NEWCOMER NETWORK

Guest Speaker: Anita Villasenor

Guest Speaker: Tina Beene

Tina Beene is an independent educational consultant and author of Teaching Social Studies to ELLs as well as the co-author of Teaching Science to ELs with Dr. Stephen Fleenor and Teaching Math to ELs with Adrian Mendoza, both affiliated with Seidlitz Education. Beene embarked on her journey as an elementary bilingual teacher in North Texas before serving as a multilingual program coordinator and curriculum writer. 

Tina completed a BA in international studies with a concentration in Latin American economics at Texas A&M before obtaining a master’s in education with reading specialist certification. After almost a decade with Seidlitz Education as a trainer and consultant, she can now be found at www.tinabeene.org. Her rural upbringing coupled with twenty years of urban work experience allows her to connect with audiences across the country for collaborative coaching sessions, curriculum writing and program evaluations, and professional development centered around best practices for multilingual students.

Guest Speaker: Lauren Markham

Lauren Markham is a writer and educator who has spent more than fifteen years working at the intersection of immigration and education. As an administrator at Oakland International High School, a public school serving 100% newly-arrived immigrant students, Lauren directs the school's Learning Lab and was instrumental in building the school's socio-emotional services and non-academic programming in service newcomer students and families. She is the author of the award-winning 2017 book, The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life, and her writing on education and migration has been published in outlets such as The Guardian, The New York Times, The New Republic, Mother Jones, Harper's and The Atlantic.