ELM grant Grant Faculty & STaff

Amy O'Connor Stolpestad, Ed.D., Director: Stolpestad is a Minnesota licensed K-12 ESL teacher and experienced teacher educator. She started her work in education in 1994, teaching high school Spanish and English in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After earning her Masters of Education degree in K-12 ESL at the University of Minnesota, she went on to teach elementary ESL in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Public School districts. Stolpestad began her work in teacher education at the University of Minnesota in 2004. During that time, she also assisted the Second Language Education faculty in the management of a multi-million dollar Title III grant. Prior to serving as the ELM Project Director, Stolpestad worked in educational non-profits, serving as a program director and executive director. During this time, she gained extensive experience writing, managing, budgeting for, and reporting on private, corporate, and government grants. She has co-presented at local and national professional conferences and served as the chair of the Minnesota English Learners Education Conference (MELEd) silent auction committee. Stolpestad completed her doctorate degree in Organizational Change and Leadership at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include teacher leadership, instructional coaching, teacher identity, and organizational change management.

Michelle Benegas, Ph.D., faculty lead and Principal Investigator: Benegas is an assistant professor of Second Language Teaching and Learning for Hamline's School of Education and faculty lead on the ELM (English Learners in the Mainstream) Project. Her 2014 TEDx Talk entitled Confessions: New Teacher of Newcomers tells of her early experiences teaching secondary ESL to Minnesota’s newcomer population. In 2015, she was President of MinneTESOL (Minnesota Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) and has been a vocal advocate for and contributor to the LEAPS Act, which is the most comprehensive legislation for English learners in Minnesota history. She teaches courses in ESL methods in addition to courses for the ELM Project that are focused on preparing all teachers to meet the needs of English learners. Benegas' research interests are culturally relevant pedagogy, mainstream teacher academic language instruction, and ESL teacher leadership.

Hamline School of Education: The Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program at Hamline University is the largest provider of ESL and bilingual teacher education in Minnesota. The K-12 licensure program is the only one in Minnesota that has National Recognition status with the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) International Association. In addition to the ESL licensure program, Hamline University works with mainstream teachers of ELs, the teachers of adults who are learning English, and the employers of immigrants. The school now has MA programs that allow specialization in K-12, adult basic education or international teaching, and provides online options for all classes in addition to traditional on-campus programming. Hamline University was one of the pioneers in online ESL teacher education, with over 14 years of experience.