ITBE Nominations for 2008-2009

Vice President

To vote, please log into your Member's Only Area and click on Survey. You will be directed to the candidates' names and positions. Please select five (5) Member-At-Large candidates. Please select one (1) Vice President candidate. (If you have received a request and link to vote via email, this voting option will count as well and you do not need to log into the Member's Only Area.)

Polls will be open from April 20th - May 18th 2008.

Maja Teref

Maja Teref has her B.A. in English from Belgrade University, her M.A. in Applied Linguistics from UIC, and is an English/ESL Board of Ed Certified teacher. In the former Yugoslavia, she participated at the British Council, worked as a translator, newscaster and music editor in the English Department at Radio Yugoslavia and taught EFL. Currently, she teaches ESL and College Prep/AP Writing at Roosevelt High School, Chicago. Maja represented ITBE regarding the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in Congress for TESOL's Advocacy Day in June, 2007 and will be representing ITBE at this year’s TESOL Advocacy Day again.

Member-at-large

Jennifer Aries

Jennifer Arias has been teaching English at Adlai E. Stevenson High School for 12 years. She earned her B.A. in English from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, her M.A. in English at University of Connecticut, and her M.S. in Education from Northwestern University. Arias taught college English for two years at University of Connecticut. She has also taught adults Academic English at College of Lake County. Arias teaches mainstream English and content-sheltered English (ESL) at Stevenson H.S.. Arias is also the English-ESL Liaison and provides in-services to faculty regarding academic and social concerns of ESL students. An advocate for multicultural and multilingual appreciation, she promotes diversity training, has published articles, and has presented at state and national conferences.

Jill Blair

Jill Blair is the Director of Adult Education at Heartland Community College in Normal, IL. She earned a B.A. in English with a TESOL minor from Illinois State University. After a year of teaching English in Germany, Jill returned to the States to complete her graduate work at the University of Illinois-Chicago, earning her M.A. TESOL. Jill has worked in ESL for over 8 years in Intensive English, International Teaching Assistant training, EFL and Adult Education. She has been an active member of ITBE since 2002.

Virginia Duran

Virginia Duran is currently working at BJ Ward Elementary School in Bolingbrook, IL as a Teacher Aide. She is also a part-time ESL instructor at College of DuPage and has been teaching for over 10 years at the community college level.  She has a Master’s in Adult Education from National  Louis University.  Her undergraduate degree is from Benedictine University in International Business.  She volunteers at Sharing Connections in Downers Grove and at CHOICES, an after school program in Bolingbrook.  She was the Community Chairperson  for Elkay's Business Women's Organization (2006) and was a member of Empowering Women's Network.  She is currently pursuing her Type 03 Teaching Certificate at National Louis University.

Nicole Howton

Nicole Howton has her B.S. in Education from Northern Illinois University and is currently working towards her M.S. in Education also at Northern Illinois University. Nicole is currently an ESL Literacy instructor in the Adult Basic Education Dept. at Elgin Community College. She is a substitute teacher for Dist. 300 working in both Bilingual/ESL and Special Education classrooms. She also has her Preprimary Credential as a Montessori Directress and has worked with children ages 3-6 in multi-cultural classroom settings. She has volunteered for Friends for Theraputic Equine Activities as an instructor and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a Coach for their Team in Training program.

Leah Miller

Leah D. Miller is the coordinator of the ESL/Bilingual Education Program at National-Louis University where she teaches graduate courses for the ESL and Bilingual Approvals. She has been a member of ITBE for 20 years and thinks it is one of the best resources in Illinois for teachers of English Language Learners. She has been a member of TESOL for 30 years. She regularly presents at ITBE and International TESOL Conventions. Currently she is writing a book about linguistic aspects of reading in English as a new language.

Christopher Pluta

Chris Pluta is a teacher at Lyons Township High School. He has worked with English Language Learners since 1986, working with both high school and adult students. In addition, he has been involved in immigration advocacy and Latino youth leadership development. Locally, he is a member of both the SD #104 board of education and the Summit Public Library board of directors. He earned his M.Ed. at UIC in 1996.

Teaching ELLs and working with the students and their families has always been enjoyable for Chris. It gives him great satisfaction to know that he has had a positive impact on the future of so many young people.

Steven Teref

Steven Teref is currently Coordinator for Jewish Vocational Services' ESL program (JVS Vocational ESL), one of Truman College's outposts.  Prior to this, he taught ESL in Truman's Adult Education program.  In addition, he teaches ESL Writing & Rhetoric and Literature classes at Columbia College Chicago.  Also, he is a poet and translator of Serbian poetry.  His poetry and translations have appeared in New American Writing, Black Clock, Court Green and many other periodicals.  He was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize for his translation work.

Rebecca Walker

Rebecca Walker is currently the Director of Adult Education and Family Literacy at the YWCA Elgin.  She is passionate about education and serving our diverse community.  She has been involved in Adult Education both here in Illinois and overseas, having worked in the Community College System, and with non-profit organizations.  She earned her Master’s Degree in Intercultural Studies and TESOL from Wheaton College Graduate School, which brought her to Illinois.  Originally from Pennsylvania, she has also lived in South East Asia, where she taught English at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 

Ben Yoder

Ben Yoder, a native of Oregon, has lived in the Chicago area since 1988. Prior to moving here, he taught English in China from 1984--1986, one year in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, and another year in Changchun, Jilin Province. His MA in TESOL came in 1991 from UIC. He has taught in the Tutorium in Intensive English for 10 years, with stints in South Suburban College, Harper College and Morton College along the way. His professional interests include using storytelling in the classroom, and his personal interests include organic gardening and backyard ponds.