Connie Perdreau

Connie Perdreau is the current director of the Haggerty English Language Program at SUNY New Paltz. She has more than 30 years experience as an international educator in the United States and France. Connie is the Director Emerita of Education Abroad at Ohio University, where she spent her career prior to returning to her hometown of Beacon, New York, in the beautiful Hudson Valley. Connie has served as the national Chair of Administrators and Teachers of English as a Second Language, and she is a past president of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the largest organization in the world devoted to international educational exchange. She is delighted to be the head of this ESL program because she is devoted to international students and successful language learning; Connie is a dual national citizen of the United States and France.

Jennie Castro

Jennie Castro is the current enrollment coordinator for the Haggerty English Language Program. She is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz, with a Bachelor’s degree in International Business and a minor in Latin American Studies. While studying at SUNY New Paltz, she participated in a study abroad program to Ecuador. Upon returning to the United States, she graduated and soon after began working for the Center for International Programs.

And some of our teachers:

Warren Wilson

Warren Wilson has an M.A. in TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Teachers College at Columbia University.  He has been teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) for more than 25 years and has also been involved in writing ESL textbooks since 1989.  He continues to write and publish ESL materials. He lived and worked in Japan for six years, and have also lived in Europe and has traveled extensively throughout Asia.

Catherine Siska

Cathy Siska graduated from Texas Tech State University in 1981 and 1985 with a B.A. and M.A. in German Language and Literature and a minor in music. She later received her Texas State Teaching Certificate in Secondary English and ESL at Stephen F. Austin State University. She studied abroad in Vienna, Austria in 1981, and in 1982-83, she was a Rotary International Scholar at Ruprecht-Karl Universitaet in Heidelberg, Germany. She has taught in ESL programs at Texas A&M University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Vanderbilt University, Austin Peay State University, and SUNY New Paltz. She has also taught at four different private language schools in Duesseldorf, Germany and Nitra, Slovakia. In addition, Cathy coordinated two ESL programs in Texas and Tennessee. She is a member of TESOL.

Sarah Elia

Sarah Elia earned a B.A. from Bard College and an M.S. in TESOL from SUNY New Paltz. While an undergraduate, she studied Spanish in Oaxaca, Mexico. Before coming to the Haggerty English Language Program, Sarah taught in Tokyo, Japan; at the Language Immersion Institute at SUNY New Paltz; and at several primary and secondary schools in the Hudson Valley. Aside from teaching English, Sarah is a flutist and has performed as a soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra.

Norbert Hellmann

Norbert Hellmann became interested in English as a Second Language because his parents were immigrants from Europe who had to learn English when they came to the US. They raised him bilingual in English and German, and he first taught ESL in Germany, where he also assisted in writing two English textbooks. Norbert has been teaching ESL in the US since 1993. He has also taught German and Spanish and frequently travels to Europe. Besides traveling, Norbert also enjoys hiking, bicycling, yoga, art and photography. He enjoys teaching ESL because he strongly believes in the importance of international education and the value of students learning new languages and cultures. Norbert  feels this leads to personal success and fulfillment as well as better understanding among nations throughout the world.

James Phillips

James Phillips earned his TESL graduate degree at New Paltz in 1996. Since then he has taught here while raising his growing family with his wife. Their favorite activities include family walks, bike rides and "wrestling." He also enjoys answering and asking questions of new students who are adjusting to life in America.

Lisa Rost Lewis

Lisa Rost Lewis has a B.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in TESOL from Eastern Michigan University. Lisa has enjoyed teaching in many kinds of ESL/EFL settings, including a kindergarten in Japan, a high school in Detroit, an adult education program, an international automobile company, and nearly 10 years as a full time instructor in the Haggerty English Language Program. Along the way she has done some textbook editing and teacher training. She stopped teaching for a while to raise her family and help manage her husband's company, but she is happy to be back! Lisa feels lucky that her life is full of interactions with people from diverse cultures and language backgrounds.

Mara Kearney Loving

Mara Kearney Loving has been teaching ESL in a variety of places since she graduated from Hamilton College in 1979. Among the places where she has taught ESL are Niger, Japan, the Navajo Reservation, New York City in various CUNY colleges--City College, Lehman, and New York City Technical College. In 2000 she and her husband Al Loving left New York City for this area, to Kerhonkson, where they have made art and had a great time. After Al's death in 2005, Mara returned to ESL teaching here at SUNY New Paltz. Mara's passions are yoga, swimming in Lake Minnewaska, hiking, painting and art making, reading, history -- especially ancient Greece, and exploring new places.

Sarah Gardner

Sarah Gardner is the former Coordinator of the Writing Center/Tutoring Center here at SUNY New Paltz. She has extensive experience in teaching Critical Thinking, ESL Composition, and Reading/Writing in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) also here at NP. Sarah recently returned from teaching English as a Foreign Language for several years at Gansu United University, People's Republic of China. She also teaches at Dutchess Community College. Sarah has a diploma in Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language from St. Michael's College (well-known in ESL), an M.A. in English from SUNY New Paltz, an M.S. in Elementary Education from New Paltz, and a B.A. in English from Vassar College.

Patricia Hennighan

Candace James

Rita Kaplan

Thomas Perkins

Julie O'Sullivan