Daniela Feldhausen was a lawyer in private practice and later Associate General Counsel for Fannie Mae in Washington, DC for more than 20 years, until she took advantage of an early retirement package to change careers and focus on her true passion - teaching kids to read.
Inspired by her experience with one of her sons, whose self-confidence dropped dramatically in elementary school as he realized he couldn't read as well as his peers, Daniela obtained an MA in Special Education (mild-moderate disabilities) from the University of Arizona. She has been trained to teach struggling children to read by a professor with a PhD in dyslexia, a reading specialist who trains teachers and school districts around the country on the science of reading, and the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (Orton-Gillingham).
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I love watching children's faces light up as they realize they can do this! Just don't get me started on the Science of Reading vs. the 3-cueing system (aka "whole language" or "balanced literacy"), unless you've got a lot of time on your hands...
Meg Harvey is a sixth-year PhD candidate at the University of Arizona. She graduated from Tulane University in 2017 with a Masters of Arts in Linguistics, and with her B.A. in French, Linguistics, and Anthropology in 2016.
Meg's dissertation focuses on how to incorporate documenting endangered languages into their teaching and use. She has taught online one-on-one sessions of English as a second language and taught the Tunica language to children aged 5-17 (both in-person and online).
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My favorite part of teaching is helping students become more comfortable and confident. Learning can be intimidating, and creating an environment where students feel safe engaging with the learning process is essential not only to helping students master the material, but to their mental well-being.
Amber Lubera is a sixth-year linguistics PhD student at the University of Arizona. She graduated from the University of Nevada Reno in 2016 with a degree in English (Linguistics & Languages specialization) and received her MA in Linguistics from the University of Arizona in 2020. Amber specializes in adult second language phonological and morphological acquisition. Her research investigates how knowledge of language structure and linguistics affects the implicit language learning process.
Amber is an experienced teacher for both young adults and young children. She has taught many courses at the college-level, including courses on first language acquisition and overview courses aimed at students who had no prior knowledge of linguistics. She has also been a teacher for summer reading programs. These programs taught children the necessary skills to be successful readers while cultivating a love of reading.
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I love watching students become more confident and eager to tackle new problems. When I'm not teaching or working on my dissertation, I enjoy reading high fantasy novels (especially Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere books) and cooking.
Sasha Santiago is a second-year linguistics PhD student at the University of Arizona. He graduated from the University of South Florida in 2020 with an MA in Applied Linguistics and Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL).
Sasha is a phonologist interested in language acquisition and pedagogy more broadly, whose current research investigates variation / alternation in orthographies of historical materials for language revitalization. Sasha has taught college undergraduates Spanish and has previously tutored students in Russian, Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), Spanish, and Linguistics. He is also a substitute teacher for his local elementary school district.
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My favorite part of teaching is observing students' process of and joy in discovery, especially when they make their own unique unexpected connections. When I'm not teaching, you can find me cooking, hiking, and studying new languages!
Max Mulé graduated from the University of Arizona with a BA in linguistics in 2020. After two years of working on his PhD in linguistics, he recently decided to switch his focus to speech-language pathology. In the fall of 2023 he will begin the University of Arizona's MS program in speech-language pathology.
Max's research in linguistics focused on how to use technical knowledge of speech production to help with language revitalization. He has experience teaching linguistics to students in a wide variety of settings.
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My favorite part of teaching is helping students realize they're truly capable of things that are so confusing and overwhelming at first. Aside from teaching, I love rock climbing and playing guitar with my band.
Fabiola (Fabi) Romero is getting her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Arizona. As a graduate clinician, she has worked primarily with Spanish-English bilingual and Spanish-monolingual clients at the UA Speech & Hearing Clinic. Along with her clinical instructor, she also conducts pediatric (birth-to-three) and school-age (K-12) speech/language evaluations through Benson Health.
Fabiola has also worked in the Bilingual Phonology Research Lab at UA, where she administered assessments and collected language samples from children ages 3-6. Plus, she has been a K-8 substitute teacher in the Gadsden Elementary School District.
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My favorite part of teaching is building relationships with my students and observing their growth through their hard work. When I'm not teaching, you can find me thrift store shopping and cuddling with my cats.
Carly Czyzyk is getting her master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Arizona. She earned her B.A. in Communication Sciences & Disorders at the University of Central Florida. During her graduate coursework, Carly has worked with both speech and language clients within the pediatric UA Speech & Hearing Clinic and the UA Wings on Words Preschool.
Carly has experience working with children in many different settings. Some of these include summer camps, after-school programs, public schools, daycares, preschools, and more. While working in the preschool setting, Carly worked with AmeriCorps to prepare at-risk preschoolers for kindergarten through intervention targeting language and literacy skill development.
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My favorite part of teaching is seeing students achieve their goals and seeing all their hard work pay off when they learn something new! When I am not teaching, you can find me exploring nature, hiking, or reading.
Crystal McCue is a retired teacher in Tucson, AZ. She has taught children from preschool through 5th grade. She discovered a love and a talent for teaching reading, and eventually became a Reading Specialist for K-5. She attended IEP meetings and worked closely with the teachers to help them meet the needs of their students. Now, she goes back to her former school as the administrator of the school-wide reading assessment, and she acts as a consultant for teachers who need further training in reading instruction.
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I often say that I was born to teach but my favorite part of being a regular classroom teacher was seeing
kids flourish as their reading skills developed. Watching their confidence skyrocket and hearing from the
families how excited they were that their kiddo was reading for pleasure was deeply rewarding. So when
I was able to do that full-time at my school, my career came to life and I really felt like I’d found my
calling! When I'm not working with kids, I enjoy creating art through fabric, brunch with friends, and
cooking.
Kristina Mihajlovic is a recent linguistics graduate from the University of Arizona. She graduated from Indiana University in 2017 with her BA in Linguistics and received her MA in Linguistics from the University of Arizona in 2021. Kristina's graduate research work focused on heritage speakers of South Slavic languages (those who used it at home), namely their phonetics and phonology.
Kristina has lots of experience teaching all ages, starting when she was in high school, tutoring her peers and younger classmates in math, science, Latin, and reading. In grad school, Kristina became a substitute teacher in the Tucson Unified School District, where she got to interact with students of all ages in K-12. She has been a full-time 7th grade math teacher and a full-time 4th grade teacher for TUSD, both completely online. Apart from her work with K-12 students, Kristina has also taught college-level statistics for four years. Kristina has also taught salsa dancing classes to adults for the U of A's Latin dance club.
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My favorite part of teaching is seeing my students' confidence soar as they gain independence in whatever skill they're working at, whether that be reading, math, or dancing! When I'm not teaching, I'm trying out new things and learning myself: new kinds of dancing, cooking, hiking locations, languages on Duolingo, and making new friends, many of them dogs.
Laurie Warner has been an educator and teacher coach in Arizona for 27 years. Recently retired from teaching, she started a business as an educational consultant and Special Education advocate to ensure that both students and educators receive the knowledge and training to ensure that ALL students are learning.
Laurie received her Bachelor’s degree in Speech and Hearing Science at the University of Arizona and after minoring in Special Education, realized that was her true passion. After receiving her master’s degree in Special Education, Laurie worked for the next 14 years as a Special Education teacher. During her profession, she has had the opportunity to work with a variety of grade levels from K-6. She is highly qualified to teach in the state of Arizona and holds certifications in both Special Education (K-12) and Elementary Education (K-8). In addition, she is endorsed in Early Childhood (Birth-8), Language Arts(6-8) and Social Studies (6-8).
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As a parent of a son with special needs, my passion is to ensure that ALL students learn to read and to not give up until they do–just like I expected for my son. My favorite part of teaching is being able to witness the light bulb go on after so many days, weeks and months of struggle. There is nothing better than that smile when that light goes on!