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	Nina Baginski, Support Staff nbaginski@cntrmail.org Nina has been working at the IRC for 15 years. She is responsible for all record keeping of district workshops and register courses in other locations. Her skill in the Polish language and culture are used in our multicultural presentations. Karen Beeman, Education Specialist Specialty: Dual Language, Instructional strategies, Parental involvment, Program Development, Spanish Literacy kbeeman@cntrmail.org Born and raised in Mexico City, Karen first came to live in the U.S. as a freshman in college. Prior to working at the IRC, Karen was a bilingual teacher in Chicago and later became the principal of a dual language Catholic school in Chicago where she served for seven years. As Principal, Karen designed and implemented a dual language program, created parental involvement opportunities, obtained accreditation from NAEYC for the school’s pre-school, developed a fundraising program, provided professional development for teachers, wrote curriculum with teachers, and created literacy programs for families. Most recently, Karen supervised and taught practicing bilingual teachers at the University of Illinois where she also managed a federal grant promoting collaboration among bilingual and monolingual teachers. Karen has a Masters’ Degree in Instructional Leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Caroline Bohlander, Education Specialist Specialty: Sheltered Instruction, Instructional Strategies cbohlander@cntrmail.org Caroline has been a bilingual educator for over twenty-five years. Before coming to the IRC, she taught English as a Foreign Language in Mexico City, served as coordinator of the high school bilingual education program for District 218 in Oak Lawn, English as a Second Language curriculum developer and classroom instructor and bilingual science teacher. She has a C.A.S. in Educational Administration and Supervision from National Louis University and a double M.A. in TESOL and Intercultural Education from the Universidad de las Americas in Mexico. Caroline's interests are sheltered instruction, 4-12 instructional strategies, and differentiation. Mary Devadas, Support Staff mdevadas@cntrmail.org Mary has been at the IRC for five years. She is responsible for workshop and conference record keeping and tuition. She is principal data entry person for the IRC mailing list. She also participates in our multicultural presentations. Louisa Finnberg, Editor/Support Staff lfinnberg@cntrmail.org Louisa (a.k.a. Luigi) has been at the IRC for over 28 years and is responsible for production and editing of brochures and programs for various IRC services and events. Jeanette Gordon, Education Specialist Specialty: Differentiated Instruction and ESL Methods and Materials jgordon@cntrmail.org Jeanette came to the IRC with a variety of professional educational experiences, including coordinating the ESL services for a K – 12 bilingual program in San Jose, Costa Rica. She has worked with immigrants in community agencies, served as a bilingual counselor, and taught ESL and sheltered content classes at the secondary level. Jeanette received her Master’s in Education at Northern Illinois University. Her focus and interests are sheltered ESL instruction, differentiated instruction, secondary bilingual education, and ESL materials. Recently, Jeanette developed the “Give Me Five” instructional planning framework which is designed to help teachers plan differentiated instruction for a wide range of diverse learners. Margo Gottlieb, Director of Assessment and Evaluation Specialty: Assessment and Evaluation mgottlieb@cntrmail.org Margo has a Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a specialization in evaluation, research, and program design. She has been a bilingual/ESL teacher, coordinator, and curriculum writer. Before coming to the center, she worked for the Chicago Public Schools and School District U-46, Elgin. Margo has authored several articles and books and has served as consultant to various states, organizations, and publishers. She is a member of various national and state task forces and expert panels. Her focus at IRC is development of tools for assessment and evaluation. Else Hamayan, Former Director, Illinois Resource Center ehamayan@cntrmail.org Else served as director of the IRC from 1982 until January 2006, when she moved permanently to Argentina. Else is currently collaborating on a handbook on bilingual special education. Else has extensive teaching, research, and administrative experience in bilingual education and second language teaching and learning. She has done teacher training internationally for ESL, bilingual and EFL teachers on issues of language and culture education. Else has a Ph.D. in Psycholinguistics from McGill University and has written extensively on topics of assessment, literacy, second language acquisition and holistic teaching approaches. Her publications include Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education is a research based, practical guide for dual language teachers which she co-authored with Nancy Cloud and Fred Genesee. Most recently, Else co-edited English Language Learners: A Guide for Administrators with Rebecca Freeman. John F. Hilliard, Education Specialist and DualU Project Coordinator Specialty: Dual Language and Technology for ELLs jhilliard@cntrmail.org John came to Illinois from New York, where he received his master’s at the University of New York at Buffalo. After he was named the New York State bilingual teacher of the year in 1991, John received a scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Education to study children’s literature in Madrid. At IRC, John specializes in dual language program model development and instruction, native language literacy, and technology integration in second language classrooms. John also serves as the instructional coordinator for the Center for Teaching and Learning, a project that helps teachers use and integrate educational technology in their classrooms. Pam Ihle, Conference/Exhibit Coordinator pihle@cntrmail.org Pam is the office manager and assistant to the president of The Center. Her responsiblities include conference and event planning and coordination of exhibits. She has been with The Center for over 20 years. John Kibler, Education Specialist Speciality: Intercultural Relations and Multicultural Issues jkibler@cntrmail.org John returns to the IRC after a five year hiatus as the director of English-as-a-Second-Language for the Zarem/Golde ORT Technical Institute in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago that specializes in preparing new immigrants and refugee adults for the world of work. Prior to working at the IRC, he has served as an educational consultant for the InterAmerica Midwest Multifunctional Resource Center that served as one of the fifteen regional centers in the federal educational assistance system for bilingual and ESL education, as well as the original executive director of Chicago’s office of A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE, a national collaborative, multicultural and anti-bias education program for school and communities. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies from Northwestern University and a Masters in Adult and Continuing Education from National Louis University, and is a certified training consultant with the Intercultural Communication Institute in Portland, OR. He specializes in intercultural relations, cross cultural education, immigrant and refugee acculturation, and multicultural literature for children and young adults. Barbara Marler, Education Specialist and Project READWELL Coordinator Specialty: Program Development & Improvement, Special Education, Assessment bmarler@cntrmail.org Barbara is certified in general elementary education, ESL education and special education and has a Master's Degree in Administration and Supervision from National-Louis University. Barbara has more than 25 years of experience in bilingual/ ESL education. She taught grades pre-K through 8 in Community Consolidated School District 21 in Wheeling/Buffalo Grove, served as a Title VII Director, and was the Bilingual/ESL/Foreign Language Director for Community Consolidated School District 15 in Palatine . Barbara's focus and areas of interest include the issues of program development & improvement, special education and language minority students, training of new and veteran administrators and assessment. She also manages Project READWELL, a Title III professional development grant. Recently, Barbara coauthored a book with Else Hamayan, Cristina Sanchez-Lopez and Jack Damico titled Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners: Delivering a Continuum of Services. Tammy Marrah, Education Specialist and Project QUILL Coordinator Specialty: Program Development and Improvement tmarrah@cntrmail.org Tammy came to the IRC from East Maine District 63, a district where over 50 different languages are spoken in 80% of students’ homes. Most recently she served as the district’s TPI/TBE program director, managing a program that served over five hundred students daily in seven different buildings. She has worked as a building ESL resource teacher, an intermediate grade bilingual teacher, and also has several years of experience in adult ESL instruction. Tammy has a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership/School Leadership from Northeastern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with a concentration in Spanish from DePaul University. She also studied for a semester at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán in México. Her interests include: program design and improvement – especially in multilingual settings, and districts with small numbers of ELLS, and assessment. Lewis Cardenas , Education Specialist lcardenas@cntrmail.org Lewis coordinates the Bilingual Transition to Teaching Program, a federally funded program that provides tuition and professional support to individuals who are leaving other careers to become bilingual teachers. Cristina Sanchez-Lopez, Education Specialist Specialty: Biliteracy and Math clopez@cntrmail.org Cristina taught English as a Foreign Language for five years in Mexico. Before coming to IRC, she taught in the bilingual program at the middle school level in Wheeling where she and her mainstream colleagues developed an innovative program model which integrated bilingual and mainstream students. Cristina graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University and has completed studies at the Universidad de las Américas in Mexico in Applied Linguistics. Her focus and main interests are bilingualism and biliteracy, literacy across the curriculum, early biliteracy development, middle school math, and parent involvement. Nora Sandoval, Support Staff nsandoval@cntrmail.org Nora is responsible for course and workshop registration, information maintenance for the Dual U Teacher Training Curriculum, and takes care of staff travel. Nora has started some consulting work with the parents in the districts. She will support the IRC in all conferences and upcoming projects. Previously, Nora worked with deLacey Family Education Center in District # 300. She is also a former International Latin Ballroom competitor and champion. In her spare time, she enjoys teaching Latin dancing to children and adults. Hanka Szymborski, Registrar Specialty: Polish Translation hszymborski@cntrmail.org Hanka is the registrar for IRC coursework. She coordinates the summer programs in Poland and teaches Polish as a Second Language. Cheryl Urow, Education Specialist Specialty: Dual language curow@cntrmail.org Cheryl comes to the IRC with experience as both an educational consultant and dual language classroom teacher. She has her Master's Degree in Educational Leadership, with an emphasis on bilingual education, from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has taught in dual language programs both in Chicago and the suburbs. As a consultant for the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C., Cheryl developed and presented workshops for dual programs throughout the country. Prior to her work in this country, she worked with the Ministry of Education in Costa Rica to restructure teacher training for Costa Rican teachers of English. Her interests are dual language education, multicultural children's literature, and differentiation in the classroom. Sue Wagner, Education Specialist Specialty: Transitioning ELLs and Literacy swagner@cntrmail.org As a bilingual educator for more than 25 years, Sue has taught English as a Second Language, served as coordinator of a high school bilingual program, and was the Title VII Director in School District U-46. Sue has a Ph.D. in Curriculum Planning from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her areas of concentration include sheltered ESL, bilingual/ESL program development, transitioning LEP students into the mainstream, and parent/family involvement. Adela Weinstein, Education Specialist aweinstein@cntrmail.org Adela was raised and educated in Montevideo, Uruguay. She has a BA in Spanish Education from Roosevelt University and a Master's in Educational Administration from Chicago State University. Adela has been a bilingual and ESL teacher, and a coordinator in Chicago. She worked for ISBE for many years, most recently as principal education consultant in the Division of English Language Learning. Adela brings to the IRC expertise in the areas of program development, legislation, and teacher certification, as they pertain to the education of English language learners. Josie Yanguas, Director, Illinois Resource Center Specialty: Advocacy jyanguas@cntrmail.org Josie became the director of the Illinois Resource Center in February 2006. Prior to this assignment, she had worked at the IRC in various capacities, including coordinating the annual state bilingual conference and various Title III projects. She also worked as a consultant for the Chicago Public Schools. Josie has a Master’s in Education from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (Education, Culture, and Society Division). Josie has served on the IAMME Executive Board since 1990 in varying capacities, most currently as public relations officer. Josie’s areas of interest and focus are policies and programs related to bilingual education, foundations of bilingual education, and dual language programming. Jim Zabel, NCLB Conference Coordinator jzabel@cntrmail.org Jim has an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has done post-doctoral studies at Harvard University Graduate School of Education. He provides technical assistance and training for all K-12 School-Based Learn and Serve Programs in Illinois. He is also the editor of the Learn and Serve in Illinois newsletter. His current responsibilities also included coordination of the No Child Left Behind Conference. Before joining the IRC he was Vice-President of Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa. ©2002 Illinois Resource Center, 2626 Clearbrook Drive, Arlington Heights, Illinois 60005-4626 Phone 224-366-8555, Fax 847-649-0551