EL Summit 2017
Crossing Borders
Director of Bilingual Education & World Languages in Bridgeport, CT
Ana Sousa-Martins has over 20 years of experience in the field of education. She is the Director of Bilingual Education and World Languages for the Bridgeport Public Schools for K-12. She holds a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from Southern CT State University, an M.A.T. in Elementary Education from Sacred Heart University, a Sixth Year in Bilingual Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Fairfield University and a certification as a Literacy Specialist and Educational Leadership from Sacred Heart University.
She has conducted many workshops on a variety of topics that include curriculum, instructional strategies and assessment, Professional Learning Communities, SRBI, Data Teams and Data Driven Decision-Making. Her quest for educational challenges have led to involvement in many committees and task forces as well as an adjunct professor at Sacred Heart University.
She has received the following awards: Milken Educator Award, Bridgeport Teacher of the Year, and BPEF Outstanding Teacher Award.
Cristina DaSilva-Novotny
Cristina DaSilva-Novotny, who originated from Lisbon, Portugal, is currently an English to Speakers of Other Languages teacher at Blackham Elementary School. She graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education, a Minor in Art, and a cross endorsement in Bilingual Middle School History. Cristina earned a master’s degree in Bilingual/Bicultural TESOL Education from Fairfield University. Cristina has taught art K-8, Early Childhood K-2, TESOL K-12 and self-contained Bilingual Portuguese 7-8. As both an EL and a 20 year veteran of the Bridgeport School System, Cristina has always focused on advocating for all second language learners by participating on curriculum committees, School Governance Council, SRBI, data teams both at school and district levels, and as a Teacher Liaison for the Blackham PAC (Parent Advisory Council). Cristina is also a teacher mentor and a reader for the Connecticut Teacher Education and Mentoring Program. ​
Pamela Samih
Pamela Samih and has been teaching ESL for ten years for the City of Bridgeport. She received her bachelors degree from SCSU in Elementary education and her master's degree in TESOL from SCSU as well. She lives in Milford, CT with her three daughters.
Evelyn Alicea
Evelyn F. Alicea is currently a Bilingual Kindergarten Teacher at Multicultural Magnet School in Bridgeport. She has been working to facilitate language acquisition for English Learners for the last twenty years. She holds a BA from Fairfield University, M.A.T. From Sacred Heart University, a Certificate of Advanced Studies in TESOL from Fairfield University and is currently pursuing her Intermediate Administrative Certification at Sacred Heart University. She has received the Teacher of the Year Award and was the recipient of an Inter-District Grant that provided the opportunity for urban and suburban students to collaborate and share each other’s culture and customs for two years.
Miguel Seclen
Miguel Seclen is an educator and a mentor at W. Harding H.S. for 16 years. He also works in the Upward Bound program at Fairfield University.
Esther Werneck-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 Master's Degree graduating in 1989 with a Master of 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 career 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 an Elementary Bilingual Teacher. She is also certified as an Administrator with a 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.
Pam Hazall-Farrell
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.
Shirley Ricart
Shirley Ricart is an ESL Teacher at Warren Harding High School in Bridgeport, CT. 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 an 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 is also a certified BeGLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) trainer. She is highly committed to the field of education; she believes in making contributions to empower students, families, and professionals.
Meregilda Mateo
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Meregilda Matteo is a 3rd-grade bilingual teacher at Luis Munoz Marin in Bridgeport, CT who came from the Dominican Republic 20 years ago. She is a great contribution to EL Summit Committee and to our community.