Our Team

"I am a retired ESL teacher with over 40 years' experience teaching English to students of all ages, backgrounds, and levels! I taught K-12 ESL in Medford, Lawrence, and Methuen Public Schools, and at Northern Essex and Middlesex Community Colleges. I have also taught ESL writing and pronunciation for several private companies. I speak French and Spanish, having lived and taught in France and having traveled to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and Mexico. I have taught beginner, high beginner, and intermediate classes at MakeIt Haverhill.  I was happy to learn about MakeIt Haverhill from a friend and ESL colleague. I hope my classes help students become more proficient and confident in English. I would like my students to strengthen their skills for work and to communicate with their children’s school." 

"I am a retired Professor from Northern Essex Community College where I coordinated the English as a Second Language (ESL) Services for 20 years, and then the Foreign Language area for 16 years.  I designed services and taught all levels and kinds of ESL, Spanish for foreigners, and Spanish Translation (for ESL students). I have lived all around the world: Spain, Saudi Arabia, Mexico City, Chile, and Paris.  I enjoy translating and have translated one book from Spanish and one book from French! I am a volunteer ELL teacher at MIH, and I work with the advanced learners. In my class, the goals are to improve the students’ ability to communicate in English and to inform them about our culture and the local area." 

"I am a Bilingual Family Liaison for Haverhill Public Schools. Throughout my career I have had the opportunity to expose my talents in numerous versatile roles, such as finance, dance and education. I am a first-generation college student with a Master's degree in Business and a Latina entrepreneur in the event services industry. I look forward to learning something new every day, growing along the way and sharing my expertise with the world. I am a volunteer recruiter for MIH; Assisting adults in our community sign up for ELL classes and any resources offered through MIH.  I learned about MIH through Keith who was part of our family engagement committee for the Tilton Upper School in the 2019/2020 school year. We partnered with MIH and used its location for a very successful family night potluck."

"I was beckoned to Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Massachusetts where I did curriculum development and taught in a 5-level ESL program for 32 years. Summers and a sabbatical year took me to teaching and learning opportunities all over the world. The frosting on the cake came through my 3 assignments with the State Department/Georgetown University English Language Specialist Program, where I worked in Togo, Benin, and Djibouti. Andy Vargas, a Massachusetts State House representative recommended me to Keith when the program was starting up. I want my students to communicate with confidence, so I first work to build community in the classroom. That way students can know each other and learn as a group and not focus solely on me as the teacher. I want the students to have excellent pronunciation and simple but accurate grammar. I reinforce this by constant repetition, dictations, oral reading and homework."

"I live in Newbury with my wife, our two adult children and five grandchildren live in Natick and Burlington, MA. During my 50 years as a public interest lawyer and teacher, I volunteered to teach English to adults whose first language was Spanish or another language. When I retired, I learned about MIH from Community Action Inc. (CAI), and I decided to volunteer. I hope to continue providing legal information about the rights of parents and students in public schools and expose my ELL class to as much English as personal schedules permit."