BWLP Team 2023 – 2024
BWLP Co-Directors
Don Doehla
Don Doehla taught French for 36 years at Vallejo High School (22 years), and at Vintage High School in Napa (14 years), before retiring June of 2017. He taught all levels of French, from first year through AP. He served as an instructional coach at both schools, for a total of 22 years, lending literacy development support to colleagues in all content areas. BWLP began as the East Bay Foreign Language Project in 1987, and Don was part of the original cohort of participants. Two years later, he joined the leadership team as a presenter. He has been with the project ever since, and has served as Co-Director of the project since 2014. Don has an MA in French and Francophone Studies, from UC Santa Barbara, and a BA in French from UC Berkeley. He is a National Board Certified Teacher, and a member of CLTA, ACTFL, AATF, ASCD, and various other organizations. He is a writer and facilitator for Edutopia.org, and Director of the annual CLTA-CWLP Summer Seminar.
Areas of Focus: Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL), Assessment, Literacy Development in First and Second Language Acquisition, Use of Authentic Resources, Standards-Based Unit and Lesson Design, Instructional Technology, Instructional Coaching
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ddoehla/
Nancy Salsig
Nancy Salsig is Co-Director of the BWLP. She taught French and Spanish for 34 years at Liberty High School in Brentwood. She served on the committee that wrote the 2019 CA World Languages Standards. Currently she supervises student teachers and coteaches the WL Methods classes at CSU East Bay and St. Mary’s College. She loves to collaborate with teachers to create interactive lessons.
BWLP & BLC Staff Support
Orlando Garcia
Bio coming soon!
Team Leaders
Angela Leyva Martínez
Angela has been teaching in the Bay Area since 2001. She has an MA in Spanish Language and Literature from UC Santa Barbara and a BA in both Spanish and History from Saint Mary’s College. Angela loves what she does and has a passion to share and collaborate with other World Language teachers. She continuously strives to make sure her classes are meaningful, engaging and relevant to her students. She has been Department Chair for over 20 years and has been active with the BWLP since 2007. Angela also has experience as an Induction Coach (formerly known as BTSA), and is currently CLTA’s Membership Chair. She was part of CLTA’s CALLI Cohort in 2014. Currently, she is teaching Spanish 3 and 4 at Heritage High School in Brentwood.
Areas of Focus: Use of Authentic Resources, Social Justice, SEL, Instructional Technology, Art, Music, Sports and Travel.
Brenna Wright
Brenna Wright began her work at Vintage High School in Napa nearly 10 years ago, as a long-term substitute and teacher of an Adult Education classes. Currently, she is teaching levels 1, 3, and 4AP and serves as the French Club adviser. One of the highlights of her teaching career has been leading students on trips abroad and seeing them discover the benefits of world travel and language learning. Brenna earned her BA from Sonoma State University and her MA from Middlebury College in French Language & Translation.
Areas of Focus: Student Travel, French Club, College Prep (AVID)
Robyn Amos
Robyn possesses over 20 years of teaching experience and is currently the head of her World Language Department at Jefferson High School on the Peninsula. During her 20+ year tenure, Robyn served in every capacity from a substitute teacher to an administrator. After taking a PD strand at Stanford (why was a Bear ever in Cardinal territory?) she took another Strand at BWLP; immediately she felt at home. Robyn enjoys developing her presenting skills as an intern in the BWLP. Prior to becoming a Spanish teacher Robyn spent time working for Berkeley Adult School as an ESL teacher and living in the Dominican Republic.
Robyn holds a Bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in Spanish with a Secondary Teaching Credential. Robyn was the first in her family to graduate from college, and credits her interest in the Spanish language and other world languages to her experiences growing up in San Francisco, and her uncle’s experiences in the Merchant Marines.
During her leisure time, Robyn enjoys hiking along trails and beaches with her dog, engaging in colorful conversations with others, cooking, crafting, and reading without a screen.
Luz Ramirez
Luz G. Ramírez has taught Spanish since 2007 at James Lick High School in San José, CA. She advocates for a positive school culture that is authentic and connected to the community. She is also the Folkórico Club Advisor. Her focus is on creating learning opportunities for each of her students to achieve, succeed and realize their potential. Along with her colleague Anna R. Chávez, she’s co-led student travel to Spanish speaking countries, presentations on PBLL for the Heritage speaker classroom and was also co-strand leader at the 2019 Summer Seminar in Santa Barbara in the PBLL strand. She participated in the BWLP Leadership Symposium in 2017, and has been a member of the CLTA CALLI Cohort.
Areas of focus: Heritage learners, Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL), Service Learning Travel, Social-Emotional practices, Dance
Anna Chavez
Anna R. Chavez has taught Spanish for the last 7 years at her Alma Mater James Lick High School in San Jose, Ca. She has taught everything from Spanish 1 to AP Spanish Language and Culture. Throughout her teaching career, Anna has also served as the JV Girls basketball coach. Her mission and hope is to create engaging, culturally relevant, and meaningful units for students in which they can become global citizens. Anna along with her colleague Luz Ramirez have co-led presentations on PBLL for the Heritage speaker student at the CLTA conference and were a co-strand leaders at the 2019 Summer Seminar in Santa Barbara in the PBLL workshop. In the past she has served in the Leadership Symposium, and has been a member of the CLTA CALLI Cohort.
Areas of focus: Heritage learners, PBLL, Music, Sports
Jennifer Reid
Jennifer Reid has taught French 1A-1B at Gale Ranch Middle School in San Ramon since 2014. Previously she taught language arts and social studies. As the sole French teacher at her school, Jennifer enjoys collaborating with other French teachers to find authentic cultural resources and plan engaging project-based units. She co-wrote a grant, “Enchanted: Developing World-Language Literacy Through Harry Potter Novels,” with her school’s librarian to furnish the library with French, Spanish and Mandarin editions of the Harry Potter books and films. Jennifer studied literature at Brown and earned a Master of Arts in education at Berkeley.
Areas of Focus: Developing beginners’ confidence in social interaction; teaching exceptional learners
Herodytha Barahona
Bio coming soon!
Paul Maciel
Bio coming soon!
Athalia Sachowitz
Bio coming soon!
Nadine Amarelo
Bio coming soon!
Interns
Lisa Valadez
Bio coming soon!