Winter Institute

Valeria Yasuda Villena

Friday Keynote Speaker

Friday Keynote Speaker

Session title and description to come!

More about Valeria Yasuda Villena

Valeria is a first-generation college student at the University of Washington Tacoma, where she studies Business Administration and serves as President of the Multicultural Society and Secretary of the Latinx Student Union (LSU). Originally from Peru, Valeria moved to the United States before her sophomore year of high school and attended Emerald Ridge High School. She participated in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes during her sophomore and junior years before transitioning out of the program in her senior year.

Her experience as a multilingual learner shaped her understanding of language, identity, and belonging. While navigating a new language and educational environment was challenging, the encouragement of her family, ESL teacher, and school counselor helped her build confidence and recognize her potential. Initially planning to attend community college, Valeria was encouraged by her educators to explore opportunities at universities, including Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Washington. Their support broadened her perspective on higher education and helped her recognize possibilities she had not previously imagined.

Today, Valeria works as a Spanish interpreter for her school district and is passionate about creating welcoming environments where students from diverse backgrounds feel seen, valued, and included. Through her experiences as a multilingual learner, interpreter, and campus leader, she hopes to encourage educators to recognize the strengths bilingual students bring to their classrooms and the lasting impact they can have by believing in their students’ potential.

Saturday Morning Workshop

Session title and description to come!

More about Karen Beeman

Karen Beeman is an education consultant whose specialty is biliteracy and bilingual education.  Karen has worked as a classroom teacher, principal of a dual language school in Chicago, education specialist with the Illinois Resource Center and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and National Louis University.  

The area that has most captured Karen’s passion and work is biliteracy, how to teach children how to read and write in two languages at the same time. As a professional developer, Karen works at the national level providing training for teachers, principals, and other stakeholders involved in one-way and two-way immersion/dual language programs, transitional bilingual programs, and English as a second language programs on topics that include biliteracy development, authentic methods for teaching Spanish literacy, the Bridge between languages and literacy in English. 

A simultaneous bilingual born and raised in Mexico City, Karen is co-author, along with Cheryl Urow, of the book Teaching for Biliteracy: Strengthening Bridges between Languages (2013), Brookes Publishing and co-founder and manager of the Center for Teaching for Biliteracy, www.teachingforbiliteracy.com.

More about Melody Wharton

Melody Wharton is the Executive Director of Professional Development and Senior Consultant at the Center for Teaching for Biliteracy (www.TeachingForBiliteracy.com). A sequential bilingual born in Caracas, Venezuela, Melody came to the United States at age six and learned English. That experience fuels her commitment to biliteracy: teaching children to read and write in two languages so they stay connected to their families while extending their reach to the wider world.

Melody began her career as an English-medium classroom teacher in Miami and Los Angeles. In North Carolina, she went on to serve as a dual language teacher, a school- and district-based instructional coach, and an administrator.

Drawing on these experiences, Melody provides professional development nationwide for teachers, administrators, families, and other stakeholders involved in dual language/immersion, transitional bilingual, and English as a second language programs. Her work focuses on biliteracy development, authentic methods for teaching literacy in Spanish and English, and the Bridge between languages. She also partners with schools and districts to design curriculum and instruction that meet the needs of developing bilingual students and to align program and school structures into a cohesive system that achieves its goals.