Executive Board
2025 NYS TESOL Executive Board
Dr. Sandra Vargas- Ortega has accumulated nearly two decades of experience in the field of language education, with professional practice spanning across New York City and Puerto Rico. She holds a Doctorate in Second Language Acquisition Research, a Master’s degree in teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL), a Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education and an Associate’s Degree in Computer Science.
Over the years, she has engaged in numerous leadership roles, including fostering collaborations between district and charter schools and spearheading professional development initiatives. In addition to her current role as English as New Language educator, she serves students and families from diverse cultural backgrounds, offers guidance and mentorship to novice educators, researches current TESOL practices and delivers professional development. Dr. Vargas-Ortega has had the honor of contributing her expertise to one of the largest educational systems within the United States, a position which she has fulfilled for the past fifteen years with considerable dedication and a strong sense of professional distinction and commitment.
Furthermore, she holds an adjunct professorship at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, her alma mater, where she teaches undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. She also serves as a co-director on doctoral dissertation committees. One of her greatest passions is to disseminate knowledge to individuals aspiring to become language educators and researchers in the field of language acquisition. She is dedicated to the continuous enhancement, enrichment, and advancement of TESOL education, and is a firm believer in collaboration and the many ways it supports academic achievement, particularly language acquisition.
Contact Sandra at pres-elect@nystesol.org
Shawwna Sweet is honored to serve as the 2024 President of NYS TESOL. She has previously served as NYS Regional Co-Chair for Buffalo-Rochester Region and VP of Finance. Shawnna works as the Director of Multilingual Education for the Greece Central School District. This role allows her to serve the district in the areas she is most passionate about: English as a New Language, World Languages, and Bilingual Education, along with Translation and Interpretation Services.
She began her career in education as an ESOL teacher in Greece, where she taught students in grades K-12, Adult ESOL and GED. Additionally, she spent ten years as an adjunct faculty member at Nazareth College, working with graduate students in the TESOL and International TESOL programs.
Prior to returning to Greece Central in 2022, Shawnna served as a specialist with the Mid-West RBERN at Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES, where she worked closely with NYSED's Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages and local school districts to support multilingual learners. She currently serves on the NYSED World Language Content Advisory Panel, NYSED Seal of Biliteracy Task Force, and NYSED ELL Graducation Task Force.
She holds a B.A. in English with a minor in Secondary Education from St. John Fisher College, and M.S. in TESOL from Nazareth College, and Advanced Certificates in School Building and District Leadership from the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester.
Contact Shawnna at pastpresident@nystesol.org
Nicole Bell is Coordinator at Mid-West Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network, which serves English language learners and bilingual education programs in New York state. Previously, she was a professional development specialist at Mid-West RBERN. Nicole has classroom experience both as a music educator and English as a New language teacher. Nicole is very committed to family engagement practices with multilingual learners and their families. She continues to spend her summers working with the Oswego Migrant Education summer program as lead teacher/program coordinator. Additionally, her interest areas include culturally responsive teaching, bilingual techniques in the classroom, the Latinx student experience, and migrant education. Nicole is a lifelong learner with an undergraduate and master's degree from Nazareth University and is currently pursuing her Ed. D. in the leadership for diverse learning communities program at Molloy University, where her dissertation is focused on equitable family engagement of Latinx students. Nicole loves ALL things conferences and is excited to be a part of the planning for the next few years.
Contact Nicole at vpconference@nystesol.org
Mary Sandoval is a dedicated educator with 17 years of experience, committed to ensuring multilingual students receive an equitable, comprehensive, and culturally responsive education. She currently serves as the K-12 ENL Instructional Coach for the Shenendehowa Central School District, supporting teachers in their learning and implementation of best practices to enhance multilingual learners' success. Her language and literacy teaching experiences span across grades K-12 and also at the undergraduate level in TESOL teacher preparation programs. Mary holds advanced degrees from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the University at Albany, enhancing her expertise in leadership and literacy.
Outside of her professional roles, Mary can be found traveling with her family, cheering her children on at hockey and figure skating, and snuggling with their mischievous puppy. She looks forward to connecting with educators within the NYS TESOL community to drive meaningful progress for multilingual learners.
Contact Mary at vpconfelect@nystesol.org
Sonal started as an immigrant from India and migrated to Queens, New York in the mid 1980s. She is a product of the NYC school system and a linguist as she speaks 5 languages. She is fortunate to have explored various career paths such as working in the corporate world as a product developer, co-owner of a chain of salons in New York City and she opened a catering firm in Europe. The journey of life has taught her the lesson of self advocacy and she feels this is deeply ingrained in her beliefs and how she inspire others. She believes that one must always work towards improvement and growth. Taking calculative risks and creating a community helps direct us towards greater success.
Sonal's education includes a bachelors degree in Fashion Marketing and International trade from Fashion Institute of Technology, Masters degree in TESOL from Adelphi University, an advanced degree in School Based Leadership certification from College of New Rochelle and is currently working towards her school district administrator coursework at Mercy College.
Sonal has been in the education field since 2007 and serving the English Language learner community since 2009. She has worked across K-12 classrooms and is passionate about uplifting them from where they are. She instills strong values of higher education and helps other aspire to soar beyond their comfort zone as growth lies at the edge of discomfort.
Her personal life has greatly impacted her professional career. She has been fortunate to start her educational journey in New York City schools under a full scholarship from the State. She served inner city students and the international network of schools as an ENL educator. Sonal raised her daughter as a single mother which enabled her to teach in Long Island, Dutchess County and Westchester County school districts. While her husband worked on his medical practice internationally, she was able to share her best practices via professional development in private schools, collaborate with IB schools and advise on State school policy work in Gujarat, India. She has worked as an adjunct at Hunter College within the Curriculum and Teaching department along with providing professional development across districts in Westchester County and Dutchess County. Since 2019 she has been closely affiliated with NYS TESOL volunteering my time during annual conferences to support various outreach work from the network.
As an educator she aspires to create the best opportunities of success for ELLs through the implementation of effective and inclusive academic programs, an academic environment which fosters growth and assimilation all while keeping the heritage advantage of our ELLs. She truly believes that rich cultural diversity represented by ELLs, their stories and life experiences have so much value which inspire passion for success.
Sonal believes her commitment to providing education rights and her love for advocacy fans the fire of bringing justice and voice where it's needed. She has faith that together as a community we can help our students and families harness success with the right exposure and guidance.
Contact Sonal at vpadvocacy@nystesol.org
Katie Leven is a wife, mom and itinerant ENL (English as a New Language) teacher with 19 years of experience in Western New York. She lived in Argentina and has traveled to 12 different counties. She currently works through BOCES (Board of Cooperative Education Services) to provide Stand Alone and Integrated ENL services to K-12 students. In her free time, she provides professional development to teachers of MLLs (multilingual learners). In 2023, she was named ENL Teacher Leader of the Year by the RBE-RN West! In 2024, she received the Marie and Richard Baecher Teacher Leadership Award from NYS TESOL. You can listen to her podcast, The Intentional TESOL, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! She brings a variety of experiences and a ton of research to support any teacher who wants to learn more about language acquisition strategies and balanced literacy! She'll show you how to work smarter, not harder together for the benefit of ALL your learners!
Contact Katie at vpcommunications@nystesol.org
Dr. Christine E. Seebach, a native New Yorker and staunch multilingualism advocate, with 26 years in the field of education. Her tenure spans New York City and suburban K-12 districts, and colleges, where she excelled as a teacher, professor, and linguist. Specializing in high school Spanish and elementary and adult ESL, she’s empowered learners at all levels. Dr. Seebach’s global engagement includes an internship in Caracas, Venezuela, and studies at the Universidad de Salamanca, Spain. She volunteers with the TESOL International Association. She’s been President of NYS TESOL, and is a board member of the New York State Council of Educational Associations (NYSCEA). Academically, she holds a Bachelor’s in Spanish Secondary Education, a Master’s in TESOL K-12, post Master’s certificate in School Building and District Leadership, and a Doctorate in Education. Committed to enhancing education with ease, empathy, equity, excellence, empowerment, enrichment, and enjoyment, Dr. Seebach’s mantra guides her work.
Contact Christine at vpfinance@nystesol.org
Graduating from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) with a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Administration, Dr. Song is currently an Associate Professor of TESOL and a proven effective professional in the field of applied linguistics with an aggressive research agenda of language teaching. In addition to his teaching role as an Associate Professor of the graduate TESOL program at Nazareth University, he has also served as Executive Director of the English Language Institute and Director of International Recruitment. Prior to his role at Nazareth University, he worked in Salsbury University (MD) as a TESOL faculty and Founding Director of the English Language Institute. Apart from university faculty and administrator roles, Sam also had 10 years of working for a non profit organization (International Council for Education Development) based in Twin Cities, MN. With ICED, he was President chiefly responsible for designing and organizing conferences for international teacher educators.
Contact Sam at vpmembership@nystesol.org
Christian Perticone is the Director of the English Language Institute at the College of Staten Island, CUNY. Formerly, he was an ELS Center Director, and a Director of language programs at a nonprofit that serves the South Brooklyn community. He also served as the Chairperson of the Language Studies Department in one of New York City's largest college ESL programs. He entered this field when he taught EFL in Madrid, Spain. He earned his TESOL Certification at Teachers College, his MFA from Arizona State University, his BA from the University of Rochester, and he is currently studying Project Management and Nonprofit Management with the Harvard Extension School. He has presented on the intersectionality of Hip Hop and pedagogical practices, and he is interested in better approaches to leadership and administration. He has presented at several conferences, including the Annual HipHopEx Conference at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Reimagining Education Summer Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University, and several NYS TESOL Conferences.
Contact Christian at vpoutreach@nystesol.org