Liz Sirman

Liz is in her 16th year as the EL/Title III Coordinator and a secondary ESL teacher for the Ypsilanti Community Schools. Her interest in teaching ESL started with an internship at Ypsilanti High School during college, and after earning her MA TESOL from Eastern Michigan in 2005, was thrilled to return there. Liz is bilingual in English and Spanish. She has lived in the Dominican Republic and spent time in a variety of other countries, which has given her a great love and appreciation for learning about and working with people from cultures throughout the world. She can be reached at president@mitesol.org.

Jennifer is both an ESL instructor at Washtenaw Community College as well as a Program Coordinator at Washtenaw Literacy, which is a non-profit organization serving adults seeking ESL and adult basic education in Southeast Michigan. In her position at Washtenaw Literacy, Jennifer manages volunteers and provides direct instruction in a collaborative GED program with Washtenaw Community College. She also manages Washtenaw Literacy's home-visiting tutoring program for low-income parents. Jennifer's main areas of interest include advocacy and policy, refugee concerns, and teaching listening and writing. She earned her M.A. in TESOL from Eastern Michigan University in 2018, and before that she taught middle school, high school, and business English in Japan for seven years.

You can contact Jennifer at president-elect@mitesol.org

Tina Kozlowski, Ed.D

ITina is currently the Administrator of Language Acquisition for Warren Consolidated Schools (with nearly 4,000 active ELs) and a member of the MDE Title III Advisory Council. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and her Master’s degree in Foreign Language Education with an English as a Second Language Endorsement from Wayne State University. In 2017, Tina completed her Doctorate of Education from the University of Michigan-Dearborn with a focus on professional development for English Learners and culturally responsive teaching. She has taught K-12 students and recently taught in higher education for students working toward their ESL endorsement. Tina is excited to be part of the MITESOL team! You can contact Tina at past-president@mitesol.org

Alison Roberts

Jacqueline Tomaszewski completed her BA degree with a major in Psychology at Michigan State University. She began a career in social work and continues to maintain a SW license. She studied at Oakland University to earn her MA in Elementary Teaching in 2012. She completed the ESL endorsement at Oakland University in 2016. She currently teaches middle school ELD classes in the West Bloomfield School District. In her free time, Jackie enjoys reading, traveling, walking, and going up north with her family.

Colleen Brice

Colleen Brice is associate professor in the Department of English at Grand Valley State University, where she teaches courses in Applied Linguistics, TESOL, and ESL writing for undergraduate and graduate students. Her research interests include issues in second language writing, teacher education, and LESLLA (low-educated second language and literacy acquisition). Her work has appeared in the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, International Journal of English Studies, TESOL Journal, and Language.

Contact Colleen at historian@mitesol.org

Laura Hancock is a world traveler and a professional communicator as well as an educator. An EFL specialist, she has worked as an English teacher in Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia, the Republic of Georgia, and the Ukraine. She also served in the US Peace Corps as an English Teacher from 2008-2010 in Kyrgyzstan. Stateside, she has worked in New York City; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles, California; and now Ypsilanti, Michigan in a variety of education-based positions, including ESL, basic literacy, cooking lessons for children, English-language summer camps for Italian students visiting NYC, and nature-based curriculum development for the Orange County Hiking Club.

Laura holds a BA in Government and East Asian Languages and Literatures (focus Japan) from Smith College, a Professional Writing certificate from the University of Washington, and a CELTA. She is currently a Peace Corps Coverdell Fellow at Eastern Michigan University as an MA TESOL candidate, where she teaches ESL Freshman Comp and interns with Washtenaw Literacy. She also works with the Institute of Reading Development, teaching classes to all ages: from phonics for kindergartners to critical reading classes at the University of Akron and Rutgers. Additionally, she has extensive experience in copywriting, SEO, and marketing as she used to be a partner in a start-up content writing company. She speaks Japanese, Russian, and is currently learning German. She would be happy to tell you what she does in her free time, but is not familiar with the concept. You can reach Laura at communications@mitesol.org.

Matthew is currently studying Japanese business, language, and culture, with a minor in TESOL. He has always enjoyed helping and teaching others. He is teaching ESL, Japanese, and other subjects at Koby Learning Group. He is also working with Koby as a business manager and another PR firm as an intern to further learn about PR and marketing. He is working with non-profits and for-profits in and outside of school, including, but not limited to, Circle K International, EMU Japanese Association, JETTAA, etc. He has always been interested in deeper, psychological topics and studies; as well as most other social sciences. Eventually, he would like to pursue a graduate degree in Psycho-linguistics.  He would like to be part of something bigger than himself, and being able to work with a non-profit team with similar interest is an invaluable experience to reach that goal. 

Anthony Ocean (pronouns: he/him) began teaching English to speakers of other languages as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines (2008-2010). He worked in web development from 2017-2018 in Indianapolis and taught web development at Indiana Women’s Prison in 2018. Anthony has taught English as a Second Language in Michigan, in Indiana, and remotely, and he is graduating with an MA in TESOL from Eastern Michigan University in April 2021. Anthony has completed all of the TESOL courses required for their degree and is presently enjoying their last two classes, which are in Linguistics. You can contact Anthony at webmaster2@mitesol.org.

After receiving her M.A. in TESOL from Eastern Michigan University in 2014, Clarissa has been teaching adults in various settings including language schools and community colleges. She began volunteering as the co-editor of the MITESOL Messages newsletter at the beginning of 2017. Email Clarissa at newsletter-editor1@mitesol.org 

Kelsey has been an active member of MITESOL since 2017 and is very excited at the opportunity to become more involved in the organization. She obtained her MA in TESOL in 2019 at Eastern Michigan University. She has had a wide variety of teaching experiences, including one year teaching EFL in South Korea, four years as a high school ELA / Writing teacher, and currently works as an instructional coach and research assistant for the WritEL and i3 Grants at EMU. Her current work within the WritEL and i3 Grants centers around providing professional development and coaching to teachers participating in implementing the College, Career, and Community Writer's Program (C3WP) with the research focus of improving English Learners' argument writing skills. Additionally, Kelsey had the opportunity last year to work with the National Writing Project writing five literature reviews surrounding current research of Social Emotional Learning as it pertains to writing instruction. Email Kelsey at newsletter-editor2@mitesol.org

Yevgeniya Pukalo

BYevgeniya is currently an ESL teacher at North Farmington High School (Farmington Public Schools). Yevgeniya has experience teaching K-12 English learners as well as adult learners. She has a BA in English and is certified to teach ELA and ESL courses. As a graduate student, she attended EMU and received her MA in TESOL in 2019. Yevgeniya was part of the MDE SIOP Trainer of Trainers program in summer 2019 and helped facilitate the SIOP PD sessions for content teachers in her district. Currently, she participates in the WritEL research at EMU with the focus on improving argumentative writing of English learners. In her spare time, Yevgeniya enjoys reading and spending time with her husband and their two children while traveling, hiking, and camping. The goal as a family is to visit as many of America's national parks as possible. She is very excited about being a member of the MITESOL board. You can reach Yevgeniya at membership@mitesol.org.

Pamela first joined MITESOL in the early nineties, and found the organization to be a professional development lifeline as she was transitioning from foreign language teaching to ESL teaching. After working with an adult literacy and ESL organization for a decade, she completed a Masters in TESOL at EMU, and began teaching English for Academic and Specific Purposes at the University of Michigan ELI, where she continues to teach and learn today. Her current interests include technology-enhanced learning, individualizing language learning, the common ground between English for Academic purposes and English for Specific purposes, teacher education, and community engagement.Pamela served as MITESOL's ESP SIG leader for a short stint, then became the organization's listserv manager until 2018 when she joined the MITESOL Journal editorial team. Pamela can be reached at journal-editor1@mitesol.org 

Dan is an Assistant Professor of English at Grand Valley State University where he teaches courses in applied linguistics. He has taught ESL/EFL and trained English teachers in Arizona, Hawaii, Thailand, Japan, and Chile. His research interests include second language acquisition, second language writing for academic purposes, meta-analysis and research synthesis, and second language teaching methodology. He has published his research in TESOL Quarterly, the Journal of Second Language Writing, Second Language Research, and Language Teaching Research. He has also served as a reviewer for Language Learning, TESOL Quarterly, the Modern Language Journal, Language Teaching Research, and System, and he is excited to join as as a coeditor for the new MITESOL Journal. Email Dan at 
journal-editor2@mitesol.org

Kay is Professor of Writing at Grand Valley State University. Her scholarship focuses on issues related to the teaching of writing to adult multilingual writers, and she has taught multilingual writers in mainstream English courses in California, North Carolina, New York, and at GVSU. She is author or co-editor of three books, including, most recently, Teaching U.S-Educated Multilingual Writers: Pedagogical Practices from and for the Classroom (with Mark Roberge and Margi Wald, U of Michigan Press). She has published her scholarship in TESOL Quarterly, the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, and College Composition and Communication, as well as in several other journals and edited volumes. She has served as reviewer for the Journal of Second Language Writing, TESOL Quarterly, and the National Council of Teachers of English. She served MITESOL as co-editor of their annual MITESOL Conference Proceedings publication and looks forward to being a part of the new MITESOL Journal. Kay can be contacted via email at journal-editor3@mitesol.org

Collin, Ed.D., currently teaches ESL to adult refugees and immigrants in the Adult & Bilingual Ed. Department of the Lansing School District. A Texas native, he has spent over twenty years working as instructor, academic director, student advisor, and programs coordinator both domestically and abroad in numerous countries. Bilingual in Spanish, he received a B.S. in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin, M.A. TESOL from California State University Los Angeles, and Ed.D. in Education Policy, Organization & Leadership: Bilingual/ESL Education at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Collin's research and presentations include Phonetics as it relates to Sociolinguistics and Acculturation, immersion language learning, and music in the classroom. He can be reached at adult-ed-sig@mitesol.org

Allie Piippo, MA TESOL

Allie has been teaching English to speakers of other languages, both in the US and abroad (in Turkey and Japan), since 2002. She holds an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University, and a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan. She also holds a certificate in Developing an Online Teaching Program from TESOL, International, and has been developing and teaching online English courses since 2017. Always willing to try new things, she has consistently been an early adopter of educational technology and is continuously looking for ways to enhance quality English language instruction with pedagogically sound technology integration.

Virginia David

Virginia is originally from Brazil and moved to the United States in 2008 to pursue a master's in TESOL at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. After that, she did my PhD in Second Language Studies at Michigan State University. She has taught English as a foreign or second language for different ages and proficiency levels for almost 15 years. Currently, she is a faculty specialist and coordinator of the TESOL programs at Western Michigan University. In 2017, she and her colleagues were awarded a National Professional Development grant by the U.S. Department of Education, so the majority of their students are in-service teachers seeking their ESL endorsement. Virginia also volunteer teaches ESL at the ESL of Southwest Michigan program, which is run by the Kalamazoo Literacy Council. She would love to become part of the MITESOL organization because this will be a wonderful opportunity to meet more people in our field in the state of Michigan and become more involved with ESL teaching statewide. She has always attended and presented at MITESOL and she admires the hard work the MITESOL board puts into the conferences and organization.

Email Virginia at post-secondary-sig@mitesol.org

Khalil El-Saghir

Khalil is an English Learner Consultant at Wayne RESA, the largest ISD in Michigan (serving about 275,000 students) and home to more than 37,000 ELs. With two decades of experience in EL education, Khalil is the professional development lead in the RESA EL Program and has been presenting at local and state level conferences and workshops on curricular and instructional issues related to second language development and acquisition. Khalil is trilingual (Arabic, English and French); he is a PhD candidate and holds an Education Specialist certificate in curriculum and instruction and a Master’s degree in English as Second Language (ESL); he is also endorsed in Bilingual Education and ESL. You can reach Khalil at pd-sig@mitesol.org

Sharon Umlor has taught adult English language learners in Grand Rapids Community College's Adult Education Program since 2012. She has an M.Ed. in TESOL from Grand Valley State University and extensive experience teaching English at the secondary level to a diverse group of learners in the West Michigan area. Issues of special interest to her include academic writing fluency, curriculum design, and ease of access to community information and services for all English language learners.

Rachael Wenskay is a K-5 ESL Teacher in the Lamphere School District and a member of the Oakland Schools ESL/Title III Professional Development Leadership Team. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Western Michigan University, a Master’s degree in Teaching Reading and Language Arts from Oakland University, and an ESL Endorsement from Wayne State University. Throughout her 19 year career, she has also worked as an elementary classroom teacher, K-5 Title I Reading Specialist, and briefly taught 7-8 ELA. She considers herself a lifelong learner, and loves sharing strategies with other teachers.