About
OUR BOARD
PRESIDENT
Kimberly Lybarger, President-Elect for TexTESOL IV, has been in education for over three decades. She currently serves as a LAMAR CISD Language Specialist and has done so for the past 7 years.
PRESIDENT-ELECT
PAST PRESIDENT
Lili Dibai, M.S. Ed. is currently a Senior Manager of Multilingual Academics at TNTP. Lili has committed to ending the educational inequities multilingual learners have faced for generations, dedicating her career to advancing the educational experiences of multilingual learners and their families. Her prior experiences include district-level ESL and bilingual program administration, development of professional learning experiences for educators and school/district leaders, family/community engagement, curriculum and assessment design, identification and implementation of high-quality instructional materials, instructional coaching, and teaching English with an additive bilingual mindset. Lili is certified to teach in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia and has experience in ESL, Bilingual, and World Language classrooms in both the EC-12 and higher education settings. Her professional fluency in English, Farsi/Persian, and Spanish has allowed her to make meaningful connections to learners of a new language. Furthermore, her foundational knowledge obtained through a Masters in TESOL and formal SIOP training have equipped her to influence teacher practice towards providing effective and equitable instruction to multilingual learners across grade levels and content areas. Lili is currently Past President of TexTESOL IV, and one of her proud accomplishments was hosting the 2022 TexTESOL State Conference while serving as President from March 2022 to March 2023.
CONFERENCE CHAIR
Katherine Anderson is currently the conference chair for TexTESOL IV. She is originally from Dawson Springs, Kentucky. She completed her undergraduate work at Murray State University where she took the opportunity to study and teach abroad in Latin America. Katherine has worked in English Language Education since 2012. She holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Secondary English Education and a Master’s of Arts in English with a focus in TESOL. Katherine began her career in TESOL at Catholic Charities in Fort Worth, Texas teaching English to newly arrived refugees from all over the world. Since then she has worked at secondary schools, colleges and universities supporting English Language Learners. Currently, she is serving as a Virtual Educator for Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam teaching government officials, civil servants, and other professional business English. She is passionate about making her classes engaging and valuable to her students.
CONFERENCE CHAIR-ELECT
Jacquelyn Kiner is a Multilingual Program Specialist with Houston ISD Multilingual Programs Department. In her role, she helps build teacher capacity in second language acquisition to ensure that Emergent Bilingual learners receive equitable access to the written curriculum. She brings over 15 years of educational experience with a focus on implementing ESL strategies. She holds a Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of St. Thomas and Bachelors of Arts in Communication Studies from the University of Houston Downtown. She is also a graduate from Holdsworth Leadership Program where she was part of an Instructional Leadership team that focused on improving TELPAS composite scores for her campus 7th grade EB students. She has presented on various ESL strategies at campus, district and state conferences. As an ESL educator, she believes language does not have to be a barrier for Emergent Bilingual learners to achieve academic success.In her free time, she loves spending time with her family and loves to travel.
TREASURER
Dr. Irma Rohatgi is currently the Treasurer of TexTESOL IV. She is an Adjunct Professor and a Field Supervisor for student teachers at the University of Houston-Downtown. Previously, she served as the Director for Multilingual Programs in the Houston Independent School District as well as Manager of Bilingual/ESL Curriculum PK/12 in the Multilingual Department. She was instrumental in writing and implementing the Title III NCLB grant and assisted in the restructuring of the district’s bilingual programs. She has also written the district’s first Spanish Project CLEAR curriculum document and the ESL Curriculum Frameworks for students in Bilingual programs as well as Enhancing Parent Involvement for Parents of Bilingual and ESL Students. She has participated in numerous state-wide committees whose input and decisions impact state policies for implementation of programs for English language learners. She has extensive experience as a bilingual classroom teacher, school administrator, curriculum writer, program developer, trainer of school administrators, parents and teachers. She was a former NABE Bilingual Teacher
SECRETARY
Dr. Mary Endress is currently the secretary for TexTESOL IV. Dr. Endress believes in high levels of learning for all and enjoys working with TexTESOLIV to provide professional learning opportunities to teachers of English Learners.
Dr. Endress earned a BA from Trinity University in San Antonio, a MA in reading from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, and an EdD in curriculum and instruction with a specialization in bilingual studies from the University of Texas of the Rio Grande Valley. She has previously held several positions on the TexTESOL board including president. Currently, Dr. Endress works for University of Houston Downtown (UHD) as an adjunct professor and clinical coach. Prior to joining UHD, Dr. Endress served as an administrator in Tomball and KatyISDs. She served as a classroom teacher in Spring Branch and Ector County ISDs. When she is not supporting her student teachers, Dr. Endress enjoys traveling with her husband and spending time with her 3 grandchildren.
HISTORIAN
Jenny Vo just completed her term as Past-President and will continue on the Board as Historian for the 23-24 year. Jenny has served on the Board for the past 5 years in various positions, including Newsletter Editor, President-elect, President and Past-President. Jenny Vo is the EL Coordinator for the Houston/Brazos/Cleveland area of International Leadership of Texas. Jenny was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the US when she was eight. Jenny graduated from Rice University with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1995. She started her teaching career in HISD in 1996 as a first grade ESL teacher. Jenny also spent several years as a Pre-K and Kindergarten teacher in HISD before transitioning to Katy ISD as an ESL Instructional Support Specialty Teacher. In 2010, she received her Master's of Education in Educational Leadership from Lamar University. Jenny works to advocate for her English Learners. In recent years, Jenny has presented at local and state conferences, sharing her passion and knowledge with others. You can follow her on Twitter @JennyVo15.
MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR
Eileen Kress has spent over 42 years in education, ranging from elementary school and junior high to high school and community college. Her career began in HISD's Chatham Elementary and Scarborough HS. Teaching there prompted her to obtain a M.ED in Curriculum and Instruction in Reading to better serve her students, and certification in ESL to better serve the students with second language needs. Ms.Kress then continued her career in Katy ISD where she taught at various schools including Taylor High. She then joined the Department of Other Languages at which she served as an ESL Facilitator working with ESL teachers at various campuses. She has been a member of TexTESOL for many years and has served in many positions. Currently, Ms. Kress is in charge of Membership for TexTesol IV.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION CHAIR
Dr. Estefanie Jaime-Aufegger earned her Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Science, minoring in Life-Earth Science and Math. Thereafter, she double majored with Masters of Science in Curriculum and Instruction and Education Administration. She continued her education, earning a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership. She is recognized at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi for earning all of her degrees in her hometown. In her 25 years of education, Dr. Jaime-Aufegger has worked as a Classroom Teacher for Science and Math, Campus Instructional Specialist for Emergent Bilinguals, Assistant Principal of Instructional Leadership, Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction, Assistant Principal, Principal and currently a District Coach for Multilingual Services with Aldine ISD. Her experiences include providing Professional Development to educators and school/district leaders; Coaching teachers/Instructional Specialists; creating lessons using High-Quality Instructional Material, implementing research-based instructional activities and strategies so that our Emergent Bilingual students have equitable access to a quality educational experience. During her off time, she serves and advocates for her community with the Junior League of The Woodlands, Communications Council as the Holiday Market Digital Media Coordinator.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM CHAIR
Carmen Nguyen currently serves as a Professional Development Specialist for Multilingual Learners. Her passion for advocating for multilingual learners and their families stems from her experience as an immigrant and language learner. She strives to support educators by providing professional development that is founded on research-based instructional practices and pedagogy, is committed to educational equity for all students, and strives to continue to learn and grow every day. She has served in many capacities in public education, all with a focus on teaching and supporting language learners.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM CHAIR
Sekineh Nasiri, Ed. D. is currently the Newsletter Editor for TexTESOL IV. She received her doctoral degree in Language, Literacy, and Special Population at Sam Houston State University in 2019. She is an adjunct faculty at Sam Houston State University and has been teaching English to ESL/ EFL students for more than 16 years. Additionally, Dr. Nasiri has presented at national and state conferences, sharing her passion and knowledge with others. Her research interests lie in the area of foreign language learning anxiety, teacher education, literacy development, and educational technologies.
ADVOCACY
Dr. Stephen A. White has been in the field of education for 51 years. Dr. White
has been a classroom teacher for grades 2 – 12. While in the classroom Dr. White
taught Spanish/ESL/Bilingual Education. After leaving the classroom Dr. White
worked at Region IV Education Service Center as a Consultant for
Bilingual/ESL/Migrant/Foreign Languages. Consultant for Bilingual/ESL in the Fort
Bend ISD. Worked in the publishing business as a National Consultant. As a
National Consultant Dr. White presented at local, state, national, and
international conferences. Presently Dr. White is an Assistant Professor at the
University of Houston Downtown.
WEBMASTER
Antonio Escobar is currently the webmaster for TexTESOL IV. He received his bachelor’s degree in computer science at the Universidad Rafael Belloso Chacin in Maracaibo Venezuela, and his master’s degree in Multicultural studies from University of Houston Clear Lake. He has been working in Education for 20 years, first as a teacher of Pre AP and AP Math, then as a SIOP campus coach, and for the last 4 years as a district Multilingual Specialist currently at Tomball ISD. He is a bilingual and bicultural student-centered English Learner’s advocate with a dedication to ensuring high levels of student success.
MEMBER AT LARGE
Dr. Trudy Free has worked with the TESOL IV chapter since 1995 in various capacities. Most of her professional career focuses on Bilingual/ESL Education in K-12 and college. She is currently serving as a Gators2Teachers site coordinator, working with bilingual/ESL student teachers in a year-long internship program.
MEMBER AT LARGE
Dr. Rachel Kraut is the Director of Innovative Academic Programs, Language Programs, and an adjunct professor at the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University. She works as part of the administrative team of the Intensive English Program, the Foreign Language Program and as leader of the language programs online initiative. She also serves as a volunteer peer reviewer for the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA) and is an incoming Director-at-Large for the EnglishUSA board and the TexTESOLIV board. Beyond language program management, Rachel has also worked as a consultant in language teacher professional development for public school districts, a content developer, an ESL instructor, and in pre-service teacher education. Her research interests lie in language program administration, language teacher training, program evaluation, language assessment, and online language learning.