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NCLB Faculty

Erica Andrade Esperance
Adult Education Coordinator, El Centro, INC.
Erica graduated from J.C. Harmon High School in 1996 where she went on to KU and graduated with a B.A. in Latin American Studies in May of 2001. Since then she has worked with El Centro, Inc., a non profit agency in Kansas City, KS working mainly with the Latino immigrant population. As the Adult Education Coordinator Erica is responsible for the agency's ESL, GED and SSL programs. Erica's strengths in working with the youth is that she is a product of an inner city public school and graduated from a high school that now has a graduation rate around 30-35%. She has experienced the life that many of the minority youths of today are going through and that is what has given her the desire to help and promote the work needed to make NCLB work.

Rosa Aranda
High School Equivalency Program Coordinator
As an undergraduate in Social Work, Rosa has counseled and referred many families to community agencies. As a social worker in Mexico, Rosa worked specifically in the area of housing with low income families. In the United States, she has worked with adults in the areas of GED, ESL and ABE. In these work opportunities Rosa has had, she has been able to help youth and adults succeed by overcoming barriers. Rosa says it is a very rewarding feeling.

Tony Barajas
Parent
Bio coming soon!

Paula Barr
1st Grade Teacher
Paula currently tracks 1st grade at Hillcrest Elementary School in Lawrence, KS. Hillcrest is the ESL school for the Lawrence district. About half of the school population comes from more than 30 countries. Paula has taught first grade for 22 years in 2 districts and 4 different schools. Paula has a passion for teaching literacy to beginning readers. She also enjoys sharing that knowledge of beginning literacy instruction with other educators.

Patsy Beadle
ESL teacher
As a 30 year Kansas teacher, Patsy has a calling to serve families and students of her community. Creating bridges between the established community and the newer diverse populations, i.e. her longtime friends and her new friends, will provide each group a voice and forum to express themselves and become involved in the learning community.

Tammy Becker
Principal
Tammy has spent the last 19 years in education as a teacher and school administrator. Her most recent position has been the building principal in the Lawrence School District. Tammy's building is the ESL elementary cluster site for the district where currently over 40% of the students are English Language Learners from 30 different countries.Tammy is currently working on her ESL endorsement though Kansas State University with 25 members of her staff.

Ana De Los Santos
Home Liaison/ Production
Ana, 26, was born in Ecuador. Not only is Ana a single mom with two children, a boy 5 years of age and a girl 6 years, but she is working 2 jobs. Ana is thrilled to be involved with this NCLB training group because now she knows there are people that really care about the minority groups.

Dr. Robert Fanning

Bio coming soon!

Sharon Fincham
Grant Coordinator
Sharon has been a classroom teacher for 26 years working with students in 1st – 4th grades. Sharon was a KSU clinical instructor working with teacher training at KSU and the Manhattan schools. After getting her ESL endorsement from KSU, she began teaching ESL students and is now a grant coordinator.

Sabina Hacker
Assistant Principal
Sabina has been involved in Education for 20 years. She has worked in a bi-lingual school foreign language – ESL population, taught K-8 and was an advocate for parents on every grade level. Sabina has also worked in the Hispanic Community serving on the board of LULAC-MANA: youth activities.

Amy Harris
Writing Teacher
Amy is currently working as a writing teacher (P1 – 4th) at Garfield Elementary School in Garden City, Kansas. She enjoys working with students as they experience the writing process and stages. Amy is a live-long learner who is always searching for new ideas and techniques to help students achieve. Amy tries to encourage 100% participation, support each child’s interest, and encourage daily writing.

Liz Hernandez
Counselor
Liz is currently in her 25th year of education in the Kansas City Kansas school district, USD 500. She began her career as a Title I remedial reading and math teacher. After 4 years Liz began teaching kindergarten. She taught Kindergarten for 8 years and is now in her 13th year of counseling at Argentine Middle School. Liz is married and has two children, a daughter in 8th grade and a son in 5th grade.

Dr. Socorro Herrera

Bio coming soon!

Michele Hockett
Parent
Michele is a parent of an 8 year old little boy who has ADHD with a mood disorder. She has learned to fight for the rights of children who have some learning difficulties and is learning to demand services from her local Mental Health office. Michele feels she is a very patient and understanding person which has been helpful in dealing with a very “High Spirited Little Boy.” Michele is open to all information in helping her child succeed and to helping other families.

LaShell Jimenez
Parent

Bio coming soon!

Joyce Jones
Parent
Joyce is the mother of three children. Her thirteen year old son has ADHD. Joyce joined the NCLB Institute to find out more information for her son and to help her child to succeed in all his classes at school. Joyce hopes she can share what she learns and tell other parents about this research.

Jacqueline Keosybounheuang
Education Specialist
Jacquie graduated in 1990 from the Catholic University in Paraguay with a degree in Education Psychology. She has had the opportunity to work with children and family with learning problems in private practice, and in education at a university level as a TA. Then, Jacquie came to the US to pursue a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology. Currently, Jacquie works with adults(mostly Spanish speakers) who are working in order to obtain their GED. Jacquie feels this is both rewarding and challenging at the same time.

John Kriss, J.D., LSCSW
Social Worker
John works as a liaison between students, staff, parents and outside agencies to help provide and ensure a positive educational experience. While his main focus is working with the special education program, John also assists regular education students to achieve their goals and to meet their needs.

Sharon Mafort
Parent
Sharon is a life long resident of Junction City, Kansas who has a 6 year old son with bipolar disorder. Currently Sharon is working as a Parent Assistance Specialist for Keys for Networking, Inc. Sharon enjoys helping parents, schools, and other agencies to work together to ensure that children with SED are getting not only the services they need, but the services they deserve, including education.

Connie Murray
Foster Mother
Connie is a foster mother of 6 years who understands working with children who have mental illness and behavioral problems. Connie feels that each time a child is placed it is a new experience and challenge. Connie strongly believes a 30 day screening process and evaluation is very important. It is a challenge living with four new children each time a placement is done.

Jemima Nava
Parent
Jemima came to the NCLB Institute as a parent representative. She is the mother of a 9 year old girl. Jemima is working on her ESL. Jemima and her husband are working hard on English as a second language.

Yolanda Nunez
Associate Director / Instructor
Yolly has been in the field of education for 16 years. The first 12 of these years was spent teaching elementary aged children and working with parents of diverse learners on the border of Mexico. Yolly has worked as a bilingual consultant and district writing specialist before arriving at Kansas State University to be an instructor, teacher trainer and associate director for the ESL/Dual language program. Yolly's approach to NCLB comes from the perspective of parent, teacher and university trainer. What she enjoys most is working with individual who make a difference in the lives of children.

Lori Oden
MSW Intern, Bachelor in science special education.
Lori is a foster parent with 17 years experience in working with children with mental illness, developmental disabilities, PTSD and other health impairments. Lori is also an educational advocate and parent advocate within her community. Currently, Lori is working toward a Masters in Social Work at Wichita State University. My desire is to change policies and procedures to assist children and families within the state of Kansas.

Della Perez
KSU faculty
Della's interests revolve around literacy development for culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Through her work at Kansas State University and her doctoral studies, she has critically examined the impact of literacy development on language acquisition, culture, and socio-economic status as it relates to student populations in Kansas. As an advocate for culturally and linguistically diverse students and families, Della is dedicated to working with families, educators, and communities to align NCLB legislation with instruction. Della's current position at Kansas State University has enabled her to be an advocate for “all” students so that No Child is Left Behind. She looks forward to a future in which all students are academically successful!

Marilu Perez
ESL Teacher
Marilu is a recent KSU graduate, who worked with Bilingual Education Students Interacting to Obtain Success (BESITOS). As a former ELL student from Puerto Rico, Marilu is currently working for the Kansas City School district with ELL students in 6th 7th and 8th grade.

Bobbie Rine
Parent Support
Bobbie has worked in mental health four years as Parent Support Specialist. She is now a stay at home mom with four children. Two of the children have special needs. Bobbie looks forward to still doing parent support on a voluntary basis and will still continue to work with schools, families, and other community agencies to ensure parent ’s voices are being heard.

Karen Roth
English Instructor, GCCC
Karen is an English instructor at Garden City Community College. Karen's education includes a B.S. in English Education and an M.S. in Special Education from Kansas State University. Karen also has a M.A. in English from Fort Hays State University. She has taught Special Education and English in middle schools and high schools in southwest Kansas for 13 years and is beginning her third year at the community college level. Over the past 10 years, Karen has taught Sunday School and Bible School to students who range from 3 to11 years of age. Karen has three children, ages nine, six and 18 months. Her children attend school in a small but progressive school district. Karen is very interested in how NCLB is going to affect her children and the children in her community.

Itzel Stewart
Garden City Community College Title III Transition Coordinator
As Vice-President of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in Garden City, Itzel helps non-traditional, English as a Second Language, first generation and returning students to attend college by offering them scholarship opportunities through the organization and participation of fundraising events in the community. As a member of Kenneth Henderson Middle School Site Council, Itzel provides information about Latinos in the school system and serves as a resource to teachers and administrators. Itzel has been a member of the Mexican-American Ministries Advisory Board helping migrant, low-income families in Garden City.

Linda Trujillo, PhD
Director of Supplemental Programs, USD 457
Currently, Linda directs Title I, Migrant Ed, Title III, ESL/Bilingual, Homeless, Dual Language, Early Childhood and two Title VII grants. These programs all support parent involvement activities, including parent liaisons in the school sites and district-level parent training sessions. A collaborative Even Start Project with the local community college provides further parent involvement opportunities (in both English and Spanish).

Elaine Von Feldt
Parent
Elaine has been a parent trainer for foster families and children for 6 years. She has worked for 10 years to help maintain children in the home by providing resources and trainings to families. Elaine is a therapeutic foster family and help SED children to be self-sufficient and strong members in the community. Elaine currently contracts with the local SRS to provide in-home support to families. She has been a trained parent support specialist for many years. Elaine is a trainer of common sense parenting and can certify child care workers through NRC of Oklahoma. Elaine is currently employed by Family Ties as a parent trainer. She has 4 children, 6 grandchildren.