Meet the WyoTESOL Board Nominees

Since our organization is brand new, we have not yet held our first Board Elections. Board Elections are held each year within thirty days following the annual spring businees meeting. The spring business meeting is held during the annual WyoTESOL Conference (and our first conference will be held this April 2010 in Cody--see post above for more details!!)

If you attend our 1st Annual WyoTESOL Conference in April, you will be able to meet and speak with the WyoTESOL Board nominees. Ballots will be sent out electronically after the conference. Votes will be tallied and the results of the election will be announced here in WyoTESOL News by the end of May 2010.

Below please find short bios of all the Board nominees:

WyoTESOL President, George Miller
George Miller is President of Glacier Bay Training a subsidiary of Eleutian Technology. George is highly motivated, intuitive and effective in managing time and resources to build strong partnerships and creative environments. A dynamic learning centered innovator with a strong record of achievement combining skills in diverse areas of systems integration, leadership, program development, and project management. George holds a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Utah and a Master’s degree in Adult Education from Oregon State University. He enjoys whitewater rafting, fishing, and skiing. George’s other interests include writing, recording, and performing music, and teaching yoga.

WyoTESOL First Vice-President, Susan Watkins
Susan Watkins is a veteran educator with over twenty-five years of professional experience. She has taught all levels of ESL from elementary grades through college. She also has extensive experience teaching English composition, Developmental Writing and Elementary Education courses at the college level. Susan holds degrees from the University of California, Irvine; California Polytechnic University, Pomona; California State University, San Bernardino; and Azusa Pacific University. She is a fully-licensed teacher (with an ESL endorsement) in the states of Wyoming and California. In addition, she is also a fully-licensed School Counselor in both states. She was hired by Glacier Bay Training as Director of Program Development in June 2009 to design and implement the company’s educational training programs.

WyoTESOL Second Vice-President, Mary Anderson
Mary Anderson came into the ESL Education Administration field as a segue from her 20-year career in Food Service Management. She taught English for Boston Language Services in Milan, Italy from 2002-2003, specializing in business and conversational English with private sector clients. She started with Eleutian Technology in September 2007 and has been the Teacher Manager for the Cody, WY teaching center since May 2008. She holds a TEFL certificate from TEFL International/Interlingue School, Roma, IT; a B.A. in Fine Art and Music from the University of La Verne, La Verne, CA; an A.O.S. in Culinary Arts from New England Culinary Institute, Essex, VT; and a B.S. in Food Service Management from New England Culinary Institute, Montpelier, VT. Mary is also an aspiring visual artist and feature screenwriter and is a member of Soroptimist International, Cody Chapter.

. WyoTESOL Secretary/Treasurer, Elizabeth Parker
Elizabeth is originally from Tennessee. She has an Associate of Science Degree in Early Childhood Education from Troy University and a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Elementary Education from David Lipscomb University. She has taught in the public school system in Colorado, Mississippi, and Alabama (USA) and has also taught Spanish, Literature, Psychology, and Spelling at Mobile Christian School in Mobile, Alabama. She has taught toddlers (1 year) and preschoolers (3 years) at the Migrant/Seasonal Head Start program in Powell, Wyoming and is currently the director of the Powell Christian Preschool. She has been teaching English for Eleutian Technology since November, 2007 and began working with Glacier Bay Training in the fall of 2008 as the Home Stay Coordinator.

Member-at-Large, Misty Rios
Misty Rios is the Director of Teacher Operations for Eleutian Technology. She is the younger of two children and was raised in Gillette, Wyoming. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting, she moved to Seattle, Washington where she worked as a government auditor at Boeing; as a pharmaceutical analyst at Group Health Cooperative; and as a procurement manager for Microsoft on the Xbox 360 Team. She moved back to Wyoming to be closer to her family and to enjoy the great outdoors. She finished her Master's degree in Marketing in 2007 while working for a telecommunications company as the marketing coordinator. When she's not working, she enjoys hiking, camping, quilting, fishing, golfing, running, biking, spending time with her family and keeping up with all her animals--three dogs, a cat, two birds, and fish. She was married on May 31, 2008 and has two bonus (step)children, ages 4 and 7, and is expecting in July 2010.

After elections are held, the Board is responsible for selecting three Interest Section Chairs (one each for Adult Ed/Higher Education, K-12/Bilingual Education, and On-line Education). After their selection, Interest Section Chairs will sit on the Board to respresent the interests of their sections. Names of Interest Section Chairs will be announced with the results of the Board elections by the end of May.