Meet the Team

Dr. Kendra Katnik serves as an Instructional Specialist with Project Momentum. Dr. Katnik is an experienced educator with a passion for culturally and linguistically responsive and sustaining pedagogy. She has held various positions throughout her career that have allowed her to work directly with diverse students as well as develop resources and professional learning for educators including the roles of elementary and middle school teacher, English Language Development teacher, consultant, and program coordinator, and Adjunct Professor of education. She holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Michigan, as well as professional licenses in teaching and central office administration. In all her work, Dr. Katnik strives to advocate for equitable educational opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students. 

Claudia Tabini is the Community Engagement and Marketing Coordinator for Project MOMENTUM. She has been involved with nonprofit organizations working with youth and education in Rochester, Minnesota, for over 15 years and wholeheartedly believes all children deserve a high-quality educational experience. Claudia has experience working with diverse groups towards equity in education and a proven track record in supporting community partnerships in both the educational and nonprofit settings. She holds a Master of Science in Psychology and a Masters of Business Administration, and is a trained facilitator and project manager.

Laura Byard (she/they) is the Multilingual Lead, Instructional Coach at Andersen Middle School in Minneapolis Public Schools. She has over 15 years of experience in working with Multilingual Learners, mostly at the Secondary level as a teacher, team lead, instructional coach, and at the district level. Laura has consulted with numerous school districts in Minnesota and Wisconsin. They have a particular passion for student-driven goal setting and language development with students who are twice exceptional. Laura was a Fund for Teachers fellow in 2014, where she conducted interviews and observations with educators and students in Djibouti and Somalia. Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts in Chicano Studies, a Master of Education in Teaching Second Languages and Cultures (English), and Educational Specialist Degree. They currently hold licenses in teacher Secondary English Language Arts and English as a Second Language, as well as an Administrator license.  

Angela Froemming has worked with multilingual learners at the elementary level for over 10 years. She loves teaching language, especially writing, through a genre-based approach. Angela also enjoys working with adult learners. As an English Learners in the Mainstream (ELM) coach, she has supported teachers in deepening their understanding of teaching multilingual learners. She is also an adjunct professor within the ESL department at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Dr. Tetiana Holovatenko is Ukrainian Visiting Scholar at College of Education and Human Development in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota (2022-2023), senior lecturer of the Foreign Languages and Methodology Department of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (Ukraine). Over the last 10 years she gained extensive experience in teaching English to speakers of other languages and preparing pre-service teachers to teaching English. Dr. Holovatenko holds a Ph.D. in Education from the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, as well as certification in TESOL from the University of Arizona.

Her area of interests includes technology-enhanced language teaching, teaching English to young learners, and trauma-informed language teaching.

Kendall A. King is Professor of Multilingual Education at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches and conducts research in the areas of applied linguistics and language teaching and learning. She holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Educational Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania, where she researched Quechua language loss and revitalization in the Ecuadorian Andes. Dr. King has served as a faculty member at New York University, Georgetown University, and Stockholm University (Sweden). Professor King’s scholarship focuses on speakers of minorized languages, and critically examines the policies that often fail to serve them as well as practices which best support linguistic diversity and speakers of those languages. Dr. King has 100+ publications in the area of language teaching, language learning, and language use. She has taught English, Spanish and bilingual education to children and adults in the U.S. and abroad. More recently, she served as Editor of the leading journal, Language Policy, and President of the American Association of Applied Linguistics, the major professional organization in her area.

Dr. Keitha-Gail Martin-Kerr is an Associate Teaching Professor in the College of Education and Human Development in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches in/pre-service teachers courses in literacy content and pedagogy and elementary education. She co-chairs the University’s Faculty Development for Online Teaching (FDOT) committee that coordinates and develops opportunities to support faculty teaching online and hybrid courses. Dr. Martin-Kerr is a certified online instructor and Quality Matters (QM) peer reviewer for higher education and K-12 courses. In the field, Dr. Martin-Kerr has worked with several schools and districts across Minnesota, mentoring teachers and school leaders in curriculum design, equity, and the science of active implementation.

Jana LoBello Miller is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Her scholarly interests include elementary teacher education, online teaching and learning, equity-based pedagogies as well as identity constructions within formal and informal educational contexts. She has taught in both elementary and special education classrooms where feminist and culturally responsive pedagogies informed both her teaching and learning.

Dr. Lo Bello Miller's leadership and mentorship within the Teacher Scholars of Color program supports her passion to increase the number of teachers of color across Minnesota. She currently serves as the Co-Director and Co-Licensure Program Lead  of Elementary Teacher Education.

Merissa Russie (she/they) is the English Language Development Program Officer at Hiawatha Academies, a vibrant community of over 1,000 multilingual learners. They established this program with a focus on co-teaching, integration of language and content, and high academic rigor. They began their career teaching multilingual learners, mostly secondary and adults, in the U.S. and the Middle East. Merissa also has a consulting business that aims to empower schools to better service dual-identified learners.  Before joining Hiawatha, they helped establish the English Language Development Program in a setting IV education district, focused on supporting dually-identified students and students attending an alternative learning environment. Merissa is passionate about translanguaging, collaboration between MLL and SpEd departments, community-based education, and improving language service programs. 

Chris Sanville is an Assistant Principal in Minneapolis Public Schools. He has over a decade of experience working in Multilingual contexts, teaching English as a Second Language, and monitoring Title III Compliance. Every day he is inspired by the ways students use all their linguistic assets to make meaning, learn content, and form friendships across languages and cultures. On the weekends you can find him biking or skiing all over Minnesota and sometimes Wisconsin.

Dr. Karla Stone is a Senior Lecturer in Multilingual Education at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. In that role, she coordinates the initial license and M.Ed. program for MN K-12 ESL and World Language teacher candidates. She also teaches methods courses focusing on assessment, curriculum design, and the integration of language and content.  She has 30 years of experience working with multilingual learners, including over 15 years as a K-12 ESL teacher in Robbinsdale Area Schools.  She has been an active member of MinneTESOL, and collaborates frequently with district and state partners to promote access and equity for multilingual learners.

Kerry Young is an English Learner Program Specialist with Bloomington Public Schools. She has over 20 years of experience teaching in early childhood, elementary, and EL classrooms. Her areas of focus include curriculum development and professional development for teachers in the areas of early childhood EL, collaboration and co-teaching, literacy, and culturally and linguistically sustaining practices. 

Amanda Tegels is the Director of Professional Learning at Sourcewell, a regional service coop in Central Minnesota. Amanda has experience as an EL Teacher K-12, EL Coordinator, and Migrant Liaison. She has also worked for the Regional Centers of Excellence as an ELD Specialist supporting school leaders in developing and improving EL programs and instruction and is a doctoral student who is striving to improve EL programs in Greater Minnesota. Supporting multilingual learners is her area of passion, particularly for those in rural spaces. 

Dr. Amy Young is the EL Education Specialist for School Support at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). Dr. Young also has taught at a number of top institutions including the University of Minnesota and New York University related to dual language immersion, creativity, collaborative dialogue, peer interaction, and integrating language and content. Previously she has worked as a Minnesota building principal, Director of Teaching and Learning, District EL Coordinator, and ESL/Immersion/Spanish teacher.

Dr. Keitha-Gail Martin-Kerr is an Associate Teaching Professor in the College of Education and Human Development in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches in/pre-service teachers courses in literacy content and pedagogy and elementary education. She co-chairs the University’s Faculty Development for Online Teaching (FDOT) committee that coordinates and develops opportunities to support faculty teaching online and hybrid courses. Dr. Martin-Kerr is a certified online instructor and Quality Matters (QM) peer reviewer for higher education and K-12 courses. In the field, Dr. Martin-Kerr has worked with several schools and districts across Minnesota, mentoring teachers and school leaders in curriculum design, equity, and the science of active implementation.