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.

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 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

Shari Ebert

Co-Chair

Shari holds a B.A. from Nazareth University and an M.A. from Middlebury College. She has been a Spanish teacher in the Pittsford Central School District since 2004. In that time, she has taught multiple levels from HS level 1- AP, exclusively at Mendon High School. In addition to being a teacher in the classroom, Shari is also the Standards Leader for the WL department. In that role she has lead her department through curriculum writing and professional development around the new standards.

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. 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, has taught Spanish to levels I through V at Spencerport CSD. 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. Melanie was the recipient of NYSAFLT’s Teacher of the Year in 2022. 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 SUNY Brockport, 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 .

Erin Johnson

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

Julie Wilkens

Julie Wilkens earned a B.A. in English and a minor in French from Oberlin College, a M.Ed in Secondary English Education from the University of Mississippi and a K-12 literacy certification from the University of Alaska. Since 1996, she has taught both middle and high school ELA and French all over the country. She loves exploring language and culture with her students and challenging them to go beyond their comfort zones.

She is currently teaching French at Penfield High School and this is her first time serving on a NYSAFLT committee.

Zoey Baird

Zoey Baird is a graduate of Nazareth University with a B.A. in Spanish and M.S. in Special Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Ms. Baird is currently employed at East Irondequoit Middle School. She teaches both 7th and 8th grade Spanish. Zoey collaborates with special educators in an integrated co-teaching model to help meet the needs of all learners. As a newer educator in the field, she is continuously looking for ways to branch out and learn more in her field. A notion she promotes in her classroom is risk-taking and embracing the uncomfortable as a sign of growth. She has modeled this by presenting professionally several times over the past year.

Sarah Hopper

Sarah Hopper is a certified French, Spanish, and ENL teacher at Watkins-Glen School. She was a 2014 PBIS Digital Innovator and ACTFL Lill Cohort 5 Emerging Leader. She has authored many books with Teachers Discovery. She loves presenting and providing hands-on learning for her students.

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