The Team – Southern Area International Languages Network (SAILN)

Dr. Mat Schulze is the Director of the Language Acquisition Resource Center at San Diego State University and Professor of German at SDSU European Studies.

Director, LARC; Professor of German, Department of European Studies; Co-editor, CALICO Journal
Email: mschulze@sdsu.edu

Shahnaz Ahmadeian Fard manages and leads SAILN program’s ongoing activities and trainings. She has many years of experience in developing, overseeing and administering professional development programs.

Email: sahmadeianfard@sdsu.edu

Dr. Cecile Nedellec contributes to the planning and implementation of activities, coordinates project resources, and liaises with project stakeholders to collect and disseminate project information. She currently teaches French at Patrick Henry High School. She is a National Board-Certified French Teacher & a CWLP fellow. Dr. Nedellec is also a mentor for the induction program.

Email: cnedellec@sdsu.edu

Maylén Rafuls Rosa is a high school French teacher at San Ysidro High School in San Diego, CA and also serves as an Induction Mentor in the Sweetwater Union High School District. Originally from Cuba, Ms. Rafuls Rosa has nine years’ experience in education as a French, Spanish and Math teacher. A graduate of Princeton (Comparative Literature, 2007) and Stanford (M.A. in Educa­tion, 2012), she is working towards a PhD in Leadership Studies (with a specialization in Educational Leadership for Innovation and Social Justice) at the University of San Diego.

Rima Simaan Haroun develops content and instructional resources and strategies for Strand A1. Rima has twenty-one years of experience in education, providing expertise in ELD programs designing and facilitating teacher preparation programs.

Nadezda has a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Cambridge. She has over ten years of research experience in the areas of language testing and assessment both in the European and US educational context. She has a special interest in less commonly taught languages, performance assessment, and learner motivation.

Tonja Byrom has been a language educator since 2006. She is President of the California Language Teachers' Association and works with language affiliates all over California. Mrs. Byrom has also served as a teacher leader for ACTFL's Leadership Initiative in Language Learning (LILL), LA STARS, IE STARS, and most recently SAILN. Mrs. Byrom was a member of the 2018-2019 World Languages Standards Advisory Committee and is one of the writers of the California World Languages Framework currently being written.

Mariana Apalategui 20+ years teaching experience in Spanish and English as a Second Language. Mariana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from San Diego State University and a Master’s of Art in Spanish Linguistics from the San Diego State University. During her graduate course work, she traveled to Spain, where she taught ESL and took graduate courses in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language at the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares. She currently teaches Spanish at Point Loma Nazarene University in Point Loma, CA.

Founder of Creative ASL Teaching blog and an #aslteacherchat moderator has 20+ years teaching experience in ASL. Robin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Deaf Studies from California State University Northridge and a Master’s of Science in School Counseling from the University of LaVerne. She teaches ASL and Physical Education at Sage Creek High School in Carlsbad, CA. Robin is a workshop presenter in ASL curriculum, standards, and second language acquisition. Robin also works as a consultant to help other schools in her area establish and maintain thriving ASL programs. She is a new teacher mentor, a Fellow in the California World Language Project, and the world language department chair at her school site. Her passion is to support ASL teachers in their journey to become creative innovators and leaders in the field of World Language instruction.