Emily Brown
Emily Brown is a 2019 graduate from the FLTE (WLTE) program. She currently teaches at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Illinois. She received the Bonnie S. Jugenheimer scholarship for achievement in Spanish and the BAT program, and she graduated with University Honors. Since graduating, she has been an active member of the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ICTFL), and her presentation at the ICTFL Conference with her Cooperating Teacher, Ellen Ericson, was selected as the "Best of Illinois."
This is what Emily shared about her experiences as a student in the FLTE (WLTE) program: "It taught me a great deal as it relates to best practices for language teaching. After finishing the FLTE (WLTE) program, I felt well-supported and prepared to enter the language classroom on my own. This program uses the latest research as it relates to learning and teaching languages, which helped me immensely through my student teaching and in the job application process. My teaching practices today are rooted in what I learned from the FLTE (WLTE) program. I love teaching a language; seeing students increase their proficiency in their Spanish as they experiment with the language is one of the most rewarding outcomes of teaching for me."
Caitlin Niesman
Caitlin Niesman graduated from the FLTE (WLTE) program in Spring 2025 with mathematics and ESL endorsements. She is currently teaching Spanish at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign while completing a Master of Arts in Hispanic Linguistics. Her research focuses on second language acquisition, specifically in the classroom.
Caitlin will serve as Membership Director for the Spanish and Portuguese Graduate Organization this academic term 26-27. She will also be presenting at the fall 2026 ICTFL Conference in Naperville. Caitlin received the Bonnie S. Jugenheimer scholarship from the Spanish department for her outstanding dedication and achievement in the BAT of Spanish. Additionally, the WLTE program awarded her the Future Teacher Award to recognize her academic and professional excellence in the program and in the classroom. At the state level, Caitlin was one of two recipients of the 2024 Illinois Council of the Teaching of Foreign Language’s World Language Teaching Major Award for her distinguished potential to contribute to the profession. Finally, Caitlin was awarded the Illinois Club’s Isabelle Purnell Education Scholarship Award for her desire and passion to make an impact in the classroom and in students’ lives.
This is what Caitlin shared about her experiences as a student in the FLTE (WLTE) program: "The WLTE program gave me valuable classroom experience to further enhance my passion for teaching. One of the main reasons I love being a teacher, apart from sharing my love for the Spanish language, is the light in students’ eyes when they achieve, when they are excited to be there, and the advanced, deep questions they ask. Student teaching at Champaign Central allowed me to experience many days filled with that light. WLTE equipped me with the tools, foundational knowledge, and resources to find success as a teacher. Without being a part of the WLTE program, I would not have had the privilege to learn from and work alongside my incredible cooperating teacher, Mrs. Jennifer Garbe-Coy. She truly inspired me, pushed me, and shaped my career as an educator. She welcomed me fully into her classroom and allowed me to explore and develop personally, professionally, and academically. Many of my classroom successes are credited to what I learned from her and the WLTE program. I am so thankful for all my mentors throughout my journey. I am grateful and proud to represent our program and the Department of Spanish & Portuguese. And, as always, GO ILLINI!”
Elisa Jennings
Elisa Jennings graduated from the WLTE Program in 2024. She currently teaches Latin, English for English Learners, and Spanish for Native Speakers at Monmouth-Roseville High School.
Elisa received the College Foreign Language Teaching Major Award from the Illinois Council on Teachers of Foreign Languages in November 2023, and was ranked as either Excellent or Outstanding by the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning for three separate semesters (Spring 2022, Fall 2022, and Spring 2023). She was also a Dean's Medalist from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences when she graduated from Arizona State University in May 2021.
Here is what Elisa has to say about her time in the WLTE program: I would say that the WLTE program helped me because it got me thinking creatively about how I could integrate new, evidence-based ideas on teaching with my own teaching style and material. The WLTE program also has a great network of teachers, and I would never be the teacher I am now without the help of my brilliant cooperating teachers that the WLTE program set me up with!
I love being a teacher because I am passionate about languages as a whole. I love seeing a student slowly realize over the course of the year that they have access to a whole other language, a whole other perspective on life, and their mind is equipped to handle more complexity than they had thought possible. I like it when my students realize that they're smart, they're good at things, and they should be proud of themselves. Teaching is incredibly fulfilling for me, and I love where I am and what I do.
John Armenta
John Armenta graduated from the WLTE program in Spring of 2026 bachelor's cum laude in the Teaching of French. He will be teaching English in southern France as part of a Fulbright AY 2026-2027 at Lycée Jean Mermoz in Montpellier.
John was a recipient of the Benjamin A. Gilman International award from the Department of State in 2024. He also received the Kathryn A. Looney Award in 2023 and 2025, along with the Charlotte Kambarian McMillian award in 2026. He was also awarded the Equity Master's Fellowship to support his pursuit of a Master's French Applied Linguistics once he completes his Fulbright exchange.
Here is why John loves teaching: I enjoy teaching for two reasons. The first is that I am an idealist; Plato writes that his teacher Socrates said that "the unexamined life is not worth living". It is my hope to inspire my students to examine themselves and to understand the interconnected world they live in. The second is that I enjoy having fun with my students and finding ways to gamify learning. I love seeing students learn the tools to cooperate with a different culture while they forget they're learning. It is my goal for all students to benefit from an expert-led, enjoyable French education. I wake up grateful that I get to be a part of Horace Mann’s “great equalizer” by sharing my love of French and learning with my students. I hope to empower them using language and create a causal chain of academic excellence.
Here is what John has to say about the WLTE program: I am exceedingly grateful to the WLTE program's unwavering support, as it gave me the tools to be a culturally responsive educator committed to communicative language teaching. My early field experiences with expert educators at Uni High and Champaign Central were edifying as I prepared to student teach. There I learned how to apply language acquisition theories from WLTE 471, create engaging activities, and how to manage a classroom. As a novice teacher, you need all the help you can get, and I am thankful to WLTE for preparing us to student teach. While student teaching, I was the protégé of Lynda Lopez from Uni High. I am truly indebted to her for her devotion while navigating how to be a teacher. She saw my late night emails and still responded when she should have been asleep. As the inspector in Le Petit Nicolas says "Jamais, comme aujourd'hui, je ne me suis aperçu à quel point notre métier est un sacerdoce. Continuez ! Courage !" (I realize now to what point our job is a [selfless] vocation. Carry on and take heart!). The most important thing I have learned from WLTE is that excellent educators, like Lynda, never stop self-reflecting and always see where they can improve. Seeking to apply what I've learned, I hope to tirelessly seek growth opportunities as a teacher because teaching is rewarding
Marie Jensen
Marie Jensen graduated from the WLTE program in Spring 2025 with a master’s in Germanic Languages and Literatures and a K-12 German teaching license. She student-taught German I-IV, AP German, AP Mandarin Chinese, and led summer enrichment camp classes in both languages at the University of Illinois Laboratory High School.
While at Illinois, she was a teaching assistant for GER 101, 102, and 104, earning a spot on the List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by Their Students. The WLTE program honored her with the Future Teacher Award for academic and professional excellence. Additionally, she received the Edelweiss Fellowship, University Block Grant Fellowship, and Excellence in Teaching Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Instruction.
At the state level, Marie is a 2019 Golden Apple Scholar who teaches every summer in schools-in-need. She also received the 2024 ICTFL College World Language Teaching Majors Award, recognizing her potential to contribute to the profession. Nationally, Marie received a Department of Education FLAS Fellowship to study Mandarin Chinese and attended the 2023 Goethe-Institut Sommerakademie in Bremen, Germany. She presented her research at the 48th annual German Studies Association conference and published an article on inclusive language in the AATG journal Die Unterrichtspraxis.
Following graduation, she moved to Feldkirch, Austria, as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant at the Pädagogische Hochschule Vorarlberg for the 2025–2026 academic year. There, she taught 276 students across 25 classes—ranging from 4th grade to master’s level—collaborating with 9 co-teachers. She also delivered three guest lectures, conducted a workshop, presented at two conferences, and published three articles.
Marie is currently a PhD student in the Department of German at the University of California, Berkeley, with a Designated Emphasis in Jewish Studies. Her research focuses on Asian German Studies, Memory Studies, and Second Language Acquisition. Marie has been awarded the Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellowship for top admitted doctoral students. She recently presented at the AATG national conference via a Metzler-Mews Travel Grant. She has three forthcoming publications with Peter Lang (US), Future & Education, and Monatshefte.
Reflecting on her time in the program, Marie shared: "The WLTE program allowed me to combine my previous classroom experience with the theoretical knowledge needed for holistic teaching. Without the WLTE program, I would not have had the privilege to work alongside Lynda Lopez at Uni High. She supported me during student teaching while I was managing my master’s and Fulbright/PhD applications. I am forever indebted to Lynda for her constant support.“
Emily Risner
Emily Risner graduated from the WLTE program in 2022. She currently teaches Spanish and ESL at Lake Park High School where she is the team leader for Level 2 Languages.
Here is what Emily has to say about her time in the WLTE program: "My experience in the WLTE program was really meaningful. My professors Veronica Thompson and Jamie Schrader were amazing, and I learned so much from them. Many people I know recognize this program as one of the top language teaching programs in Illinois, and I definitely agree. I still use so much of what I learned from my classes and my student teaching in my classroom today. It really gave me a strong foundation and helped me feel prepared going into my first years of teaching. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher because I want to make a positive impact on students’ lives. I’m especially passionate about teaching Spanish because I love the language and the culture, and I enjoy sharing that with my students. It’s really rewarding to see them grow, build confidence, and start to connect with the language in their own way.
The WLTE program gave me a lot of confidence going into teaching, and I’m still building on what I learned there every day. It really shaped the kind of teacher I want to be, and I’m grateful for that as I continue growing in my career."
Leah Grabowski
Leah Grabowski graduated from the FLTE (WLTE) program in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: May 2020. She is currently teaching Spanish at Elmwood Park High School.
This is what Leah shared about her experiences as a student in the FLTE (WLTE)program: "The FLTE (WLTE) program offers great courses and experiences to prepare you to successfully begin teaching in the world language classroom. Two classes that I feel helped me the most were FLTE 478 and SPAN 477. FLTE 478 teaches the pedagogy behind second language acquisition, while SPAN 477 allows you to put what you learned to work to create your own communicative grammar lessons. The classes, two semesters of classroom observations, the creation and teaching of lessons, plus student teaching made me feel prepared to begin my career as a teacher!"
Katie Rapp
Katie Rapp graduated from the FLTE (WLTE) program in 2019. She is currently teaching all levels of French at Galesburg High School.
This is what Katie shared about her experiences as a student in the FLTE (WLTE) program: "My experience going through the FLTE (WLTE) program at UIUC was amazing. I got to work with so many incredible teachers and students that really helped shape me into the teacher that I am today. Due to the pandemic and COVID-19, it really changed how we educate and learn, and being a teacher also being a student - because I'm always learning: how to change my mindset or adopting to a new situation (like COVID-19). The program set me up really well and taught me how to solve problems as they arrive, I am very fortunate for the time I got to spend in the FLTE (WLTE) program, my mentors, my teachers, and Dr. Pamela Greene’s advice while completing this program. I couldn't picture myself doing anything else than teaching French! Merci beaucoup!"
Mallory Sherwood
Mallory Sherwood graduated from the FLTE (WLTE) program in the Spring of 2019. She is currently teaching 7th and 8th grade Spanish at The Carleton Washburne School in Winnetka district 36.
This is what Mallory shared about her experiences as a student in the FLTE (WLTE) program: "The student teaching experience in the Champaign Public schools more than prepared me to become a teacher. I was lucky to have Florencia Henshaw as a methods course instructor and truthfully it was the most informative class I took in undergrad. I love being a Spanish teacher because I get to open my students' eyes and minds to how they fit into a globalized world."
Danielle Morrow
Danielle Morrow graduated from the FLTE (WLTE) program in 2017. She has taught Spanish at Centennial High School in Champaign for the past 4 years, and prior to that, she taught in Rochester, IL. In August of 2021, she obtained her Master's degree in Educational Policy, Organization, and Leadership from the University of Illinois. Danielle now serves as a cooperating teacher for teacher candidates in the FLTE (WLTE) program.
This is what Danielle shared about her experiences as a student in the FLTE (WLTE) program: "I loved the time I spent with my cohort of future teachers in the FLTE (WLTE) program. I enjoyed learning about new teaching methods from my wonderful professors, like Dr. Henshaw, and creating lessons that I was able to apply to my future teaching, as I started teaching with a solid portfolio of lessons to build off of. It was also a great experience spending a full school year with the classes I student-taught. I already had relationships and a good knowledge of the students I would work with, as well as learning first-hand how to be an effective teacher from my amazing cooperating teachers, Amy Westfield and Katie Bednar. While it is true that there are things you may not experience until your first year of teaching, the FLTE (WLTE) program made me feel prepared to teach Spanish to young minds in creative and innovative ways."
Margaret Beutke (Nagle)
Margaret Beutke graduated from the FLTE (WLTE) program in 2013. She is currently teaching Spanish at Stagg High School in Palos Hills, IL. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Reading from the University of Saint Francis (Joliet, IL). She has served as the department literacy specialist and she has been on several curriculum writing committees in her school.
This is what Margaret shared about her experiences as a student in the FLTE (WLTE) program: "It was nothing but positive! It helped prepare me to teach in my own classroom in many ways. From my study abroad experience in Bilbao, Spain, to the variety of classrooms and communities that I worked in in my pre-service and student teaching experiences, I left confident that I was ready to walk into a classroom of my own. Even now, several years after graduating, I still feel supported in the FLTE (WLTE) program by connecting with others on Twitter and within my district. I believe there are 4, if not more of us, from the FLTE (WLTE) program in my district!"
