Meet the Garner Holt Education Through Imagination Team
The People Behind the Magic
A Message from Garner Holt
``For me, it's a dream come true.``
I wholeheartedly believe that much of my company’s success is attributed to my shop classes in high school and the teachers who recognized my interests, talents and passions. These teachers who provided me with the freedom and flexibility to learn in the way that I learned best, and allowed me to learn through real-world problems and projects that interested me; projects that fostered my creativity and imagination. This is the reason we’ve created Education through Imagination, an education company working to support the STEAM education and career exploration initiatives of districts, schools and classrooms.
I know we’ll continue to bring smiles, thrills, scares, and wonder to theme park guests worldwide. Now, we’re excited to work alongside educators with a goal of helping students discover their own interests, talents and passions through hands-on, real-world learning experiences. For me, it’s a dream come true.
Garner Holt
President of Garner Holt Productions
“Imagination, not just in the sense of creativity, but that students will be able to imagine a future brighter than the one they currently envision” – Garner L. Holt
Germaine Garcia-Kaufman
Executive Vice President of Business Development
Mrs. Germaine Garcia-Kaufman is a seasoned and passionate educator dedicated to transforming the educational landscape through a unique blend of business acumen and pedagogical expertise. With a bachelor’s degree in business, a master’s degree in education, and an MBA, Mrs. Garcia-Kaufman brings a wealth of knowledge and a multifaceted perspective to the field of education.
Boasting two decades of experience working with learners across the K-16 spectrum, she has consistently demonstrated a commitment to fostering academic success and personal growth. Her tireless efforts have been particularly focused on underserved youth and struggling school districts, where she has played a pivotal role in bridging educational gaps and creating opportunities for those who need it the most.
Driven by a passion for equitable education, Germaine has been a catalyst for positive change in struggling school districts. Through strategic planning, collaboration, and a relentless pursuit of excellence, she has successfully revitalized educational environments, leaving a lasting impact on both students and the community.
Germaine Garcia-Kaufman
Jillian Brown
Jillian Brown is the Educational Services Manager at Garner Holt Education through Imagination. Coming from a background in early childhood education, Jill provides a new perspective to the company on how to engage younger students in STEAM activities. She emphasizes the importance of hands-on learning and career exploration throughout the entire school experience. While developing new programs and products, she helps facilitate and customize programs to each individual school and their students. Jill directly works with schools, administration and teachers to build programs that suit the needs and interests of students of every background.
Jordan Greenstein
Jordan Greenstein is the Project Manager for Garner Holt Education through Imagination. Specializing in complex production designs, including lighting, sound and physical construction, Jordan brings a wealth of knowledge and experience for how to create dynamic environments in any setting, and for any occasion. Adding to our program offerings, Jordan facilitates courses in production design for educators as well, which educates and empowers teachers to become their school’s technical expert for all audio/visual necessities. In addition, Jordan serves as lead technician overseeing our animatronics for education and is responsible for ensuring each figure we create is functioning at an optimal level before arriving on a school campus.
Stevan Briceno
Stevan Briceno serves as the Director of Finance and Operations at Garner Holt Education through Imagination. With a degree in Business Administration and extensive experience in the education sector, Stevan brings a wealth of expertise in STEAM education, financial management, and operational efficiency. Stevan has successfully spearheaded several key initiatives, including the development of innovative STEAM programs that have significantly enhanced student engagement and learning outcomes. Committed to making STEAM education accessible to all students, Stevan is dedicated to fostering a culture of innovation and creativity for everyone.
Scott Nevin
Scott Nevin is a Creative Technologies Specialist for Garner Holt Education through Imagination. Self-taught in multiple disciplines, Scott brings incredible versatility in both traditional and modern fabrication techniques. Scott has more than 7 years of technical skills experience with electronics, coding, and animatronics. Moreover, Scott possesses high levels of artistic skill in painting, woodworking, and mold making. With a lifelong passion for animatronics, Scott assists in the development of educational projects designed to teach animatronic fundamentals up to advanced animatronic projects to both students and educators. In addition to product design and development, Scott is an expert in our makerspace machinery and equipment, educating all levels of students and teachers about their use for creating engaging new projects and lesson plans.
Jose Gomez
Jose Gomez brings a wealth of experience in small business operations, project management, and leadership to his role as a Business Analyst at Garner Holt Education Through Imagination. Passionate about driving growth and operational excellence, Jose is excited to contribute to the STEAM field and inspire his community to engage with science, technology, engineering, art, and math. His diverse background equips him to take on a variety of projects that will help the organization thrive.
Ayin Alicea
Ayin Alicea is a Concept Design Artist for Garner Holt Education Through Imagination. Working in collaboration with the Animakerspace team, they design and 3D model new makerspaces for schools and organizations. Using their background in architectural design, Ayin works with clients to design a space suited to their needs. Working in collaboration with the Creative Learning team Ayin works with students in camps and field trips; using their skills in traditional art, prop making, 3D design, and physical modeling to aid, educate, and inspire students in these programs. Additionally, Ayin assists in educational projects and software designed to teach educators the fundamentals of animatronics.
Neivi Vizcarra
Neivi Vizcarra is an accountant for Garner Holt Education through Imagination. She is a dedicated and detail-oriented professional who uses her expertise and knowledge to contribute to the dynamic organization. My goal is to assist Garner Holt Education through Imagination in achieving their financial objectives while continuously learning and growing in my role.
Lauren Lopez
Lauren specializes in fostering student engagement through career exploration and innovative STEAM education. She leverages her expertise in sales, client management, and creative problem-solving to promote and book field trips, camps, and immersive educational experiences.
Lauren’s ability to connect educators with impactful programs creates hands-on learning opportunities that inspire students and align with educational goals. Dedicated to collaboration and excellence, she is passionate about empowering young minds through transformative education.
Lauren’s ability to connect educators with impactful programs creates hands-on learning opportunities that inspire students and align with educational goals. Dedicated to collaboration and excellence, she is passionate about empowering young minds through transformative education.
Yuliana Gonzalez
Yuliana Gonzalez is the Warehouse Manager for Garner Holt Education through Imagination. With a keen and expert ability to manage a vast system of products and parts, Yuliana ensures our customers receive the correct products, on time, and in the highest quality condition. Moreover, extensive organization and materials management is necessary for our field trip and offsite assembly programs, which Yuliana directly supports in her role as well. Yuliana is also a critical member of the Garner Holt AniMakerspace installation team and is responsible for the acquisition, preparation and quality control of materials included in the physical construction and aesthetics of each environment we create.
Greg Rienstra
Greg Rienstra is the Facilities and Makerspace Foreman for Garner Holt Education Through Imagination. His background in the construction industry extends more than 37 years and covers both residential and commercial construction. Greg's range of experience in project management and facilities management along with traditional and CAD drafting knowledge bring a valuable skillset to the Animakerspace design and build process. His background and knowledge of the industry also sets a high standard of quality and safety for all of our installation projects here at Education Through Imagination.
Chuck Taylor
Chuck Taylor is a Creative Technologies Specialist for Garner Holt Education Through Imagination, specializing in support of machine and equipment installation and maintenance for our AnimakerSpace customers and in-house labs. He also helps train school and district staff on the proper use of 3D printers, laser engravers, CNC and conventional lathe and milling equipment as well as associated software. Chuck has 4 years’ classroom experience teaching in a STEM environment as well as traditional manufacturing training experience that he draws on when working with students during on-site classes and camps. He is a professional level user of Solidworks, Mastercam CAD/CAM and CorelDraw software packages. Chuck has a background in construction, automotive mechanics and has previously worked with a NASCAR racing team
Aaron Phillips
Aaron Phillips is the Shipping & Receiving Coordinator at Garner Holt Education through Imagination. Aaron brings fifteen years of experience in shipping, receiving and supply chain logistics experience to the ETI team. Aaron specializes in servicing our Maker Pantry and AniMaker Space customers as well as Education Through Imagination retail store orders.
JC Mariscal
JC Mariscal is a Creative Technologies Specialist for Garner Holt Education through Imagination. He is a visionary at the intersection of technology and creativity. With a background in Virtual Reality (VR) development, 3D art, and film, JC is always pushing the boundaries of immersive experiences. As a VR developer, he crafts realistic environments, while his 3D art seamlessly blends technical precision with aesthetic brilliance. In the world of film, JC is a storyteller and visual artist, creating cinematic masterpieces that captivate audiences. Committed to innovation, JC continues to shape the future of technology-driven creativity, bringing dreams to life across education and STEAM.
Vivian Alvarado
Vivian Alvarado is a Creative Technologies Specialist specializing in Manufacturing Tools, Graphic/3D Design, and Video Production. She represents the culmination of S.T.E.A.M learning process. Being part of the animakerspace herself has helped guide her into choosing her career path as a current undergraduate student at University of California Riverside pursuing her Bachelors in Robotics Engineering. Vivian now helps train the next generation of students in S.T.E.A.M learning.
Jeremy Bishop
Jeremy Bishop is a Creative Learning Specialist supporting both in-person and virtual instruction and factory tours for Garner Holt Education Through Imagination. He brings to ETI a varied background of traditional fabrication skills from the movie, special effects and toy design industries along with digital skills in photo editing, animation, robotics, educational software, web design and coding. Drawing from this wide palette of skills, he helps guide his team and encourage scholars through creative S.T.E.A.M. problem-solving with the goal of inspiring curious minds towards previously unconsidered possibilities. Jeremy is a life-long learner who finds inspiration in the combination of technology and art, a meeting point which is at the root of animatronics and the themed attraction industry.
Dara DeVicariis
Dara DeVicariis is a Creative Learning Specialist for Garner Holt Education Through Imagination. Her passion is introducing future generations to S.T.E.A.M. education with career education through exploration into the magic of animatronics, storytelling and creativity through in-person and virtual instruction. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and Communications from La Sierra University where she also got her teaching credential and a master’s degree in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Development from Walden University. With 19 years of classroom teaching, primarily in the Science subjects, before retiring from the classroom, Dara has a unique perspective on the needs of students and teachers and brings that Garner Holt Education Through Imagination in developing engaging, hands-on lesson plans. She also has 20 years of FIRST Robotics coaching experience which drives her passion for S.T.E.M. education and development and to inspire everyone to develop their creative and technical skills in and out of the classroom.
Let's inspire the new generation
and shape the future of learning
and shape the future of learning
together