Executive BoardNNETESOL’s executive board officers are President, President-Elect, Past President, Secretary, Treasurer, Publishers’ Liaison, Webmaster, and six Regional Representatives: two representing each state of the tri-state association. The Executive Board is a group of volunteers (most of whom serve from 1 to 3 years) that meet several times a year to implement policy matters, conduct the daily business of the association, produce conferences and oversee its work. 2023 – 2024 Executive Board
President (term 2023-2025) Andrea Mercado has made a career of assisting linguistically diverse populations and their families with their adjustment to new communities and lifestyles in the US. She has acquired over 15 years of public education teaching experience working with early childhood to adult. In addition to dedicating her life educating in a formal setting, she extends her talents and experience to volunteer in various organizations. As a Spanish speaking bilingual of Colombian heritage, she contributes to various organizations by offering her personal and professional experiences to assist others with interests in assisting those learning English and working to navigate the world of US culture. 
President-Elect (term 2023-2026) Kelly Cray, M.Ed has worked with English Language Learners in Korea, Arizona, and Vermont. She is responsible for the English Language and Culture program at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, VT, serving domestic families and international boarding students. Her two greatest passions are helping people of all ages learn the English Language and championing the Neurodiversity movement. She specializes in Universal Design for Learning and strives to help create a future where all classrooms foster belonging and inclusion while meeting the academic needs of all students. Her current interests involve trauma-informed education, neuro-inclusive practice, culturally responsive pedagogical practices, autistic language learners, and the neurobiology of language disorders. Cray enjoys traveling, experiencing new cultures, hiking, aquascaping, writing, and reading.
Past President (term 2021-2024) Kathleen Rose McGovern serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Literacy, Language, and Culture at the University of Southern Maine. Her scholarship focuses on arts-based research and pedagogies in second language education, particularly the use of drama to teach English as a Second Language with newly arrived adult immigrants in the US. Kathleen has worked as a language educator, teacher educator, and theatre artist for over a decade in New England and beyond. She won the Book Award for Academic Excellence in Applied Linguistics for her Master’ work on drama and second language education at The University of Massachusetts Boston, and has served as an English Language Teaching Specialist for the U.S. Department of State. She has taught ESL/EFL to children and adults in a variety of contexts in Morocco and the U.S. Her book, "Enlivening Instruction with Drama and Improv: A Guide for Second Language and World Language Teachers," was published by Routledge in 2021.  Treasurer (no term limit) From the Republic of Congo, a bilingual teacher since 2008, moved to Maine in 2014. ESOL teacher in Portland Public Schools district. She earned her B.A. in Social and Behavioral Science and an MS.Ed in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She enjoys being with elementary students. She is a Multicultural teacher who believes in a communicative language and creates language transitions to allow students to develop other languages while acquiring the English language, and that English can best be taught when there is a knowledge language acquisition process.
Secretary (no term limit) Ilka Kostka began her teaching career as a German language instructor in the United States before teaching English. She is currently a teaching professor at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, where she teaches English language courses to undergraduate and graduate international students. She also contributes to curriculum and program development, supports faculty development initiatives, and publishes and presents regularly in the field of TESOL. Her scholarly interests include flipped learning in academic English language instruction, second language writing, and technology-facilitated language learning. In her spare time, she enjoys reading non-fiction, cooking, taking long walks, learning new languages, and enjoying the arts. .jpg)
Publisher’s Liaison (no term limit) Hulya received her M.S.ed in TESOL from Nazareth College of Rochester and has been teaching English Learners for 17 years. She has taught students from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds in grades pre-k to university. She currently teaches EL students in grades K-8 in a low incidence school in New Hampshire. Hulya is excited to join the NNETESOL board and represent public school EL educators. In her spare time, Hulya enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time outdoors with her family.
Veteran Member at Large (term 2023-2024)
Webmaster (no term limit) Tim is a native Mainer, born in Germany, who is currently teaching social studies at King Middle School in Portland, Maine. Tim’s philosophy of teaching is focused on having students engage with people in the real-world, in real-world formats. Students are capable of making real-world changes and should frequently find ways to apply their school learning on effecting positive changes in their community. Tim has degrees in philosophy and teaching English to speakers of other languages, both from St. Michael’s College in Vermont. He has always taught drums and piano in his spare time, and has always been an active participant in local musical ensembles. He was a board member in Vermont for the Green Mountain Chorus where he was the music and performance vice president and unofficial webmaster. He is excited to be a part of the NNETESOL as a webmaster and find effective, simple ways to connect all the NNETESOL teachers (and add more teachers!)
Social Media Coordinator (no term limit) Michelle Perry has a MAT in TESOL and an MS in Adult and Higher Education. She is the Program Coordinator and an instructor in the English for Speakers of Other Languages Department at the University of Southern Maine. She has taught English as a Second Language for over 20 years in both public and private schools on the west coast and east coast of the United States, as well as in Italy, Costa Rica and Mexico. She specializes in program and curriculum design, technology integration, cross-cultural exploration, and advanced writing for multilingual students.
Maine Representative (term 2023-2026) Heather Reichmuth began her teaching career in South Korea where she taught English as a foreign language for 15 years. During that time, she earned a Master's in TESOL from the University of Southern California. When she returned to the U.S., she pursued a doctorate in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education from Michigan State University. Heather now teaches courses at the University of Southern Maine both in the Teacher Education Department and in TESOL focused courses. Her research examines the intersections of language, literacy, and culture in order to support multilingual students in school.
Maine Representative (term 2023-2026) Nate Berger, MSEd, M.A.L.S. is a full-time ESL teacher at Bangor Adult Education and Adjunct Lecturer of English & Literature at University of Maine at Augusta. He enjoys finding creative and entertaining ways for students to better access English language acquisition, including creating and developing The ELL Zone, a web series geared towards English Language Learners. An avid traveler, Nate has enjoyed the hospitality he has received abroad and strives to foster a sense of hospitality in the local community for New Mainers.
New Hampshire Representative (term 2021-2024) Carmel Collins is an ESL teacher at Central High in Manchester, NH. She recently relocated to Manchester from Maine where she felt she could be more of service in the city where the needs and demands of ELLs are higher. She earned her MA in Education from Lesley University in Boston and continued her graduate studies in Educational Leadership at St. Joseph’s College, Windham, and English as a Second Language at the University of Southern Maine. She earned her undergraduate studies at Leeds University, England. Carmel has served on several boards, strongly advocating for access and equitable education for all and student advocacy. Service includes; Maine Arts Commission, Maine Alliance for Arts Education, Maine Consortium for Student Advocacy, Maine Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, National Core Arts Standards Committee, and the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative. Carmel loves to travel, explore new languages, art and culture, and dance, as well as an avid trail runner and mountain biker.
New Hampshire Representative (term 2020-2023) Rita Naughton is an Assistant Professor of TESOL in the Institute for Language Education at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). She holds a Ph.D. Intercultural Education. She is a versatile and effective English language educator with over 20 years in academia, contributing to powerful learning opportunities in higher education to both domestic and international language learners. At SNHU she teaches in the Intensive English language Program, Undergraduate Bridge Program, and the MA TESOL Program. Her research interests include Second Language Reading and Writing Strategies, Classroom Management Techniques Second Language Assessment, Vocabulary Techniques and Metacognition in Second Language Teaching.
Vermont Representative (term 2023-2026) Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld moved to Vermont in 2020 and established an educational consulting company there. She continues to work as an online TESOL professor at Molloy University, Rockville Centre, NY. Before entering the field of teacher education, she was an English as a Foreign Language teacher in Hungary (grades 5-8 and adult), an English as a Second Language teacher in New York City (grades K-3 and adult), and taught Hungarian at New York University. A Fulbright Scholar and sought after national presenter, Andrea is the coauthor or coeditor of 29 books on education and numerous chapters and research articles related to the needs of diverse learners. She is excited to join the NNETESOL board and support educators in their efforts to better serve multilingual learners in the region.
Vermont Representative (2023-2025) Tamara Eklof-Parks currently works as a district multilingual program coordinator in Vermont while also pursuing her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Vermont.Eklof-Parks grew up in a multilingual household and lived overseas in Latvia, Georgia, and Russia before moving to the United States before age seven. Eklof-Parks earned a Biology degree from Indiana University and completed biochemistry and microbiology studies at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. In 2005, Eklof-Parks became a New York City Teaching Fellow, in 2006 she was a founding teacher at Pan American International High School for Spanish-speaking students in Queens, and starting in 2014 she worked at City-As School in Manhattan. During that time, she earned a Masters in School Administration, a Superintendent’s certification from Bank Street College, was a Master Teacher for Math for America, and a Superintendent's Fellow at Columbia’s Teachers College.In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, hiking with her dogs, meeting people, and traveling to new destinations. |
