World language & culture coaches
Our team of Language Coaches are dedicated community members who are passionate about bringing second language & culture education opportunities to our community, and to the State of Montana
Interested in joining our team of Language Coaches?
Email info@wlimt.org
Interested in joining our team of Language Coaches?
Email info@wlimt.org
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ARABIC TEAM
Mouloud Mahi - Mouloud is from Oujda, Morocco, and received his bachelor’s degree in English Linguistics from Mohammed First University-Oujda. He earned diplomas from both the Training Center of Teachers in Safi as a primary teacher, and from the Regional Center of Teaching and Training in Fez as a High School teacher of English. He has been an English teacher at Ouad Eddahab High School since 2015. He is also responsible for the English club at his school and organizes district competitions for spelling bees and theater performances. Mr. Mahi enjoys reading, traveling, and sports. He has a wife and two children.
During his year in the U.S. Mr. Mahi enjoyed experiencing American culture and meeting new friends. His primary objective for participating in TCLP (Teachers of Critical Languages Program) was to learn more about teaching methodologies, techniques, and materials to help him develop professionally. He was hosted by Irving Elementary School in Bozeman, MT.
During his year in the U.S. Mr. Mahi enjoyed experiencing American culture and meeting new friends. His primary objective for participating in TCLP (Teachers of Critical Languages Program) was to learn more about teaching methodologies, techniques, and materials to help him develop professionally. He was hosted by Irving Elementary School in Bozeman, MT.
Muhammad "Toto" Sabry - Toto was born in Bozeman, MT, and was raised in Egypt. Toto has both American and Egyptian nationalities. He is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Education at MSU-Bozeman and studies curriculum and instruction. Toto assists in teaching and grading a course called "Technology Integration Into Education" and works for the Technology Club of the Afterschool Program in the university. He visits and supervises pre-service teachers and teaches them how to optimize their interactions with their elementary and middle school students from Livingston, Bozeman, Belgrade, Manhattan, and Three Forks. One of his passions is to introduce Arabic language and culture to people. Toto’s main goal as an educator is to contribute in raising our children to be the best individuals they can be to lead the future, believing that respecting, knowing, and understanding other cultures and languages is important to our children. He believes it is interesting and exciting to know and learn an old language and culture like Arabic.
Eman Alaman - Originally from Baghdad, Iraq, Eman has been living outside the country since 1997. She has resided in Bozeman with her husband and children since 2003. While having earned computer science degree from her home country, Eman has always taken interest in childrens’ education, a field that she has passionately pursued for more than twenty years now.
THE BELLA TEAM
Paola Torres - BELLA Team Lead - Paola is from Peru and is a former Spanish teacher at Helena High School. She moved to Montana from Lima, Peru where she worked as a journalist to start a new career as a foreign language teacher. She has experience teaching Pre-K, Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle School and adult students. She has taught with World Language Initiative for four years and she enjoys sharing her knowledge and culture with the community. Paola is the Project Lead for a new WLI-MT Program, BELLA (The Bozeman English Learner Literacy Alliance) supporting Newcomer EL youth through literacy & mentorship.
Cassidy Crawford - BELLA Program Coordinator - Cassidy is from Colorado and moved to Bozeman in 2019 to attend Montana State University where she is currently studying Dietetics with minors in Anthropology and Hispanic Studies. She has been working with kids in after-school and summer camp settings since 2014. During the spring of 2021 she found a love for ESL through a tutoring program which led to her role as a coach for the pilot year of Bella (Bozeman English Learner Literacy Alliance) and later as the Lead Coach. Cassidy is very excited about her new role as the Bella Program Coordinator and she is looking forward managing both the adult and youth BELLA Programs here at WLI!
Grace Maddock - BELLA Summer Camp Lead Coach
Grace is from Denver, CO, and moved to Bozeman in 2016 to attend MSU where she obtained her degree in Spanish Education and Hispanic Studies. Since graduating in 2020, she's taught Spanish in Helena as well as English in Spain. Currently, she is a Spanish teacher in the Gallatin Valley. While in high school, she had the opportunity to study abroad in Mexico, knowing very little Spanish at the time. It was there that she realized the power in learning a foreign language in connecting communities, cultures, and perspectives. Grace works for BELLA to increase the proficiency of new English learners so that they can gain confidence in a healthy learning environment that promotes the beauty of multilingualism and multiculturalism. She loves to play with curriculum through comprehensible input and to give each student a safe place to explore their language abilities and encourage being a life-long learner.
Grace is from Denver, CO, and moved to Bozeman in 2016 to attend MSU where she obtained her degree in Spanish Education and Hispanic Studies. Since graduating in 2020, she's taught Spanish in Helena as well as English in Spain. Currently, she is a Spanish teacher in the Gallatin Valley. While in high school, she had the opportunity to study abroad in Mexico, knowing very little Spanish at the time. It was there that she realized the power in learning a foreign language in connecting communities, cultures, and perspectives. Grace works for BELLA to increase the proficiency of new English learners so that they can gain confidence in a healthy learning environment that promotes the beauty of multilingualism and multiculturalism. She loves to play with curriculum through comprehensible input and to give each student a safe place to explore their language abilities and encourage being a life-long learner.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEAM
Angélica Ravelo - Angélica Ravelo is a Peru-based translator and interpreter. She’s been working as an English teacher for the past ten years. She started learning English by watching cable TV with subtitles in Spanish when she was a child. She started repeating the phrases in English and learning the meaning of the words slowly until she decided to become a translator. She then created her own online language institute called Let’s Talk 2. Her background includes a major in business administration and work experience in international business.
FRENCH TEAM
Brigitte Morris - Brigitte was born and raised in France. She earned her Master’s in Sociology just before moving to Bozeman, Montana. She has been dedicating her time and sharing her passion for teaching French language and Culture since then, mostly at MSU, and in the Bozeman Community at the Alliance Française de Bozeman. She received a Master’s in Education from MSU and intends to continue teaching French, implementing communicative approaches, engaging learning, and best practices that she adapts according to her students’ background. Through her work with WLI she aims to promote communication in a variety of languages and foster friendly relations with people around the world.
Emily Smith - Originally from Colorado, Emily earned a dual B.A. in French and Speech Communications from the Metropolitan State University of Denver. Over the years, she has taken on numerous roles in education, including student support roles in universities, teaching High School ELA in New Mexico and working as a language assistant for the French Ministry of Education via TAPIF (Teaching Assistant Program in France).
Emily maintains her French through independent study and community building. Her involvement includes heading French clubs, facilitating online language exchanges and intaking francophone literature and media on a weekly basis.
As a language coach, she aims to help students define and achieve their own personal fulfillment and goals in French. Her teaching philosophy and methodology blends the following: respect between peers, habits of discussion, hands-on learning, curiosity, desire to connect with community, use of authentic language resources chunked down to the appropriate levels and high standards paired with ongoing support.
Emily maintains her French through independent study and community building. Her involvement includes heading French clubs, facilitating online language exchanges and intaking francophone literature and media on a weekly basis.
As a language coach, she aims to help students define and achieve their own personal fulfillment and goals in French. Her teaching philosophy and methodology blends the following: respect between peers, habits of discussion, hands-on learning, curiosity, desire to connect with community, use of authentic language resources chunked down to the appropriate levels and high standards paired with ongoing support.
Kristi King - Kristi is a Bozeman native. She earned her minor in French at Willamette University in Oregon, spending a year abroad in Nantes, France. After college, she joined the Peace Corps and spent two years as a Health Educator in the country of Guinea, in French speaking West Africa. She then turned her focus to healthcare and became a Nurse Practitioner. In that role, she has spent several additional stints abroad honing her French and providing medical care in countries such as Haiti and Central African Republic. Since starting her own family, she wanted to pass on her love of the French language to her children. She has participated in the Music Lingua Program for young children, and is looking forward to sharing her knowledge of the French language and francophone cultures with elementary students here at home!
Jean-Francois Lefebvre - Jean-Francois moved to and Bozeman, MT about four years ago to live near his daughter. He has both American and French nationalities and gets to visit Europe at least every two years. He loves speaking French and sharing the wonder of the French language and culture with new and intermediate learners. Before joining WLI-MT Jean-Francois taught only private lessons - he is looking forward to bringing his lessons to a classroom setting. When not involved in French teaching he pursues the study of intuitive healing, furniture making, strategy gaming and discussions in non-traditional philosophy.
GERMAN TEAM
Christina Crane - Christina Crane was raised by a German mother (from Bremen, Germany) and has fond memories of traveling to visit her German grandparents during her childhood summers. Through these experiences, she developed a deep and abiding love of the country, culture, and language. She studied German in high school and majored in Modern Languages & Literature-German at Montana State University, and studied abroad for a year in Freiburg, Germany. After spending time teaching yoga, practicing massage therapy, and promoting environmental education, her interest in teaching German was rekindled when her son was born. There followed Christina and her son taking German Music Lingua classes together, after which she began speaking German more at home, and even went on to co-create a German speaking group in Bozeman. Christina joined WLI-MT as a German coach in 2019; she is currently the Lead German Coach and SPARK for German Program Liaison and has also taught adult and youth classes both online and in-person. Teaching German connects Christina to her roots and allows her to inspire the next generation of German speakers.
Alison Fitzpatrick - Alison recently graduated from Montana State University with a degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience, and is currently doing molecular genetics research. She began her love of German in her high school language class, and then participated in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program in 2016, in which she was matched with a host family and moved to a small town outside Hamburg. Throughout the year, she had a great experience being immersed in German language and culture. She's excited to join the WLI team, where her teaching and tutoring experience will allow her to share her passion for German in a fun and exciting way!
MANDARIN TEAM
Ying Liu - Ying moved to Bozeman from New York City with her husband, 3 kids, and 2 cats and instantly felt in love with this beautiful town in Montana! Ying grew up in Taiwan and is a native Chinese speaker. She got her undergrad/master degrees from New York University. She has been teaching Mandarin to students (age range from K-12) for over 20 years in various Chinese schools. Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world and one of the official United Nations languages. Ying believes in teaching Mandarin through methods like CI (comprehensible input) and TPR(total physical response), where the language could be understood by listeners despite them not understanding all the words and grammar structures in it. Ying likes to incorporate her teaching through art, cooking, music, culture, history, and storytelling. She aspires to help students in the community learn Mandarin through playful learning.
SPANISH TEAM
Kristen Wolf - Kristen ND Wolf (@LaLobaLista) is a dynamic educator and presenter. Her background as a Montessori & Spanish teacher has led her to understand the process of language acquisition and human development in meaningful ways. Kristen enjoys creating a community with her classes. La Loba Lista’s (the ready Wolf) teaching style is engaging, story based and supported by language acquisition research. She is blessed with two children and a very supportive husband, as well as three dogs and one cat. Kristen loves getting outside and enjoying the beauty of Montana and its vibrant communities. She has travelled extensively and lived in Spain and has completed her master’s degree at MSU. She encourages you to come participate in or observe a class!!
Becky Hopkinson - "If you told my high school Spanish teacher that I am now a Spanish teacher, they would never believe you!" Becky shares. Her passion for languages began a few years later while in college. She attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania and completed degrees in Spanish and International Studies. After graduating, she pursued a Master’s Degree in Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt University. She enjoys telling stories and creating stories with her students even more. She has been teaching Spanish to students of all ages, both in-person and remotely, since 2011. She is excited to be a part of WLI-MT!
Valeria Carrizo - Valeria was born in Argentina, where she still lives, and her native language is Spanish. Learning languages has been her passion since she was a child and, after years studying English, she graduated from university as both Teacher of English as a second language and Certified translator. She currently works as a freelance translator and as a teacher at kinder level, but her expertise encompasses over eight years of teaching groups of students at every level. She enjoys teaching a lot, probably because she has always felt an urge to help others. She shares that witnessing her students become more confident and have fun while learning is one of the most rewarding feelings she has experienced. In her free time, she likes to work out at the gym, walking her dog, and practicing yoga to relax. Valeria is looking forward to meeting her new students at WLI and sharing her language and culture with them.
Elle Magaña Mireles - Elle is originally from Chicago, IL and is Mexican American. She is a heritage Spanish speaker who is deeply passionate about uplifting Latine communities. She believes language justice is essential to her holistic fight for social justice, and always strives to build community through the beauty of language and culture. Elle is also a Spanish Interpreter for Montana Language Services and is a local, grassroots community organizer. She is excited to connect and grow with learners in Bozeman!
November Morrill - November is from all over the US, and is an aspiring Spanish professor. She’s an English language tutor and started to help teach kids Spanish in summer of 2023. Languages have always been an interest of theirs, especially learning how languages keep growing and changing as the people who speak them do. She can’t wait to teach others how to speak Spanish and show just how fun language learning can be.
Alicia Solis Moncada de Paz - A lifelong educator from Peru and a retired teacher from the Bozeman Public Schools, Ms. Paz has experience in bilingual education and teaching Spanish as a second language from K-12 students all the way to adult learners. Quechua was her first language in her native Peru, so she is intimately familiar with the language acquisition process. Ms. Paz is a dynamic and creative teacher who boasts never having used the same lesson plan twice. During her free time, Ms. Paz loves tending to her plants and reading, but teaching has always been her number one passion.