I am a bilingual educator with almost 20 years of experience and a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction. I was born and raised in Venezuela, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in Education. I started my career as a bilingual elementary teacher, then progressed to become an instructional coach. Most recently, I served as a Biliteracy Specialist for the district I worked for and am currently one of the dual language consultants for Pacific Learning. I firmly believe that emergent bilingual students have great potential and are capable of becoming bilingual-biliterate, opening up more career opportunities for them. My goal is to inspire and encourage teachers to provide our emergent bilinguals with the best opportunities for achieving biliteracy and cultural awareness.

Kerry Gavett grew up in Spain, Canada, and Greece and developed a love for Spanish culture and Spanish-speaking people. Kerry has over 15 years’ experience teaching Spanish reading interventions to small groups of kindergarten through 2nd grade students. To meet the need of struggling readers, she led a team of educators at an elementary school in Oregon to create the Spanish Foundational Skills program for early readers called El camino al éxito. Together with Carmenza Sarvay, Kerry collaborated to create El próximo paso al éxito which is designed to continue where El camino al éxito leaves off, providing extra support for 1 st and 2 nd grade students. Kerry holds master’s degrees from the University of Kentucky and Corban University.

With over two decades in bilingual education, I have dedicated my career to empowering educators, supporting parents, and helping emergent bilingual students succeed. My journey began as a bilingual elementary teacher, then evolved through roles as bilingual facilitator and bilingual curriculum coordinator. My experience in curriculum writing, biliteracy curriculum development, and dual language and ESL program implementation is complemented by my deep love of literacy instruction. As a certified reading specialist, I have focused on developing effective reading strategies tailored to the unique needs of bilingual learners, ensuring they build strong language and literacy skills. I am passionate about fostering equitable education for all students, and I’m excited to partner with educators and districts nationwide to share best practices in dual language education. Together, we can create inclusive, effective learning environments where every student has the opportunity to succeed.

I was born and raised in Colombia. Spanish is my native language, but I also speak English, French, Dutch, and Italian. I lived in Europe for eight years and have been in the United States now for more than 35 years. I am a retired teacher with many years of experience in Elementary school teaching Spanish Native Literacy, ESL, and Spanish reading in a dual language setting. Helping students who struggle to read has been and will remain my passion.

Maria Uribe has been in education for more than 40 years. She began her teaching profession in Bogotá Colombia as a bilingual teacher in the elementary levels. Maria moved to the Unites States in 1990. In Denver, she continue her teaching career as a classroom teacher, literacy coach, and assistant principal, principal and currently as a professor. Maria earned a master’s degree in Multicultural and Bilingual Education from the University of Colorado Boulder, a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Denver and received her principal license from Denver University. Maria has received various recognitions including the Colorado Association of Bilingual Education award in 2007, the best elementary principal in Denver Public schools in 2010, the Leadership Alumni Award University Colorado Denver in 2014 and the SEHD Excellence Award for Service in 2019. Maria is the co-author of Literacy Strategies for English Language Learners and the co-author of Intellectual Capital: The Intangible Assets of Professional Development Schools. She has also published a number of articles on bilingual education bilingual learners. Maria has presented in various conferences around the nation and the world about teacher education and English language learners. In 2016, Maria wrote a children book about deportation, “Todos vamos a estar bien” “we’re Going to Be Alright”. In October of 2020 she published, “Hay algo mal en mí?” and “Is There Something Wrong with Me?” For the last five years, Maria has collaborating with Pacific Learning in different roles. She had reviewed the books from Pathway literacy in Spanish, the author of the Sistema de Intervención SIL 4-5 and her last contribution the revision and update of the reading assessment named Diagnóstico de la lectura y la escritura DEL.

I’ve been working in educational sales and consulting since right before my first child was born. He is driving and looking at colleges now! Before becoming a Dad, I was Mr. Werling at a variety of schools in Texas and Spain. I’ve taught in classrooms focusing on ESL; bilingual; dual language and beginner Spanish. My time in the publishing world has been a blessing and I’ve worked with some of the best out there. Throughout my time, I’ve come to realize that my passion and calling is for working with the emergent bilingual community to promote bilingualism and biliteracy. As a parent and former educator, it is paramount that I only professionally align myself with companies that produce the very best. If I wouldn’t use it in the classroom or desire that my kids’ teacher use it-I do not carry it! I am very proud of the work we are doing at Pacific Learning and the resources we currently offer and those to come!