Mrs. Catalina Calkins, ELL Tutor

 

Hello Crawford Families,

 

I am your ELL instructor! I am from Bogota, Colombia, a place I love deeply in my heart and where I got a Bachelor's Degree in Advertisement with a Major in High Management at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University of Bogota. 

 

After marrying my wonderful husband, an Alaskan and Marine Corps veteran, my son and I moved to Salcha in 2008. Enchanted by the beauty of Alaska, Salcha became our home and a big part of our hearts. We are now a family of 5, plus 2 dogs. We love sports and music. I enjoy being involved in our community, the reason why I am a member of the Council of the Fairbanks Youth Orchestras and have also volunteered for the Salcha Nordic Ski Club. 

 

Although I started in the School District as a Spanish interpreter, this is now my fourth year working as an ELL tutor/instructor. I am also a former ELL parent. That's why I understand how important it is for a non-English speaking student and its family to get all the support they need in order to make their adjustments to a new country, language, culture and school as easily as possible.

 

I put my heart in everything I do and I sure will leave a piece of it in my students' lives. 

 

"If you talk to a man in a language he can understand, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart." -Nelson Mandela-