Amy Graham

I started my career as an economist and survey research, working in consulting firms and local and federal government. I began volunteering as a reading buddy at a local elementary school serving a population of mostly low-income students learning English as a second language (ESL). I met weekly with a second grader and read her a book while she ate lunch. Then we played a game and talked. I enjoyed it but I wasn’t sure how much I was helping her. I took a course on teaching reading and was mesmerized. I decided to switch careers and become an ESL teacher.

Being an ESL teacher was the hardest job I had in my career. I oversaw many large, complicated projects but nothing kept me awake at night until I became a teacher. I taught English learners in 4th and 5th grade in Arlington, VA for seven years in English, math and science. That’s where I met Erica who is one of the best teachers (among many talented and caring colleagues) that I worked with.

I created Entry to English one summer after being unable to find the carefully structured and sequenced curriculum that my newcomers with no prior instruction needed. I shared this curriculum with other ESL teachers in Arlington but didn’t have time then to do more. In 2018, I switched to middle school where I taught math to beginning English learners in 6th, 7th and 8th grades. I loved teaching and watching my students gain confidence in their English and math skills. I am now retired so I can spend more time with my grandson and to create this site to share Entry to English.

Erica Russell

I have taught for 19 years. I began as a teaching assistant in Michigan's seasonal migrant education program and then taught classes and developed curriculum for four more seasons. During this time,I realized the dearth of ge-appropriate resources to address both language and literacy, which was mainly due to the short time teachers have with immigrant students to teach foundational concepts. I then worked in a Michigan high school with Burmese and Hispanic immigrants in their senior year preparing them for graduation, college admissions, and helping them secure scholarships to further their education.

Since moving to Northern Virginia, I worked for 8 years at Escuela Key, a Spanish and English dual-immersion program, earning the honor of 2013 Arlington Teacher of the year. I taught Kindergarten reading intervention, 1st, 2nd and 4th grades while earning my masters in curriculum and instruction, with a specialization in ESL. For the following 6 years, I taught as an ELL specialist in elementary and middle school, where I had the pleasure of working alongside Amy. I'm in my second year as a middle school ELL SLIFE specialist in Alexandria's International Academy, a school of recently arrived international students whose goal is to challenge students academically while increasing their language proficiency. I have been using Entry to English now in my classes for 7 years, as Amy and I continue to develop the program. In addition to my teaching experience, I have spent 21 years volunteering in Honduras at a children's home, daycare and K-12 school where I spent a gap year in college.