The Planning Committee

The NYSAFLT Rochester Regional Planning Committee is a group of highly-dedicated world language professionals from the Western New York Region whose goal is to organize and produce an annual conference. The annual conference seeks to address current critical issues in world language education including best practices, public advocacy, technology in the classroom, and concerns within the profession. We strive to represent all levels of WL education as well as those taught in our area schools.

The NYSAFLT Rochester Regional Planning Committee meets once a month from August through March both virtually and on the Nazareth University campus. The conference registration fee is waived for those serving on the planning committee. Committee members will be expected to maintain regular attendance at the meetings and contribute to the conference planning process.

If you are interested in joining the committee, please email us.

Erin Johnson

Co-Chair

Erin Johnson is a high school French teacher at Penn Yan Academy, teaching levels 1-5. She has taught 6-12 French and Spanish throughout her career. She holds a B.A. in French Education from Juniata College and a Masters as a Educational Technology Specialist from Nazareth University. She has had many opportunities to present at different conferences including NYSAFLT Annual Conference, NYSAFLT Summer Institute, and NECTFL Annual Conference as well as doing local and district wide presentations. She uses her Personalized Learning training, her technology background and strong student relationships to make her classes very student centered and communicative so that all her students can succeed. She serves on the NYSAFLT Board of Directors representing Western NY, as a NYSAFLT Rochester Regional Conference Co-Chair, is a member of the NYSAFLT Annual Conference Planning Committee as Hospitality Co-Chair and is a Facilitator for the NYSED-OBEWL High Leverage Teaching Practices #1 Book Study.
Twitter (X) and Instagram: @mmejohnson110

Joshua Wigle-Harris

Co-Chair

Josh Wigle-Harris is a graduate of St. John Fisher College with a B.A. in Spanish and a M.S. in Special Education. He has taught at both the Gates-Chili and Wayne Central School Districts. Currently, he is teaching Spanish and is serving as the World Languages Curriculum Leader at East Irondequoit Middle School. He loves working with students to develop a love for language and pushing them to take risks as they experience a new language and culture for the first time. He is a firm believer in providing students with an authentic experience in the classroom and promoting students' experiences of other cultures through travel. He serves as the NYSAFLT Rochester Regional Conference Co-Chair, is a member of the NYSAFLT Annual Conference Planning Committee as A/V Co-Chair, and served on the NYSAFLT's Strategic Planning and Awards committees. He is part of the NYS World Language Leadership Council. Twitter & Instagram: mrwigleharris

Julie Gangai

Co-Chair

Julie Gangai has been teaching all levels of Spanish at Gates Chili High School since 1995. She earned a B.A. in Secondary Education for Spanish at SUNY Oswego and her M.A. at SUNY Brockport. She is a member of the World Language Standards Revision Mid-West Regional Committee.

Marie Campanaro

Marie Campanaro, NBCT WLOE, earned her B.A. in Spanish and English Sec Educ and an M.S. in Elem Educ with Bilingual Multicultural Concentration from SUC Brockport. Now retired from the classroom, she taught ELA and Spanish for a total of 38 years. She is a NYSAFLT member since 1988 and recently completed her term as president. She continues to support NYSAFLT locally and state-wide. She has recently joined Barbara Patterson as co-chair of the NYSAFLT Public Advocacy Commitee.

Melanie Thomas

Melanie Thomas, NBCT in WL, teaches Spanish levels III, IV and V (with Syracuse University) at Spencerport HS. She received a MATL from the University. of Southern Mississippi where focus was on language acquisition and language instruction. This background in SLA supports her strive to teach with Comprehensible Input to help learners acquire the language they study. Twitter: @senoramthomasInstagram: @senoramthomas

Marium Abugasea Heidt

Marium earned a BS in German & Psychology and MS in Adolescence Education (German 7-12, with TESOL K-12) from the University of Rochester and PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Wyoming. She taught middle and high school German and college TESOL and now works at The College at Brockport, SUNY, where she trains teachers in TESOL, Bilingual, and Foreign Language Education. Her passion is to inspire K-12 students to be lifelong learners of world languages.

Ida Wilder

Currently teaches Italian at Greece Athena HS, adjunct at RIT and Brockport, College Board Consultant and instructor Italian AP Summer Institute at several colleges. Former methodsinstructor at Nazareth College, NY State Education Dept. consultant and writer for Regents exams; co-chair for ACTFL National Standards for Italian; presenter throughout the country on teaching strategies; organizer of yearly trips to Italy; curriculum writer levels 1-AP, various articles on the study of Italian; co-author of “Seguimi”; member of Italian AP Task Force; Development Committee; Reader; Table leader .

Aminta Romaguera

Aminta Romaguera-McNulty has been teaching Spanish since 2004. Currently she teaches all high school levels at Caledonia-Mumford High School, including Spanish 2 thru 5. The last 2 are GCC advanced courses through the ACE Program and her students can earn the Seal of Biliteracy. She earned her BA at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, where she was born and raised. She has an MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology and taught jewelry and metal work part time for 9 years. She received her Teaching Certification from Robert Wesleyan. She loves teaching her students about her Hispanic culture and heritage. She has led her students through many cultural enrichment activities inside and outside the classroom and has taken over 160 students abroad on 6 different trips around the world helping them see and experience life in other countries. She is also the winner of the 2023 Vito Marcello Fund an Idea Award.

Lisa Lilley

Lisa Lilley is a middle school French teacher at Webster Central Schools. She earned a B.A. in French & Secondary Education from SUNY Oswego and a M.A. in French Education from the University at Albany (SUNY). She has served as a Lead Teacher for the WCSD World Language Department and has participated in writing Checkpoint A final assessments at Monroe BOCES #2. She is a member of the World Language Standards Revision Mid-West Regional Committee. She resides in Penfield with her husband and two children.

Joelle Carota, Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Italian and Director of Frank DiMino Casa Italiana at Nazareth University, Rochester, NYA native speaker of Italian, Joëlle Carota received her Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University at Buffalo (SUNY) (international cotutelle agreement with University G. d’Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara.) Currently, she is Visiting Assistant Professor of Italian and Frank DiMino Casa Italiana director in the Department World Languages and Cultures at Nazareth University. She teaches courses of Italian and Spanish language and culture as well as linguistics courses. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, heritage language education, and second language acquisition.

Dr. Elisabetta D'Amanda

Elisabetta Sanino D’Amanda coordinates the Italian Studies program at Rochester Institute of Technology in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures since 2001. Her scholarly publications and presentations are on Italian cinema, and Italian pedagogy with a specific focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. Her Internship Program in Genova, Italy, created and coordinated with the RIT Career Services, celebrates 20 years in 2024 and sees strong ties with Italian companies providing RIT students with a focus on the Italian as a thriving European language of work.

Nicole King, Ph.D.

Nicole King (she/her/hers) is an assistant professor of multilingual education and the director for the TESOL and world language certification programs at the University of Rochester’s Warner School. Previously, she served as a postdoctoral research fellow on the Strengthening Equity and Effectiveness for Teachers of English Learners National Professional Development Grant sponsored by the Office of English Language Acquisition and as an instructor and supervisor in the TESOL and world language teacher preparation programs at The Ohio State University, where she received her PhD. As part of the SEETEL team, she employed ethnographic methods to explore a multilingual family engagement project on the translingual composition and storytelling practices of families.Nicole is a former elementary and middle school teacher with certifications in TESOL, as an intervention specialist, and in early childhood special education. Her focus on leveraging the transmodal and translingual practices of students, families, and teachers stems from her experiences as a former teacher. She seeks to bring these perspectives to teacher education and to empower pre- and in-service teachers to enact equitable and sustaining practices in their teaching and advocacy. Her work can be found in TESOL Journal, System, Foreign Language Annals, Language Teaching, and in her recent co-edited volume, Developing Translanguaging Repertoires in Critical Teacher Education. She’s the PI and Program Director for the Cultural, Pedagogical, and Linguistic Exchange, a Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching (DAI)program.

Shari Ebert

Shari has been a Spanish teacher in the Pittsford Central School District for the past 20 years. In that time, I have taught multiple levels from HS level 1- AP, exclusively at Mendon High School. In addition to being a teacher in the classroom, I have also been the Standards Leader for the WL department for the past 7 years.

Julie Miller-Trembley

Julie Miller-Trembley, M.A., M.A.T., is a long-time Language Learning Mentor. She has taught in a wide range of environments including St. Paul Lutheran School, Canisius College and The Attica Teaching Project. She is in her 24th year as an Instructor of Spanish 102-202 for Genesee Community College, currently offering her 176th online course. She teaches SLA full time in the Dual Language Program for grades 6-8 in Geneva NY. Julie participated in the NYSAFLT Leaders of Tomorrow Program and was chosen by ACTFL for its summer scholarship study abroad in Salamanca, Spain. She has presented at the National ACTFL Conference on the topic of prison teaching. Her areas of interest are bilingual programs, ed. tech. and public advocacy/community connections, including participation with Geneva Reads and Vamos Geneva!

Virginia Kukaj-Hartman

Virginia is a native French speaker from Brussels, Belgium. 5 years ago, she decided to go back to school to get her degree to teach French at Nazareth University. Virginia is passionate about her home country and teaching her students about French beyond France.She currently is teaching grades 9 through 12 at Honeoye Falls-Lima High School in Honeoye Falls, NY.