Faculty and Staff
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All our faculty are trained
professionals with at least a master's degree in TESOL or related field.
Our administrators have degrees and special training in their areas of expertise.
Administrators |
Faculty |
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Adriana Treadway
Miranda Stramel
Alannah Massey
Kirk Lanier
Savanna Gragg
Hilary Ray
Jimmy Bowie
David Grahame |
Bios: Administration and StaffLeyah
Malcha Bergman-Lanier, PhD
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Dr. Leyah (Vicki) Bergman-Lanier brings more than 20 years of ESL
teaching and administrative experience to her position as Director
of Spring International Language Center at the University of Arkansas
in Fayetteville. Her teaching spans all ages from kindergarten through
adult levels. She served as Director of the Program in ESL at the
University of California at Irvine, Assistant Director of ESL at Pitzer
College, and Program Coordinator of Adult Education and K-12 Programs
in Claremont, California; Leyah has also directed the Spring Institute
for International Studies at the University of Northern Colorado.
Dr. Bergman-Lanier speaks fluent Japanese and taught in Japan for
four years. She has also taught and conducted research in the People's
Republic of China. Her undergraduate degree comes from the University
of California at Berkeley, and she completed her M.A. (Education and
Reading) and Ph.D. (Education and Sociolinquistics) at Claremont Graduate
School. Dr. Bergman-Lanier has traveled extensively in Asia, Europe
and Latin America. Her home town is in West Los Angeles. In her spare
time, Leyah enjoys weaving, reading and exploring the outdoors.
Adriana Treadway is originally from Argentina. She started teaching
English in 1982. She has worked as a translator for corporations and
individuals in Argentina and in the USA; as an English as a Foreign
Language instructor in public and private schools in Argentina and
in Japan; and as a Spanish Teaching Assistant in the Department of
Foreign Languages at the University of Arkansas. Adriana completed
an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language and Translation at
the University of La Plata in Argentina. In 1993, she completed an
M.F.A. in Translation at the University of Arkansas. Adriana loves
teaching, traveling, cooking and gardening.
Miranda Stramel is a Fayetteville native. She graduated from Mount
Holyoke College in Massachusetts with a B.A. in International Relations
and B.A. in Spanish. After graduation, she worked as a Spanish translator
and interpreter for Fayetteville Public Schools, and she also worked
closely with the migrant population. She has spent over a year in
Europe attending intensive language programs to further her Spanish
and French language skills. She hopes to begin working on a Master's
Degree in Literary Translation at the University of Arkansas. Her
other interests include camping, hiking, kayaking, and traveling.
She is alsos slowly developing a "green thumb."
A
native of northwest Arkansas, Alannah Massey graduated from the University
of Arkansas with a degree in English. Her professional experiences
range from teaching middle school to organizing citywide festivals
to managing an architectural firm’s office. By far her favorite experience,
however, has been working with the wonderfully diverse student population
at Spring International. In her free time, she enjoys spending time
with her family, making jewelry, being outside, reading, and live
music.
[bio coming soon]
Bio
coming soon.
Born
and raised in Northwest Arkansas, Hilary decided to stay in her hometown
to earn her bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University
of Arkansas. During her junior year at the university, she took part
in the Soonchunhyang University exchange program. She traveled to
South Korea and helped tutor university-level Korean students in English.
This and other travels have made her appreciate everything the world
can teach her. Outside of work, you will most likely find Hilary reading
or playing tennis at Wilson Park, watching movies at the cinema, or
enjoying a walk around town. 
Jimmy
Bowie is from Fayetteville, Arkansas. He graduated from the University
of Arkansas in 2006 with Bachelors degrees in Journalism and Political
Science. While studying at the University, Jimmy was a resident assistant
at Holcombe hall that houses many international students. Immediately
after graduating he pursued a career in journalism, but the desire
to help students never subsided. In January 2008 Jimmy was hired as
the student services coordinator at Spring International Language
Center. In addition to helping international students, Jimmy enjoys
spending his time outdoors hiking with his dog or spending time with
his fiancé. 
For many years, Steve Carruthers enjoyed a successful career as a
music educator and professional musician. On trombone and tuba, he
performed for Walt Disney World; played in pit bands and symphonic
orchestras and on cruise ships; and toured with the renowned Tommy
Dorsey big band. Along the way, he has enjoyed travel throughout the
US and through much of Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, and
in Japan, Italy, France, and several Caribbean countries. In 2002,
Steve took on a new career track, teaching English as a Second Language,
and began his studies at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu. Steve
completed his Bachelor of Arts in Teaching English as Second Language
in 2005, and he decided to stay on at HPU for his Master's degree.
During his time there, Steve served HPU in many capacities, as an
English tutor, tutor trainer, and manager of the Tutoring and Testing
Center, and he taught academic writing courses for advanced learners
of English in HPU's English Foundations Program. In May 2007, Steve
completed his Master of Arts in TESL and soon thereafter joined Spring
International as an instructor. Although he is a busy teacher, Steve
keeps a few hobbies: He maintains his music career, tries to further
his skills in Japanese, hopes to travel to new lands, and, above all,
always remembers to take time with his wife to enjoy the natural wonders
of Arkansas.
Originally from Brazil, Roseli Franco came to the U.S.A. to pursue
her Master's Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages). Before that, she was an English as a Foreign Language
Teacher in Brazil for 10 years. She has also been an English as a
Second Language Teacher in the U.S.A. since 2001. Currently, Roseli
holds a Master's Degree in Curriculum & Instruction in addition
to her Master's in TESOL. She brings to the classromm not only her
vast experience as a language teacher, but also her experience as
a language learner. During all these years, Roseli has taught English
to students of all ages and levels, and from diverse backgrounds.
A native of Massachusetts, Stephanie Smith relocated to Arkansas to
be closer to family. From 2001-2007, she taught grades 9-12 in the
Department of Bilingual and ESL Services at Brockton High School in
Brockton, MA. While there, she served five years on the ESL curriculum
development committee, acted as co-presenter and teacher trainer for
administrators and mainstream faculty focusing on sheltered English
language instructional strategies, and was inducted into the National
Honor Society in 2004 as an inspirational teacher. Stephanie started
her career in ESL in 1989 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Upon receiving
her Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from Indiana University
at Bloomington in 1992, Stephanie returned to the Czech Republic where
she worked at the Bell School, International Language Centre, and
the Air Navigation Services of the Czech Republic Air Traffic Control
Training Center. She also spent a summer teaching at the Mainor Language
School in Tallinn, Estonia.
David Grahame has been teaching English to international students
since 1977. He has occasionally tried other careers, but never found
anything as rewarding as daily contact with and education of students
from all over the world. David has a Bachelor's degree in French and
a Master's in Comparative Literature; he values his experience being
a student of the French language in Montreal and in Paris as the best
training for his job as an ESL teacher. He taught at the E.L.S. Institute
at the University of Oklahoma from 1977 to 1985, and was an instructor
and later the academic coordinator of the ESL program at the University
of Arkansas at Little Rock from 1986 to 1999. David enjoys his three
cats, all kinds of music, science fiction and fantasy.
Michelle Jeffries joined the SILC staff in 2007. She is originally
from Memphis, Tennessee. In 2005, she received her B.A. in English
with teaching certification from Mississippi University for Women.
She also received a minor in music with teaching certification and
a TESOL certificate. While attending the University of Alabama, Michelle
taught advanced ESL composition courses and tutored ESL students while
she was completing her Master's degree in TESOL. During that time,
she also completed an apprenticeship at an intensive English language
institute. Michelle loves teaching ESL students of all levels. In
her time outside of the classroom, Michelle enjoys singing, playing
piano, reading, cooking, and spending time with her husband.
Michael Russell is from Cleveland, Ohio. He received a B.A. in History
from Ohio University in 2002. Michael began his teaching career in
August of 2002 in San Juan del Rio, Mexico where he taught English
as a Foreign Language for 2 years. In 2004, Michael received his M.A.
in Applied Linguistics from Ohio University and he began teaching
for Spring International Language Center in June of 2004. In addition
to teaching, Michael enjoys reading, traveling and politics.
Lynn Hofstad Schumacher started her English teaching career in China,
where she lived and worked for three years. After returning to the
United States, she spent four years as a magazine editor. However,
she missed interacting with students, so she entered the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she taught English to international
students while earning her Master's degree in Teaching English as
a Second Language. Upon graduating in 1996, she took a teaching position
at Northwest Missouri State University. The following year, she was
invited to join the faculty at Spring International Language Center.
Lynn's editing experience has helped her to teach writing and grammar
well. She also particularly enjoys teaching pronunciation. Outside
of the classroom, Lynn's main pleasure is spending time with her husband
and daughter.
A native of the Chicago area, Don Williams graduated from Concordia
University in River Forest, Illinois, and began his teaching career
at the elementary level. In 1974 he moved to Australia, working as
a high school teacher for twelve years. During this time, he first
experienced ESL teaching as a volunteer instructor for two months
at Hangzhou University in China. He returned to Chicago, received
an MA in Curriculum & Instruction, and in 1991 he joined the Peace
Corps and went to Poland. There he experienced an intensive language
program, but as a student this time! For the next eight years, Don
lived in Krakow, teaching English at Krakow Pedagogical University,
at a Polish high school, at several private schools, and at an intensive
language program for the Polish military. In 1999, thanks to the Peace
Corps again, Don studied ESL teaching at Wichita State University
and worked at the WSU Intensive English Language Center, and in 2000
he joined SILC. Don loves his ESL work very much, and also enjoys
drawing and painting, cooking, reading and travel.
Vladimir Ivashchenko was born in Novosibirsk, Russia. His family later
moved to Ukraine. He got his BA in English and French at Kiev State
University in 1990. The same year he flew to Canada (a cloak-and-dagger
tale, one of intrigue – the Wall had just fallen - but that is a tale
for another day…) and from there to the United States. In 1992 he
began pursuit of an MFA degree in Literary Translation at the University
of Arkansas, during which he taught elementary French and Russian
in the Foregin Languages Department., at times also tutoring in English,
Russian and French as well as translating for local companies and
individuals involved in international business. He completed his studies
in 1998, though he considers himself an eternal student, as there
is so much to learn in the language field, and joined Spring International
in August 2000; he has been teaching ever since, and truly enjoying
it, and finds teaching one of the best means of learning. 
After receiving a B.A. in Elementary Education from University of
Missouri, Kansas City, Anna taught 4th grade until 1991. In 1992,
she received an M.A. in TESL from Central Missouri State University
and began teaching English at a Hungarian high school in Romania under
the auspices of Soros Foundation for an Open Society. From 1994 to
1999, Anna was an instructor in the Intensive English Program at Central
Missouri State University. Some of Anna's favorite things-besides
teaching-are travel, piano, international folk music, volleyball,
and rabbits.
Adelaide "Addie" Adamson taught college writing and literature classes
to native speakers for 38 years before "retiring" in 1998. In 1999
she began teaching university English As a Second Language classes
part-time and has enjoyed it so much that she is still doing so. She
has a doctorate in higher education from the University of Arkansas
and an MA in English, with emphasis on Renaissance literature from
Sam Houston State University. A native of Texas, she moved to Arkansas
in 1975 and considers Fayetteville home. She has 3 adult children
and 5 grandchildren. Her favorite avocation, besides teaching, is
astrology.
[bio coming soon]
A
native of Northwest Arkansas, Rochelle graduated from Brigham Young
University with an M.A. in TESOL and an undergraduate degree in Middle
Eastern Studies and Arabic. She has taught ESL and EFL in Utah, China,
Scotland, and now Arkansas. She has been teaching at Spring International
Language Center since 2001, in both the Intensive English Program
and the Teaching Training Programs. Rochelle loves to teach and it
shows in every aspect of her being. She is creative, motivating and
demanding. The results in her student’s English skills are obvious.
Rochelle enjoys hiking, reading, and spending time with her lovely
family. 
[bio coming soon]