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Deborah Bain
Lincoln Park Center Director
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Deborah thrives on the excitement of running Language Stars’ Lincoln Park center where she and her team strive to provide the best possible foreign language learning environment for children! Prior to this position, Deborah acted as Language Stars’ Naperville Center Director where she oversaw wonderful program improvements. Deborah joined LS in 2005 with extensive experience running educational programs at the Art Institute of Chicago. Deborah graduated summa cum laude from San Francisco State University, where she earned her BA in art education and her Masters in Museum Studies. As a Language Stars parent herself, Deborah experiences first-hand the benefits of FunImmersion first-hand, as her own daughters are growing up with Spanish, Mandarin and German! |
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Richard Banden
Deerfield 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. |
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Sarah Claypool-Friedland
Wilmette/Evanston
Center Director
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Sarah is delighted to lead our Wilmette center, bringing together our families and teachers to ensure the highest quality programming and opportunities for our future linguists. Prior to this role, Sarah held leadership positions in multiple Language Stars locations, most recently as Center Director of Language Stars’ Arlington Heights center. Prior to joining Language Stars, Sarah managed retail stores for "Origins" beauty products. Sarah earned her BA in theater arts from the University of Iowa where she studied French and Italian and lived abroad.
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Katie Colby
Naperville Center Director
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Katie is passionate about working with the children of Naperville and their families to provide the best possible children’s foreign language programs! 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. Katie 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 Masters in Intercultural Relations from Antioch University McGregor, both in Ohio.
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Craig Hollins
Arlington Heights Center Director
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Craig joined Language Stars in October 2009 and has since brought Language Stars programs to many children in the western Suburbs! Craig earned his Bachelor’s degree from Port Elizabeth Technikon (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University), a prestigious school in his native South Africa. Craig has spent the last 10 years developing his business and management skills, while launching marketing campaigns for family and children oriented businesses. As a linguistically passionate Director, Craig speaks three languages, and he and his wife are bringing up their two young children tri-lingually.
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Kaylene House
Naperville and Hinsdale
Assistant Center Director
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| Kaylene enjoys leading our Hinsdale and Naperville centers along with their respective center directors. 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! |
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Tomas Huntley
Hinsdale Center Director
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| After years of leading exciting Language Stars initiatives across the Chicago region since 2005, Tomas has focused specifically on running Language Stars Hinsdale center since 2007. After earning his BA in theatre performance from the College of Charleston, Tomas taught drama abroad and also gained valuable experience in the hotel industry. Tomas enjoys applying his language, travel, teaching and customer service skills to his passion of foreign language education for children. Bilingual in English and Spanish, Tomas is also conversant in every language we offer! Our children adore his dynamic presence and his passion for our Mission. Tomas enjoys building lasting relationships with our Hinsdale families toward the goal of providing the most outstanding foreign language programs possible. |
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Brandon Kendrick
Lincoln Park
Assistant Center Director
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| Brandon is delighted to be a part of our Lincoln Park centers leadership team! With over 8 years of management experience in the retail industry, Brandon brings dedication to providing exceptional customer service, a passion for languages (he is fluent in Spanish, Sign Language and is currently learning French!), and enormous enthusiasm for children. Both he and Language Stars look forward to his continued success supporting our families and children from around Chicago as they embark on an amazing foreign language journey! |
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Anna Lane
At-School Program Director
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| Anna is passionate about her role in bringing Language Stars programming to children in 100 Chicago-area schools. Prior to this role, Anna was the Assistant Center Director of Language Stars’ Lincoln Park center. After earning her Bachelors of Science in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT, Anna focused her career on children and research. Before joining the Language Stars Team, Anna managed fascinating research projects at the infant cognition lab at Northwestern University focused on analysis of a young child’s brain during language acquisition. Anna also has experience working with foster children and their families, impacting the lives of many children in a unique manner. Anna is excited to be on the Language Stars Team and looks forward to the continued impact she will have on our children’s language learning experience. |
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Ashley Palermo
Satellite Centers Director
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| Ashley thrives in her role of bringing foreign language immersion to Language Stars growing number of satellite locations. In its Crystal Lake, Flossmoor and Park Ridge locations, Language Stars shares space with reputable local partners and is able to provide its typical in-center programs on specific days of the week. Prior to this role, Ashley led Language Stars’ Barrington center for over 2 years as its Center Director. While earning a degree in Economics with a focus in foreign language at the University of Wisconsin, Ashley extensively studied and immersed herself in the Spanish and Italian languages. After graduation, Ashley successfully launched her career in the sales and customer service industry while continuing to be passionate about languages. |
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James Thomas
At-School Program 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. |
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Joe Trsar
Barrington Center Director
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| Joe is passionate about bringing foreign language to the children of Barrington and the surrounding area! Prior to this role, Joe was the Center Director of Language Stars Naperville 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. |
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