R10 Multilingual Symposium
LANGUAGE OLYMPICS
Dr. Dorina Sackman-Ebuwa
Dr. Dorina Sackman-Ebuwa is known as The Lab Coat Teacher and affectionately “Miss Dorito” by her students from around the globe. With her unique teaching style, Dorina has spent the past 26 years empowering students of diverse backgrounds at the K-12, college, and adult learner level. An expert in building solid relationships that result in successful learning experiences for students and teachers, Dr. Sackman-Ebuwa strongly believes “lens of life” teaching, connection to community and EI over IQ make up the true learning experience. A Nationally Recognized Educator and Florida Teacher of the Year, Dorina takes her EL classroom experiences, collaborative teacher workshops, and doctoral research on emotional intelligence and travels the globe as a “teacher on loan” inspiring, motivating, and empowering teachers and the teaching profession. From innovative, personalized professional development filled with successful and differentiated strategies to authentic “real talk” about teachers leading, Dr. Dorina Sackman-Ebuwa encourages all educators to B.E.L.I.E.V.E.! ® - Be the Educators who Lead to Inspire and Empower Via Excellence! When not wearing the many hats of an educator, Dorina dons a Stetson and works on her ranch, tending to her beloved rescue and special needs cows, goats, horses, chickens, miniature ponies, and barn cat, “Cool Ranch”.
Meredith Scott-Lynn
Meredith Scott Lynn is a "familiar but not famous" film and television actress and independent producer. You may recognize her from Legally Blonde, A Night At The Roxbury, Forces of Nature, Days Of Our Lives and countless other movies and television shows. After composing a fictional story for a wordless picture book she was sharing with her niece Lila, she had an idea she instantly knew would solve the ever-growing problem of school-based curriculum being as uninspiring for educators as it is for students of all ages and learning styles. Meredith understands the value of stories and self-expression as a means to elevated self-esteem, which leads to increased academic confidence and test scores. As founder & CEO of WRiTE BRAiN WORLD, her mission is to foster self-esteem in young people, and the adults who support them, by offering scaffolded processes and robust scripted lesson plans that help youth of all ages to discover and develop their ideas while engaging in joyful and meaningful literacy-building opportunities that give them voice & choice and agency over their own scholastic output, which they can care about when they can connect to it. Implemented between and beyond the bells in all 50 states, WRiTE BRAiN is everything it promises to be.
Luis Bautista "aka" Moises
My name is Luis Bautista and I am a Program Director with Jamestown Community Center. I came to this country at the age of 9 through the border just like many of the families we all know. Through my time here in the United States, I've done great things and I’ve made mistakes that have also taught me a lot. I am an immigrant, who is dedicated and inspired to the work of supporting students and families, especially immigrant families. I graduated from Lowell High School in 2015 and graduated from CCSF (City College of San Francisco) in 2017 with an AA degree in behavioral science. While in school, I struggled to adjust to the school system that is currently in place for high school and college due to a lack of understanding of what it meant and how important it was for me. What I can say is, my academic history does not define the knowledge and experience I carry that has helped me become successful in my current role. I experienced what many of our parents and children may be experiencing, so it’s within my job and dedication to ensure I am helping create the future leaders of our community.
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 an EB program coordinator and RLA curriculum writer. Presently, she still calls North Texas her home, where she resides with her son and two very spoiled cats.
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 from Texas Wesleyan. After almost a decade with Seidlitz Education, she can now be found at www.tinabeene.org. A rural upbringing coupled with twenty years of urban work experience allows her to connect with audiences across the state and nationally for collaborative coaching sessions and professional development centered around best practices for EB students.
