An adept oil and watercolor painter who exhibits locally and at her church, Maili Malvre has been a freelance artist based out of Danville, California, since 1996. Earlier in her career, she served as an English teacher within the Pleasanton Unified School District from 1970 to 1996. Prior to the start of her career, she used to work in a department stores and trained young girls in sales and self-development, who served as an inspiration toward her desire to teach. She is most proud of being able to reach some very difficult students. She was able to reach them and teach them for a whole year, thus altering their lives. In addition to this tenure, Ms. Malvre served on the English Language Committee of the State of California in San Francisco from 1981 to 1984, to the specialist curriculum resource section of the Department of Education in Estonia from 1990 to 1994 and as a speaker in her field.
Born in Tallinn, Estonia, Ms. Malvre immigrated to the United States with her family in 1950 at the age of 14. Upon her arrival, she pursued a formal education at California State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1969. She then completed postgraduate coursework at the University of California Berkeley in 1972, as well as receiving a fine arts degree. Ms. Malvre went on to matriculate at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California, where she completed additional postgraduate coursework between 1972 and 1977.
Active in her local community, Ms. Malvre was a volunteer docent with the Tao House National Park Service in Danville from 1986 to 1989, which was the Monterey Colonial hillside home of America’s only Nobel Prize-winning playwright, Eugene O’Neill. She was also an art therapist at Guardian Rehabilitation Hospital, now the San Ramon Regional Medical Center, from 1996 to 2001, as well as a deacon with Peace Lutheran Church in Danville. Further extending her knowledge of events in the field, Ms. Malvre maintains involvement with the Alamo-Danville Artist Society and the Friends of Filoli.
In recognition of her many efforts, Ms. Malvre received the Excellence in Teaching Award from Dublin High School in California in 1985. Many years later, she was honored with the Volunteer Service Award from San Ramon Regional Medical Center in 2001. Today, Ms. Malvre resides in California with her loving husband of 63 years, Olavai, with whom she has raised three wonderful children, Kersti Anne, Astrid Merike and Erich Olavi. She has been known to enjoy studying history, writing, traveling, photography and reading in her spare time.
Ms. Malvre’s mentors throughout her career were Dr. Jack Conner and Frances Johnson. The factors or attributes that she feels have played a role in her success as an educator are her accolades from students, a big binder of student letters thanking her for being their teacher. She also has letters from the parents praising her for helping their children get into Ivy League schools by writing letters of recommendations for students. The advice that Ms. Malvre can offer to the next generation or others aspiring to work in her profession is patience, staying calm, being prepared and having courage.
