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.

Adam AvRuskin
Adam AvRuskin has his Masters of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the School for International Training, in Brattleboro Vermont. He has taught ESL in Canada (which is his home), the US, Japan, China, and Turkey. In the School of Photography, Adam teaches Photoshop, Lightroom and Printing. In his spare time Adam plays ultimate frisbee, and spends time with his family. He enjoys traveling, learning new languages, and talking to strangers.

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 & taught "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 taught the Art Experience programs designed for high school students, in fashion merchandising for 7 years, and worked as a student advocate. Presently, Joy has been working as an ESL support teacher, in Industrial Design, Animation, Graphic Arts, and Advertising, mostly with Graduate students. In her free time, Joy has been working on illustrating and writing a children's book, is learning to speak Italian, is a student of Tai Chi, Chi Gong, and Yoga, and has learned how to dance Argentine Tango. She is an avid book reader, and has a passion for good food and music and travel.

Jill Ballard
Jill Ballard has her MA in English (TESOL concentration) from SFSU, and has been teaching at the AAU since September 2007. She has her BFA in fine arts and worked as a print graphic designer and art director for over 10 years. As a teacher, she has worked in different capacities, both in the public schools and in corporate and private settings. She has traveled widely through Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and Polynesia, and discovered her love for learning and teaching language while attending a French program in France. When she isn't teaching, Jill enjoys being a toddler's mom, and occasionally finding a moment for all those other nearly forgotten "pre-mom" interests such as alternative film and flamenco…

Laura Bean
Laura thrives in a diverse, creative environment, and is very happy to be supporting international students at the Academy of Art. She recently returned to the U.S. after ten years teaching ESL to college students in Kyoto, Japan and studying Buddhism. She earned a B.A. in Political Science from John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona in Tucson. She also taught poetry-writing workshops to children in New York City public schools while pursuing a career as a performance artist. She has performed her monologues on stages in New York, Cali, Colombia, and Kyoto, Japan. Recently she edited a collection of dharma talks entitled Dharma If You Dare. Her hobbies include spending time in nature, drawing and painting.

Lisa Chou
Lisa Chou has a B.A. in Psychology from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in TESOL and a Certificate in Teaching Composition from San Francisco State University (SFSU). Lisa was born in Taiwan but grew up in California. Lisa has studied abroad at Beijing Normal University in China. She has been involved in education on many fronts-teaching English throughout China, serving in AmeriCorps National Service to improve literacy for at-risk youths, and teaching ESL in the Bay Area at UC Berkeley, St. Mary's College and the SFSU American Language Institute. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys finding hidden spots in the Bay Area with her family.

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 teaching ESL, she taught children and teenagers science, math and reading, including one year of volunteering for AmeriCorps. She has experience teaching ESL to adult immigrants, international students and working adults. She has an MA in English/TESOL and her BA is in Spanish and Latin American Studies. She has lived and traveled throughout Europe and South America and these experiences have been a great 'teacher' to her about the challenges and joys people encounter while away from home. Her other passion is nature where you might just find her with her camera.

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
Sheila has an M.A. in TESOL from the University of Nevada-Reno and an M.A. in East/West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Her B.A. 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. 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.

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 that offers ESL tutoring to recent immigrants in San Francisco. He has taught ESL at the Academy of Art University since 1999 and has been the coordinator for the on-site and online language labs since 2007. He has traveled to China with his wife on two separate occasions in order to adopt two beautiful baby girls. His daughters are now attending public elementary school and are lucky enough to be enrolled in a Mandarin Immersion program. They will be fluent in both Mandarin and English by 5th grade. He enjoys dancing with his wife and daughters, and especially likes doing Salsa Rueda.

Sherise Lee
Sherise brings her love for both teaching and art into her role at the Academy. She graduated from the University of California at Davis (Go Ags!) with degrees in Art History and Sociology. She later completed a masters degree in second language education. Her experiences range from working in event marketing to teaching elementary school in China. When she's not traveling, Sherise enjoys running and pursuing her design interests. You can also find her on the hunt for good eats in the city.

Shalle Leeming
Shalle Leeming is an instructor of English and writing at the Academy for 10 years and has previously taught university students both in the United States (Stanford, SFSU) and abroad (Turkey, Argentina, Japan). Shalle holds an M.A. in teaching English as a second language from San Francisco State University and a B.A. in radio/television/film (emphasis in film), minor in art, from San Jose State University. She is the  co-author of the ESL textbook, Lecture Ready 3, for Oxford University Press (2006).

Bob McDonald, ESL Department Director
Bob studied American Literature at Boston U. and U.C. Santa Cruz as an undergraduate. While trying to figure out who he was, he attended The California Culinary Academy. Upon graduation, Bob never cooked professionally again. He then went on to receive an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from San Francisco State. Bob has traveled extensively through Asia, Europe and Latin America, with the most recent trips being to Cuba. He settled in Buenos Aires, Argentina for two years to teach English. Bob's hobbies include basketball, jogging, reading good novels, and playing poker.

Laura Messina
Laura has a B.A. in Social Ecology from U.C. Irvine, and an M.A. degree in TESOL from San Francisco State University, where she also taught ESL classes. Born in Argentina, Laura speaks Spanish. Her hobbies include reading, hiking, cooking, and traveling.

Paget Norton
Paget is delighted and honored to be working with students at the Academy.   As someone who has spent time studying in Paris, working in Morocco, and traveling the world, she well understands the challenges international students face when living and studying in a different culture.  In addition to her international experience, she is an avid reader, hiker, cook, and writer.  She earned her MFA in Creative Writing, so she can empathize deeply with students around their own creative trials and tribulations and offer support when needed.

Alexa Poeter
Born and raised in San Francisco, Alexa has been teaching at the Academy of Art since 2006. She earned her masters in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and a certificate in composition at San Francisco State University. Alexa taught composition for multi-lingual speakers at SFSU for two years before coming to the Academy. She also taught in Japan and Mexico. She enjoys working with students from all over the world, learning about different cultures and languages, and sharing ideas. Alexa has studied Japanese and Spanish. In her free time she enjoys traveling, camping, hiking and backpacking, reading, decorating, taking classes to further her education, and spending time with friends and family.

Anne Ricketts
Anne Ricketts has been teaching at Academy of Art since January 2007. She received her undergraduate degree in Italian from UC Davis and went on to get her Masters in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from San Francisco State University. Anne first discovered her love for teaching in Florence, Italy when she started teaching an English conversation class to Italian senior citizens. She has also taught in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2006. When she isn't teaching, Anne coaches the Academy of Art student Running Club, and enjoys traveling and running herself.

Alexandra Rollo
Alexandra Rollo has been teaching English around the world for more than seven years working in countries throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Since August 2010, she has been employed within Academy of Art University in San Francisco teaching English classes as well as supporting a number of art classes. In addition to classroom instruction and international travel, her passions lie in curriculum development and teacher training, two subjects she focused on while earning her MATESOL from Saint Mary’s College. She welcomes any opportunity to listen to others and wholeheartedly believes she will never be done learning. The more she teaches and travels, the more she realizes she has yet to experience.

George Schupp
George has a Master of Arts degree in English from San Francisco State University. His teaching experiences have included being a substitute teacher in high school and elementary school, teaching disabled adults, and teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in Japan. Currently, George teaches ESL, tutors students in writing, and provides language support for students at the Academy of Art University. When he's not doing home improvement projects, he can be found wandering around the world with his camera, playing the guitar, or just sitting at a cafe people watching.

Amy Shipley
Amy has a B.A. in Rhetoric and Communication from UC Davis, and an M.A. in TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) from San Francisco State University. She has traveled extensively throughout the world and has taught overseas in Japan, India, and Peru. Amy has taught at many private language schools and community colleges in the Bay Area, including the American Language Institute at both San Francisco State University and Sonoma State University. Since coming to the Academy, Amy's responsibility has been teaching ESL courses, coordinating the Speaking Lab, and providing ESL support to students in their art classes. In Amy's leisure time, she enjoys volunteer work in the animal and science field. She also enjoys hiking, running, cycling, weight-lifting, and practicing Aikido.

Walter Thoma
Walter has been teaching ESL for over 15 years in Boston, San Francisco and abroad. He has an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts/Boston with an emphasis in ESL Computer Assisted Instruction and holds B.A.s in Sociology and Fine Art (sculpture) from Brandeis University. Previously, he worked in architectural, computer software and environmental leadership settings. Walter has been at the Academy since 1996 in diverse roles such as an ESL instructor, ARC Academic Coach and founding Director of Online Educational Support. He recently worked in Paris and Brussels for 4 years and is now an onsite and online ESL support instructor. He enjoys cultural experiences through travel and spending time outdoors hiking, biking, reviving gardens and exploring SF's neighborhood cafés.

Alexander Troy
Alexander Troy has been teaching ESL for 12 years. He began as an ESL tutor while studying German in Austria, when he realized how little most Americans know about their own grammar rules. He later taught ESL, as well as German, at Los Alamitos High School, in Southern California. Alexander is also a filmmaker and musician. He holds an MFA in Motion Picture Production.

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 travelled 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.

Steven Weiss
Steven Weiss was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied Philosophy and Sociology at Penn State University. He received a Master’s Degree in Philosophy at KUL in Leuven, Belgium. He began teaching English as a Second Language in Brussels, where he lived for 10 years. He’s been teaching ESL and Philosophy at the AAU since 2005.

Maw Win
Maw has been an instructor in the ESL program at the Academy of Art University since 1998. She has taught ESL, writing, and grammar at various schools in the Bay Area and Southern California. She lived in Japan for a year, and has traveled throughout many countries in Asia, Europe, and South America. In her free time, Maw enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with friends.