English as a Second Language (ESL)

Terridawn Hernández graduated from CSU Long Beach. She earned a Multiple Subject Clear CLAD teaching credential which has allowed her to teach the past 19 years in ABCUSD. She has taught at both the elementary school and adult school levels. “It is a joy to teach students ranging from 3 years old to 83!” She teaches in the morning and evening at Cuesta. Terridawn has a lot of fun teaching Movies/Idioms/Pronunciation at 8:30 am.

Sulha Yune was born in Korea. She came to ABC Adult School as a student in 1990. In 1993, she became a paraeducator and has been assisting teachers at various sites ever since. At first, she was called “Chin,” then “Jean,” and now she is happy to be called “Sulha.” She loves to travel, and her favorite place in the U.S. is Sedona, Arizona. Sulha says: “I'm so lucky to work for the wonderful teachers and students. I really enjoy my job.”

Vanessa Campos has been with the ESL department for over 25 years. She began in the night ESL classes as a paraeducator while attending high school. A few years later, she became a Resource Testing Assistant in the Assessment Center. In her free time, she bakes custom cakes, cupcakes and cookies. Vanessa loves camping with her family and supporting her three daughters in their extracurricular activities. 

Christine Oliveira is the ESL Department Chairperson and Teacher on Special Assignment. She has taught ESL at ABC Adult School since 2002. She has a Master’s degree in Linguistics with an emphasis in TESOL and a Designated Subjects credential. She enjoys helping teachers with resources and material, and assisting students reach their full potential. Her favorite class to teach is Advanced 500. On her days off, you can find Christine reading or at the beach with her family.

David Saavedra has a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from CSU Fullerton, a teaching credential and a graduate TESOL certificate from CSU Long Beach. He has taught at ABC Adult School since 2001. He loves teaching because he feels that he learns just as much from the students as they do from him. David teaches in the morning and afternoon at Cuesta, and particularly enjoys teaching the Grammar skill classes.

Rita Tong loves teaching ESL because she enjoys meeting people from around the world, and she loves English. She has an Master’s degree in TESOL and a teaching credential. Prior to coming to ABC Adult School, she taught at Biola University, CSU Fullerton and UC Irvine. She has also worked overseas teaching English at a church in Taiwan for a summer and at a medical college in China for a year. Rita enjoys teaching at ABC Adult School because the students are highly motivated, eager to learn and very friendly. She teaches in the morning at Cabrillo Lane and is the EL Civics TOSA.

Grace Ngo was born and raised in the Philippines. She came to the U.S. in 1980. She worked at Bank of America for 25 years and then came to ABC Adult School as a paraeducator. She has worked here for 15 years. In her free time, she enjoys gardening and listening to classical music.

Daniel Lipton has a Master's of Education degree from Claremont Graduate University. He also has a California Adult Education credential in ESL. He has taught at ABC Adult School since 2017. He teaches in the morning and afternoon at Cuesta. Prior to coming to ABC, he taught in China and throughout Southern California. In his free time, Daniel enjoys studying music and spending time with his family. 

Adriana Ramírez has been with the ABC Adult School for 18 years. She started off in Academics and then transferred to ESL. She is now a Resource Testing Assistant in the Assessment Center. She loves to learn about different languages, food and other cultures in general. She loves to go to Disneyland and baseball games in her free time. Adriana is a mother to three boys in high school. 

Angie Pérez has been with the ESL Department for over 20 years. She started off in the ESL classrooms, and enjoyed interacting and helping Beginning level students. She is currently in the Assessment Center, helping with the Certified testing and still interacting with ESL students during CASAS testing and registration. In her free time, she likes to take her kids to their sports and watch them play. Angie also loves to go to the movies with them. 

Kimberly Lou has been with the ESL Department for 15 years. She started working here after teaching in elementary school. Working for ABC Adult School has allowed her opportunities to grow and experience new educational settings with students of various English capabilities. She considers it an honor and privilege to work with the many hard working staff and dedicated students here. In her free time, Kim enjoys reading books in the historical fiction genre.  

Anita Muñiz graduated from CSU Dominguez Hills in 2000 with a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Psychology. She also has a Designated Subjects credential. She taught elementary and middle school for three years before she devoted herself to adult education. She has taught ESL to adult students since 2000. She teaches in the morning and evening at Cuesta. She also teaches Citizenship in the afternoon. Her favorite class to teach is Grammar. Anita loves spending her free time with her four children and exercising.

Ron Schoeman has been teaching both Honors Biology and Advanced Placement Biology at Servite High School for over thirty years. In the evenings, he taught high school diploma classes at Downey Adult School for almost twenty years. Between semesters, Ron can be found traveling to foreign countries and continents where he enjoys experiencing different cultures and meeting new people. His undergraduate degree is from CSU Fullerton and his Master’s degree is from Loyola Marymount University. Ron teaches in the evening at Cuesta and hopes to meet you in one of his classes in the near future.

Chris Satoru Kowalchuk was born and raised in Los Angeles but spent summers in the Japanese countryside as a child and lived in Tokyo for six years as an adult. Because of these experiences, he knows firsthand the difficulties of living in a new country. By studying Japanese in his free time, he was able to feel comfortable living there. His goal as an ESL teacher is to help students feel comfortable and achieve their goals here. Chris teaches in the morning at Cuesta. 

Marcela Pérez has been an adult education teacher for 14 years. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies & Multi-Cultural Arts at CSU Los Angeles. Her career began in K-12 education. She worked closely with parents and was passionate about helping them gain confidence to be able to help their children succeed academically. Adult education has allowed her to help adult learners grow and thrive, and acquire the skills necessary in the workplace. At Cabrillo Lane, Marcela strives to create a nurturing and fun environment for all students in her classes. She teaches in the morning and afternoon.

James Rivera is an educator with 18 years of experience. He loves teaching ESL, History, Architecture, Art History and Spanish. He decided to teach at adult school because he wants to help parents and adult students fulfill their passions and goals. He is all about family, friends and enjoying the simple moments. His interests include hiking, boxing, traveling, art, and currently studying architecture and design. James’ future goal is to write a book to help children become interested in architecture. He teaches day and evening classes at Cabrillo Lane.

Jane Choi was a teacher in Korea. She came to the United States in 1985 and worked at a Korean bank and in real estate with the Korean community. After her children graduated from college, she decided to come to ABC Adult School and study English. Her favorite class was the ESL Lab because she could study at her own pace. She became a paraeducator in 2016 here but had to quit to care for her mom. Jane has recently returned as a paraeducator and is so grateful that ABC Adult School has given her the opportunity to do what she loves.  

Jesús Duran has been teaching since he graduated from high school. He began as a reading tutor in schools throughout Compton and East Los Angeles. A few years later, he transitioned to working as a GED teacher in the Wayside jails in Santa Clarita and in a parolee education program in Van Nuys. He believes, “Everyone is entitled to a quality education. And even though education is expensive, the cost of not going to school is even greater.” Jesús teaches the multi-level class at the Helen Rosas Center in Hawaiian Gardens. 

Mark Provence graduated from CSU Long Beach in 1996 and started teaching ESL at ABC Adult School in 2000. While teaching here, he earned his Multiple Subject credential. He started teaching middle school in 2004. Mark loves spending summers with his wife and four kids in Yosemite, where he has visited since 1978. He also enjoys watching old movies. He teaches in the evening at Cuesta.

Maria Garcia was born and raised in Peru. She moved to the U.S. 33 years ago and became an American citizen in 1999. In 2017, she was Secretary II Bilingual for our Career Technical Education department. In 2019, she became secretary for the ESL and Parent Education departments. She says the best part of her job is helping students and instructors. In her free time, Maria enjoys going on hikes with her two daughters, eating Mexican and Peruvian food, and watching Netflix with her dog, Minnie.