team. This has been a natural fit with Nathan’s love for Lego and teaching. Nathan is currently working on receiving his teaching credential and hopes to have his own classroom in the near future.
Nathan Morris was a phenomenal instructor to my students. He was engaging, kind and equipped with classroom management techniques. Nathan was able to use these techniques effectively with my first graders. We would be happy to have him and this program back any time!
-Easterby Elementary
Jaxon
Jaxon is one of the newer members of our team, joining J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz Fall of 2023. He is enthusiastic and loves learning! In a short time, Jaxon has become one of our go-to instructors.
Jaxon gave a clear, concise and engaging introduction. He monitored and helped the students constantly and was very patient with them.
-Del Mar Elementary
Eliza
Eliza began her journey with J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz as a High School student, helping with summer camps and birthday parties. In Fall of 2023, Eliza joined the team as a member of our workshop instructing staff. She is an amazing asset to our team.
Eliza is an excellent instructor! The students said they wish she could come everyday! Thank you!
-Del Mar Elementary
Jannessa
In the Spring of 2022, Jannessa joined the J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz team. She has been a requested instructor due to her energy and sweet disposition. Jannessa loves working with kids.
Thank you for differentiating the build for our first graders! One big box of bricks worked so sell for our little ones. The kids loved Janessa! Thank you!
-Ayer Elementary
Trenton
Trenton is new to the J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz team, joining us Fall of 2023. He currently attends Clovis Community College as a cybersecurity major and plans to transfer to UC Irvine. Trenton loves seeing the lightbulb pop up above students’ heads as they figure out how to build a step they were stuck on and enjoys teaching students about some of the abstract ideas such as gravity and acceleration.
Eventually, Trenton would like to run his own cybersecurity firm.
Trent was wonderful explaining to the kids. It was enjoyable have such a young teacher and explaining the scientific terms and patience. I would love to have Trent again in the Spring in my classroom to teach.
-Leavenworth
Rizaak
Rizaak joined the J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz team Fall of 2021. He has been a vital part of our instructional team. Rizaak has a degree in Engineering and relays his enthusiasm for the profession to our young engineers.
My students had a lot of fun and now want to be engineers when they grow up. They also realized it’s important to know math to be an engineer!
– Ewing Elementary
Javonni
In Spring of 2022, Javonni joined the J&D Mind Builders/Bricks 4 Kidz team. Her favorite part about working with B4K is fostering an environment where children are able to expand their confidence, creativity, and imagination through LEGO building! For her, it is most gratifying to see critical thinking and problem solving in full effect! A future goal of hers is to start a nonprofit and create a safe space for underprivileged youth where she can introduce a learning environment centered around technology. She envisions her program offering an introduction to coding, information technology, software development, and cybersecurity!
The creativity building at the end was a nice addition.
– Hamilton
Jordan
Jordan became a member of our J&D Mind Builders/ Bricks4Kidz family fall of 2023. He brings a love of Lego and enthusiasm for working with students. but what he really loves about working for B4K is that every day, with every new class he has the opportunity to learn about students’ different perspectives…along with learning the best strategies to teach in case they don’t pick up building as quickly as others. Jordan hopes to get multiple teaching credentials in single subject majors along with a counseling degree.
Connor
Connor is the latest edition to the J&D Mind Builder/ Bricks 4 Kidz team. He is currently a student at Fresno City College majoring in Mechanical Engineering. He loves science and math and working with kids. He is following in his family’s footsteps with a passion for teaching.
