Language Stars Directors
Our directors are often the first voices you hear or faces you see when beginning your Language Stars experience. We hire them for their passion for children and foreign language, their positive attitude, and their entrepreneurial spirit.
We invite you to learn more about your directors in Chicago and Washington DC.
Chicago Directors
Richard BandenLincoln Park Center Director
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Richard enjoys bringing FunImmersion to the families of Deerfield and the surrounding areas, connecting them to the languages and cultures of the native-speaking teachers in Deerfield. Richard joined Language Stars with extensive experience teaching and managing in a field that is complementary to language learning – theater! As Principal of Stagecoach Theatre Arts in Highland Park, Richard thrived on working with children, their parents and an enthusiastic teaching team to deliver outstanding theatre programs. Richard also has significant experience teaching theater and has worked with numerous organizations that share a passion for building lifelong skills in children. Richard earned his BA in theater performance from Lindenwood University.
Vanessa Bordo Deerfield Assistant Center Director
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Vanessa is delighted to be a part of the Language Stars Team! She joins Language Stars with a Bachelor's Degree in French and International Studies from the University of Illinois and a Master's Degree in Arts Administration from The University of Akron.
Vanessa is passionate about languages and children's education and is excited to marry those passions as she leads our Deerfield Center and the launch of our center in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
In addition to being fluent in French, Vanessa has also studied Italian and American Sign Language. She has extensive experience as a language teacher, specifically teaching English and French to local adult and child refugees as well as teaching English in a fun and engaging format for young children in rural Italy. Vanessa looks forward to supporting you and your children as they jump into their own language adventure.
Sarah FriedlandChicago Regional Director
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Sarah has been a part of the Language Stars Team since 2007! Passionate about our mission and working with children, she first joined the team as an Assistant Center Director. As Sarah continued to thrive with Language Stars, she became the Center Director of our Arlington Heights Center and after the birth of her son (who is learning French at Language Stars!) she lead programming in our Wilmette Center. Currently, she is the Regional Director of our Chicago Team. Sarah received her Bachelor's Degree in Theatre Arts of The University of Iowa. Before joining Language Stars, Sarah honed her customer service skills in the retail industry supporting and launching multiple new locations for Origins. She is thrilled to apply her passions and skills to supporting and growing the Chicago region of Language Stars towards the goal of providing language learning opportunities to young children!
Lindsey FuchsNaperville Assistant Center Director
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Lindsey is thrilled to bring the FunImmersion method to the children and families of our Naperville Center! Lindsey joins our Language Stars team with extensive experience in customer service. Lindsey obtained a Bachelors degree in Arts and Communications from Michigan State University and spent a semester studying abroad in Australia. Lindsey is passionate about early childhood foreign language education and is excited to bring differing cultures to the families of Language Stars. Lindsey looks forward to building strong relationships with the families and children of the Naperville area!
Brittany Gignac Barrington Assistant Center Director
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Brittany is passionate about languages and children and is thrilled to bring these passions together at Language Stars! Brittany graduated from DePaul University with a Bachelors Degree in French and spent a semester studying abroad in France. While she was obtaining her degree, Brittany refined and built upon her French language skills as she worked with and supported young children in French summer camp and after school programs. Additionally, Brittany tutored English to young French students who moved to the States. After graduation, Brittany continued to be a part of the French summer camp and after school program as well as gaining extensive experience in the customer service field. Brittany looks forward to supporting your children as they climb up the Language Stars Learning Ladder!
Charlie Himmler Assistant Center Director
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Charlie joins Language Stars with a Bachelor's Degree in French and extensive study abroad experience in Tours and Paris, France. Charlie is a bilingual in French and English, with a working knowledge of Spanish. After graduating with his BA, Charlie pursued his passion for working with and supporting people by jumping into the human resource and customer service fields. Through his prior work experience he has developed extraordinary analytical abilities and leadership skills, which he is eager to apply at Language Stars towards the goal of fostering the language skills of young children.
Heather Hellmuth Assistant Satellite Center Director
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Heather has been a part of the Language Stars team since 2009. After successfully completing 2 consecutive summers in our internship program, Heather is delighted to join the Satellite team as an Assistant Center Director. Heather graduated from Saint Louis University with Bachelor of Art in Spanish and International Studies. While there, she participated in two separate study abroad programs in Madrid, Spain. Heather is delighted to continue supporting families and children from all over Chicago-land as they join Language Stars on an amazing foreign language journey!
Kaylene House Hinsdale Center Director
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Kaylene enjoys leading our Hinsdale center. She brings five years of experience teaching French and leading foreign language initiatives within a successful and innovative elementary school system in Ohio. Prior to launching her teaching and management careers, Kaylene earned her Bachelors degree in French, Education, and International Relations from the University of Dayton. Kaylene is passionate about early childhood foreign language education and enjoys supporting our families and children through their foreign language learning adventure!
Brandon KendrickChicago Assistant Regional Director
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Passionate about languages and culture, Brandon (who speaks 3 languages!) joined the Language Stars team in 2008 as an Assistant Center Director of our flagship center located in Lincoln Park. For 2 years, Brandon supported the Lincoln Park families and students in their foreign language learning adventure ensuring the most successful and memorable learning experience. In 2010, Brandon was promoted to Assistant Regional Director of our Chicago Team and continues to support the Language Stars team and families. Prior to joining Language Stars, Brandon gained extensive experience in retail management where he successfully honed his customer service and business skills. He is delighted with the opportunity to apply his experiences and skill set to his passions while at Language Stars.
Brittany KlineAssistant Director of School Programs
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Brittany, a bilingual American fluent in both English and Spanish, has an extensive background in foreign language and education. After graduating Summa Cum Lade from DePaul University's Honors Program in Spanish and Political Science she joined Language Stars' prestigious internship program, where she was immersed in multiple functions of Language Stars including staffing, organization of curriculum materials, program support, and customer service within our various Center, Satellite, and At-School programs. After successfully completing this internship program, Brittany was offered on opportunity to join the Satellite and At-School Management Team as an Assistant Director of School Programs. Brittany is thrilled to have the exciting opportunity to further apply her knowledge of foreign language acquisition to Language Stars' School-based programs!
Erin KylesAt School Operations Manager
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Erin is passionate about languages and holds a Masters Degree in Linguistics and a Bachelor's degree in French. Prior to joining our LSAS team, Erin spent over 5 years honing her skills in systems and process development as well as the execution of multiple operational focused projects including payroll and tech support. Erin cannot wait to apply her expertise in language, technology, and business to the LSAS team towards the goal of providing high-quality language programming in schools across the Chicago-land area.
Katherine LoftusLincoln Park Assistant Center Director
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Katherine is thrilled to be joining the Lincoln Park center's leadership team! Katherine is passionate about foreign languages and culture. She received a Bachelor of Art in Intercultural Communication with a minor in Spanish. While attending school, Katherine participated in multiple study abroad programs in Italy, Spain, Morocco, England and France. Prior to joining Language Stars, Katherine managed a Cole Haan retail store where she excelled at providing excellent customer service. Katherine also has enormous enthusiasm to work with children as she has extensive experience tutoring and teaching swim lessons to young children. Katherine is delighted to continue supporting families and children from around Chicago as they join Language Stars on an amazing foreign language journey.
Elle LohnWilmette Assistant Center Director
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Elle joins the Language Stars Team with a Bachelor's degree focused on Economics and Spanish from Loyola Marymount University. While earning her degree, Elle gained extensive experience in supporting the operations of a local literacy tutoring center as well as the organization and execution of events showcasing and building awareness of her campus' facilities. After graduating, Elle relocated to the Chicagoland area and joined Language Stars as a Center Manager in our Lincoln Park and Wilmette locations where she applied her passion for foreign language education and her operational experience to these centers. Given her success in the Center Manager role, Language Stars was delighted to promote Elle to Assistant Center Director focused solely on our Wilmette location. Elle looks forward to supporting the Wilmette families and children as they continue climbing up the Language Stars Learning Ladder.
Katie MaasChicago Regional Director
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Katie heads up Local Marketing for the Chicago region. Prior to this role, Katie was our Naperville Center Director, and she was also excited to go to go back to summer camp this past year with Campo del Sol. She loved her own overnight camp experience at Campo Fiesta, in Wisconsin, where she spent her summers from age 8 to 12. She also enjoyed working as a camp counselor and horseback riding instructor at Red Pine Camp, in Wisconsin, for two summers during college. Prior to joining Language Stars, Katie enjoyed extensive experience in education, foreign language learning, and working with children. Katie has over 8 years' experience as a student travel program developer and has led students on educational, cultural, and language programs to countries including Peru and France. She is proficient in Spanish and French, and also has experience teaching English to children in Ecuador. Katie has presented topics related to her expertise in international education at multiple events and conferences. She has also taught an extensive list of programs focused on her intertwined passions: language, culture, empowerment, and diversity. Katie earned her BA in Cultural Area Studies with a focus on French from College of Wooster, and she earned her Master's in Intercultural Relations from Antioch University McGregor, both in Ohio.
Reena NairArlington Heights Assistant Center Director
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Reena is delighted to join Language Stars and apply her experiences in elementary and foreign language education while supporting our enrolled students in their own personal language learning adventure. After graduating from Eastern Michigan with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education, Reena gained over 3 years of experience as an English and Kindergarten Teacher in South Korea, Taiwan, and Chile. When she returned back to the States, Reena jumped into an opportunity to refine her business skills while also continuing to feed her passion of working with children at a local pre-school. Reena looks forward to the opportunity to bring Language Stars programs and foreign language education to children around the Chicagoland area.
Oscar RamirezNaperville Center Director
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Oscar looks forward to bringing foreign language programs to the children of Naperville and the surrounding area! Oscar has been part of the Language Stars team since 2005. Prior to his role as a Center Director, Oscar was part of our Spanish teaching team where he has taught and led hundreds of programs to children. Raised bilingually in the United States, Oscar is passionate about sharing his culture and language with the families of Language Stars. Oscar received a bachelors degree in International Relations from Francisco Marroquin University in Guatemala. Oscar is fluent in English and Spanish and he has also studied French, Italian and Japanese. Oscar is excited to support our families and children on their journey through foreign language learning.
Heidi Sundstrom Lincoln Park and Wilmette Center Manager
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Heidi joins the Lincoln Park and Wilmette Teams with a passion for languages, cultures and children! After having lived in Germany for 5 years, Heidi relocated back to the states to attend University and graduated with a dual Bachelor's degree in Communications and the German language. While attending university, Heidi honed her language skills inside the classroom, while simultaneously honing her business and customer service skills in multiple internships and opportunities outside of the classroom. Additionally, Heidi was a full-time nanny to 2 young British children in Switzerland and worked professionally with children as a Childcare assistant in her community's childcare center. Heidi is delighted to launch her career with Language Stars and looks forward to supporting Language Stars' students as they embark on their Language Stars experience.
James ThomasRegional At School and Satellite Director
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James has been an instrumental leader at Language Stars since 2001 and has been heading its growing At-School programs since 2006. James is an experienced leader who has devoted his career to running and improving educational institutions. Prior to his current role, James launched and led Language Stars' Hinsdale center, bringing foreign language to hundreds of children in the western suburbs. Previous experience also includes running multiple Sylvan Learning Centers with particularly strong academic results as well as leading a successful SCORE! educational center. Children, parents, teachers and administrators who have worked with James at Language Stars, Sylvan and SCORE! rave about his leadership and commitment to the quality and results of his programs.
Joe Trsar Chicago Regional Director
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Joe is passionate about bringing foreign language to the children joining our Satellite programs! Prior to this role, Joe was the Center Director of Language Stars Naperville center and the Barrington Center. Joe has also held leadership positions in Language Stars' Deerfield and Arlington Heights centers. Since earning a degree in International Business, Joe has focused his career in the education industry. Prior to joining Language Stars, Joe spent years teaching English "immersion style" to children in Taiwan with great success. During this time Joe also created a training and development program for his fellow teachers to ensure success in each classroom. Joe's experience and travels translate into outstanding support of our children, their families and our teaching team.
Washington DC Directors
Alison Gibbons Alexandria Center Director
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Alison began her career with Language Stars when she was selected to join our prestigious Summer Internship Program in 2009 and again in 2010. Given her success in our summer internship program, Alison was offered a full-time Assistant Director position after graduating from the University of Iowa with Honors in a dual degree program focused on French and Spanish.
As an Assistant Director of Language Stars' Satellite programs, Allison focused on supporting our enrolled families, ensuring that each child had the best possible foreign language experience. Given Alison's success in this role, she was offered the opportunity to lead the launch of our location in Arlington, Virginia, while taking on the more permanent role of Center Director of our Alexandria Center.
Alison is excited to bring her experience to the families of the DC Metro Area!
Taylor Griffith Deerfield Center Director
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Taylor Griffith joins the Language Stars team with previous experience working with children and with a strong background in business administration and marketing.
Taylor graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia with a concentration on Public Relations and Marketing and a minor in Business Administration. After graduation, Taylor worked as a marketing consultant and account manager at the Citadel Broadcasting Cooperation in Syracuse, NY. She then continued to further expand her management skills at a children’s fitness center.
Taylor looks forward in applying all her skills and knowledge as a center director in our Chicago and Washington DC regions!
Tomas HuntleyWashington DC Regional Director
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Tomas has been an instrumental part of the Language Stars Team since 2004 when he focused his efforts on maximizing operations and allowing each location to continue focusing on providing high quality foreign language programming. As Tomas continued his time with Language Stars, he became the Assistant Center Director of our Lincoln Park Center, the Director of our Deerfield Center, and the Director of our Hinsdale Center before launching and leading Language Stars programs in the new Washington DC area. Tomas grew up in a bilingual home and is passionate about foreign language education for young children. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in theatre from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. While attending school, Tomas studied abroad in Argentina, where he also taught stage acting to Spanish-speaking high school students and directed a musical production in English. Prior to joining Language Stars, Tomas honed his customer service skills in the hospitality industry and is thrilled with the opportunity to bring Language Stars programming to the families of Washington, D.C.
Mike PerrinAt School Director
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Mike heads up our Language Stars at School programs in the Washington, DC, metro area, after co-leading Language Stars Campo Del Sol in Summer 2011 and managing school programs in the Chicago area. Mike has more than 2 years' experience in organizing and implementing successful overnight programs for kids in Japan, as well as overnight camps through the Boy Scouts, Deerhaven Retreat at Ocala National Forest, Yellowstone National Park, and the Rotary International's Seminar for Tomorrow's Leaders in Lakeland, Florida. Mike lived for four years in Japan, where he taught English immersion classes to children ages 1 to 15. While in Japan, Mike also honed his management skills as the Regional Teacher Trainer. In this role, he led his international team with area trainings on curriculum development, teaching techniques, and cross-cultural communication. Mike earned his Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certificate from ViaLingua Crete, Greece, and also participated in World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms in New Zealand where he experienced hands-on daily life and operations on various working farms. He earned his B.A. from the University of South Florida. Mike is thrilled to bring his passion for travel, language, and learning about new cultures to Language Stars students.
Kate Porter Alexandria Center Director
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Kate Porter is passionate about languages! She joins the Language Stars team fluent in German and English as well as basic knowledge of Spanish.
After graduating cum laude from Missouri State University with a minor in German, Kate traveled to Germany and Costa Rica to further her education and become immersed in the respective cultures. While in Germany, Kate was able to build upon her management skills as an Au Pair and restaurant manager.
Kate is excited to apply her knowledge and skills as a Center Director to provide the best foreign language programs for parents and their children while at Language Stars!
Katherine Thomas Reston Center Director
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Katherine loves languages and is excited to bring her passion to the Reston center! Katherine is a native Russian and Belarussian speaker who learned English through immersion as a child. In addition to being fluent in Russian and English, Katherine also speaks French and Italian. Katherine has over fourteen years of experience teaching Russian, French, English, and piano to children of all ages. Before joining Language Stars, Katherine founded a specialized Latin American and Eurasian translation and marketing firm. Katherine obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Service and Master of Arts in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to her degrees, Katherine spent time overseas and completed coursework from Moscow State University and Universitie de Paris-Sorbonne in politics, art history, and French culture. Katherine is thrilled to help grow the Reston center and provide the best foreign language programs for parents and their children!
John Warner Bethesda Center Director
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John is very excited to be a part of the Language Stars Team! He is passionate about foreign language learning (he is raising his 2 year old son to be bilingual in Spanish) and is excited to bring that passion to the Bethesda center! John obtained his Bachelor's degree from State University of New York. Prior to joining Language Stars, John gained extensive experience in customer service and sales while managing multiple retail store locations. John looks forward to applying his skills and passion for foreign language while simultaneously building strong relationships with the Bethesda students and families as they embark on their language learning adventure!
