Paul Swift, Interim Director

A native of Bozeman, Paul began his career in the field of ESL when he moved to southern China in 2004. Teaching and working with students who were learning a new language and culture, just as he himself was doing, quickly became a passion for him. This passion took him from the rugged southern city of Guilin in Guangxi to the megalopolis of Beijing, where he spent five years in an exciting variety of work—from executive search, consulting, and government relations to ESL instruction and administration. In 2010, Paul returned to his home town with his family. He has been working with A.C.E. Language Institute at MSU since 2011. He enjoys sharing with his students both his love of Montana and his knowledge of language and culture.

Here's what he says is his favorite part about being at A.C.E.: "I get to meet interesting people from all over the world and learn a lot about other cultures."

Education

• Ed., Adult and Higher Education, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
• Advanced Level Certificate, College of Advanced Chinese Training, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China
• B.A., Directed Interdisciplinary Studies, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

Ana Valdivia, Operations Director

Ana is originally from Lima, Peru. She graduated as an Architect before coming to Bozeman where she has lived for more than 15 years and is now used to the long and cold winters. Her interest for learning about different cultures began in 2000 when she joined A.C.E. Language Institute's admin staff. Being herself a non-native English speaker, she found at A.C.E. the perfect place to help foreign students coming to Bozeman.

Over the years, Ana has taken different roles and assumed increasing responsibilities at ACE. She is now responsible for financial reporting, reconciliation accounting and tuition records and works directly with A.C.E. Central Office staff. Ana enjoys meeting students from different countries and backgrounds, assisting and seeing them succeed at A.C.E. Ana’s other passions are arts, drawing, music, and spending time and traveling with her family.

Education

• Professional Title of Architect, Universidad Femenina Del Sagrado Corazón-Unife, Lima, Peru
• B.S., Architecture, Universidad Femenina Del Sagrado Corazón-Unife, Lima, Peru

Cherí Ladd LeCain, Director of Studies

Cherí’s interest in the field of English Language Teaching stems from her childhood experience living in Hawaii, surrounded by a rich diversity of people from many different cultural and language backgrounds. She spent her early years singing songs in Japanese, celebrating Chinese New Year, strumming the ukulele, dancing the hula, and learning from teachers who came from Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and European origins. Since then, she has studied abroad in Spain, lived in Japan and Germany, and traveled extensively. Today, teaching English as a Second Language allows her to combine the interests in culture and language that began in her youth.

In 1990, (at age 21) Cheri started teaching in California working with refugees from Southeast Asia and immigrants from Latin America. Cheri became the first teacher hired when the A.C.E. Language Institute at MSU opened in 1994, and she has been teaching and coordinating programming ever since. Cherí has presented at many international and regional conferences, published articles, and participated in numerous trainings and workshops. She has earned many certificates, served as secretary of the IEP Interest Section of TESOL, and serves as a regular TESOL proposal reviewer. As Director of Studies, she completed a full revision of the institute’s curriculum and continues to make improvements with the Curriculum Committee to reflect best current practices. Her areas of interest include curriculum, assessment, and vocabulary instruction. She has also taught Linguistics and University Seminars as well as ESL in adult education and community college settings.

Outside of the classroom, Cherí enjoys playing violin, attending concerts and shows, co-leading a Girl Scout Brownie troop, and doing family activities with her husband, daughter and son.

Education

• M.A., Linguistics with TESL Emphasis, with distinction, California State University, Fresno, CA
• B.A., International Studies and Spanish, magna cum laude, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

Amy Engblom, International Student Advisor

Amy is a Montana native who enjoys meeting people from other countries. Always desiring to travel, she looked for places to go. As a young adult, her adventures took her out of Montana to places like Raleigh, North Carolina for a year of university study, and then to Mombasa Kenya for a six month cross-cultural program. But somehow, Montana was always the place that she returned. In her early married life, Amy had fun hosting students from Japan and India. After living in Bozeman for many years, she and her family moved to Istanbul, Turkey in 2002. Amy studied Turkish, learned to make jewelry, and taught English in Turkey. The family returned to Montana in 2012. The transition back, after living in Turkey was made easier for Amy when she started working with Turkish students and other international students at A.C.E. Language Institute. Now she enjoys assisting with student activities, orientation, and special needs of the students. Amy loves the outdoors, new experiences, watching her son and daughter grow-up, and helping students to be successful at A.C.E. She is always interested in talking about Turkey!

Education

• B.S., Biological Science, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
• M.A., Public Administration , emphasis: Communication, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
• TESOL Certificate, Lingua Edge

Valley Peters, Lead Instructor and Group Programs Coordinator

Growing up in rural Nebraska and Montana, Valley acquired wanderlust at a young age as she dreamt of far-flung places. A study abroad program in college to New Zealand ignited her plan to pursue a lifetime of traveling and learning about other cultures. A stint as an Americorps volunteer ESL instructor opened the door for combining travel and culture with her love for learning. Outside the classroom, you’ll find her dabbling in artistic pursuits, hiking, hanging out with her daughter, and listening to Tedtalks.

Valley has taught in Japan, Mexico, and in the United States in a variety of settings. Her love for the outdoors led her to Jackson, Wyoming where she spent 10 years at a non-profit developing literacy programming for adults, training ESL tutors and teachers, and eventually acting as the executive director. Her professional interests include learning-to-learn strategies, reading development, reflective practice, learner efficacy, and intercultural competence. She has presented at conferences in Japan, Wyoming, and Washington on “constructive chaos” in the classroom, group discussion skills, reflective practice, participatory pedagogy, training ESL tutors, and advanced reading strategies.

Education

• M.A., TESOL from the School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont
• B.A., Liberal Studies, with honors, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

Matt Rabinsky, Lead Instructor

Although Matt is not a native of Montana, he feels that Montana will always be his real home. After moving from New Jersey to Bozeman in 1997, Matt completed his BS in Elementary Education at Montana State University and soon afterwards, he discovered ESL through a friend who was teaching at A.C.E. at that time. The first experience he had with working with foreign students, tutoring Japanese university administrators, was all it took. Matt realized that teaching English to adults was not only fun, but also fascinating and rewarding. Every day he learns something about people, culture or language that he might not have learned if it weren’t for the amazing students he gets to interact with on a daily basis. So he completed a TESOL certification program and then enrolled in a graduate program to earn a Master’s degree in Education. Matt has been teaching at A.C.E. since 2005. Today, when he is not teaching, he enjoys traveling, making music, fishing, rafting and camping with his wife and two children, and generally being outdoors in the place he loves most in the world.

Education

• B.S., Elementary Education, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
• TESOL Certification, Lingua Edge
• M.Ed., Adult and Higher Education, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

Tiffany Ranalli, Lead Instructor

Tiffany Ranalli's humble beginnings in the world of ESL began back in 2002 when she left the US for Europe in search of new experiences. At the time, teaching EFL was a means to accommodate her adventures, but it was in the tiny Polish town of Myslenice, where she had been teaching English for year, that her passion for language and teaching was awakened. When her time in Poland came to an end, she immediately settled in NYC and completed a Master's degree in TESOL at Hunter College in 2007. Tiffany spent seven years in NYC teaching in variety of private language institutes as well as several community colleges in the various boroughs. She moved to Bozeman, MT in 2011 and has worked at A.C.E. as a lead instructor, site coordinator for the CEA accreditation process, and assessment coordinator. Tiffany is grateful for the professional development opportunities working at A.C.E. has afforded her, and she is excited to continue being part of A.C.E.'s innovative efforts moving forward.

Education

• CEA Reviewer Training, TESOL International Conference - Dallas, TX
• M.A., TESOL, Hunter College, Manhattan, NY
• TEFL Certificate - ViaLingua - Barcelona, Spain
• B.A., Sociology, State University of New York, Albany, NY

Kristina Allison, Lead Instructor

Kristina Allison began her cultural and language interests as a child, reading every National Geographic magazine arriving at her house from cover to cover. It wasn’t until she was an adult, however, moving to Geneva, Switzerland, that she was fully immersed in another language and culture. During her time working for the United Nations as an English-language editor, she was constantly struck with the sheer number of languages spoken in this cosmopolitan environment, and was amazed at the ease with which some people could switch so easily from one language to another. Inspired and humbled by the difficulty of navigating local life without speaking the local language, she began formal study of French at the UN Language Programme. There she learned lots of French grammar and became fascinated with the language-learning process.

Kristina obtained her CELTA certificate in 2011 in Bogota, Colombia, and has worked for A.C.E. since 2012. There she has had the opportunity to teach leadership skills to students in the program and has presented this experience at various conferences in the region. Her previous career was in social work, where she worked for several years facilitating workshops for parents and educators in behavior-management techniques. She has also taught French to children in the Bozeman area.

Kristina finds teaching ESL the nearly perfect blend between her love of languages and her desire to teach and help others, and sincerely enjoys the opportunity to develop relationships with students from around the world. She loves having a job that is never boring. When she is not working at A.C.E., you might find Kristina on her bike, on her skis or on her couch in front of a blazing wood fire.

Education

• Master's degree in Social Work, Boise State University , Boise, ID
• Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA), International House Bogota
• B.A., Psychology, Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina

Erin Strickland, Lead Instructor

Erin Strickland came to ESL teaching by way of the Peace Corps, and came to the Peace Corps by way of reading too many National Geographic magazines as a kid. She has always been interested in learning about different cultures, and that thread has continued throughout her education and her career. After serving as an education volunteer with the Peace Corps for two years in the Republic of Georgia, Erin decided to get her degree in TESOL. Her own experiences of working as a volunteer, living as an exchange student in France, and traveling to over 20 countries has helped her connect with her students in many ways. She understands how challenging it can be to live and learn in another culture, and understands the difficulties they face as they work to accomplish their goals. After four years of teaching at the University of Denver, Erin had the opportunity to move back to her hometown of Bozeman, Montana, which she loves. When she’s not teaching, she’s probably out of cell phone range. She’s very good about returning messages, though.

Education

• Masters in TESOL, Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, CA
• B.A., Journalism, University of Montana, Missoula, MT

Corinne Richardson, Instructor

Corinne Richardson grew up on a small island in rural Maine where she always felt her world was a little too small. She developed an itch to travel which bewildered her stay-at-home family. She graduated from the University of Maine and headed West. After an 8-year stint teaching English Composition to native English speakers at Montana State University, she turned her focus to ESL and traveled to Florence, Italy to earn her TESOL certification. She fell in love with Italy and stayed on giving private lessons to Italian students while enrolled in Italian language school. Corinne has a special interest in teaching listening and speaking skills and believes that meeting students where they are and bringing them along is the best road to student success. She is determined to uncover the secrets of student motivation. Corinne holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in English from the University of Iowa, and ESL certification from Via Lingua, Florence Italy. She has also taken professional development courses through TESOL. When not teaching, you can find her exploring the world, practicing French and Italian, writing non-fiction, golfing or schussing down the ski hills.

Education

• ESL Certificate, Via Lingua, Florence, Italy
• Master of Fine Arts, English, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
• B.A., Business and Paralegal Studies, New Hamphire College, Brunswick, ME

Ann Sorenson, Instructor

Ann has always wanted to travel, explore new places, and experience new cultures. She didn’t have to travel far to do that, when her first teaching job took her to the remote Navajo Reservation, in Monument Valley, Utah. This was her first encounter with “English as a Second Language.” Then, after university, she had the privilege of traveling to places all over Europe with the U.S. Summer Biathlon Team (running + rifle marksmanship), competing in the World Championships. She made 8 World Teams and traveled to the countries of Austria, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Russia.

Soon after the competition days were over, she realized she wanted to find something she could do to combine making a living and learn about other cultures. Taking a break from her full time Massage Therapy career, and wanting to use her Bachelor’s Degree, Ann went to A.C.E., where she began as a tutor. She received her ESL Certificate in Florence, Italy, then started teaching for A.C.E., in 2005.

Ann continues to learn German and thinks it shouldn’t be so difficult since she has a daughter who is fluent and a partner who is German.

When she’s not traveling, Ann enjoys being outside running, hiking, paddle-boarding, or cycling. She volunteers for the Bridger Biathlon Club, teaching kids skiing and marksmanship skills. She likes to read non-fiction and watch documentaries. Ann enjoys spending time with her adult kids, and now she’ll have to find clever ways of enticing them to hang out with her: travel maybe!?

Education

• M.A. in Teaching ESL, Dominican University, Illinois
• ESL Certificate, Via Lingua-Florence, Italy
• Diploma in Massage Therapy-Phoenix Therapeutic Massage College, Arizona
• B.S. in Health and Physical Education K-12, University of Dayton, Ohio

Nadya Modyanova, Instructor

After many years of living, studying, and working in different places (Russia, Switzerland, France, UK, Portugal, and United States), Nadya Modyanova discovered the last best place of Bozeman, MT. While Teaching English as a Second Language was not her major, linguistics, language learning, and teaching have been her passions and areas of expertise. Now, Nadya tries to balance her personal goal of being stress-free, both for herself and for her students, with trying to get everybody involved to work hard. In her spare time (what spare time?), Nadya likes to take advantage of the great outdoors and go hiking or cross-country skiing.

Previously, Nadya completed a bachelor’s degree in linguistics with cognitive science and a Ph.D. in neuroscience, and did research on biology of language: correlating language dis/abilities in children with autism and their genetics. While Nadya still wishes to get back into doing research sometime, she hopes to continue teaching for now!

Education

• Ph.D., Neuroscience, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
• B.A., Linguistics, honours, University College, London, UK
• TESOL Certificate, Lingua Edge

Kate Johnson, Instructor

Kate cultivated an interest in different cultures and international students while at university in the UK. After graduating she embarked on a gap year travelling, scuba diving and guiding through North and Central America before ending up in New Zealand where she attained a TEFL qualification. A love of food brought her to her first teaching job in southern Italy. While in Puglia she gained a great deal of experience teaching various levels and ages and learning how to administer Cambridge Exams. She also met her future husband, a local of Bozeman! For the next 6 years they taught together in various places from the bright lights and long commutes of Tokyo to the som tam and sandy beaches of Thailand and the persistent drizzle of the Lake District to the yak caravans and snotty noses of the Khumbu Valley. Kate enjoys living in Bozeman where her husband is now a full time student and she is excited to have the opportunity to be teaching at ACE where she is still able to learn about new cultures and develop professionally.

Education

• Master of Arts, English, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
• TEFL International TESOL Certification, New Zealand

Yana Vunder, Instructor

Yana Vunder is one of the instructors who joined the A.C.E. team a year ago and has already had the pleasure to enjoy our diverse international community of students and instructors. Yana herself once studied English as a second language, so she can relate to all the stress and success of her students. She studied English and Ukrainian while in high school, and was excited to learn that Ukrainian, along with Italian, is considered to be the most beautiful language in the world due to the melody of sounds and intonation. She later graduated from the university with a Master's degree in English Philology and taught English in Russia for about ten years. In 2010, while on a program in the USA, she fell in love with Bozeman and a man from Bozeman. In 2014 she fell in love with A.C.E. She particularly takes pleasure in teaching Writing and considers it the most creative aspect of teaching/learning a language. In her free time, she is fond of knitting and crocheting, reading books, hiking and camping, and spending time with her family.

Education

• M.A., English Philology, ESL Dept., Krasnoyarsk Pedagogical College, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
• B.A., English Language, Krasnoyarsk Pedagogical College, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Elizabeth Halvorsen, Instructor

Elizabeth was often told about her Norwegian heritage as a child and therefore started learning Norwegian at 11 years old. Upon completing a BA in music at the University of Puget Sound, Elizabeth spent two years living and working in Norway, the US, and Quebec in order to connect to her heritage, further her language skills and experience new cultures. Her passion for languages and cultures then lead her to pursue a Master degree from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

Elizabeth began teaching ESL in 2010 and worked in both the US and Norway before beginning at the A.C.E. Language Institute in Bozeman, MT. She started teaching Norwegian in 2002, and currently spends her summers facilitating Skogfjorden´s accredited high school language program. In addition, she started Lexica Language Services AS in 2013 and currently manages the company in addition to doing translations and online training. Besides learning and teaching languages, Elizabeth loves hiking the beautiful mountains surrounding Bozeman, and finds that being outdoors boosts her energy and creativity. She is excited to keep trying to find new and more effective ways to promote learning.

Education

• Masters in TESOL, Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, CA
• B.A., Music, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA

Tanya Hauwiller, Instructor

Tanya grew up in Bozeman, but inspired by her parents' love of travel she was always curious about the world beyond her own backyard. While her father was a Fulbright Scholar in Thailand, Tanya had a study abroad opportunity with Thai International Airways. After the semester, she traveled throughout Southeast Asia. She loved learning about the cultures and especially enjoyed eating the flavorful ethnic foods. Tanya graduated from Montana State University with a business degree, but soon discovered her true passion. After two, fantastic years of teaching English in Kumamoto, Japan (Japan Exchange in Teaching), Tanya pursued a Masters of Education with a certification in ESL from the University of Colorado. Tanya has 15 years of experience teaching English to students from Kindergarten aged to professional adults. In 2007, Tanya took a leave of absence from her job with the Denver Public Schools to teach English in Santiago, Chile. Two months later, Tanya met her husband while buying Chilean olives at a neighborhood farmer's market. She lived there for almost eight years and has recently returned to the U.S. She and her husband have a five-year old daughter. She is proud that her daughter is bilingual and has deep connections to both her Chilean and American cultures.

Tanya is thrilled to be back in Bozeman where she spends time with her family, enjoying all the pleasures that Bozeman has to offer.

Education

• TEFL Certificate, Bridge-Linguatec TESL Online
• Endorsement, Linguistically Diverse Education, K-12
• Professional Teachers License, K-6
• M.A., Elementary Curriculum and Instruction, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
• B.S., Business, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT