Center Staff
About Us main page | Demographic Data | Center Staff | Contact Us
Grace Valenzuela, Program Director, oversees the Center’s programs to meet the needs of Portland Public Schools’ English Language Learners. Grace has a B.S. in Education with a major in English and a minor in Drama from the Philippine Normal College in Manila, a Master’s degree in Teaching ESL from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, and a C.A.S. (Certificate of Advanced Study) in Educational Leadership, from the University of Southern Maine. Her quarter-century of professional experience in the United States, Philippines, and Mexico includes teaching English K- adult, curriculum development, staff development, program development and administration, and grant-writing. She has extensive experience in training high school teachers all over the country and international experience with non-governmental agencies specializing in refugee work.
Marguerite MacDonald, Program Coordinator, acts as the Center’s Assistant Director coordinating the district’s translation efforts and multilingual parent activities, overseeing the district’s multilingual preschool and the Intensive English Language Program for Newcomers. She was a former principal of Reiche School and assistant principal at Longfellow School. She brings a knowledge of the changing Portland community and an understanding of equity issues statewide from her work at the MaineDepartment of Education where she was an Affirmative Action Officer and Assistant to the Commissioner of Education. Margie has a B.S. in Elementary Education from Boston State College and an M.S. in Educational Administration from the University of Southern Maine.
Margot Downs, Professional Development Specialist, coordinates workshops and professional development initiatives for all Portland Public School staff on issues related to language and culture. She also coordinates ACCESS for ELLs testing for the district. Prior to teaching in Portland, Margot taught oversees in Bulgaria and Jordan. She has a B.A. from Bowdoin College in Anthropology and Asian Studies, and a Master's degree in TESOL from SUNY Albany. Margot is also a certified WIDA consultant for the ACCESS and the WIDA ELP Standards.
Mark Ford, ELL Instructional Technology Specialist, supports the district's ELL teachers in their use of computer-based learning applications, such as Read 180, System 44 and ISucceed Math. He has a B.A. in English from the University of Utah, an M.A. in liberal arts from St. John's College and earned his teacher certification at the University of Dallas. His background in technology includes working as an information architect for a Web consulting firm and doing freelance Web and graphic design work for many years. He uses the skills he has acquired to maintain the Multilingual Center's website, design its print publications, and author the ELL Tech Zone blog.
Brenda Gushee, ELL Elementary Resource Specialist, has worked for Portland Public Schools since 1990 in five elementary schools and several different positions including Data/Literacy Specialist, Title I teacher, and ELL teacher. As ELL Elementary Resource Specialist, Brenda assists other ELL teachers at the elementary level with teaching strategies, and provides resources and professional development, particular emphasis on writing. Brenda holds a Bachelors Degree in Special Education from the University of Maine in Farmington, a Master's Degree in Literacy Education from the University of Southern Maine, and is currently enrolled in the Master's Degree Program at USM's Leadership for Tomorrow's School.
Emily Eschner, AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer, is a recent graduate of the University of Vermont. Emily coordinates volunteers for the Make It Happen! program as well as the greater Multilingual Center and assists with the planning for the annual Rock Around the World fundraiser. She is also involved with other after-school enrichment activities for English Language Learners such as College Experience Day.
Academic Enrichment:
Jane Armstrong, ELL Academic Enrichment Specialist, received her undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University in North Carolina and a masters in Teaching and Learning from the University of Southern Maine. She taught in various schools in Maine for seven years, most recently as an ELL teacher at King Middle School. From 2009-2010 she worked for the Multilingual Center as the Middle School Coordinator for Make It Happen! at Lyman Moore and Lincoln Middle Schools. In her current role, she coordinates academic enrichment outside of the classroom for grades 6 through 12. Jane lives in Portland with her husband and two daughters.
Tim Cronin, Make It Happen! High School Coordinator, attended the University of Massachusetts as an undergraduate student and received his graduate education degree from Lesley College in Cambridge. He worked for Portland Public Schools as a teacher and Gear Up advisor at King Middle School for 13 years, and also spent three years in Japan as a middle school math and science teacher on U.S. military bases. In his position as High School Coordinator for Make It Happen!, Tim works with students from Deering and Casco Bay high schools, where he works as a liaison between students and families, academic coaches, teachers, and guidance counselors at the schools. Tim owns a small business and lives in South Portland with his wife and four children.
Biljana Nedeljkovic, Make It Happen! Middle School Coordinator, is a graduate of Teacher’s University Jagodina, Serbia, where she taught at the elementary level for two years. Due to civil war in her country, she moved to Maine in 1998, and began working for Portland Public Schools the following year. Formerly a Parent/ Community Specialist for the Serbian-speaking population within the district, Biljana worked as the High School Coordinator for the Make It Happen! program from 2009-2010. She now works as the Middle School Coordinator for Lincoln and Lyman Moore middle schools, and will begin working with King Middle School in 2011. In this role, she works as a liaison between students and families, academic coaches, teachers, and guidance counselors at the schools. Biljana lives in Portland with her husband and son. For the past four years, Biljana has volunteered as both a teacher and director of Portland’s Serbian School.
Multilingual Parent/Community Specialists:
Minh Canfield (Vietnamese Community Specialist) has a B.A. in English from Hue University, in Vietnam. She taught English for children and adults in Ho Chi Minh City for 6 years, and also worked for several international companies before she moved to Maine in 2001. Minh received her Maine Teacher Certificate through the ETEP program in 2008 (as a teacher for K-8) and she is highly qualified to teach math. She has been in the Portland Public Schools system since 2003, and currently works part time for the Multilingual Office as an interpreter and parent specialist.
Nyapeni Choul Doul speaks Arabic and Nuer and serves the Sudanese African Community. Nyapeni attended college in Cairo, Egypt, and is now working towards a degree in social work at USM. She has studied about family and children and has helped many Sudanese families in Porltand, and is a member of a Nuer Women ’s Group.
Mahmoud Hassan (Somali Community Specialist) earned an Elementary School Teachers Certificate from the National University of Somalia at Halane (1988-90) and studied Arabic for two years at the Egyptian Center for Islamic Culture in Mogadishu, graduating with honors in 1989. Driven to Kenya by the civil war in Somalia, Mahmoud settled in the Liboi Refugee Camp in Kenya. While in Liboi, he helped establish Liboi's first elementary school where he taught English and Arabic and served as Head-teacher of the school. He arrived in the U.S. in 1996 and has lived in Maine since 2001, where he is actively involved in various community-based services and organizations. Mahmoud speaks, reads and writes Somali, English and Arabic fluently.
Alfred Jacob has worked for Portland Public Schools since 2007, first at Portland High School as a language facilitator and now at the Multilingual and Multicultural Center as the Acholi-language Parent and Community Specialist. Originally from southern Sudan, Alfred is a proud graduate of Portland High School and currently pursuing a degree in Education with a focus on History at USM.
Alaa Jasem is the part-time Arabic-speaking Parent Community Specialist at the Multilingual Center. She also works as a translator and interpreter throughout Portland Public Schools and with private businesses in the Greater Portland area. Before coming to Maine, Alaa earned a degree from Baghdad University in Iraq in teaching and translation and taught English to elementary children in Iraq and adults in Turkey for a total of five years. She now lives in the Portland area with her two young children.
Louise Rocha-McCarthy serves the Latino community. Louise has lived and studied in Mexico and Spain. She has traveled to Guatemala, Paraguay, and Brazil and has worked as a nurse aide at MMC, as an ethnic program director on WMPG, and as an adult education Spanish teacher. Louise also organizes the Multicultural Library and writes a Community Voices column in the Portland Press Herald.
Adele Ngoy has been a part-time Parent Community Specialist for French, Lingala, Swahili, and Kinyarwanda speakers in Portland Public Schools since 2009. She received her bachelors degree in Fashion Design in her native Democratic Republic of Congo, and taught fashion design at the high school and college level for eight years before moving to Maine in 2000. Adele has three children and owns and runs her own business on Brighton Avenue in Portland.
Pirun Sen has worked with Portland parents through the Multilingual Program for 20 years. Bilingual in Khmer and English, Pirun has developed a very successful Cambodian Parent Advisory Council. He has presented at regional, state, and national conferences on parent involvement and literacy. He runs a radio program in Khmer and and is a talented musician. Drawing on his background in teaching and nursing, Pirun teaches citizenship classes and works on community and schoool issues impacting Cambodian families.
Administrative Support Staff:
Jeanna Best, Secretary, serves as an administrative support staff for the Center’s translation and interpretation services to meet the district’s policy on language access. She organizes and disseminates the district’s translation efforts and is a key contact in accommodating requests for interpreters for parent/teacher conferences, parent, PTO and PET meetings, and other events requiring interpreter services.
Lila Conley, Lead Secretary/Office Manager, has worked for Portland Public Schools for seventeen years as the Lead Secretary/Office Manager for the Multilingual Program. She graduated from Westbrook College as a C.M.A. and worked in the medical field for several years in the Portland area before taking employment with the school department. She also attended the University of Southern Maine and took several business courses. Lila has worked for Portland Public Schools’ Multilingual and Multicultural Center since 1988.
Jenifer Turkewitz, Secretary, worked for American Airlines and took advantage of flight benefits by traveling all over the US, Europe, the Caribbean, and Canada. She moved to Maine 7 years ago to work at Anthem before taking employment with the Multilingual and Multicultural Center as the administrative support staff at the Center registering multilingual children and maintaining the district’s data of its English Language Learners.