FLENJ Mentoring Fellowship for Supervisors

The FLENJ Supervisor Mentorship Program is designed to support individuals who are new supervisors or administrators overseeing the area of world languages. The goal is to help develop leadership capacity in world language supervision and, ultimately, to develop the next generation of world language educators.

Our Supervisor Mentees

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<p style="text-align: center;">Scott Kercher</p>
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Scott Kercher

Supervisor of Social Studies, WL, ESL
Sparta Township Public Schools

Mr. Kercher is currently the PK-12 Social Studies, World Language and ESL Supervisor for Sparta Township Public Schools.

He has over twenty years of professional experience in New Jersey Public Schools. During this time, he has served in a number of instructional and leadership capacities. These roles include: a teacher of Honors/Humanities programs, an ESL and ICS instructor, a Varsity Basketball, Baseball and Golf coach, a Mentor-Teacher, a 7-12 Department Supervisor, a Community Outreach Coordinator and a Professional Development Provider.

After graduating from The College of New Jersey in 1997 with a BA in History/Secondary Education, Mr. Kercher became a teacher and coach at Hightstown High School in East Windsor, NJ. He graduated from Rider University in 2006 with a Master’s in Educational Leadership. In 2008, he became the 7-12 Social Studies Supervisor in the Livingston Public Schools where he helped to create a Humanities program and integrated cultural programming in conjunction with the World Language Department.

Mr. Kercher firmly believes that a robust curricular program in Social Studies and World Language is critically important for the 21st century learner. It is from these experiences that students can become the empathetic and informed leaders of tomorrow.

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<p style="text-align: center;">Maria Kostis</p>
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Maria Kostis

Supervisor of WL & ESL
Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District

I am currently the K-12 Supervisor of World Languages & ESL in the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District.  I was born in NJ to my parents who had immigrated from Greece.  I grew up speaking both Greek and English and quickly appreciated the importance of languages.  I spent every summer in Greece where I grew to love the land, language and culture of my relatives.  Learning French in middle school came easy to me and I quickly grew a love of the language.  I majored in French at Temple University in Philadelphia.  I studied twice at the Sorbonne in Paris twice and Paris has since became one of my favorite places to visit.  I earned my M.A.T in French from Rutgers as well as my ESL and Supervisor certificates.  I taught French successfully for over 15 years when I decided to pursue a position as a Supervisor.

Supervising World Language & ESL has given me the opportunity to enhance the World Language Department in my school district and spread my love of languages.  I didn’t realize how passionate I would also become about our ESL students.  I advocate for them and their families as I imagine the struggles my own family must have faced when they immigrated to this country.  Although it’s sometimes challenging to supervise two distinct departments, it is rewarding to positively impact the overall community.

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<p style="text-align: center;">Julie Mitschow</p>
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Julie Mitschow

Coordinator of WL & ESL
Nutley Public Schools

I am currently the K-12 Coordinator of World Languages and ELL/Bilingual for Nutley Public Schools. This is my first year in this role. Prior to moving into administration, I taught K-12 ESL for Nutley in the same schools from which I graduated nearly 20 years ago. After graduating Nutley High School, I went on to study Psychology and Criminal Justice at Rutgers University and later went to work in a corporate setting for years prior to finding my passion for education. After years of teaching, I obtained my Master’s degree in Leadership at Rowan University. As an ESL teacher and supervisor, I have become a fierce adovcate for our emergent bilingual families much like my own Colombian-American family. I also enjoy training teachers in different methods of helping make content accessible to ELLs in the mainstream. As a native speaker of Spanish, I am excited to embark on this journey of leading a department of language educators on our mission to instill the importance of language study in each one of our students.

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<p style="text-align: center;">Frank Sedita</p>
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Frank Sedita

Supervisor of WL & ESL
Montclair Public Schools

I am the current Supervisor of World Languages and English as a Second Language K-12 in the Montclair Public Schools in Montclair, New Jersey. I have the privilege to work alongside approximately forty world language educators across the district’s eleven schools. Prior to transitioning to a supervisory role in January 2018, I taught Italian in the Morris School District beginning in September 2011. During this time, I taught Italian from levels one to Advanced Placement. I also taught Italian to students at the elementary level as part of the district’s summer enrichment programing and served as a tutor for English Language Learners during a lunchtime program. Additionally, during my time in the Morris School District, I served as the lead teacher for the world language department. I also served on several curriculum writing committees, as the advisor for several extracurricular activities, as well as on the district’s innovative blended learning design team. During the 2014-2015 school year, I had the honor to present at the Italian Teachers Association of New Jersey Primo Incontro, as well as at the FLENJ spring conference.

Coming from an Italian family, language and culture played an integral role in my personal and academic life and ultimately inspired my current career path. I received a Bachelor of Arts in Italian and sociology in 2010, as well as a Master of Arts Teaching in Italian grades K-12 in 2011 from Drew University. During my undergraduate years I had the opportunity to study abroad three times in Venice, Italy, as well as to write an honors thesis in Italian. I am currently completing my dissertation in the area of literary studies as part of Drew University’s Doctor of Arts & Letters program. My deep appreciation for world languages is complemented by my passion for teaching and learning. Each day of my career I aspire to facilitate active dialogue and collaboration to ensure quality language education for all learners.

Our Supervisor Mentors

Annamaria Bellino

Supervisor of WL & ESL
Cranford Public Schools

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<p style="text-align: center;">Paula Paredes-Corbel</p>
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Paula Paredes-Corbel

Supervisor of WL & ESL
Randolph Township Schools

Paula Paredes-Corbel is going into her 7th year as the Supervisor of World Languages and ESL for Randolph Township Schools. Prior to becoming supervisor, Paula worked for 16 years as a language teacher.  Within that time, she taught ESL and French in all levels K-12.  Paula was born in Portugal and came to the United States at the age of 5 where she entered Kindergarten as an ESL student.  She got her Bachelor of Arts in Portuguese, French and Political Science from Rutgers University and her Master of Arts in Teaching from Montclair University.  Paula was fortunate enough to study abroad for a summer in Spain and Portugal and a full year in France while she was in college.  She speaks English, French, Portuguese and Spanish and would like to learn Italian and American Sign Language.

Vicky Santana

Supervisor of WL & ESL
Parsippany

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<p style="text-align: center;">Derek Sica</p>
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Derek Sica

Supervisor of ESL, WL, Music
Jefferson Township Public Schools

Mr. Derek Sica is the K-12 Supervisor of ESL, Music, and World Languages in Jefferson Township.  As the grandson of Italian immigrants, his love of languages and cultures from a very young age led him to study Italian, Spanish, and Secondary Education at Muhlenberg College. He was able to merge his passion for student government, performing arts, and world languages as a class advisor and language teacher across several public school districts in New Jersey over the past twenty-five years.   He is a certified teacher of Spanish and ESL and has recently completed a Master’s degree in SLA Education from Fairleigh Dickinson University where he is a part-time instructor. He also holds two additional Master’s degrees from Montclair State University; Educational Leadership and Curriculum and Instruction. He is a verified lover of balanced literacy, languages, and cultures and is a confirmed PD junkie.  He is the coordinator of the 2020-2021 Professional Development Workshop Series during his second year as a member of the FLENJ Board of Directors.

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<p style="text-align: center;">Josephine Serrano</p>
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Josephine Serrano

Supervisor of WL & ESL (retired)
School District of the Chathams

Josephine A. Serrano retired as Supervisor of World Languages & ESL for the School District of the Chathams. She is a Cuban-American who began her journey in world language learning at the age of four and has happily continued this journey throughout all her life experiences.  Her passion for languages fueled her undergraduate degree in Spanish, French and Italian and further directed her successful business career, where she utilized her various languages and enjoyed wide-ranging experience in international account management. That same passion ultimately prompted her to change career to share her experience in using languages as a means to better connect with people of other cultures.  Prior to serving as District Supervisor, she taught Spanish at Chatham High School and served as an adjunct professor at County College of Morris.  She holds an MBA from Baruch College of CUNY and MAT from Montclair State University, has served as mentor within the FLENJ Mentoring Program for various years and with the NJDOE as committee member for the World Languages Model Program.  Besides serving on the FLENJ board, Josephine continues to develop and share her experience by providing consulting services in the area of World Language Education for public and private academic institutions seeking to modify, improve, streamline, or implement practices to elevate the performance of its teachers, students, and academic language programs.

Other FLENJ Mentors

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<p style="text-align: center;">Glennysha Jurado-Moran</p>
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Glennysha Jurado-Moran

Department Chair of WL & ESL
Piscataway Township Schools

Glennysha Jurado-Moran holds her B.A., M.A.T., and Supervision Endorsement from Rutgers University. She has been teaching since 1995 and is certified in Spanish, Special Education, ESL and Supervision. She began her teaching career at East Jersey Stare Prison, teaching math and science for the GED. At the Edison Public Schools, she taught Students with Disabilities from 1995-2001 and was a Spanish teacher at the middle school and high school levels from 2001-2013. Currently she is Department Chair of World Languages/ELL at PHS, Piscataway Township Schools. She has held this position since 2013.

Glennysha has been disseminating information and providing workshops and in-services for over two decades at various school districts, professional conferences (ACTFL, FLENJ, NECTFL, NJEA, NJAATSP and NJ DOE), and universities throughout NJ and the Northeast. Topics include developing interpersonal communication, curriculum mapping, technology, strategies/modifications for Students with Disabilities, and IPA’s. She has written curriculum for Edison Public Schools and created Classroom Application Documents for the New Jersey Department of Education (N.J.D.O.E.). She wrote Thematically Organized Assessments for the CAPS FLAP grant. In 2007, she received a FLENJ Mini Grant for her planning and implementation of pod-casting in the World Language classroom. She served on the model curriculum writing team for NJ DOE. In 2014, she was selected to the committee that revised the NJ Core Content Standards. Her presentation, Chit Chat: Building a foundation for interpersonal speaking, won Best of NJ at the 2015 FLENJ Spring Conference. During her tenure at Piscataway, Glennysha founded and serves as coordinator of the district’s ESL Academy/ELL Institute. This program received the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics “Bright Spot in Hispanic Education” as well as the NJ School Boards School Leader Award – District of Distinction for the ESL program.

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<p style="text-align: center;">Michele Schreiner, EdD</p>
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Michele Schreiner, EdD

Supervisor of WL & ESL
Egg Harbor Township Public School District

Michele is the Supervisor of ELL & World Languages in Egg Harbor Township Public School District. Michele has taught Spanish, Bilingual math, and Bilingual Reading in all grades 3 through 12. Michele received her Masters in Language Education and Doctorate in Learning, Cognition, and Development from Rutgers University. She is a member of NADSFL and regularly attends the ACTFL convention and FLENJ conferences. Michele is an advocate for multilingualism, the Seal of Biliteracy, global education, and study abroad. Michele implemented a heritage Spanish program for Spanish speakers in grades 5 – 12 in Egg Harbor Township that has been recognized as a Model Program by the NJDOE.  She joined the FLENJ Board of Directors in 2016 and was elected Treasurer in 2017. She served as FLENJ’s representative to ACTFL’s LILL initiative in 2017 and 2018.

Our Supervisor Mentorship Coordinators

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<p style="text-align: center;">Frank M. Ruggiero, EdD</p>
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Frank M. Ruggiero, EdD

FLENJ Past President
Supervisor of World Languages, Gr. 6-12
Public Schools of Edison Township

Dr. Frank Ruggiero (@DrFrankWLandESL) is the district supervisor of world languages for grades 6-12 in the Edison Public Schools and was previously the K-12 supervisor of world languages & ESL in both the Livingston Public Schools and the Nutley Public Schools. In these roles, he implemented the Seal of Biliteracy and oversaw a comprehensive program review leading to a programmatic shift that included the design and implementation of integrated performance assessments.  As a teacher, he taught French and Spanish in Edison for over 15 years and was an adjunct at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Florham campus in Madison. After studying both French and Spanish at Drew University, he worked in international business and in French translation before joining the teaching profession. He completed his MAT in French and his EdM and EdD in educational administration at Rutgers. His dissertation research focused on how middle school interdisciplinary teaming affected members of a school community whose approach to teaming included core subject teachers but excluded world language and all other related arts teachers.

Frank has served FLENJ as president, treasurer, co-chair of the 2016 annual conference, and coordinator of the professional development workshop series.  He is also the northeast regional representative to the advisory council of NADSFL and a member of the NECTFL Board of Directors.  Professional growth has been a continuous thread throughout Frank’s 19-year career in education in both his own pursuit of growth opportunities and in his desire to help prepare the next generation of teachers and leaders. Most recently, Frank attended the ACTFL LILL summer institute and is spearheading a FLENJ mentorship program for pre-service and in-service supervisors of world language departments, as part of his personal plan to give back to the profession.

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<p style="text-align: center;">Noemi Rodriguez</p>
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Noemi Rodriguez

FLENJ Board Member
Supervisor of WL, ESL, Music, & Family/Consumer Sciences
Pascack Valley Regional High School District

Noemi Rodriguez (@srtanrodriguez) is the Supervisor of World Languages, ESL, Music, and Family & Consumer Sciences for the Pascack Valley Regional High School District in northern Bergen County, N.J. She attended Rutgers University, where she earned her B.A. in Spanish and Ed.M. in Language Education & completed her Reading Specialist certification. Prior to supervising, she taught Spanish in the Freehold Township and Marlboro Township school districts in Monmouth County. She has also served as an adjunct professor for The Graduate School of Education of Rutgers University teaching graduate courses related to teaching methodology & assessment design. Noemi has presented at various conferences including AATSP, ACTFL, FLENJ, ISTE, NECTFL, and NJEA. As an avid user of technology, Noemi enjoys collaborating and sharing with other world language educators through her blog: http://srtanrodriguez.wordpress.com/ She also founded and organized EdCampWL & WL Tech Institute. For FLENJ, she has been involved in the mentor fellowship program since it started and has enjoyed getting to know many new World Language educators.