Teachers

Department Chair

Ms. Haleemeh Mohammed, M.Ed., M.A.

Lead Teachers

Corrine Ulmer

Teacher, Academic Center Coordinator
Courses: Seventh Grade Reading & Writing (Academic Center)
M.Ed. DePaul UniversityB.A. Miami University
Favorite Literature & Authors: "Desiderata" by Max Erhmann, The Giver by Lois Lowry, Margaret Atwood, Anne Lamott
Email: culmer@cps.edu

Dipa Shah

Lead English I Teacher
Courses: English I, Honors English I
Email: dshah5@cps.edu

Jessica Cwiak

Honors English II Lead Teacher
Courses: English II, AP Language & Composition
M.A. Northeastern Illinois University B.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Email: jacwiak@cps.edu

Courtney Feuer

Teacher
Courses: English III, Honors English III, Honors Women in Literature
M.A. DePaul UniversityM.Ed. DePaul UniversityB.A. Miami University
*Lane Tech BSA's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award (2009)
Favorite Play: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker
Email: crfeuer@cps.edu

Valerie Mason

Teacher, English IV Lead Teacher
Courses: Honors English II, Honors English IV
M. Ed. DePaul UniversityB.A. Miami University
Email: vhouse@cps.edu

Elizabeth Serilla

Teacher, AP Language & Composition Lead Teacher
Courses: English II, Honors English IV
M.Ed. University of Illinois at ChicagoB.A. University of Michigan
Favorite authors: David Mitchell and Zadie Smith
Email: ewserilla@cps.edu

Michelle Mottram-Dummeldinger

Teacher, AP Literature & Composition Lead Teacher
Courses: AP Literature & Composition, Honors English II
M.Ed. DePaul UniversityB.A. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Favorite Authors: Margret Atwood, Joan Didion, Richard Wright
Email: mcmottram-du@cps.edu

Brian Telles

Teacher, Omega Chair, Volleyball Coach
Courses: Omega English I, AP Literature & Composition,
M.Ed. American College of Education B.A. Northeastern Illinois University
Favorite Literature: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "The Tragedy of Leaves" by Charles Bukowski
Email: bctelles@cps.edu

David Strom, NBCT

Teacher, AP Language & Composition Lead Teacher, Newspaper Adviser
Courses: AP Language & Composition, Honors Journalism I, II, & III
M. Ed. University of Illinois at ChicagoB.A. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Certified Journalism Educator
Email: dastrom@cps.edu

Nathan Nordlund

Teacher, Alpha English Lead Teacher
Courses: Alpha English II, AP Literature & Composition
M.A.T. National-Louis UniversityB.A. North Park University
Favorite Novel: The River Why by David James Duncan
Email: ntnordlund@cps.edu

Alexandra Sears

Teacher, Omega English Lead Teacher
Courses: AP Literature and Composition, Omega English II B.A. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Favorite Book: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Email: asears2@cps.edu

Amanda Bessette

Teacher
Courses: AP Language & Composition, Honors English II, English II
M.Ed. American College of EducationB.A. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Email: aedamlos@cps.edu

Katherine Ewers

Teacher, AP Literature & Composition Lead Teacher
Courses: AP Literature & Composition (Dual Enrollment), Honors English I
M.A. DePaul UniversityB.A. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
*MLA Presenter, 2003
Favorite Book: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Email: kfewers@cps.edu

Bayinnah Bey

Teacher
Courses: AP Language & Composition, Honors English II
Email: bbey@cps.edu

Lisa Chappell

Teacher
Courses: English IV, AP Literature & Composition
Email: lmchappell@cps.edu

April Coleman

Teacher
Courses: Honors English IV, Black Revolutionary Literature, Culture and Art
Email: apcoleman@cps.edu

Elizabeth Cramarosso

Teacher
Courses: Eighth Grade English I (Academic Center), Honors Writing Center Instructors
M.A. University of Illinois at ChicagoB.A. DePaul University
*Lane Tech: Certificate of Achievement, Lane Tech Writing Center (2018)*NCTE Presenter: Teaching Rhetoric Through Film (2015)
Favorite Literature: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," King Lear, Pride and Prejudice, Beloved, The Crying of Lot 49
Email: eacramarosso@cps.edu

Andrew Fine

Teacher
Courses: AP Language & Composition, Honors Literary Activism
B.A. University of Wisconsin - Madison
*Woods-Lindley Prize for Excellence in English Teacher Education (2015)*Golden Apple Nominee (2016)*National Society of High School Scholars Nobel Educator of Distinction (2016)*Chicago Debate Commission Golden Gavel Finalist for Excellence in Coaching (2016, 2018)
Favorite Authors: Michael Cunningham, Roxane Gay, Alexander Chee, Maya Angelou
Email: asfine@cps.edu

Maria Flores

Teacher
Courses: Honors English I, Honors English II
B.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Email: dflores@cps.edu

Dane Haiken

Teacher, Literary Magazine Advisor
Courses: AP Language & Composition, Honors English IV, Creative Writing, Advanced Creative Writing & Publishing II
M.A. Northwestern University
Email: dhaiken@cps.edu

Alysia Hesse

Teacher, Yearbook Advisor
Courses: Alpha English I, Yearbook
M.A.T. National Louis University M. A. University of ChicagoB. A. University of California, Berkeley
Favorite Literature: I love poetry, in particular the works of American Modernists.
Email: ahesse@cps.edu

Hans Kim

Teacher, Debate Coach
Courses: Honors English II, Honors Argumentative Literacy
Email:

Nicholas Locke

Teacher
Courses: Honors English I, Eighth Grade English I (Academic Center)
Email: nlocke@cps.edu

Katharine Laroche

Teacher, Boys JV Soccer Coach
Courses: Honors English III, Omega AP Language & Composition
M.A. King's College, London B.A. DePaul University
Favorite Literature & Author: Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market," T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," Virginia Woolf
Email: kelaroche1@cps.edu

Meghan McDonough O'Dwyer

Teacher
Courses: Honors English I, AP Research
M.A.T. Marshall UniversityB.A. Lake Forest College
Favorite Book: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Email: mmmcdonough1@cps.edu

Sahar Shafqat

Teacher, English II Lead Teacher, Student Council Sponsor
Courses: Alpha English II, Honors English II
B.A. Loyola University B.S. Loyola University M.Ed. National Louis University
*NCTE Early Career Educator of Color Leadership Award 2016
Favorite Author: Jane Austen
Email: sshafqat@cps.edu

Kristen Starr

Teacher
Courses: English I, English IV, Honors English IV
M.S. Chicago State UniversityM.A. Northwestern Illinois UniversityB.A. North Park University
Favorite Book: The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky
Email: kjstarr@cps.edu

Lizzette Trujillo

Teacher
Courses: Honors English III, AP Literature & Composition
M.A. Northeastern Illinois UniversityB.A. University of Illinois at Chicago
Email: lvtrujillo@cps.edu

Shakura Weathers

Teacher, English I Lead Teacher
Courses: Honors English II, AP Language & Composition
M.Ed. Concordia University, ChicagoB.A. Grand Valley State University
Favorite Book: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Email: srweathers@cps.edu