EL Summit 2016
Session: Project BeGlad: Guided Language Acquisition Strategies
Pamela Hazall
Pamela Hazall-Farrell has been teaching English as a Second Language for 18 years. She began her teaching career in Armenia with the Peace Corps. She then received her Master of Arts in TESOL from Teachers College. After receiving her Masters, she began to teach ESL for both Norwalk Community College and the Bridgeport Board of Education. Pamela currently works at Harding High School in Bridgeport where she happily teaches ESL Intermediate and ESL Advanced classes to students in grades 9 to 12.
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Shirley Ricart
Shirley Ricart is an ESL Teacher with Warren Harding High School in Bridgeport, CT. She has worked in the filed of education and family support services since 1998. Shirley is a graduate of Hofstra University where she received a B.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Education, and City College of New York, where she received a M.S. in Bilingual Education. Shirley has a background in Early Childhood Education Leadership and Non Profit leadership. She has had success in program management and leadership in both state and federally funded programs. Shirley has held positions in the State of CT Head Start Association and has been Vice President of the State Independent Living Council. Shirley is highly committed to the field of education; she believes in making contributions to empower students, families and professionals.
Eloy Jaramillo
Eloy Jaramillo is a bilingual math teacher and a great leader at Harding High School in Bridgeport, an administrative intern, and a lead teacher at Saturday Academy. Mr.Jaramillo has been the leader of the Report Card Conference (RCC) system since 2014. This is a school-wide initiative that increased parent involvement to 49% from 16%, and has been the leader to numerous initiatives at Harding. He has been the facilitator and trainer for several workshops and has been a great resource for Bridgeport teachers' professional developent. He has a Master’s Degree in Arts (Bilingual Edcation) and a Master's Degree in Science, Software Engineering (MSSE) from Fairfield University. He also has Bachelor’s Degree in Science, Information Systems and an Associates Degree in Applied Science, Data Processing Technology
Session: Second Language Acquisition and Development in the General Education Classroom
Diane DiStefano
Diane DiStefano’s comprehensive background knowledge of English Learners (ELS) has enabled her to have a long lasting educational career educating ELs, and a variety of students, in Bridgeport Public Schools. Her knowledge of ELs was enhanced by her formal education: BA in Elementary Education with a major in Spanish, MA in Bilingual/Multicultural Education, Certificate of Advance Studies (Sixth Year Degree) in Bilingual/TESOL Education, and an Intermediate Administrative Certification (092) Degree. Throughout her career, she has served as an educator in various capacities such as: A teacher in the Bilingual Pairing Model Program, The Multicultural Resource Coordinator at the Multicultural Magnet School, An ESL teacher at numerous district schools, the District’s ESL Curriculum Specialist, Assistant Principal at Cesar Batalla School, and currently a Bilingual/ESL consultant for Bridgeport’s Bilingual Department. In addition, Diane was a founding member of the planning and implementation teams of Multicultural Magnet School, the District’s Dual Language “Unidos” Program, and the Alternative Route to Certification for Teachers of English Language Learners (ARCTELL) Program.
Nancy Frederick
Nancy Frederick is a Bilingual/ESL consultant with Bridgeport’s Bilingual Education Department. Her career began in Bridgeport as an elementary teacher, an ESL teacher, an ESL curriculum Specialists, and eventually as the Assistant Director of Bilingual Education. Nancy was appointed the Liaison for the “Cornerstone Reading Improvement Grant.” She represented and facilitated this initiative in Bridgeport for a number of years. In addition, she became the External Literacy Facilitator for “Connecticut’s Reading First Grant.” She supervised this grant in Bridgeport, Hartford, Stamford, and Waterbury. Nancy also serves as the coordinator for the District’s “Immigrant Student Grant”, which emphasizes educational support for English Learners.
Esther S. Werneck de Almeida
Dr. Esther Werneck-Almeida was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She moved to the United States after college to pursue her Graduate Studies. She was the winner of an Academic Scholarship her Masters Degree graduating in 1989 with a Master in Business Administration (International Business/Marketing and Organizational Behavior) and receiving her Doctoral Degree in 1999 in Educational Leadership. Her Doctoral dissertation title is " Social Integration and Academic Confidence of Elementary Hispanic English Language Learners: A Qualitative Investigation of the Impact of Teacher’s Beliefs and Behaviors”. Teaching is her passion and her second carreer as she was a Corporate Manager in charge of Strategic Planning and Human Resources before becoming a teacher. Dr. Werneck is an 18 year veteran teacher in Bridgeport Public Schools system. Dr. Werneck de Almeida is certified as a World Language Teacher as well as a an Elementary Bilingual Teacher. She is also certified as an Administrator with an 092 in Intermediate Administration and Supervision. She currently teaches Portuguese Language & Arts and Portuguese as a Second Language at Central High School and Multicultural Magnet School.
Panel Discussion Participants
Alicia R. Kinsman, Esq.
Alicia Kinsman is the Director and Managing Attorney for the Immigration Legal Services program at the International Institute of Connecticut (IICONN), which serves over 3,000 clients and their families each year. She also serves as staff attorney for Project Rescue, IICONN’s anti-human trafficking program, and provides legal representation in immigration matters to victims of human trafficking and other crimes. Alicia speaks around the state to raise awareness of trafficking and humanitarian immigration relief. In 2013 she received an FBI Field Director’s Award for her work assisting medical professionals, law enforcement personnel, and social service providers identify and work with foreign-born crime victims. Before joining IICONN, Alicia earned a BA from Providence College and a J.D. from Quinnipiac University School of Law, where she co-founded their International Human Rights Law Society.
Edna Garcia
Edna Garcia has a long history of Public Service. She served on the first board responsible for having an East Side Community clinic. She secured funding for MI CASA through the Department of Social Services, and began her community activism at age eighteen when she ran for City Sheriff on Charlie Tisdale’s Ticket becoming a role model for the latino community.
She was also a community advocate who worked at the Spanish American Development Agency (SADA) as an outreach worker and worked her way up to become the Social Service Coordinator. Garcia became a known public political figure in 1992 when she was elected the State Representative for the 128th District at theConnecticut General Assembly. This election made Garcia the first Puerto Rican female in Fairfield County to have been elected to the Connecticut general Assembly, where she served with distinction for four consecutive terms, until 1999.
Garcia is the founder of (LEED) Latinos for Educational Excellence and Diversity. She serves as a Commissioner for (BRA Commission) Bridgeport Redevelopment Agency, and was the co-chair of the Helping Hand Center Board. She is active with Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT), as a Ministry Coordinator for Saint Luke’s, Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church and Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN) where she volunteers her skills as a translator.
Edna Garcia has been a Bridgeport Public School teacher at Bassick High School for the past 29 years. She is a Graduate of Fairfield University with a Master’s degree in Bilingual Education and a 6th year on Special Education.
Dr. Anne Campbell
Dr. Anne Campbell is the Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions and Director and Associate Professor of TESOL, World Languages and Bilingual Programs at Fairfield University. She and Dr. David Zera co-direct the B.E.S.T. Education Project, a federally funded National Professional Development grant that has provided certification coursework in TESOL, bilingual and special education to more that 55 teachers in four partner districts. Dr. Campbell has more that 25 years experience in TESOL/bilingual teacher education. From 2000-2008, she coordinated the TESOL and bilingual programs at Washington State University Pullman and Tri-Cities campuses. Prior to 2000, she was a visiting professor of bilingual education at the University of Arizona and a TESOL and developmental reading faculty member at Pima Community College in Tucson, AZ. Dr. Campbell began her career as a Title VII Teacher Corps Fellow in Hartford, CT. She was a 4th grade bilingual teacher at the Anne Street Bilingual Community School and earned her MA in Elementary Bilingual Urban Education from the University of Hartford. Her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a major in bilingual/multicultural education is from the University of Florida.
Dr. David Aloyzy Zera
Dr. David Aloyzy Zera earned a B.A. in special education from Southern CT State University, a MA and a Sixth Year Professional Certificate in special education from Fairfield University, and a Ph.D. in special education from the University of CT. He maintains certification as a special educator grades k-12 and in intermediate administration and supervision. Dr. Zera taught middle school level students with disabilities for 15 years in an urban public school district and has served as a professor of special education, and reading and language development, at Fairfield University for the past 19 years. Dr. Zera co-teaches classes with his colleague, Dr. Anne Campbell on reading and language development, identification of the similarities and differences between students with special learning needs and bilingual students, and how to meet the needs of these diverse student populations. During the 2014-2015 academic year, Dr. Zera and Dr. Campbell provided year-long, monthly, professional development to all faculty and staff at Cesar Batalla school in Bridgeport providing training on how to meet the literacy needs of all students, particularly those with special needs, bilingual students, and bilingual students with special needs. In collaboration with Dr. Campbell, and two other colleagues, Dr. Zera designed a new Sixth Year Professional Certificate in reading and language development (RLD) program for Fairfield University that started this past September 2015. The RLD programs recently submitted a proposal to the state of CT to offer the 102 Developmental Reading and Developmental Language Arts endorsement and hope to begin enrolling students for the fall semester. More than $800,00 from foundational sources support this program. Since 2002, Dr. Zera has authored proposals for, and received more than 3 million dollars in, federal funding to offer teacher-training programs in special education, bilingual education, and as a teacher of English to speakers of other languages. Many of the program completers currently work in Bridgeport and assume various roles. He has presented his research findings and theoretical models of service delivery worldwide. And his publications in the field resulted in his being internationally recognized by the European Union as being one of three theoretical models to influence the field of dyslexia.
