The Shaka Squad
Estefania Holt
Estefania Holt is the founder, primary surf instructor and board member of Shaka Soul Surfers. She is a 27 year old special needs teacher. She has worked with special needs for 9 years now. She has worked at non profit special needs school, Super School, for 7 years. She has volunteered at Surfers for Autism and Special Olympics as a surf instructor! Estefania is the daughter of Carl Nichols, a Puerto Rican semi professional soul surfer. She grew up surfing and it runs in her blood. The reason she created this school was to give her special needs students and her loved ones the same opportunity she did growing up. Nothing compares to the calming therapy you get from being on a board. Estefania is CPR and PCM (Professional Crisis Management) certified. She is also seizure and behaviorally trained.
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Carl Nichols
Carl Jose Nichols is the co-founder, primary surf instructor, board member, and food and equipment manager at Shaka Soul Surfers. He is natural soul surfer from Bayamón, Puerto Rico. He is a board member. He started surfing in 1969 at age 11. Carlitos fell in love with the longboard. He inspired many surfers to use longboard. In 1977, he moved to Hawaii to surf for 3 years. He has surfed almost all the spots in Puerto Rico such as Machuca, Tubes, Marias, Domes, Sheraton, LaPunta, La Ocho, Airplanes etc... In 1987, he moved to Florida and has surfed the entire Florida coast from Diana Beach to Stuart Beach. He considers himself a soul surfer! He advises every surfer to stay in the water and continue surfing, to enjoy surfing that is not to compete with each other or have rivalries. He says that as long as there are waves and until he can keep surfing "forever."
He has been featured in the Puerto Rico SurfBoard Magazine: https://surfboardmagazinepr.com/carlitos-nichols-leyenda-del-surfing-de-pr/ |
Daniela Montealegre
Daniela Montealegre is a special needs specialist and board member of Shaka Soul Surfers. She loves to help typical and special needs children in any way she can. She has been a special education teacher for the past 10 years. When she is not working, she loves to spend her time volunteering. She has volunteered with mutliple companies including Surfers for Autism, Autism of the Seas, and IVHQ. Daniela has her masters from Lynn University in special education, ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) certification, ESE (Exceptional Student Education) certification, elementary certification. Daniela is also certified in CPR/First Aid and PCM (Professional Crisis Management).
Mitchell Holt
Mitchell is a board member and financial director of Shaka Soul Surfers. He is 28 years old. He is proud to help his wife, Estefania, with Shaka Soul Surfers. He volunteers on the weekends as an instructor and enjoys surfing with the students. Mitchell has always been athletic and enjoyed playing sports like football, soccer and basketball. Thanks to Estefania, Mitchell has been exposed to surfing and her special needs community which he enjoys immensely. Mitchell looks forward to the growth and success of Shaka Soul Surfers.
Kiera Martin
Kiera Martin is the co-founder, primary surf instructor, board member and special needs specialist of Shaka Soul Surfers. Kiera is a board member. Kiera was a special needs teacher. She has worked with special needs for 8 years. She previously worked at a non profit special need school with Estefania and Daniela. Kiera is CPR and lifeguard certified. She is also seizure and behaviorally trained.
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Ishani
Stella Mancini
Stella Mancini is one of our high school volunteer coordinators for Shaka Soul Surfers. She is 18 year old student at St. Thomas Aquinas High School and has worked with the Shaka Soul Surfers for over a year now. Stella has a special needs brother with a rare disability. Stella is passionate about kids/adults with disabilities. She has volunteered her whole life at her brother's school Super School. Stella is highly knowledgable about disabilities and wants to pursue a degree in special education. Stella has won Shaka Soul Surfers Volunteer Award of 2021 for her constant dedication to the school and kids. She is CPR certified.
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Bob Thompson
Bob Thompson is the father of Estefania Holt. Bob is one of our head photographers and board member. He has done photography for as long as he can remember. Bob has been a proud supporter of Shaka Soul Surfers from DAY ONE. He was apart of the first lesson in 2019. As part of the package of the lessons, they are provided with photos of their surfer in every lesson. Bob takes the time out of his weekend to capture the wipeouts, smiles, laughs and wave catching of each surfer and gives it to the parents as a gift.
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Josefine Majdoch
Josefine Majdoch is one of our high school volunteer coordinators for Shaka Soul Surfers. She is 16 year old student at Coral Springs High School and has worked with the Shaka Soul Surfers for over a year now. When she started, she volunteered and became so passionate about the surfing, She started surfing all the time. Josefine loves to spend all of her weekends volunteering and adores working with the kids of all types of ages and disabilities. She was promoted from a volunteer to a surf instructor and teaches the volunteers how to coach and manage the kids and boards.. Josefine has a love for the sport, which makes the experience all the better as she is passionate in her work. Josefine is CPR certified. Josefine has won Shaka Soul Surfers Volunteer Award of 2021 for her constant dedication to the school and kids.
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Scott D
Scott is our other Head Photographer and Social Media Coordinator. He happily contributes his decades of creative experience in photography and brand development toward helping to promote Shaka Soul Surfers across the social media platforms. His passions are his wife, their pups, his work, and traveling. Since retiring from Corporate America in 2009 and embarking on his entrepreneurial journey, volunteering with Shaka has been one of his most important endeavors.
Scott's message: “This community of staff, surfers, and parents alike, inspire me each and every session since I started volunteering with Shaka in 2021. They rekindle that spark within my soul of gratitude, kindness, pure joy, and intense tenacity. Being raised in a family with special needs relatives and friends, and being married to a Doctor of Learning Science who’s devoted her life to child development across the spectrum, the mission and vision of Shaka Soul Surfers holds a special place in my heart. I love what I do, and getting to photograph for Shaka and coordinate their content/branding/etc. is an absolute blessing. Since day one, I’ve felt like family, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be a part of this incredible community. The bonds I’ve made with the kids, volunteers, parents, and organizers alike will last a lifetime. See you all on the sand (and in the waves)!” |