Academy Resource Center

English as a Second Language (ESL)

Meet the Faculty

Zuleica Acker
Zue gained her first teaching credential in London in 1986. After teaching in Spain, Ecuador and Oxford, she came to San Francisco and became a teacher trainer for the Cambridge CELTA. Working for various language schools, she taught both teachers and ESL students for 12 years. In 2007, she gained a distinction in her TESOL Masters at Oxford Brookes. Most recently she has been enjoying teaching immigrants at Laney College in Oakland and City College of San Francisco. In her free time she is an oil painter and an arts/language student.

Camille Andreacchi
Camille has an MA in Linguistics and a Master's Credential in TESOL. She has taught English and academic writing at universities in the Bay Area for over nine years. When she's not working, she likes to paint and do new media arts. Camille has exhibited her photography in the Bay Area for over a decade.

Joy Baker
Joy has attended Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, Fine Arts, Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC, NY Fashion Design & Merchandising, The School of Visual Arts, NYC, NY, Graphic Design & Textile Design, Trotta School of Fine Art, NYC, N.Y. She has extensive experience in the fashion industry. She authored & teaches "Merchandising Promotional Strategies" online, "Market Research", "Writing A Business Plan" & "Wrap Up"(for your final thesis) for MFA students, and works with students doing Directed Studies one-on-one in the MFA program who are working toward a degree in Fashion Merchandising or New Product Development. She also teaches the Art Experience programs designed for high school students, and works as an ESL Support instructor for the ESL Department. In her free time, Joy is learning to speak Italian, is a student of Tai Chi, Chi Gong, and Yoga, is an avid book reader, and has a passion for good food and music.

Alice Clay
Alice graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1991. From 1993 to 2001 she traveled the world. She taught in Athens, Greece; Moscow, Russia; Iizuka & Kanazawa, Japan. In 2001 Alice returned to the USA and started teaching ESL at the Academy of Art University. Her hobbies include yoga, hiking, reading, printmaking and alligator wrestling.

Chris Correale
Chris has an MATESOL from San Francisco State University, and a BS in English Education from the University of Georgia. His teaching experience has included middle school English teaching in Atlanta, teaching ESL in France, South Korea, and Japan, and literacy training for Literacy Volunteers of America. In addition to his work with the Academy, he currently teaches at St. Mary’s College in Moraga. He loves good food, good books, good friends, and fast motorcycles.

Donna Dager
Donna is the Coordinator for the ARC website, and is an online support instructor as well as an ESL Support instructor. She has an M.A. in Communications Arts from Vermont College and a B.S. in Education from S.U.N.Y. at Cortland, NY. Donna specializes in computer and video technologies and has been working with ESL students at the Academy in these areas for many years. Previously she worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in teacher training in Montego Bay, Jamaica, then moved to California from her hometown in upstate New York. She likes to read mystery novels, sing, and swim with giant sea turtles in Maui.

Alisa DePalma
Alisa has a BA from The University of California at Santa Barbara and certificates in English Language Teaching to Adults, Global Career Development Facilitation, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. She has taught in Istanbul, Turkey as well as locally at the UC Berkeley and SF State Extensions. Alisa has worked at the Academy of Art University in Career Coaching, Corporate Training, and NLP. She likes hiking, traveling, softball, watching and playing Jeopardy and lately the Cash Flow game.

Beverly Edge
Bev has a B.A. in History, an M.A. in Russian Regional Studies and an M.A. in ESL. She has traveled through Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and Korea and has taught in France and Japan. She has studied in Russia and Japan. Bev’s other interests include hiking, bird watching, going to the gym, and shopping in boutiques (she doesn’t like department stores!)

Jane Emley
Jane has a B.A. in Italian and Latin American Studies from U.C. Berkeley and an M.A. in English, from San Francisco State University. She has lived in France and Italy as an exchange student, so she has a lot of empathy for the kinds of challenges our ESL students face when they arrive in the U.S. She loves to travel and is fascinated by foreign languages and other cultures. She has traveled widely throughout Europe and has visited many countries in South and Central America in addition to Mexico and Canada. A goal that she has is to travel around the world before she’s sixty!
Jane loves to garden. She’s passionate about flowers. She reads in her spare time and enjoys hiking, biking, swimming – even rollerblading with the family dog, Blue. Most of all, she loves spending time with her daughter, Amanda, who is a constant source of wonder and joy!

Marianne Etlinger
Marianne is both an ESL instructor and support teacher. Before ESL, she taught children and teenagers science, math and reading, including one year of volunteering for AmeriCorps. She later taught ESL to adult immigrants in Oakland. She has an MA in English/TESOL and her BA is in Spanish and Latin American Studies. Marianne loves to learn about the world and its history and current events. She has lived and traveled throughout Europe and Argentina. Her living abroad and service to immigrants experiences have been a great 'teacher' to her about the challenges and joys people encounter away from home. Her other passion is nature where she spent most of her life fishing, camping, skiing, mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking, and backpacking. She even worked for the Forest Service! Now, you might find her practicing photography along the coast or making jewelry at home.

Kevin Brent Forman
Kevin came to the Academy of Art University in 1998 from Universidad Espiritu Santo in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Prior to his overseas teaching assignment, he taught at the University of California at Berkeley Extended Education and San Francisco State University's American Language Institute. Since coming to the Academy, Kevin has been teaching English for Art and Design Purposes to International Graduate students, is a Graduate Support Instructor, and coordinates support for Midpoint Review candidates. Kevin also teaches Art History to undergraduate students in the Liberal Arts department and has team-taught Study Abroad seminars in Europe. Outside of the Academy, Kevin is a Commissioner on the Design Review Board for the city of Vallejo, and enjoys hiking, kayaking, and home renovation projects.

Helen Fraser
Helen has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology (from Portland State University in Oregon) and a Master's Degree in Education from San Francisco State University. Her emphasis was in Adult Education and ESL. She continues to update her ESL teaching skills by taking TESL courses at UC Berkeley Extension, (where she sometimes teaches part time.) Helen has traveled all over Eastern Asia and Western Europe, and she grew up in British Columbia, Canada.
Besides traveling, Helen loves to practice yoga — she also teaches it!, bicycle — she rides hers to work everyday!, hike and camp, and for more around-the-house activities, she enjoys knitting and beading.

Janine Gluud
Janine has an M.A. in TESOL, a B.A. in French, and has been at Academy of Art University since 1993. She has lived and worked in Mexico, Taiwan, Portugal, and Spain, and visited many other countries. Janine’s interests include cooking, working on the house, gardening, hiking and combing thrift stores for little treasures. She especially loves to spend time watching movies and snuggling with her little dogs.

Michele Hament
Michele was born in New York, and went to Tufts University / Boston Museum School where she received a BFA in painting. Since then, she’s done many different things. She has worked in the field of psychology, worked at a winery, and for many years designed and sold baskets. Eventually she returned to school to get her ESL teaching credential. She has taught ESL in many different places, but her most unusual job was teaching English to Japanese students in a French-speaking village in Switzerland! She likes to garden, travel, cook, see movies (especially foreign films), and make art.

Sheila Hancock-Sheridan
Sheila has an MA in TESOL from the University of Nevada-Reno and an MA in East/West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Her BA is in English Literature. Sheila has been teaching ESL since 1988 and has worked in university, community college, and language schools; she has been at the Academy since 2003. She lived in England, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates and has traveled in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Her hobbies are writing, reading, watching films (especially depressing ones), and cooking.

Matt Holbrook
Matt graduated from the College of William and Mary in Virginia with a degree in East Asian Studies. After studying at the National Cheng Chi University in Taiwan and the Beijing Normal University in mainland China, he returned to study Teaching Foreign Languages-Chinese at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Matt has traveled to 25 countries, lived in 3 countries and taught English or Chinese in 3. He is also in the Navy Reserve.
When he’s not working, Matt is playing with his kids or enjoying his wife's company. He spends his scant free time practicing Tai Chi, hunting, fishing, scuba diving, watching movies or working around the house. He is also constantly studying new things: computers, languages, beer making, wine tasting, and boating.

Penny Hondrogen
Penny has a B.A. in Communication from the University of New Hampshire, and an M.A. in TOEFL from S.F.S.U. She has lived in San Francisco for the past 17 years. Penny spent 5 months on a Eurail pass traveling through Europe as well as two months of travel in Turkey and Greece. She has also spent a month in the Greek Islands. Having recently bought a house, most of her spare time is spent on fixing up her new home and garden. She also enjoys spending time with her daughter, Melina.

Alex Hosmer
Alex graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s degree in English Language Studies and a Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. He has volunteered with Refugee Transitions, an organization which offers ESL tutoring to recent immigrants to San Francisco. He has taught ESL at UC Berkeley’s Extension in San Francisco, and he has taught ESL at the Academy of Art University since 1999. He has traveled to China with his wife on two separate occasions in order to adopt two beautiful girls. He enjoys dancing with his wife, especially the Argentine tango and Salsa Rueda. Doing any kind of dance with his daughters makes his day!

Lisa Hsu
Lisa was born in Taiwan but immigrated to the SF Bay Area when she was eight years old. She has a B.A. in Psychology from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language and a Certificate in Teaching Composition from San Francisco State University (SFSU). She has been involved in education on many fronts, from teaching ESL in Bay Area colleges and the SFSU American Language Institute to tutoring to serving in AmeriCorps National Service. Her goal as an educator is to build bridges—by equipping students with the skills they need to get from where they are to where they want to be. Lisa thoroughly enjoys swimming and international traveling. Her favorite quote is "Do one thing every day that scares you." -Eleanor Roosevelt

Richard La Rose
Richard La Rose received his M.A. from the University of San Francisco in TESOL and has taught at several Bay Area universities. He lived in Spain for many years where he taught ESL and Communication Skills at universities and in the official state-run language school system. He is originally from New Orleans and in his free time enjoys reading, cooking, classical music and gardening.

Bob McDonald, ESL Department Director
Bob studied English literature at Boston U. and American Literature at U.C. Santa Cruz as an undergraduate. He then went on to study culinary arts at The California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Upon graduation, Bob worked as a chef on The Panda, a sailboat touring the South Pacific. It was on this adventure that he was smitten by wanderlust, leading him to travel extensively throughout Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Bob completed an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from San Francisco State and left the U.S. once again to teach ESL in Buenos Aires, Argentina for two years. When he returned to San Francisco in 1995, he began working at the Academy of Art University as an ESL instructor and eventually became the ESL Director in the summer of 2000.

Laura Messina
Laura has a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine (Social Ecology) and an M.A. from San Francisco State University (TESOL). Prior to working at the Academy of Art University, she worked at the American Language Institute teaching reading and writing to international students. She also taught reading and composition in the ESL Department at San Francisco State University. Laura lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for many years, and speaks Spanish fluently. She has travelled to London, Paris, and all over the United States. She loves to travel and wishes she could do more of it. Laura enjoys eating foods from different cultures. During her free time she enjoys gardening, reading, cooking, hiking, and traveling.

Jyoti Paintel
Jyoti is a Bay Area native. She received her B.A. in Political Science/Art History from San Diego State University and her M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language with an emphasis in Educational Technology from the University of San Francisco. In her free time she loves to travel and experience life in other cultures. She also likes to spend time in the ocean as long as it’s warm water!

Amy Parker
Amy has been an ESL teacher for almost 20 years with experience overseas and here in San Francisco. She started teaching as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco and received a master's in Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language from San Francisco State University when she came back home. She loves to travel and has been to Europe, Mexico and Japan so far. She loves meeting people, reading, watching movies, cooking, working out and hanging out with friends!

Anne Ricketts
Anne received her undergraduate degree in Italian from University of California at Davis and went on to do her MATESOL at San Francisco State University. Anne has taught English in Italy and Mexico to children, young adults and senior citizens. When she isn’t teaching, Anne coaches the women’s cross country and track teams at Academy of Art and enjoys running and competing herself.

Michael Schuller
Michael has a B.S. degree in English, an M.A. in English Literature, and a TESL Certificate in Applied Linguistics. He has taught at the University of Wisconsin, the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, and for many years at the UC Berkeley ESL program in San Francisco. He enjoys travel and has spent time in France, Italy, Spain, Central and South America, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Michael’s other interests include reading, music, movies (especially foreign cinema) and photography.

George Schupp
George has an M.A. in English from San Francisco State University. His teaching experiences in the last decade have included being a substitute teacher in high school and elementary school, teaching disabled adults, and teaching English as a Second Language in Japan and at the Academy of Art University. Currently, George teaches an ESL class, coordinates the Writing Lab, tutors students in writing, and provides language support for students at AAU. His spare-time activities include backpacking, photography, playing the guitar, and gardening.

Romalyn Schmaltz
Romalyn has been teaching at the university level for nine years, specializing in language acquisition, composition and creative writing, and literature. She received a BA in French (with an emphasis on 19th-century poetry, modern French literature, and New Wave cinema) from the University of Minnesota, and then continued her studies in a Ph.D. program in comparative literature at the State University of New York. She's been with the Academy of Art University since 2006, and finds its students to be some of the most fearless people she's ever met.

Teaching artists has dramatically expanded her world, and she now paints oil paintings and participates in the local arts communities. She also writes songs for piano, sings, and writes far too much poetry. For her, almost everything can be summed up into two complementary philosophies: the history of language... and, of course, Star Wars.

Michael Shehane
Michael has earned a B.A. in English from California State University Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a M.A. in English with a concentration in Teaching English to Students of Other Language from San Francisco State University. He has lived abroad in Europe and Asia and speaks enough German and Japanese to get by. He enjoys life by doing yoga, rock climbing, figure drawing, and listening to pop music on his iPhone.

Amy Shipley
Amy has been teaching for 10 years. She has a Master's degree in English (TESOL) from San Francisco State University. She has a Bachelor's in Rhetoric and Communication and Cultural Anthropology from University California at Davis. She has traveled extensively throughout the world since she was a teenager. Also, she has taught English to Tibetan refugees in Northern India, to students in Japan and adults in Peru.
Amy is extremely active and enjoys physical activities like running, cycling, weight lifting, and martial arts (especially Aikido). She also enjoys artistic endeavors such as writing, beading, and photography.

David Skolnick
David has a Master's Degree in TESOL and a Composition Certificate from SFSU. He also has a Teaching Certificate from George Mason University and a B.A. in History from U. Mass at Amherst. David has been studying and practicing Tai Chi for about 15 years. Next to his wife and daughter, David gets his greatest joy from cooking and baking food for others, followed closely by riding his motorcycle and traveling. He has taught in Taiwan, India, Virginia, and in the Bay Area.

Anita Walter
Anita has a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts with a double major in English and Journalism, and an M.A. from San Francisco State University in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. She has traveled to Germany, England, France, Italy, Greece, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Canada, and Mexico. She taught ESL in both Mexico and Japan. In Japan she was a teacher trainer as well as an ESL teacher. Anita’s hobbies include hiking, kayaking, and camping, and she is a triathlete. She is also an American Council on Exercise Certified Fitness Trainer.

Byron Wright
Byron received a B.A. in English Literature, with an emphasis on English Poetry from Milton to the Romantics at Portland State University. He went on to achieve an M.A. in TESOL at San Francisco State University in 2003. In addition to teaching at AAU, he holds a position at a non-profit, teaching language and vocational skills to displaced workers, from literacy level to intermediate language learners. His approach to teaching is influenced by metaphor and semantic theory, and he is continually challenged and uplifted by the complexity and mystery of the language acquisition process. His students continue to enrich his life beyond measure. In his free time he enjoys watching Arsenal FC and playing music.