NNETESOL’s executive board officers are President, President-Elect, Past President, Secretary, Treasurer, Publishers’ Liaison, Web Master, and six Regional Representatives: two representing each state of the tri-state association. The executive Board is a group of volunteers (most of whom serve from one to three years) that meets several times a year to implement policy matters, conduct the daily business of the association, produce conferences and oversee its work.
2012 – 2013 Executive Board
President (term 2012-2013)
Kirsten Kollgaard – kkollgaard@gmail.com
Kirsten Kollgaard is an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at JFK Elementary School in Winooski, Vermont. She has also taught ESL and reading at the middle school level and has taught work skills English to adults in the Burlington area. She holds a master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont. An avid traveler, she has taught English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Korea and Colombia and she enjoys working with families from all around the world.
President-Elect (2012-2013)
Farrah Taylor Giroux- fgiroux@elinstitute.com
Farrah Taylor Giroux is president of the English Language Institute LLC (ELI), a privately owned adult English as Second or Other Language institute that offers tutoring, citizenship test preparation, workplace literacy and professional development seminars. Ms. Giroux earned her BA in English and French from Wellesley college and her master’s of education in applied literacy and certificate of applied literacy in English as a Second Language from the University of Southern Maine. Ms. Giroux is a highly qualified teacher in English 7-12 and ESOL K-12 in Maine and has taught adult ESOL for the past several years. She is currently completing research for her book, Handbook for Teachers of Absolute Beginners of English, which she presented at the 2011 NNETESOL Conference, and she is a WIDA certified trainer. She lives in South Portland, ME, with her family.
Past President (term 2012-2013)
James Whiting – jcwhiting@mail.plymouth.edu
James Whiting is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and the Coordinator of the TESOL M.Ed. program at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire. He has an M.A. in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from New York University. He has over two decades of experience in TESOL as a teacher and teacher-trainer. He taught English language learners in Spain and then at the City University of New York for a decade. He has trained English language teachers overseas in Kaliningrad, Russia as a Senior Fellow in the State Department’s Office of English Language Programs, and as a Fulbright Scholar in Panama. He holds a K-12 ESOL license in Vermont.
Treasurer (no term limit)
Shelly Chasse-Johndro – shelly.chasse@maine.edu
Shelly Chasse-Johndro is the Associate Director for a Title III grant from the US Department of Education operated through the University of Maine and teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsement courses for pre- and in-service teachers. She earned a Bachelors of Science from the University of Maine at Farmington, a Master of Education and ESL endorsement from the University of Maine. Shelly serves as a member of the Maine Department of Education Bias and Sensitivity Committee. As a trainer-the-trainer through the University of Maine’s Diversity Leadership Institute (UMDLI); Shelly cultivates opportunities to understand, appreciate, support and strengthen the diversity of the community. She is also the lead individual of the Mathematics in TESOL forum for educators interested in the effects of language acquisition, instructional strategies, and culture in the teaching and learning of mathematics concepts.
Secretary (no term limit)
Kevin Giddens kevin.giddens@sit.edu
Currently, Kevin works as the TESOL Training Manager for World Learning SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont. As the Training Manager, he facilitates communication and liaises with TESOL professionals worldwide; designs, manages and delivers professional develop courses; and offers technical expertise on both local and international programs geared towards teacher education. In addition to his current work, his is co-founder of the KOTESOL Reflective Practice Special Interest Group as well as featured presenter at KOTESOL, NileTESOL and at the Regional Conference for Teachers of English in Guatemala. He has worked as an ESOL teacher and teacher trainer in Egypt, South Korea, Mexico and the United States, and he’s actively involved in an increasingly important area of virtual networking and professional development through blogging and tweeting.
Webmaster (no term limit)
Beth Evans – tofubeth@yahoo.com
Beth Evans is an English Language Learner teacher at Burlington High School in Burlington, Vermont, and ESL Content Specialist (coach) for mainstream teachers with ELLs in their classrooms. She is an adjunct professor for St. Michael’s College, where she teaches ESL K-12 literacy and Technology Integration courses. Beth is also a certified trainer for Content and Language Integration as a Means of Bridging Success (CLIMBS), a program to introduce mainstream teachers to World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) standards and tools. She has served as Raffles and Awards booth coordinator at TESOL in 2010 and 2012, and has held the offices of president and co-treasurer for NNETSOL. She taught in China through the Peace Corps and as a teacher at the K-12 and community college levels in New York City and Florida.
Publisher’s Liaison (no term limit)
Karen Boxell – kboxell@winnacunnet.org
Karen has been teaching ESOL students at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, NH for the past ten years. Prior to that she had taught ESOL in Casablanca, Morocco; Taegu, South Korea; and at the Anglo Continental Language School in Cambridge, MA. She has Communications degree from Northeastern University in Boston, MA, and a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Literacy from Leslie University in Cambridge, MA. She is very involved in ESOL professional organizations which support the needs of ESOL teachers and their students across the tri-state area, and wherever else they are found. She lives in Newburyport, MA, with her husband, Bob, and cat, Buster.
Maine Regional Representative (term 2011-2014)
Alexander Lapidus – alapidus@usm.maine.edu
Alexander Lapidus holds a Ph.D. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Composition. He is an English as a Second Language teacher-scholar and specializes in applied linguistics, the theory and pedagogy of multiliteracies, and cross-cultural communication. He has taught English as a Second Language in the U.S. and overseas.
Maine Regional Representative (term 2012-2015)
Ina Demers – Edemers467@roadrunner.com
Ina Demers is a Chinese/Indonesian, and now American, educator who immigrated to Maine in 1974. She is currently employed by Portland Public Schools. In 2007, she initiated (and still oversees) a voluntary program to assist adults in Portland to learn English at the Whole Foods Market. In collaboration with a University of Southern Maine professor, she designed a service learning program and recruits volunteers for this program. Her community involvement also includes serving as Board member and Secretary of the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension in conjunction with UMaine Cooperative Extension focusing on educating newcomers on issues of physical and mental health, nutrition, and agriculture. She also uses her Eastern artistic skill of Origami to help K-8 students learn Mathematics.
New Hampshire Representative (term 2011-2014)
Karen Goyette – karenjgoyette@hotmail.com
Karen Goyette is the ESOL Program Director for the Hudson School District. She also teaches as an adjunct for Plymouth State University, focusing on courses for pre- and in-service teachers. She earned a Bachelors of Arts from Hiram College and a Master of Arts in English / Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language from Colorado State University. Karen has worked with all age levels and abilities of English Language Learners; she has worked with ELLs in private and public institutions of secondary education, refugees, and ELLs in grades 1- 12. In her free time, Karen loves to travel, play the violin, and play the piano.
New Hampshire Representative (term 2012-2015)
Debra St. Lawrence – dstlawrence@windhamsd.org
Debra St. Lawrence is the English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Coordinator for the Windham and Pelham Schhool Districts in southern New Hampshire. She oversees five tutors and the ESOL programs in seven schools. She holds a Master’s in TESOL with K-12 certification and a Bachelor’s in Spanish with secondary certification. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Educational leadership and learning.
Vermont Representative (term 2010-2013)
Anne Wright Shank – awrightshank@cssu.org
Anne Wright Shank is an English Language Learner teacher at Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg, Vermont. She is a recent graduate of the MATESOL program at St. Micheal’s College in Colchester, Vermont. She first taught EFL at Paya Mengrai High School in Chieng Rai, Thailand as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Vermont Representative (term 2011-2014)
Cynthia Reyes – creyes@uvm.edu
Cynthia Reyes is Associate Professor of Middle Level Education and Literacy Education at the University of Vermont where she teaches undergraduate and graduate students, and conducts research on young adolescent literacy and practice. She received an M.Ed. in Educational Studies/Educational Leadership and Bilingual Education, and a Ph.D. in Reading, Writing, and Literacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research interests include digital storytelling and English language learners, young adolescent multicultural literature, and educational foundations. She was a former bilingual (Spanish/English) middle grades reading, language arts, and social studies teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. She also taught Spanish as a foreign language in the middle grades and high school, and English as a Second Language to adults. She has published in the journals of Research in the Teaching of English, The Reading Teacher, and in the Handbook of Middle Level Education Research.