James M.S. Johnson – Board Member

James M.S. Johnson was born and raised in Norwalk, CT. He moved to Ft. Myers Beach, FL in 1967. Presently, James lives in Englewood, FL with his wife Eva. James possesses over forty years of experience working as a carpenter, with further knowledge in a variety of building and marine construction disciplines. James is also an avid hiker and singer. James and Eva are long-distance backpackers who walked from GA to ME on the Appalachian Trail in 2005, and hope to complete the last 600 (of 2,650) miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in 2010.One of his other favorite pastimes is singing Nicaraguan folk songs while sharing time with friends in Nagarote.

James met Louise Brunberg at a World Peace Day observance at a church in Sarasota on New Year’s Day, 2008, and soon joined her on a visit to Nagarote only two weeks later. Thus began James’s own mission to help improve the school using his own talents. James’s first project at School of Louise’s Dreams was to build a set of cubbies, where the students now store their belongings, and an expansive set of shelves, were the teachers now store their Montessori materials. James has continued his hard work during frequent visits, installing a water-security system at the school using large water tanks, building a chimney for the kitchen, delivering water barrels to families, and doing all other odd-ends that the school needs.

James is sometimes referred to by his Nicaraguan friends as, Hijo de Luisa, or, son of Louise, and hopes that he can help to strengthen The Right to Learn going into the future. James has been steadily improving his Spanish by conversing with friends while visiting Nagarote. He hopes someday to return the favor by establishing an adult education program to enable people to study English during evening classes at the school.