
The rescheduled CT COLT Annual Conference will be Tuesday, 3/29 - Saturday, 4/2.
Our Presenters!
Maureen Lamb
Maureen Lamb is the Language Department Chair and Academic Technology Coordinator at Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, CT. Maureen is dedicated to using best practices and creating community in language teaching and technology, and she has shared her work on teaching languages at national, regional, and state conferences. She was recognized for her work […]
Alfredo Pérez Berciano
Licenciado en Filología Española y profesor en el colegio Delibes de Salamanca desde el año 2001. Actualmente alterna su labor docente con la de promoción, como director de programas en el colegio Delibes. Su verdadera vocación es la literatura. Ha publicado ya cuatro libros y actualmente trabaja en su quinto proyecto.
Miguel Angel Benito Sánchez
Licenciado en Filología Española por la Universidad de Salamanca. Comenzó su labor docente como profesor en Cursos Internacionales en la propia Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca. Director del colegio Delibes desde el año 1997, año en el que lo fundó y que celebra este año su 25 aniversario.
Lea Graner Kennedy
Lea Graner Kennedy is currently an ACTFL consultant and an educator in Connecticut. She was the 2016 Supervisor of the Year for the National Association of District Supervisors of Foreign Languages (NADSFL). Lea is a French and Spanish teacher in her 29th year in the classroom and administrator with Stonington Schools (CT), and also serves […]
Dahmane Soudani
Je suis enseignant à l’Alliance française de Hartford où j’anime des cours thématiques sur divers sujets. En compagnie de mes étudiants, j’ai le plaisir de vivre de belles aventures autour de thèmes tels que : le cinéma français et la Nouvelle Vague, la presse dans le monde francophone, Les premières femmes de lettres d’expression française, la […]
During her 20 years in education, Amanda Robustelli-Price has worked as a French teacher, department coordinator, and teacher trainer. She is the current president of the Connecticut Council of Language Teachers. Passionate about proficiency, Amanda is in her fifth year back in the high school classroom, and is working diligently to propel herself and her […]
Jimmy Wildman
Jimmy Wildman is a Spanish teacher at Glastonbury High School, where he also serves as the district’s World Language Head Teacher. In addition to his work at school, Jimmy actively serves the world language profession as the Treasurer of CT COLT and a member of the NECTFL Board of Directors.
Tina Riccio
Southington High School World Language Department Leader 6-12; Southington High School teacher of the year 2021; Certified Italian, Latin, Spanish, & FLES; ECE Italian, Spanish, & Latin American Studies courses; UConn ECE instructor of the year 2010; advisor Multicultural Student Union, Intercultural Competency Club, National Honor Society, Italian honor society, Italian Club; CCAR training
Veronica Egas
Veronica Egas was born in Quito- Ecuador and she has lived in Connecticut for over 19 years. She is a Spanish teacher at Newtown High School and enjoys teaching practical Spanish to her students.
Traci Da Silva
Traci received her BA in French from UNC, Asheville and Master of Teaching from UVA, Charlottesville. She has taught French and English in France, South Korea, Japan, Virginia, and Massachusetts and has been teaching middle school in Fairfield County, Ct. since 2004. She continues to strive to inspire joy in learning language as well as […]
Yensen Lambert
Yensen Sierra Lambert has taught Spanish for 21 years and currently serves as the chair of languages department at Greens Farms Academy in Westport. In addition, Yensen is a table leader at the annual AP Spanish Reading, a College Board AP consultant, and has co-authored an AP prep book. Last fall and spring, Yensen was […]
Roger Burt
Roger is passionate about language education, and helping learners achieve their goals. He is a former high school Spanish teacher in Davis School District (Utah), where he served his district as Lead AP Teacher, First Year Mentor Teacher, Curriculum Team Leader, and Assessment Team Leader.
Rita A. Oleksak
Rita A. Oleksak is the Director of World Languages/ELL for the Glastonbury Public Schools. She works to promote languages for all through a well articulated and sequential program that helps students to become global citizens through building their language proficiency.
Marisa Lewis
Marisa Lewis teaches Spanish at Orchard Hill Elementary School in South Windsor, CT. She holds a degree in art and she finds that teaching Spanish at the elementary school is a great place to channel her creativity and artistic energy. Marisa is the Connecticut NNELL (National Network for Early Language Learning) representative.
Caitlin Murphy
Caitlin is a graduate of the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education and is currently entering her 4th year teaching Spanish at Manchester High School.
Julie Speno
Julie Speno founded the elementary Spanish program in 1998 in her district, where she teaches K-4th grade. Over the course of her 26 year teaching career, she has taught English as a World Language, Russian and Spanish to children and adults from ages 4 to 84, in a variety of settings, including immersion programs. She […]
Dr. Luisa Piemontese
Dr. Luisa Piemontese is Full Professor of Spanish and coordinator of the Spanish program and the Basic Language program in Spanish at Southern CT State University. She is also author of ¡Vitalidad! Spanish for the Health Professions (Kendall Hunt Publishing); and co-author of España: temas de cultura y civilización (Cengage Learning).
Jennifer Cheung
Jennifer has taught Pre–K to AP Spanish language classes for decades. Currently teaching at Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton, CA, Jennifer has integrated picture books into her language programs at each level. She is excited to share with others how to make picture books in the target language accessible to all learners.
Marisa Vattana
Marisa is a Spanish and Italian teacher currently working at Manchester High School. She teaches levels 1, 2 and 3. It is her ninth year teaching.
Dr. Helena Curtain
Dr. Helena Curtain, co-author of Languages and Learners: Making the Match (Pearson, 2016), has a wealth of experience in second language teaching methodology, curriculum development and dual language programs. Her passion is working with language teachers in empowering learners on the path to language proficiency.
Jill Griswold
Jill Griswold is an 8th Grade Spanish teacher at Smith Middle School in Glastonbury, CT. She serves as the Corresponding Secretary for the COLT Board of Directors and is an active member of the Fall Conference Committee.
Karen Murano
Karen is a 27 year veteran teacher of Italian and Spanish with experience teaching grades K-12. She believes that by growing her students curiosity and confidence they will experience and achieve a measurable increase in language proficiency.
Trudy Anderson
Trudy Anderson is a veteran Spanish teacher for the New Haven Public Schools. She has been a presenter at the CT COLT, NNELL, NECTFL and NFLC conferences. Trudy enjoys introducing middle school students to a new language and showing how knowing a second language can open new avenues of success. She has been named the […]
Natalie Ardagna
Natalie Ardagna has been a High School Spanish instructor for 17 years in both private and public-school education and is currently teaching at North Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, CA. During her extensive career she has had the joy of teaching all levels of Spanish including non-Heritage Speaker courses 1-3, Heritage Speakers 1, AP […]
Gretchen Mancuso
Gretchen is a French teacher at Weston Middle School. She received her B.A. in French at Colgate University and her M.A. in Secondary Education from Fairfield University. Gretchen is particularly interested in using music in the classroom to help students build connections with one another and with the Francophone world. She is passionate about using […]
Mara Malafronte
Mara Malafronte has over 16 years of Spanish teaching experience at the elementary and secondary levels. She is passionate about empowering her students while promoting proficiency and empathy in the world language classroom.
Christi Moraga
Christi Moraga is a retired French and Spanish teacher from Farmington Schools where she taught primarily 5th and 6th grade. She joined CT COLT in the 1980’s and has participated in many ways; the most notable was founding the Rhyme Celebration. In 2006, she was named ACTFL’s Northeast Regional Teacher of the Year. Her philosophy […]
Sara Hall
Sara Hall has spent the past twelve years teaching Spanish to students in preschool through college. Along the way, she has traveled abroad, explored her cultural identity, and given life to two incredible boys. Sara prioritizes establishing a safe and welcoming learning environment for students in order to increase engagement and enhance the classroom experience.
Dr. Olga Liamkina
Dr. Olga Liamkina has over 15 years of teaching, curriculum development, and teacher training experience at several large universities across the U.S. and at the Goethe-Institut New-York. Currently, she supports teachers in conducting virtual transatlantic exchanges through German American Partnership Program and serves as Northeast Regional Coordinator for the joint Goethe-Institut and AATG project SPARK […]
Melissa Tubbs
Melissa Tubbs is a Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Coach at E.O. Smith High School in Storrs, CT. A French teacher of 14 years and a proud member of both the AATF-CT and CT COLT Boards of Directors, she is passionate about Mastery-based learning, proficiency-based instruction, advocacy for World Language programs and connecting teachers across the state […]
Dr. Joseph Parodi-Brown
Dr. Parodi-Brown has presented locally, regionally, and nationally on world language education through the lens of social justice. He is a Spanish teacher, Academic Dean, SHIELD Director, and Modern Languages Department Chair at Marianapolis Preparatory School in Thompson, CT. He serves as the Secretary of the ACTFL Critical and Social Justice Approaches SIG.
Rebecca Aubrey
Rebecca Aubrey has over 20 years of teaching experience at the college level, and 12 years of experience teaching Spanish in grades K-8. Rebecca presents broadly around the country on topics like differentiation, thematic planning, and target language use. Rebecca is passionate about exploring the cultural and linguistic diversity of our world, and equally passionate about […]