Learn more about the 2023-2024 Ignite Professional Learning Community (PLC) facilitators and topics below.
PLC Facilitators
Ye “Jane” He
Professor, TESOL | University of North Carolina at Greensboro
I have served as the TESOL program coordinator at UNC Greensboro since 2006. At UNC Greensboro, we offer various teacher preparation programs and professional development workshops to prepare preservice teachers and support inservice teachers working with English learners, dual language learners, and their families. Currently, I serve as the Co-Principal Investigator for Project Ignite, a five-year National Professional Development project supporting teacher preparation.
Ricardo A. Bernal De la Ossa
Ph.D. student | Project IGNITE GA | TED Program Instructor | Teacher Education and Development | School of Education, UNC Greensboro
As a 30-year professional in the field of education, I have worked in multicultural/multilingual settings in both public and private sectors, internationally and locally. I received my M.Ed. in Teacher Education-TESOL from UNCG in 2016, and also hold an M.A in International Education, English concentration, and a B.A in Language Teaching Education – double major in English and French. Since 2002, I have been working with Guilford County Schools as a middle grades English facilitator to multilingual learners, teacher leader, mentor, community liaison, interpreter, and advocate. I have also served on GCS’ Superintendent Advisory Council. An avid reader, swimmer, and traveler, I enjoy learning about countries, languages, and cultures, and am passionate about working with and serving our local immigrant community.
Beth Poydock
Ph.D. student | Project IGNITE GA | Teacher Education and Development | School of Education, UNC Greensboro
I currently work as the ESL Lead Teacher for Rowan Salisbury School System in Salisbury, North Carolina. My teaching experience is primarily in an elementary ESL classroom, and now I coach and work with students and teachers, K-12. I provide professional development and support on academic language acquisition, WIDA standards, and ML instructional strategies. I have a passion for ensuring that all students and their families receive equal access to education and all the programs and services that our public schools offer. I am a member of Carolina TESOL, NAELPA, and International TESOL. I believe that making connections and networking with colleagues is the best way to improve our education system. For fun I volunteer with Girl Scouts, hike up in the mountains, and sew little critters.
Diana Adkins
ML Instructional Coach, Winston-Selam/Forsyth County Schools
I came to WSFCS as an ESL Teacher Resident with Project Enrich, a joint program between UNCG and WSFCS, in 2011. After completing the year-long residency and receiving a Masters in TESOL, I taught ESL for 2 years at Diggs-Latham ES, and then 7 years at Brunson Elementary School. Throughout my time as an ESL Teacher, I have been active in advocating for the rights and needs of the MLs of the school and the district. I have worked to bring together resources and community support to ensure the success of my students at school and in life. I have also developed and presented PD that helps educators un-learn several of the unfounded myths that surround working with the ML population, and sometimes prevent their success. I recently moved into an Instructional Coaching role where I support Teachers and help them to identify, advocate for, and meet the needs of their MLs.
Monica Bryant
ELD Teacher, Richmond County Schools
As an advocate for empowering multilingual students, I have a passion for learning about different cultures through traveling to new places. I have seen that the English language is shared and “owned” by different groups of people. This experience contributes to my love for teaching English. I started teaching at the high school and university levels in the Philippines and spent two years in Indonesia teaching middle school students. I hold a Master’s degree in English Language Arts from Philippine Normal University and a TESOL Certificate from Anaheim University. Currently, I am servicing two middle schools in Richmond County.
Marcelo Espinoza
ESL teacher, Guilford County Schools
I have been in the area of teaching Language acquisition for 20 years, first as a Spanish and then as an EL teacher. Working with students from different backgrounds of all ages has helped me realized that, despite these differences, most of our linguistically and culturally diverse students and their families face similar challenges, from the loss of heritage language to the lack of participation in their school communities. That is why I am extremely excited to be part of the project Ignited, and I cannot wait to share, hear, and learn from everybody’s experiences. I am a former participant of the project EnACTeD, and I have a bachelor’s degree in education from the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences in Chile and a master’s degree in TESOL from Greensboro College.
Carrie Jones, PhD, NBCT
8th Grade Science Teacher, Wake County Schools | Adjunct Professor Science Education, UNCG, ECU, Meredith College
This is my 25th year in the public schools – I have spent the majority of my time in the 9th grade, but for the last few, I moved back to the middle level. I teach online also for NC Virtual School (Anatomy). I have worked my way up in the Enacted Program and currently I’m in SIOP training for WCPSS. If I can be of any help integrating Science/ESL, since it is so vocabulary-heavy, please let me know.
Holly Kolarova
Clear Creek Elementary, Hendersonville | Teacher of Multilingual Learners and Students with Exceptional Needs
I have been an instructor for 12 years, seven in middle school (EC) and five in elementary (ESL/EC). I was a past participant of Project EnACTeD. It is important to me that educators and parents understand the differences between language learners versus students with learning differences and the possibility of being dually identified. Multilingual students should also have an advocate for the gifted programs. I am passionate about making all families in our community feel welcome, informed, and know that they have a voice in their child’s education. My interests include participation as a World View Teacher Fellow-UNC Chapel Hill 22-23 as well as a Kenan Fellow for 23-24.
Samantha Roberts
ESL Teacher, South Rowan High School, Rowan-Salisbury Schools
I started my career in Special Education 12 years ago working with students with moderate to severe disabilities in self-contained classroom environments. I served in high school general Special Education for four years, co-teaching a variety of subjects as well as teaching separate setting academic support before switching positions to teach English as a Second Language in the 21-22 school year. I passionately advocate for students to receive the education they deserve and the supports they need to reach their full academic potentials.