My passion for working in education and for building connections between students, educators, and parents stems from my own experience growing up between two continents, cultures, and languages. As a first-generation immigrant to the United States entering American schools as an ELL student and native German speaker, I saw firsthand the challenges English language learners, their teachers, and families face.
My studies at the Universität Salzburg in Austria only further rooted my desire to bring interculturality into the classroom and dedicate myself to advocating for teachers and students in the constantly evolving world language and ELL classroom.
In raising both a middle and high schooler through this past year of remote and hybrid learning, I have seen the obstacles that teachers are asked to overcome each day in maintaining student engagement and working to navigate and creatively circumvent the very real digital divide/homework gap that many districts face in teaching remotely.
My mission is to support both teachers and learners in interacting with authentic resources for the purpose of acquiring communication skills, practices, and perspectives; and guiding teachers in visualizing how the right resources and tools can transform barriers into breakthroughs in their classrooms, while fostering student engagement both in brick and mortar and virtual learning environments. I also strive to be a lifelong learner and build bridges between cultures and communities. In support of this, I also serve as an interpreter, volunteer, and mentor for refugee and immigrant families from central Africa’s Burundi, Rwanda, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo who are fleeing violence or persecution, seeking political asylum here in the United States.