Meet our BOARD!!!
President 2025-2026
Chiara Monticelli
Chiara is an Italian mom, wife, teacher, gourmand, and self-care enthusiast. She has taught in the greater DC area since 2007 and joined DCPS in 2012. Chiara has faced teacher burnout at various times in her career, and sharing her experience has become a priority in her work and mentoring practice. She embarked on a journey of self-discovery and self-love that continues to influence every aspect of her life.
Chiara is a Selfcarefully™ certified expert and holds a Master of Science in Teaching Italian Language and Culture, a Master of Science in Education, and a Master's in Mediation and Conflict Resolution. She collaborates with organizations focused on teacher retention, as well as whole child and whole teacher approaches. Chiara has presented at several conferences, including ACTFL, MFLA, FLAVA, GWATFL, and NECTFL. She is also the recipient of multiple awards, including the DCPS 2021 World Language Teacher of the Year and the Global Programs Copeland Award for Teacher of the Year in 2020. |
President Elect 2025-2026
Victoria Berasaluce Guerra
Victoria Berasaluce Guerra is a World Language teacher with over 8 years of experience in the United States and Argentina. She holds a B.A. degree from Universidad de Buenos Aires and a Master of Arts in education, technology and educational change from Universidad de San Andrés. Victoria is the newsletter editor of the GWATFL Gazette, serving as a GWATFL MAP since 2023. She has presented on topics of education technology and cultural literacy, both in the United States and abroad. Since she was young, she was always passionate and curious about language learning and exploring different cultures. Her interests range from information literacy and professional development to education technology.
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Past President 2025-2026
Luis Deocares
Luis Deocares joined the GWATFL board in 2013 and subsequently served as its president until 2023. He has over 28 years of experience teaching languages across all levels, from elementary to adult learners. He began his career as an EFL teacher in his native Chile, working at The British Institute and private schools. Since 2008, he has been a Middle School Spanish teacher at the National Cathedral School. Luis holds a Licenciatura en Educación with a specialization in Language Acquisition and Teaching and a postgraduate degree in Educational Technology from the University of Concepción in Chile. In recognition of his unwavering support, outstanding leadership, and dedication to world language professional development and teaching excellence, Luis was awarded the GWATFL Lifetime Recognition Award in November 2023.
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Treasurer 2025-2026
Maria Silva
Maria Silva is a Venezuelan English teacher and a Specialist in Foreign Language teaching, and her career journey started in 2004. She taught English back in her country until 2015 and worked as a Spanish teacher at Georgetown, High School SC until 2020. Maria has been working for DCPS since 2020, starting as a Middle School Spanish teacher for two years, and is now committed to Elementary English Language Teaching. Maria leads the Family Engagement Leadership Team at her school and works with passion and dedication to building great family relationships in her school community. Maria participated in VENTESOL (Venezuelan Teachers of English to Speakers of Foreign Languages) from 2009-2015 and is currently part of WATESOL (Washington Area Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages). She serves as an NNEST Chair in the organization. She has presented at several conferences about technology in language teaching and cultural activities. Maria loves integrating cultural awareness into her lesson plans and develops cultural projects and festivals with her students. Maria is a GWATFL Conference Associate as part of GWATFL MAP since 2022 and she became a GWATFL board member in 2023.
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Secretary 2025-2026
Stephanie Krause
Stephanie is a middle school Latin teacher and the World Languages Department Chair at McLean School. She has a passion for bringing the ancient world alive for her students and helping them make meaningful connections to the modern world. Stephanie engages with her colleagues at local conferences such as GWATFL, as well as regional and national gatherings like NECTFL and ACTFL. She serves on ACTFL's DEI Committee and holds the position of GWATFL MAP for Emerging Leaders.
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Board Members 2025-2026
Diana Sarabia Acosta
Diana has been the World Language Spanish Teacher at Wheatley Education Campus (District of Columbia Public
Schools) since August 2020. Prior to this role, she served as Lecturer of Spanish at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. She received her bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Universidad Autónoma de Barranquilla (Colombia) and her master’s degree and doctorate in Spanish from the University of Ottawa (Canada). Her Ph.D. dissertation was published by Universitas Castellae in 2009: Sueños y desencantos de novelas y películas cubanas del “período especial” [Dreams and Disenchantments in Novels and Films of the Cuban “Special Period”]. She has also published articles in academic journals. Her new area of interest is bilingualism and the sociological impact of knowing more than one language. |
Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett
Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett is an Intercultural Language Consultant and Trainer, the author of the “Let’s Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda!” audio album, and host of the PLAYFUL CHINESE podcast. She is a dynamic world language instructor and the mother of two bilingual teens. She is a native Mandarin Chinese speaker and a trained Language Instructor. She was the host for “The English Club,” a top-rated language learning program on the National Education Radio Station in Taiwan. She has extensive teaching experience with children and business professionals in Taiwan, Morocco, Canada, Ecuador, and the United States.
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Rachael Aldridge
Rachael brings 27 years of experience in the learning, teaching, and leading of languages and currently serves as a World Languages Curriculum Specialist for Fairfax County Public Schools. In her current position she supports more than 400 teachers and 45,000 students in secondary language courses for 13 languages. Her most recent collaborative projects include an enterprise-wide overhaul for a standards-based language agnostic curricular program, facilitating professional learning at the local, state, and national levels, and working to recognize linguistic and cultural diversities that students bring to our region. Her goal for GWATFL is to optimize the capacity for outreach to connect language teachers in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area to learn with and from each other.
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Daphne Clyburn
Daphne Clyburn is a dedicated Spanish teacher with 16 years of experience, currently serving her eighth year at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, MD, where she also heads the PS-12 Language Department. Passionate about professional development and fostering collective efficacy, she actively engages with current research and student-driven data, and collaborates with her department to do the same. As a CTTL/Omidyar Teaching Fellow with the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning, she has published her research on Empathy Interviews in Volume 5 of Think Differently and Deeply. Additionally, Daphne has presented at local and national language conferences, including ACTFL, NECTFL, and GWATFL, where she was honored to be the keynote speaker for the Spring 2022 conference. Daphne earned her MA in Teaching a Second Language from Bennington College and her BA from Wesleyan University. Outside the classroom, she enjoys experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen and exploring local adventures with her family. She believes that learning a language is a powerful tool for building community and is excited to inspire her students every day.
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Jenna Fournel
Jenna Fournel has been involved with Center for Inspired Teaching since 2004 and has worked in the education field for more than 20 years. She began her career as a high school English teacher and has served as Director of Communications for both Inspired Teaching and the National Council of Teachers of English. Her overarching professional goal is to do what she can to make the world a kinder place. She believes investing in the education of our young people is the best place to start.
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Amy Wopat
Amy Wopat is language educator with over 20 years of classroom experience teaching Spanish and English in the US and Latin America. She has taught students in middle school, high school, and higher education, levels 1 through AP. She has been coaching and training teachers since 2008, having presented internationally, nationally, and locally, including at ACTFL, IFLT, and to teachers in DCPS. Amy is a an AP Reader, Fulbright Teacher award recipient and DCPS World Languages Teacher of the year. In addition to her passion for teaching languages, Amy is a certified Yoga and Mindfulness meditation instructor. When not teaching you can find her traveling, hiking, kayaking, and gathering with family and friends.
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