Academy Resource Center

Online English as a Second Language Support

Meet Our Team

Chantelle Ferguson
Online ESL Department Director
Chantelle has loved language and culture since she was about five-years-old and learned her first Spanish words from a children’s television show. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a Master’s Degree in English, she taught English at a Colombian university, continued to hone her Spanish skills, and studied a bit of German. She currently directs the Online ESL Department at the Academy of Art University. She also travels, lifts weights, practices yoga, walks, and watches a lot of movies.

Cheryl Barton
Online ESL Faculty
Cheryl has been an instructor at the Academy of Art since 2001. In addition to ESL support, she teaches art history and aesthetics.
Cheryl holds certificates in TEFL and degrees in fine art, art history, and classics, and has researched extensively on learning methodologies and styles as related to culture. She has worked for several prestigious museums as an educator, including SFMOMA and the Oakland Museum of California. She has travelled widely for decades and has taught in Hungary, Greece, Zimbabwe, Korea, and Mexico.

Anne Connors
Online Writing Lab Coordinator/Online ESL Faculty
A Northern California native, Anne holds a BA in English from CSU Chico and an MA in TESOL from San Francisco State. She also has a degree in linguistics from the University of Geneva. She has taught English in Taiwan, Italy, and Switzerland, but is happy to be back in the Bay Area. In her spare time she enjoys exploring the city and its gorgeous natural surroundings, reading, and cooking.

Donna Dager
Online ESL Faculty/ARC Website Coordinator
Donna is an online support instructor and 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. She 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.

Anne Hastie
Online ESL Faculty
Originally from Minnesota, Anne received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Looking for new adventures, she then moved to San Francisco where she got her MA in English and taught English as a Second Language at San Francisco State University. She is now an online ESL support instructor at the Academy of Art, and when not teaching, she enjoys rock climbing, reading long novels, and relaxing with her cat.

Anita Mamoun
Online ESL Faculty
Anita has had a career in ESL that spans more than twenty-five years, with various teaching and administrative positions in Massachusetts, Florida, and Northern California. Originally from the Boston area, she received her B.A. in French from Emmanuel College and her M.A. from Emmanuel, in a joint program with the Sorbonne, in Paris. As an online student herself, she recently got her TESOL Certificate in Online Teaching. For relaxation, Anita enjoys playing golf, experimenting with her digital camera, and exploring the wonderful neighborhoods of San Francisco.

Carlo Pellegrini
Online ESL Faculty
Carlo has been interested in foreign languages since he began studying French in high school. After earning a B.A. in Italian from the University of Washington, he went on to learn Japanese in Japan and Spanish in Guatemala. In addition to having taught ESL for over 8 years, he has developed websites for professional sports teams, academic institutions, and independent artists, among others. Currently he is developing new online support materials at AAU and supporting online ESL students. Carlo likes going to museums, listening to music, drinking coffee, and taking photographs.

Michael Shehane
Online ESL Faculty
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.

Walter Thoma
Online ESL Faculty
Walter has an M.A. in Applied Linguistics (ESL) focused on Computer-Assisted Language Learning from the University of Massachusetts and B.A.'s in Fine Arts and Sociology. He has been at the AAU for 11 years and has been supporting online ESL students while living in Paris and now Brussels for the past 3 years. Besides traveling, Walter enjoys running, skiing, photography, painting, finding unique cafés, cooking and eating international cuisine.

Troy Williams
Online ESL Faculty
A seventh generation Californian, Troy has enjoyed teaching for many years. He holds a B.A. in Russian and German languages from the University of California, Davis; an M.A. in Russian literature and women's studies from Duke University; a Ph.D. in Slavic linguistics and cultural anthropology from Duke University; and an M.A. in TESOL from San Francisco State University. In his free time he likes to learn new languages and is currently struggling with Thai, Mandarin, and Korean.

Kate Winsor
Online ESL Faculty
Kate holds a BA in Liberal Studies and an MA in Teaching English as a Second Language, both from San Francisco State University. She has been working at the Academy of Art since 1997 as an ESL instructor, website coordinator, tutor, and online media developer. Kate has also taught English abroad in Argentina, Venezuela and Switzerland. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, she recently relocated to San Diego with her family where she works online for the Academy and does freelance web design. She has two children who keep her very busy, but in her spare time she also enjoys photography, tap dancing, travel, and cooking.