Meet The Team
About
Our Journey
Once upon a time, there was a young high school student who felt like she wasn’t truly learning or growing, she lost her curiosity, she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life and she was only striving to maintain her good grades. Unfortunately, all her classmates were feeling the same.
One day, she asked herself: ‘ What if I stop blaming the Educational System and start looking for a solution? How can I improve the learning experience for young people in Romania? Can I do something? ‘
And so the journey began. She started exploring Traditional and Alternative Educational Systems around the world in hope of finding a school that puts students at the center of their learning, prioritizes learning to learn, learning to do, and learning to be instead of memorizing information, prepares young people for real-life challenges, forges strong character and most of all, is FUN and keeps students highly motivated.
In February 2020, she found Acton Academy and she attended an open house at Acton Academy Bucharest. She fell in love with it! It checked all the boxes!
One year later, she began to feel overwhelmed with opening a school all by herself. Fortunately, her father and one of her friends and mentor, energized by the mission of revolutionizing education in Timișoara, joined the team. A few months later, another friend was thrilled to take part in this journey.
So here they are. Looking forward to launching Acton Academy Timișoara in September 2021 together with every family that wants to keep the spark alive in their children’s eyes.
Rebeca Crăciun
Co-founder & Elementary Studio Guide
I am “the young high school student”. I am not a high school student anymore but I am still young and I am still learning. My educational background is in Computer Science and for the past years I’ve been involved in Education: I tutored children from low-income families in math, I was a Computer Science public school teacher, I was a volunteer in a school in Helsinki and I guided high school students with their preparation for the Baccalaureate Exam.
I decided to open this school with my future kids in mind. I believe that every child has a gift that can change the world in a profound way and I also believe that Acton is the place where they can discover those gifts while developing meaningful life skills and a strong character.
Daniel Tiriteu
Co-founder
I am “the father” from the story and the father of two wonderful grown-up daughters! I believe our children today are far more capable than we imagine and they deserve an educational environment tailored around their unique gifts and passion. With extensive experience in Human Resources, I see the growing cry of our labor market for a new type of education for our young people. High scores in school tests are less and less important while being very well prepared in the area they are passionate about, being responsible, having creative and mature thinking, learning continuously, and having good business acumen are already the new standards. My educational background is comprised of degrees in Computer Information Systems and Business Administration (MBA), both acquired in the United States
Radu Druța
Co-founder
I have been interested in education since graduating from my first University in Timișoara in 2001. I realized that I enjoy interacting with people and learning together with them. When I discovered the Socratic way of learning I was thrilled and noticed it had results. I take great pleasure when I help someone discover the truth by using good questions. Since becoming a husband and a father of three sons, I have started to ask myself about their education. I wondered how I could help them get a holistic type of education; how I could help them put into practice what they knew and how they could develop a good character based on healthy values and principles. The challenge of taking part in developing an educational system close to what I want has come to the right moment. I am delighted about what I have found out when doing research about Acton and my children and I can hardly wait to start the journey!
Jeff Sandefer
Advisor & Acton Academy Austin co-founder
Jeff is an entrepreneur and a Socratic teacher. As an entrepreneur, he began by starting his first company at age 16 and most recently sold Sandefer Capital, an energy investment firm with several billion dollars in assets. As a teacher, he cofounded the Acton School of Business, a school dedicated to America’s next generation of principled entrepreneurs and famous for its 100-hour workweeks. The Princeton Review has consistently ranked Acton’s teachers, students, and program among the best in the country. While at the University of Texas, Jeff’s students voted him the school’s Most Outstanding Teacher five times, and he was named by Businessweek as one of the top entrepreneurship professors in America. He also co-founded Acton Academy (Austin), where he is a middle school lead guide.
Laura Sandefer
Advisor & Acton Academy Austin co-founder
Laura is co-founder and head of school of Acton Academy (Austin). Raised by a science teacher and minister, Laura lived on both coasts and in between as a child and then landed at Vanderbilt University for her undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Science. After working in London and New York City in the aviation insurance business, Laura yearned to follow her heart into the world of teaching. She went back to Vanderbilt’s renowned Peabody College and received her Master of Education. This led her to work in arts education at the Oklahoma Arts Institute. Laura later married Jeff Sandefer and has two sons and a stepdaughter. It is the inspiration of these children that led Laura and Jeff to co-found Acton Academy.