WORLD LANGUAGES
Lynn Andersen, World Languages Department Chair -- email
Lynn Andersen, a nationally known Spanish teacher with forty years of teaching at all levels, joins us at Alpharetta as department chair from Chattahoochee where she was 2003 STAR teacher whose students often placed in the top three of the nation on the AATSP National Spanish Exam and whose AP Spanish language and literature students had impressive scores. She is currently one of three high school teachers whose syllabus will be published in the 2004 Spanish Literature Advanced Placement guide. Mrs. Andersen serves as a consultant to textbook publishers at the middle, high school and college level. Serving as a Table Leader for the grading of essays for the AP Spanish Language examination, she is one of twenty-four teachers who trains and guides other Spanish teachers.
A graduate of Purdue University (BA in modern languages) and Georgia State University (MA in Spanish literature), Mrs. Andersen's passion for teaching young people has spread to her children: son Tyler teaches Physical Education and coaches football and wrestling at Herndon High School in Virginia and daughter Gretchen who is an Assistant Admissions Director for Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.> In addition, three of her former students are Spanish teachers in Fulton County Schools.
Claudia Alldredge -- email
Claudia Alldredge is originally from Chile and graduated from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile with a B.A. as a teacher of English. In Chile, she had the opportunity to teach English as a foreign language to Pre, Elementary, Middle, High, and College students, as well as business owners and professionals for 9 years. She came from Chile to the USA in August 1999 to teach Spanish at Oak Knoll Elementary School, Fulton County. There, she had the honor to be named Teacher of the Year in 2001-2002. She then taught Spanish at Woodland Elementary. She came to Alpharetta High School this school year and is loving it! Currently she holds a Georgia teaching Certificate, Spanish P-12, and is a FLAG member.
In her spare time, Mrs. Alldredge enjoys spending time with her husband, son, and pets. She also loves bike riding, swimming, and especially reading. She belongs to a reading club which meets once a month to talk about different books. She is also a Board Member of the Academic Summer Program "Los Ninos Primero" a program that helps the Hispanic children at risk integrate in the American schools in the Sandy Springs area.
Claire Bell, French -- Dr. Bell's Website -- AHS French Club Website -- email
Claire Bell received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Murray State University with a double major in French and Psychology in 1987. While at Murray State , she studied in France with the Kentucky Institute of European Studies. She obtained her Master of Arts degree in French with a minor in Foreign Language Education from Florida State University in 1990. During this period, she was inducted into Pi Delta Phi, the French Honor Society. She earned a Ph.D. in French from Florida State University in 1998. While in graduate school, she was a Teaching Assistant and an Adjunct professor of French. She taught Middle and Upper School French in a private school for three years. She taught at Milton High School for six years. In 2001, she was the recipient of a Fulton County Education Foundation Mini-Grant for a project entitled, “The Electronic Picture File.” In 2002, she received a scholarship from the French Consulate to study French Language and Theater at the University of Avignon . She serves as the sponsor of the French Club and has accompanied students to France on many occasions. She is currently a member of the American Association of Teachers of French and the Foreign Language Association of Georgia. Dr. Bell earned National Board Certification in World Languages Other than English/Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood in 2005.
E. Y. Coley, Latin -- email
Ashley Haislip, Spanish -- email
Ashley moved around many times in her youth, but eventually came to the Alpharetta area in the early 90's. She attended Chattahoochee High School where she graduated in '95. She then went on to attend Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. She graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor's Degree in Spanish. Upon returning to Atlanta, Ashley attended Georgia State University where she received the credits she needed to become certified as a Spanish teacher. She taught for four years at Milton High School before coming to Alpharetta High School . She is currently pursuing her masters at Georgia State University.
Laurie Lagares, Spanish -- email
Laurie Lagares teaches all levels of Spanish here at Alpharetta High School. Miss Lagares holds a Bachelor's degree in Humanities from CHC and a Master's in Education (focus Ed Leadership) from Cal State Fullerton. Miss Lagares is a native Spanish speaker, her mother is from Puerto Rico and her father was from Spain. She was born and raised in New York City, where she was exposed to diverse cultures from the Latin American community and has traveled extensively throughout Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain and Bolivia. Miss Lagares was a middle school principal and a high school assistant principal in California prior to moving to Georgia.
Dephny Massanet, Spanish -- email
Dephny is from Bronx, New York. Even though she is not a big fan of sports, she likes the Yankees. Sra. Massanet is a native Spanish speaker; both of her parents are from Puerto Rico. She holds a MBA in Finance and a Bachelor's degree in Marketing. This is her third year teaching in Fulton County; the first two were at Milton High School. Currently, she is working toward her ESOL endorsement.
Toni Sasayama, ESOL -- email
Toni is from Green Bay, WI, and remains a loyal Packer fan. She received a degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lived in Japan for 20 years and knows exactly how it feels to live in another culture and struggle with the language. While in Japan, she taught English as a Second Language all twenty years, gaining valuable experience in helping others to learn English.
Last year, Toni returned to the States for her children's higher education. They are also in the ESOL program in Fulton County. She loves her job, second only to her family.
Tony Sims, Latin -- email
Tony is a native of Marietta, Georgia and a graduate of Marietta High. He holds a BA in German from the University of Georgia, a Master's in German literature from Vanderbilt University, and is a half-dissertation shy of his Ph.D. in medieval German literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He lived for over a year in Germany, primarily as a graduate student in the small university town of Göttingen, but also has professional experience as a translator of technical German for Siemens at the firm's medical division headquarters in Erlangen. He has been with Fulton County Schools since 2004.
Tony and his wife Crystal currently live in Woodstock where he is on his bicycle as often as he can squeeze a ride into his schedule.
Lisa Taylor, Spanish -- Mrs. Taylor's Website -- email
Lisa Taylor is a native of Georgia and graduated from Berry College in 1987 with a B.A. in Spanish and French. Her love of languages began in high school where she was chosen “Best French Student” and she excelled in her French courses at Berry. She decided to expand her study of languages by beginning Spanish, and she soon became enamored with Spanish literature and culture.
While she was at Berry, Mrs. Taylor worked in the Foreign Language Department as a language lab technician, tutor, and office assistant. She was inducted into Sigma Delta Pi, the Berry chapter of the National Spanish Honor Society. She spent a summer with a French family in southern France near the border of Spain where she was able to experience the cultures of both countries.
After graduating from Berry, she began teaching at Milton High School where she stayed until coming to Alpharetta High School. She has taught all levels of Spanish, including AP and has taught beginning levels of French from time to time as the need has arisen. She is certified to teach Pre-K through 12th grade in both Spanish and French and is a member of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese and the Foreign Language Association of Georgia.
In her spare time, Mrs. Taylor enjoys spending time with her husband, three children, and four cats. She also loves reading, swimming, and music.
Alan Thomas, French -- email
Michelle Laczynski Werre -- email
Michelle Werre rejoins us for her third year at Alpharetta High School. Michelle is a Spanish teacher for Level 3 regular and honors as well as Levels 4, 5, and 6. She also co-sponsors the student council. In addition to her school responsibilities, Michelle is a proud wife and mother of a baby girl named Maya.
An enthusiastic Penn State graduate (BS in World Language Education), Michelle has traveled and lived around the globe. She attended elementary school in Monterrey, Mexico and high school in Singapore. Michelle has a true ardor of the Spanish language as well as the cultures of the world. These life changing experiences no doubt prompted her to teach. She enjoys sharing her knowledge of the world, specifically the Spanish-speaking with her students.
When time permits, Michelle enjoys the outdoors including participating in triathlons, rock climbing, mountain biking, and canoeing.