Alicia Gonzalez
[Department Co-Chair, French]
Ms. Gonz'lez was born in Chicago, but attended high school in Mexico, her parents' native country. This experience fueled her love for languages and study abroad, and led her to major in French at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she also attained her Master's Degree in French Literature. As part of both her undergraduate and graduate coursework, she attended the University of Paris IV at the Sorbonne and Paris III at the Sorbonne Nouvelle. Her previous teaching experience includes teaching French and Spanish at The University of Illinois at Chicago, The Latin School of Chicago and Whitney Young High School. She is currently the sponsor for ALAS (Payton's Alliance of Latin American Students), co-directs with Ms. Imrem Payton's exchange program with our sister school in Erstein (Strasbourg), France, as well as maintaining relations with our sister school, Lyc'e Ben M'Sik in Casablanca, Morocco.
Abby Imrem
[Department Co-Chair, French]
Ms. Imrem completed her secondary teaching certificate and Master's in Education in French with an endorsement in Spanish at DePaul University. Prior to joining Payton as a French and Spanish teacher in 2001, Ms. Imrem gained valuable experience as a fundraiser, event planner and copywriter in the non-profit and public relations fields. She received her bachelor's degree in French Language and Literature from Colgate University, and she has worked, taught, and studied in such rich settings as France, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Mexico. In 2006, she was awarded the Fund for Teachers Fellowship, which enabled her to conduct an on-site, in-depth cultural and linguistic study of the Tour de France, an experience which she continues to share with all of her students. Ms. Imrem is also the Girls Varsity Tennis Coach, French Club sponsor, coordinator of the Payton Travel Committee, and directs the Strasbourg exchange program along with Ms. Gonz'lez.
Valerie Gemskie
[Latin]
Ms. Gemskie attended the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana where she majored in the teaching of Latin and minored in History. It was the summers she spent in the Mediterranean that fostered her appreciation for the ancient civilizations, particularly that of the Romans. Upon graduating, she moved to New Orleans to teach at Ursuline Academy, where she taught for three years, before becoming a founding member of Walter Payton College Prep in 1999. She has coached the Boys Softball team for the last 8 years, winning a City Championship in 2004. She also sponsors the Latin Club, which participates in city and state-wide competitions, such as Certamen and the CPS Latin Olympics. In addition, she has spearheaded student travel programs to Rome and coordinates the student exchange program with Piacenza, Italy.
Carol Ruth Kimmel
[Japanese]
In 1987 the Japan Foundation awarded Mrs. Kimmel a fellowship to study at Stanford University's Amerika-Kanada Daigaku Rengo Nihon Kenkyuu Sentaa. For two subsequent years she was a research fellow at Yokohama City University, where she studied Japanese traditional popular theater forms. Mrs. Kimmel received the Master of Arts Degree from the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago in 1992. In addition to Japanese language, she studied Japanese and Chinese literature and the political structures of modern Japan. After returning from Japan she used her Japanese in a business setting, working for two years as a recruiter at Kimata Personnel International (Kokusai Jinzai Assen) in Rolling Meadows.
Mrs. Kimmel earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Harvard University, where she graduated cum laude in English literature, with additional courses in French language and history. Subsequently she was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship to pursue graduate studies at Northwestern University. She received a Master of Arts degree from Northwestern's theater department.
She has taught at St. Xavier University and Wright City College in Chicago and at Dominican University in River Forest, as well as at Evanston Township High School and at Streamwood High School in Kane County. A member of Delta Kappa Gamma International, honorary association for women in education, she was also listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers for 2002.and 2004. Chicago Sister Cities Osaka Committee has made her the chair of its Education Sub-Committee. This year she will sponsor two clubs: The Anime-and-Japanese-Culture, and The Jewish Club.
She is coordinator of Payton's exchange relationship with sister school Osaka City Senior High School. Payton students went to Osaka in 2006 and will host our friends in the fall of 2007. Payton has also hosted students from Osaka's Itoman High School and from Niigata Prefecture's Kokusai Joho High School. Payton students will travel to Osaka again in June of 2008.
Colleen Long
[Spanish]
Ms. Long received her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she majored in Spanish with a focus in literature and language and International Studies with an emphasis in the political economy. As an undergraduate she spent time abroad studying in Oaxaca and Guanajuato, Mexico. She continued her studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she received a Master's Degree in Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies with a concentration in Latin American literature and culture. She completed her thesis dealing with the social and economic changes in Post-Soviet Cuba, and how they are reflected in contemporary literature. While working on her Master's Miss Long also spent an extensive amount of time traveling in Panama, her mother's native country. Ms. Long is joining Payton as part of the Chicago Teaching Fellowship program, and currently working on a Master's of Arts in Teaching from National-Louis University. She is very excited to teach the students of Walter Payton and to share her love for World Languages with them.
Wenya Lu
[Chinese]
Ms. Lu joined Payton in 2000. Prior to teaching at Payton, Ms. Lu taught Japanese to undergraduate students at Beijing University where she earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Japanese Language and Literature. Ms. Lu has also lived and studied in Tokyo University, Japan with scholarship. In 2004 Ms. Lu earned her second Master's degree in education from DePaul University. Ms. Lu is endorsed to teach both Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. From 2004 to 2006 Ms. Lu was selected a member of a writing team to create a national K-16 Chinese curriculum model and she has presented on Chinese teaching practice at language conferences both locally and nationally.
Kathleen Gallegos
[Spanish]
Ms. Gallegos graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and English. As an undergraduate, Ms. Gallegos taught English as a Second Language to migrant workers in farming communities in southeast Michigan, and tutored and facilitated weekly discussions in Spanish for the students at the University of Michigan’s Residential College. Ms. Gallegos enriched her undergraduate experience studying abroad in Granada, Spain; she has lived and traveled extensively throughout Spain, her family’s native country, and has traveled to different regions of Mexico. Her love of travel has deepened her understanding and appreciation of language and culture. In addition to Spanish, Ms. Gallegos’ passions include playing Spanish classical and electric guitar, hiking, Pilates, and reading and writing.
Ms. Gallegos comes to Payton as a Chicago Teaching Fellow and is currently finishing her Masters in Education at Dominican University. She is thrilled to work with Payton’s students and open them to the splendor of the Spanish-speaking world.
Website: http://gallegoscentral.pbworks.com/
Louis Wu
[Chinese]
Mr. Wu is the newest member of the world language department at Payton. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Recording from Columbia College and has taught music lessons for the last 10 years. His passion for teaching led him to earn a secondary teaching certificate with an endorsement in Mandarin Chinese from National Louis University in 2009. He has taught at Chicago NW Suburban Chinese School for the last three years, where he earned Teacher of the Year Award in 2008. Being in a unique position of having lived and studied in Taiwan and U.S. for about equal amount of time, Mr. Wu understands the challenges and importance of language study. He is also currently working on a Master’s of Arts in Teaching from National-Louis University.
Nancy Castro
[Spanish]
Mrs. Castro received her B.A. in Spanish and Secondary Education and her M.A. in Latin American Literature from Purdue University – West Lafayette, Indiana. She completed her coursework for her doctorate in Curriculum Studies from DePaul University. Mrs. Castro has taught in diverse Chicago high schools for the last 12 years, she joined Payton in 2008. She is currently the co-sponsor for ALAS (Payton's Alliance of Latin American Students) and teaches ZUMBA classes for Payton’s seminars.
Alicia Gonzalez
[Department Co-Chair, French]
Ms. Gonz'lez was born in Chicago, but attended high school in Mexico, her parents' native country. This experience fueled her love for languages and study abroad, and led her to major in French at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she also attained her Master's Degree in French Literature. As part of both her undergraduate and graduate coursework, she attended the University of Paris IV at the Sorbonne and Paris III at the Sorbonne Nouvelle. Her previous teaching experience includes teaching French and Spanish at The University of Illinois at Chicago, The Latin School of Chicago and Whitney Young High School. She is currently the sponsor for ALAS (Payton's Alliance of Latin American Students), co-directs with Ms. Imrem Payton's exchange program with our sister school in Erstein (Strasbourg), France, as well as maintaining relations with our sister school, Lyc'e Ben M'Sik in Casablanca, Morocco.
Abby Imrem
[Department Co-Chair, French]
Ms. Imrem completed her secondary teaching certificate and Master's in Education in French with an endorsement in Spanish at DePaul University. Prior to joining Payton as a French and Spanish teacher in 2001, Ms. Imrem gained valuable experience as a fundraiser, event planner and copywriter in the non-profit and public relations fields. She received her bachelor's degree in French Language and Literature from Colgate University, and she has worked, taught, and studied in such rich settings as France, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Mexico. In 2006, she was awarded the Fund for Teachers Fellowship, which enabled her to conduct an on-site, in-depth cultural and linguistic study of the Tour de France, an experience which she continues to share with all of her students. Ms. Imrem is also the Girls Varsity Tennis Coach, French Club sponsor, coordinator of the Payton Travel Committee, and directs the Strasbourg exchange program along with Ms. Gonz'lez.
Valerie Gemskie
[Latin]
Ms. Gemskie attended the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana where she majored in the teaching of Latin and minored in History. It was the summers she spent in the Mediterranean that fostered her appreciation for the ancient civilizations, particularly that of the Romans. Upon graduating, she moved to New Orleans to teach at Ursuline Academy, where she taught for three years, before becoming a founding member of Walter Payton College Prep in 1999. She has coached the Boys Softball team for the last 8 years, winning a City Championship in 2004. She also sponsors the Latin Club, which participates in city and state-wide competitions, such as Certamen and the CPS Latin Olympics. In addition, she has spearheaded student travel programs to Rome and coordinates the student exchange program with Piacenza, Italy.
Carol Ruth Kimmel
[Japanese]
In 1987 the Japan Foundation awarded Mrs. Kimmel a fellowship to study at Stanford University's Amerika-Kanada Daigaku Rengo Nihon Kenkyuu Sentaa. For two subsequent years she was a research fellow at Yokohama City University, where she studied Japanese traditional popular theater forms. Mrs. Kimmel received the Master of Arts Degree from the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago in 1992. In addition to Japanese language, she studied Japanese and Chinese literature and the political structures of modern Japan. After returning from Japan she used her Japanese in a business setting, working for two years as a recruiter at Kimata Personnel International (Kokusai Jinzai Assen) in Rolling Meadows.
Mrs. Kimmel earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Harvard University, where she graduated cum laude in English literature, with additional courses in French language and history. Subsequently she was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship to pursue graduate studies at Northwestern University. She received a Master of Arts degree from Northwestern's theater department.
She has taught at St. Xavier University and Wright City College in Chicago and at Dominican University in River Forest, as well as at Evanston Township High School and at Streamwood High School in Kane County. A member of Delta Kappa Gamma International, honorary association for women in education, she was also listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers for 2002.and 2004. Chicago Sister Cities Osaka Committee has made her the chair of its Education Sub-Committee. This year she will sponsor two clubs: The Anime-and-Japanese-Culture, and The Jewish Club.
She is coordinator of Payton's exchange relationship with sister school Osaka City Senior High School. Payton students went to Osaka in 2006 and will host our friends in the fall of 2007. Payton has also hosted students from Osaka's Itoman High School and from Niigata Prefecture's Kokusai Joho High School. Payton students will travel to Osaka again in June of 2008.
Colleen Long
[Spanish]
Ms. Long received her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she majored in Spanish with a focus in literature and language and International Studies with an emphasis in the political economy. As an undergraduate she spent time abroad studying in Oaxaca and Guanajuato, Mexico. She continued her studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she received a Master's Degree in Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies with a concentration in Latin American literature and culture. She completed her thesis dealing with the social and economic changes in Post-Soviet Cuba, and how they are reflected in contemporary literature. While working on her Master's Miss Long also spent an extensive amount of time traveling in Panama, her mother's native country. Ms. Long is joining Payton as part of the Chicago Teaching Fellowship program, and currently working on a Master's of Arts in Teaching from National-Louis University. She is very excited to teach the students of Walter Payton and to share her love for World Languages with them.
Wenya Lu
[Chinese]
Ms. Lu joined Payton in 2000. Prior to teaching at Payton, Ms. Lu taught Japanese to undergraduate students at Beijing University where she earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Japanese Language and Literature. Ms. Lu has also lived and studied in Tokyo University, Japan with scholarship. In 2004 Ms. Lu earned her second Master's degree in education from DePaul University. Ms. Lu is endorsed to teach both Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. From 2004 to 2006 Ms. Lu was selected a member of a writing team to create a national K-16 Chinese curriculum model and she has presented on Chinese teaching practice at language conferences both locally and nationally.
Kathleen Gallegos
[Spanish]
Ms. Gallegos graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and English. As an undergraduate, Ms. Gallegos taught English as a Second Language to migrant workers in farming communities in southeast Michigan, and tutored and facilitated weekly discussions in Spanish for the students at the University of Michigan’s Residential College. Ms. Gallegos enriched her undergraduate experience studying abroad in Granada, Spain; she has lived and traveled extensively throughout Spain, her family’s native country, and has traveled to different regions of Mexico. Her love of travel has deepened her understanding and appreciation of language and culture. In addition to Spanish, Ms. Gallegos’ passions include playing Spanish classical and electric guitar, hiking, Pilates, and reading and writing.
Ms. Gallegos comes to Payton as a Chicago Teaching Fellow and is currently finishing her Masters in Education at Dominican University. She is thrilled to work with Payton’s students and open them to the splendor of the Spanish-speaking world.
Website: http://gallegoscentral.pbworks.com/
Louis Wu
[Chinese]
Mr. Wu is the newest member of the world language department at Payton. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Recording from Columbia College and has taught music lessons for the last 10 years. His passion for teaching led him to earn a secondary teaching certificate with an endorsement in Mandarin Chinese from National Louis University in 2009. He has taught at Chicago NW Suburban Chinese School for the last three years, where he earned Teacher of the Year Award in 2008. Being in a unique position of having lived and studied in Taiwan and U.S. for about equal amount of time, Mr. Wu understands the challenges and importance of language study. He is also currently working on a Master’s of Arts in Teaching from National-Louis University.
Nancy Castro
[Spanish]
Mrs. Castro received her B.A. in Spanish and Secondary Education and her M.A. in Latin American Literature from Purdue University – West Lafayette, Indiana. She completed her coursework for her doctorate in Curriculum Studies from DePaul University. Mrs. Castro has taught in diverse Chicago high schools for the last 12 years, she joined Payton in 2008. She is currently the co-sponsor for ALAS (Payton's Alliance of Latin American Students) and teaches ZUMBA classes for Payton’s seminars.