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Deborah Bain
Lincoln Park Center Director
deborah.bain@languagestars.com
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Deborah joined LS
with extensive experience running educational programs at the Art
Institute of Chicago. For years, Deborah has enrolled families across
the Chicago area in programs to enhance visual arts skills of young
children and their parents. Deborah is eager to apply her program
management skills to another key skill that children must gain at
a young age – foreign language! As a Language Stars parent
herself, Deborah has experienced the benefits of FunImmersion first-hand!
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Sarah Friedland
Arlington Heights Center Director
sarah.friedland@languagestars.com
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Sarah brings to Language Stars over 5 years experience managing a customer and service focused Origins store. As store manager, Sarah received numerous awards for her exceptional leadership and focus on education. Sarah is passionate about applying her strong customer service and team leadership skills to her passions of foreign language and children at Language Stars. Prior to her management experience, Sarah majored in theatre arts while studying French and Italian at the University of Iowa.
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After years of leading exciting Language Stars initiatives across the Chicago region, Tomas now focuses specifically on running Language Stars Hinsdale center. After earning a bachelors degree in theatre performance, 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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Ashley Palermo
Barrington Center Director
ashley.palermo@languagestars.com
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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. Ashley is excited to join Language Stars and pair the skills she learned in her previous industry with her passion of foreign language education.
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Daniel Schnitzer
Deerfield Center Director &
Wilmette Center Director
daniel.schnitzer@languagestars.com
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Prior to joining Language Stars, Daniel was the director of a successful overnight summer camp that included 300 children across the midwest. With a dedicated staff, he developed engaging and educational summer activities and grew his camp to 300 happy children. Daniel looks forward to applying his leadership success to Language Stars’ Wilmette center to foster high quality programs for children and outstanding customer service for their families.
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James Thomas
Homewood/Flossmoor
At-School Program Director
james.thomas@languagestars.com
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James is an experienced leader who has devoted 6 years to running and improving educational institutions. 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 our foreign language programs.
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Joe Trsar
Naperville
Center Director
joe.trsar@languagestars.com
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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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Karina Abad
Wilmette/Evanston
Assistant Center Director
karina.abad@languagestars.com
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Karina joined LS in 2001 with extensive experience teaching and managing eduational programs in her native Peru as well as in the US. Karina holds a BA in education and a teaching certificate and has over 10 years teaching experience. Karina’s teaching experience includes 5 years as an elementary school teacher in Peru as well as a long tenure teaching children Spanish at Language Stars. Karina is equally passionate about her role as Spanish Teacher and that of supporting our families and team as Wilmette Assistant Center Direct.
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Liliana Castellanos
Deerfield
Assistant Center Director
liliana.castellanos@languagestars.com
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Liliana brings years of teaching and leadership roles at Language Stars to the families of our Deerfield center. Since she joined Language Stars in 2003, Liliana has taught Spanish to all age groups at Language Stars and has led teacher training programs across the Chicago area. Prior to joining Language Stars, Liliana taught English at the elementary level in her native country of Colombia and also spent a full year teaching in an immersion school in Minnesota. As Assistant Director, Liliana enjoys building relationships with our enrolled children and their families, providing them outstanding customer service and program excellence as they successfully climb the Language Stars Learning Ladder®.
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Melanie Daniel
Naperville and Hinsdale
Assistant Center Director
melanie.daniel@languagestars.com
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Since earning her BA in Elementary Education, Melanie has focused her career on children and education. She has teaching experience at the preschool, elementary and middle-school levels and has also worked with disabled children to provide them tools to succeed inside and outside the classroom. Melanie looks forward to applying her background and expertise to foster the language learning experience of Language Stars’ children, their families and our team of international teachers.
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Kaylene House
Naperville and Hinsdale
Assistant Center Director
kaylene.house@languagestars.com
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Kaylene 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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Anna Lane
Lincoln Park and At-School
Assistant Center Director
anna.lane@languagestars.com
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After graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Anna Lane 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, including analysis of a young child’s brain during language acquisition. Through this work, Anna gained a passion for a young child’s unique and powerful ability to learn language easily. Prior to that, Anna worked 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 impact she will have on our children’s language learning experience.
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Lacey Marek
Lincoln Park
Assistant Center Director
lacey.marek@languagestars.com
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Lacey brings extensive experience working with children and managing organizations to her families and international team at Language Stars. An Illinois State Scholar and Spanish speaker, Lacey earned her Bachelors degree from Northwestern University where she also led meaningful on-campus organizations such as Cure Autism Now. Lacey applies her passion for working with children to every aspect of the Language Stars program. She thrives at building relationships with our enrolled children, as well as their families and teachers.
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