Management Board

Members of the CES-to Board with the school banner

The Christian English School of Torino (CES-to) is a non-profit association recognized by the Italian government with the legal name being “Associatione Christian English School of Torino E.T.S. (ente di terzo settore)”.  In the Start-up Phase of the school, the Board has been meeting monthly to provide direction and planning for a strong initial foundation for CES-to.  Once the school begins, the Board intends to operate using the principles of “Policy Governance”.  

The Board consists of between three and seven members consisting of diverse members of the Christian community, including parents, partner churches, and other members of the Christian community.  The current management board includes the following, all of whom also served on the Task Team which was involved in the development of the Feasibility Study:

Paul Meiburger, President

Paul and Janice Meiburger moved to Torino, Italy in 2000 with their two teenage daughters, and served for many years as the pastor of the Il Rifugio evangelical Christian church in Torino. Paul and his wife home-schooled their two daughters until the time of their move to Torino. Paul is also an engineer and owner of a small environmental and safety consulting firm in the United States. Realizing the value of Christian Education and the importance of the church, as well as the benefits of having good cross-cultural and linguistic skills, for the past seven years one of their passions has been to start a Christian English school in Torino that is very family- and church-oriented, with the goal of preparing the next generation to effectively bring Biblical truths and life-styles to the post-Christian cultures of Italy and Europe.

Picture of Paul and Janice Meiburger

Eliseo Guadagno, Vice President and Paula Avila, Secretary

Eliseo and Paola (Avila) Guadagno are passionate about discipleship and mentorship as they serve persecuted Christians through ACP (Assisting Persecuted Christians, www.avc-en.org, www.acp-it.org).  Eliseo serves as the Coordinator of Northern Italy Activities, collaborating with community leaders and exploring opportunities to offer intentional care for refugees and needy people. They also work with international churches to host short-term mission teams who help and care for families through various service ministries and sport camps, and they also lead teams of Italians to serve in missions globally. 

Eliseo and Paola met over 25 years ago while serving with Operation Mobilization on the MV Doulos missionary ship, and currently have three teenage / adult children. Paula is a trained psychologist who plans and coordinates special events, Bible studies and camps for children, youth and families. She also coordinates with churches in the Gift Box initiative which provides help and good news to children, elderly, and families in poverty. Paola’s concern for education is evident as she coordinates “Moms in Prayer” in two regions of Italy. She also teaches with the Entrust ministry, training believers to better serve in their ministries. Through her church, she helps coordinate cell groups and serves the community through Biblical Counselling.

Lucas Sauza, Treasurer

Lucas and Ruth (Vettoretti) Souza are currently attending the International Church of Torino where Lucas is serving on the leadership team for the church. Before this, they also served at the Il Rifugio Christian Evangelical Church as a teacher and helping lead the music ministry. Lucas and Ruth were born and raised in Brazil and moved to Italy in 2018 because of Lucas’ work in the refrigeration industry. Ruth is also an Italian citizen because of her Italian heritage. Lucas lived in the UK as a teenager with his family, and studied Industrial Engineering and Business Administration in Brazil. 

Picture of Lucas and Rith

Ruth is raising their two young children and when time allows, loves to be involved in Bible Studies with various women in Torino.  She is passionate about being together with and serving young women, on a one-to-one basis. Lucas and Ruth both attended a Christian school in Brazil and have much interest and passion in providing a similar Christian-based educational experience for families in Torino. They currently have two children, Giosua (2 years old) and Caleb (less than 1).

Scott and Tasha Jones, Board Consultants and Advisors

Scott and his wife Tasha have been involved in education for many years. Tasha home-schooled their two children for a number of years, and Scott has worked as an educator on various levels, and also as an education administrator. Scott received Bachelor degrees in theology and history from John Brown University in Arkansas; studied law and earned a J.D. from the University of Colorado; earned a Master’s degree in political science from the University of Arkansas, and also a PhD in history from Swansea University in Wales. In his professional life, Scott served as an assistant professor at John Brown University, during which he and his wife led multiple study tours in Italy and Ireland, as well as a mission trip to Italy. 

Later, Scott and Tasha served at Hinkson Christian Academy in Moscow, Russia, Tasha as a secretary, administrator, and teacher, Scott as a teacher and then becoming the school president. They have recently moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland to work as the program director and food service coordinator for the study programs that John Brown University operates there.

Scott and Tasha are passionate about Christian education. When asked about this passion, Scott said “It is driven by the Apostle Paul’s idea of ‘taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.’ In reality, this is Paul’s way of restating the Old Testament idea of ‘training up a child in the way he should go’ or even the command given by God to the Jews to talk to their children about the Law throughout the day, in a variety of settings/activities. When schools became more common in the nineteenth century, the cultural context in which they operated was largely Christian. Families could afford to entrust their children to these schools, knowing that the curriculum being used began at much the same intellectual starting place. That is not the case today. We cannot rely on public schools to train our children in the way they should go. Nor can we depend on one or two hours per week at church to undo the 30 to 40 hours of weekly instruction they are receiving from an educational system that is neutral at best, and outright hostile to Christianity in many instances. We need Christian schools to help train our children in a Christian context to think Christian thoughts, and to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”