Teachers for the Adult School are professional educators. All state-funded courses and many community interest classes are taught by credentialed teachers. In addition, some of our instructors bring to the classroom their expertise from other professions or occupations.
DeAnne Appleton has been Sewing since she was 9 years old. She says, “They couldn’t keep fabric, needles, and thread away from me!” She constantly expands and refines her skills by taking challenging classes and attending professional conferences. A dress, jacket, and purse ensemble that she designed and made was accepted into the juried Wearable Art Exhibit (more)
Mitra Bahrami has been an ESL teacher at the Palo Alto Adult School since 2007. She started at the school teaching a writing course which led to the launch of the Writing Academy. She also created new courses, such as English Through Movies and US History and Culture, and revamped the TOEFL prep course, currently (more)
Kay has taught at the Palo Alto Adult School since fall of 2011. She teaches a variety of courses: Writing Academy from beginning to advanced, American Business Communication, Presenting with Confidence, US Citizenship, Speaking Fluently and Intermediate Low ESL. Kay has two masters in Education and Administration as well as a Doctorate in Curriculum and (more)
Mary Bazigos is a Palo Alto Adult School credentialed teacher with a Master’s degree in English as a Second Language from San Francisco State University. Her Bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley is in Spanish literature. She has been teaching at the Palo Alto Adult School since 2003. As a first generation American with parents who immigrated (more)
ESL Transitions Instructor Margaret Bdzil brings to her class a wealth of knowledge about career and higher education opportunities. For over 20 years, she has worked at De Anza College administering career education and workforce development programs. Margaret holds a Master’s degrees in Slavic and East European Studies from Ohio State University and a Certificate (more)
Mireille Belloni, a native of France, has taught and directed French Language Programs in the United States for many years. An alumn of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, she also studied at the Sorbonne and at the University of Kent (U.K.). In the U.S., she has been on the faculty of the University of Michigan, Middlebury (more)
Ferenc Besze was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary. His love for art surfaced early on in his childhood when Ferenc filled all his textbooks with drawings to the frustration of his teachers and parents. He started his career decisively influenced by the internationally known Ernő Zórád’s comics. They were an inspiration to him when (more)
Sherri Bohan is a State Board credentialed instructor and has a degree in Ornamental Horticulture. In 2016, she will celebrate 20 years as a Palo Alto Adult School instructor! She has been a local landscaper, garden instructor, designer, consultant, licensed contractor and professional horticulturist for over 30 years. A small business owner doing residential landscape (more)
Susan Cole has been teaching ESL at Palo Alto Adult School since 2002, at levels from beginning to advanced. Susan’s goal is to help her students become more confident, effective and enthusiastic communicators in English. She seeks to structure her classes and materials so that students develop and improve in the directions that are most (more)
Liz Crandall has a degree in photography and digital imaging from Foothill College. She taught in the open lab classes at Foothill and has assisted with various photography workshops. Liz has worked in custom photo labs as a film processor, copy photographer, custom printer and in digital production where she has provided graphics, posters and (more)
Furniture maker Darryl Dieckman is interested in reinterpreting iconic designs from the past in beautiful woods and adapting their function for everyday use. He is a graduate of the Fine Woodworking program at The Krenov School (2018) and The College of The Redwoods (2017). He is currently a resident of the Cubberley Artist Studio Program (more)
Matthew Dodder, Palo Alto Adult School’s Intermediate/Advanced Birding instructor since 1999, got his start as a birder at age 14 when he sprinkled birdseed on the snow after a heavy snowstorm and identified his very first Northern Cardinal. He has traveled around the world birding but says that his some of his most enjoyable birding experiences have (more)
Dorit Elisha is an exhibiting mixed media artist, author and instructor, who chooses to use recycled materials in her mixed media art. Dorit lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and teaches locally as well as nationally. She is a member of the Bay Area Book Arts Organization. Dorit has published two art related books (more)
Ellen Engelman is a California credentialed teacher, and has been a PAAS Computer Applications instructor since 1998. She is also the PAAS webmaster, maintaining and updating the Adult School website each quarter, and also produces the school catalog content each quarter. Ellen is a member of the PAAS WASC (Western Association of Schools & Colleges) team which (more)
I am an English language coach who, after working as a Human Resources Manager for various organizations, decided to follow my passion for helping others improve communication and productivity through improved language skills. Although I had been tutoring part-time for several years while working in HR, in 2013, I decided to fully focus my time (more)
Chana has been inventing stories and songs since before she could hold a pencil. She has enjoyed working as a teacher and coach to undergraduates and other adults in a variety of fields for many years, and has a special passion for teaching about writing. Before and since her writer’s block, she won a half-dozen (more)
Stefania Filigheddu – Born in Civitavecchia (Rome) and raised in Sardegna, obtained her Masters Degree in Political Science at the University of Pavia with a special focus on Economics and then attended a Master Course on European Economics Programs. She worked 7 years in Milano as a Human Resource Specialist and Human Resources Consulting, then (more)
Dustin’s longest career has been in education; working the most in adult schools and career centers. A student learns in a classroom. Most people learn by doing. Dustin learns by teaching. Let’s share Dustin’s favorite quote that is in the public domain: I have a lot to learn… Therefore: I have a lot to teach. (more)
Lisa Foster has over 2 decades of broadcasting and voice over experience, and has one of the most versatile voices in the industry. She has written and voiced live and recorded commercials for dozens of businesses and corporations including Crest Toothpaste, Olay, Café Appassionato, LA Weight Loss, Advanced Laser Clinics and Sleep Train. Foster has (more)
Claude has been involved in woodworking for over 12 years, with interests in furniture design and production, woodturning, marquetry, and almost anything involving wood. A big motivation for teaching woodworking is that teaching is learning: it forces an instructor to dig deeper and figure out how to transmit skills and techniques by interacting with students.
Chris is a professional genealogist who has been teaching Intermediate Genealogy at PAAS since the Spring Semester of 2013. Every student has a unique family so everyone’s research journey and expertise is different. Sharing these journeys and celebrating the successes with a group of enthusiastic genealogists is an important part of the class. All have (more)
Michelle Greenebaum, owner of Together In The Kitchen, is a Nutrition Consultant and Healthy Cooking Instructor. In her popular hands-on cooking classes, Michelle teaches adults, teens, and children how to prepare delicious and easy healthy meals and snacks. As a Nutrition Consultant, Michelle works with clients offering programs such as “Grocery Store Shopping, Label Reading, (more)
Sharon Hampel has enjoyed teaching writing at Palo Alto Adult School for the past several years. Prior to moving to San Francisco, she taught literature and writing at the University of Colorado and the University of Denver. Sharon has a Masters in Literature with an emphasis on ESL teaching and a Ph.D. in Literature with (more)
Blanca Herrera has been an educator for 23+ years. She has taught most grades from Kinder-8th grade and university level. Her love for dancing started in middle school. She joined a couple of friends to create a dance group that imitated an 80’s Mexican all-female group named Flans. They participated in weekly dance competitions. She (more)
Ramesh Joshi came to Stanford University in September 1968. Bharati joined him six months later. Both were professional engineers by day, and cooking became their hobby and passion. Ramesh learned cooking from watching his mom cooking. After arriving in the U.S., he needed to start cooking what he was used to eating every day in (more)
My interest in sewing and textiles started in childhood with making clothes for Barbie dolls! To encourage me, my mother let me use a sewing machine at a very young age. Eventually I experimented with car upholstery and then found the niche in furniture upholstery. I discovered the Palo Alto Adult School Upholstery class in (more)
Bonjour! I am Malika and I am from France. I studied English and Linguistics at the University in Paris where I received a BA as well as my teaching credentials. I have been teaching for more than twenty five years at different levels. I enjoy teaching and sharing my passion for languages and cultures. I (more)
Roberta was born and raised in Rome where she earned her Bachelor Degree in Political Science at La Sapienza, University of Rome. She worked in Milan for many years before moving to New York where she worked as a contributor for a major Italian TV network. When she moved to Palo Alto, California with her (more)
I have lived and worked in the Bay Area for many years as an educator, employment counselor, program and training coordinator and transition specialist. I have helped hundreds of youth and adults to get jobs and explore careers. I have a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and a MS in Education and (more)
Brenda Lowen has taught Literacy at PAAS since 1995. Brenda received her B.A. from Antioch College, Ohio 1961 and M.A. from Standford University in 1966.
Christopher Main is a guitarist/composer/educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Christopher earned a Bachelor of music degree in Jazz Studies from San Jose State University where he studied under some great local musicians such as Rick Vandivier, Aaron Lington, John Shifflett and Frank Sumares. Since receiving his degree Christopher has been teaching and (more)
Leonardo McCord Salazar has taught the Spanish language for 33 years. He holds a B.A. in Spanish and French from U.C. Berkeley and an M.A. in Spanish from UCLA. He is a UC Regents’ Scholar, a Peace Corps Volunteer, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Delta Pi (the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society), and Alpha Mu (more)
Marcus enjoys teaching woodworking at all levels and has been teaching through Palo Alto Adult School for over a decade. He blends a power tool and hand tool approach to fine furniture building with an emphasis on safety and enjoyment of the craft.
A second-year Paly teacher by day and an Adult School French teacher by night, I am always excited to discuss English and French language and literature. I have an ever-growing passion for linguistics, having so far taken two quarters of Chinese and one quarter of German through PAAS, and I look forward to sharing that (more)
John Rinehart is a Bay Area furniture maker who aspires to design and make elegant, functional, and thoughtful furniture in a sustainable way. Coming from a career in tech, John discovered his true passion for “living through making” while taking evening adult education woodworking classes in Palo Alto, CA. From there he continued to learn (more)
Jamila Rufaro: A native New Yorker with roots in Jamaica. She can quote from every episode of Seinfeld. Her heroes are Rosa Parks and Lisbeth Salander. Juxtaposition that provokes a smile, or even better a laugh, are her favorite. When I was about eight years old I made paper angels out of notebook paper and (more)
Kumiko Sakamoto enjoys teaching Japanese in our World Languages program. She has been teaching Japanese, from beginner to advanced, as well as AP Japanese Language and Culture. She has been a Japanese Instructor at the Menlo Faculty Menlo School Atherton, CA. since 1996. Kumiko has also taught in the SILC program at Pitzer College in (more)
Anjani Sarma is a credentialed ESL instructor with a graduate certificate in TESOL. Having learned French as an adult and as a Spanish language learner now, she understands the cultural and linguistic challenges and stress adult ESL learners experience. She firmly believes that with exposure to rich and meaningful language in a low stress, fun (more)
Originally trained as a figurative artist, Robert has been rendering historic Bay Area agricultural landmarks since 1997. Teaching Philosophy and Approach “As an artist, I visually celebrate the invisible spirits of people and places. As a teacher I nurture the unique inner spirit of each student while providing them a proven process to successfully design (more)
Julie Shanson has a passion for tasty whole foods. She’s been teaching middle school cooking classes since the fall of 2013 with titles like Food Glorious Food and Soup, Salad, Bread and Blogs. She holds a degree from Cornell University, has worked at several tech companies in mentoring and training roles, and has had an (more)
Wendy Shapero is a successful voice artist, actor, dancer, and comedian. Starting out as a young actress/dancer/choreographer in the Detroit scene, Wendy garnered critical acclaim for her performances onstage in “Antigone,” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” and “Godspell,” among others. After touring internationally with a stage production of Disney’s “Pocahontas,” (more)
Paulina Shapona studied art in the San Francisco-Oakland area. For many years, Paulina apprenticed with Ugo Graziotti, the master of the Renaissance school in Italy. Paulina traveled to Europe where she lived for some time in the villages along the Adriatic. She drew, painted and sculpted village life where the way of life had not changed (more)
Seasoned veteran in the Home Design industry and Certified Designer, Mollyanne Sherman, CID, CKBD, CAPS, brings extensive technical knowledge of design and building standards. In addition to running her design firm, which services the Bay Area and beyond, Mollyanne has helped to prepare numerous professionals for a variety of certification exams. She is committed to (more)
Nilou Shokrani has been teaching ESL for ten years and loves it.The feedback she receives from her students makes her feel excited and pleased to teach. She loves to introduce new methods, books and materials to make her classes more exciting and fun. Nilou has a BA in English and a clear credential in teaching English (more)
Scott Smithson brings over 40 years of Bay Area birding experience to the classroom. He began identifying birds in hometown Pacifica, after receiving a little blue Golden Guide from his kindergarten teacher. At the age of 9, he met field trip leader Gil West on a Sequoia Audubon outing, and thus began a birder-mentor-friendship that (more)
Zaida Soriano was born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico. She learned to cook from her Mom, grandmothers, and aunts. She also learned from other Oaxacan women who brought her into their homes and gave their time to teach her their traditional cooking. Zaida owns The Oaxacan Kitchen Markets, Inc. Her company sell delicious foods native to Oaxaca in seven different Santa Clara (more)
As a person who has spent a great deal of his life camping in the woods all over the western states, even going camping when my daughter was an infant, I have always been fascinated by the flora and fauna of the outdoors, as fascinated by a California poppy as by a Golden Eagle. Birds, (more)
I have been practicing pilates for the past nine years, primarily mat. I came to pilates because I needed to find an exercise program that I could do on my own and stick with it. I enjoyed it so much, I decided to become certified in mat so that I could improve my practice. I (more)
Dana St. George has taught Low Intermediate ESL at Greendell School since 1998 Students learn listening, speaking, reading and writing skills and have lots of conversation practice. She uses use a variety of teaching modalities, with a strong emphasis on practical communication, listening and speaking. Dana has a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota, (more)
B.A. Univ. of Calif. at Berkeley; Master of Arts in Teaching, specializing in English; Calif. Community College Teaching Credential; Calif Standard Secondary Teaching Credential. Over 25 years’ experience teaching ESL. Lecturer, English for Foreign Students, Stanford University; Instructor, Workplace English, Stanford University Hospital; Instructor, Studies in American Language, San Jose State University; Instructor, Canada and (more)
I am an ardent lover of healthy lifestyle, a wellness coach and an alternative medicine practitioner. My mission is to help people overcome difficulties at all levels of life using various tools that include: psychology yoga breathing techniques meditation aromatherapy herbal therapy nutrition At the same time, I take a great joy in teaching. I (more)
Kamal Vilms has been studying and practicing yoga since1977, first in London with Dr. Martin Underwood, whose style of yoga derived from study in Madras with TKV Desikachar. (For those interested in yoga history, both Desikachar and Iyengar learned yoga from Desikachar’s father T Krishnamacharia, who is credited with rekindling interest in hatha yoga in India (more)
Simone Wojtowicz has enjoyed teaching ESL at the Palo Alto Adult School since 2014. She teaches intermediate to advanced level English Enrichment and Writing Academy classes. She has created new courses such as American Idioms, Current Affairs, US Presidents, and Book Club to meet her students’ needs. In addition, she teaches US History and Culture, (more)
Kathy Woveris was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Kathy studied classical piano lessons at The Eggert Academy of Music where she received her Master’s Degree in piano beginning at the age of 10 years old and continued thru high school. Kathy not only loved the piano but also studied French Horn and participated in (more)
I was born and raised speaking and reading both Chinese and English. I was exposed to both Chinese and the Western cultures in a variety of ways. I also traveled extensively throughout China every year. I chose to teach my own language as I have always appreciated and truly loved its beauty. I started to (more)
