Briana Asmus

Dr. Briana Asmus is an ESL Teacher at Kalamazoo Central High School. Previously, she served as ESL/Bilingual Program Director and Assistant Professor of Education at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. She received her doctorate in English education with a minor in postcolonial studies from Western Michigan University in 2016. Dr. Asmus has extensive international teaching experience, having taught English as a foreign language (TEFL) at the middle and high school levels in South Korea, Japan, and China, where she also designed and directed bilingual summer programs. She has also worked in migrant education. Her research interests lie at the intersection of ESL, ELA, social justice, and critical literacy. She has authored several publications, most recently, co-editing Engaging the Critical in English Education: Approaches from the Commission on Social Justice in Teacher Education published under Peter Lang Publishing. Dr. Asmus serves as a member of the Michigan Department of Education ESL Advisory Council and is a proud member of TESOL and MITESOL. Her hobbies include teaching fitness classes (Pilates and dance), building and riding mopeds, and reading Queer YA Literature.

Spencer Riley

Spencer works as the Director of English Learners and MTSS for Taylor School District in Southeast Michigan. Before this role, she worked as a Secondary EL and Newcomer Teacher for Livonia Public Schools and an EL Instructor at Koby Learning Group in Novi. She has a bachelor’s in Secondary Education Social Studies and History from Eastern Michigan University and master’s degrees in TESOL and Educational Leadership from Madonna University, where she is currently working toward an E.d.D. in Leadership and Innovation. She is passionate about advocacy and equity for English Learners in American schools. Her dissertation research is focused on effective programming and paths to graduation for older adolescent Newcomers and SLIFE. Outside of work, Spencer tutors international students and supports high school EL students in the college application process. Her hobbies include reading, running, and caring for her 14 pets.

Jennifer Musser

Jennifer is the Director for the Academic Success Center at Lourdes University (Sylvania, OH), a liberals arts university focused around lifelong learning and community service. Until May 2022, Jennifer worked with adult English learners in Southeast Michigan through positions in community college and non-profit organizations. 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.

Jennifer's main areas of interest include educational policy, advocacy, DEIJ, and teaching listening and reading. Outside of her main work, Jennifer also tutors ESL privately and serves as an Area Representative (NW Ohio, SE Michigan, and NE Indiana) for the International Student Exchange Program through the US Department of State.

Austyn Sabin is an ESL teacher in the K-3 sheltered Newcomer classroom in the Kalamazoo Public School district. She has a B.S. in aviation flight science and Spanish, and accounting experience in the public and private sectors. Her interests include finding innovative channels for family advocacy, running, and learning about the world around her.

Jennifer Bashara

Jennifer is an English Learner (EL) Teacher for Ypsilanti Community Schools, currently serving students at Ford, ELC and Ypsilanti International Elementary School (YIES). She graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a BA in Elementary and endorsements in Integrated Science (K-8) and Teaching English as a Second Language (K-12). Jennifer loves working closely with her students, their families and their teachers to support their learning. She also loves that she is able to learn so much about her students as well as be active in her school community. Jennifer is a lifelong resident of Michigan. When she is not teaching, she loves to spend time at home with her family, working outside in her vegetable garden and having fun!

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.

Helena Kore

Helena is an online English language teacher creating educational content that is shared on social media. She earned her M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Grand Valley State University in 2021. She has spent time researching the Latvian-American heritage language community as well as teaching practices in second language classrooms. Additionally, she enjoys developing and teaching curriculum that incorporates content-based and task-based methodologies. Her Master's capstone was a curriculum called "Teaching English with a Garden." When she isn't working on something teaching related, she enjoys spending time on the trails or at the beach close to her home in Whitehall, MI

Anne Damiecka

Anne holds a master’s in Linguistics from the University of Surrey and has been an active member of the TESOL community since 2001. Before moving to Houston in 2006 and joining the faculty of Lone Star College as a professor of ESOL, Anne taught English for six years in Poland.  She has served for several years on the TexTESOL IV Board of Directors and is currently coordinator of the English Language Program for the Alliance of International Women’s Rights. Anne is dedicated to supporting ESOL teachers and has worked as a TEFL trainer, a CELTA trainer, and Lead Faculty for ESOL.

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.

Lisa Shin

Lisa is an ELL Teacher at Great Lakes Learning Academy. Her journey as an educator began as an ESL Instructor and Director of Special Programs at ELS Language Centers in Chicago. Throughout her career she has taught ESL/ELL students at various institutions of higher education including Triton College, Bergen Community College, and Siena Heights University. She holds an MA in Education and a Graduate Certificate in Educational Technology from Michigan State University. Her area of professional interests include second language acquisition integrated with online instructional practices and literacy methodologies. She strives to be a lifelong learner and instill the same motivation in her students.

Sarah Springsteen Trumble is the Academic Director of Speaking Success System, an online English Language Teaching program for adults. She got her B.S. from the University of Michigan and her M.A. in TESOL from SIT Graduate Institute in Vermont. While originally hailing from the U.P. she has taught around the world, having worked in Tanzania, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Georgia. More recently she taught for several years at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and was an active member of MIDTESOL. These days she's grateful to be back in Michigan with her husband and 2 kids. She's lately got involved with disability advocacy and support.

Kelsey DeCamillis

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.

Kay Losey

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.

Pamela Bogart

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.

Dan Brown

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.

Katie Coleman

Karyn Goven

Karyn Goven has been involved in adult education for over 20 years from instructor to director.  Karyn currently is employed at Southwest Economic Solutions as the Director of Workforce Development.  She oversees the Earn and Learn program that includes a CTE program in Detroit, Youthbuild and youth programming, the Michigan Works!  Agency and Center for Working Families for financial education.  She is active in many community, state and national organizations including a treasurer position on a school board. She is currently the vice-president of MACAE and the chair of ESLPAC, a state-wide organization of ESL professionals in Adult Education.  She is always promoting Adult Education and Workforce Development.  She has presented at regional, state and national conferences.  Karyn has a teaching certificate as well as certification in central office administration.

Jessica Harmon

Jessica is the English Language Coordinator for Dearborn Heights District 7. She has ten years of experience as a world language teacher and three years experience working with English Language Learners. She received her Educational Specialist degree in Educational Leadership. She is certified in Spanish (6-12), French (K-12), Special education (K-12), and English as a Second Language (K-12). She has been the co-chair for the Multitiered Systems of Support for the past five years. She loves teaching, languages, and the opportunity to learn more about other cultures and open the eyes of her students to new experiences. Jessica has created curriculum for both Spanish and French at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. She has integrated language, special education supports and SIOP strategies into the curriculum at all levels through ELD classes, co-teaching and a community based approach. I am very excited to work with the EL community in increasing awareness at the K-12 level and helping to educate our communities on how to support our students and families.

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.

Sharon Umlor 

Sharon 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.