Featured Speakers

Educational Consultant - Seidlitz Education

Dr. Marie Heath brings over 30 years of experience in education, having held a variety of influential roles including ESL teacher, department head, compliance facilitator, specialist, curriculum writer, and adjunct professor. Prior to joining Seidlitz Education full-time, she served as the curriculum coordinator for a North Texas school district with over 12,000 multilingual learners. Dr. Heath has deep expertise in working with students from diverse backgrounds, particularly focusing on first-year emergent bilinguals. Her work has been featured in The Middle Level Leader with the article “Successful Middle School Newcomer Programs,” and in ProQuest with her research titled “Texas High School (Im)migrants Negotiation Acculturation: Measuring Bicultural Identity Integration in a New Cultural Context.”

Dr. Heath holds a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Texas and a Doctorate from Texas A&M Commerce, where her research focused on acculturation among immigrant adolescents and the factors that contribute to successful bilingual and bicultural integration. In 2022, the state of Texas adopted the Multilingual Acculturation Studies course she designed, which provides newcomer high school students with the opportunity to earn graduation credit while receiving social, cultural, and linguistic support.

As the child of an immigrant, Dr. Heath personally experienced the challenges of balancing two cultures and has dedicated her career to helping others navigate the complexities of multicultural identity. She lives in North Texas with her husband, and enjoys spending time with her seven children and six grandchildren.

Educational Consultant - Seidlitz Education

Adrian Mendoza began his journey in education teaching English learners (adults and children) in Monterrey, Mexico, more than 12 years ago, where he discovered his passion for education. When he moved to Texas to teach 5th Grade in a bilingual classroom, he understood the importance of the language and the culture in order to inspire students to become contributing members of our society.

Adrian previously worked as an Instructional Math Coach in San Marcos CISD, and has a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Texas State University. His commitment leads him to innovate in the education area, and his present action research project is about the importance of Building Mathematical Growth Mindset Communities.

Adrian has provided Professional Development to educators for more than 5 years in the areas of Bilingual Education, Math, Science, Technology, and Student Engagement, working with teachers and parents in United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

Educational Consultant - Seidlitz Education

Elise White Diaz is an educational consultant with Seidlitz Education and the author of Discover, Connect, Respond, a framework for supporting multilingual learners from hard places, affected by chronic stress. With more than 25 years in education as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, and district PD facilitator, she now partners with state departments of education and school districts nationwide to strengthen language development and build resilient classrooms.

Elise began her career in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, teaching bilingual and ESL students at a school serving children who worked in the city's garbage dump — an experience that shaped her focus on how adverse circumstances intersect with language learning, and helped her to develop practical, research-informed strategies for supporting student resilience.

She serves with NAELPA (National Association for English Language Program Administrators) and NABE (National Association of Bilingual Education), where she leads a special interest group for multilingual learners from hard places. Learn more at elisewhitediaz.com.