Working in a World Languages department feels natural to me, as I was born in West Africa and raised in the Middle East and Europe, beginning my life in the US for the first time at the age of 17.  My parents worked in the fields of linguistics and cultural anthropology, and throughout my childhood, our home embraced the sounds and textures of many different languages and cultures.  My fluency and love of Spanish developed later, from 17 years living in Nicaragua where I organized and led experiential study tours during the Sandinista Revolution for university students and professors as well as church and civic groups and elected officials from the US and Canada.  I have worked as a Spanish/English interpreter and field producer for news gathering organizations based in Central America.  I also taught English at two universities in Nicaragua and to Nicaraguan personnel of the United Nations field offices in Managua.

 I came to Timberline after a year of teaching Spanish in Eastern Washington, and before that, five years in north central Indiana where I taught literacy interventions to English language learners in the Goshen Community Schools.

 I have a Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and a Bachelor’s Degree and Spanish teaching endorsement from Whitworth University.    My initial teaching licensure in ESL was earned through Indiana University at South Bend, IN.