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About Us
Lingual Learners was started in 2016 by a group of Grand Rapids parents who wanted to create a language learning community for their homeschooled children. They wanted to create a vibrant, consistent community that would encourage their children to learn and use Spanish, and knew other families wanted the same.
Since then, our program has grown and continued to provide a unique experience for homeschool children — Spanish immersion outside of a regular private or public school schedule. Our program seeks to connect families and help them make language learning a part of their homeschool experience, with the ultimate goal of creating bilingual students who feel empowered to use their second language.
Jodi Kubizna
As one of the founders of the program, Jodi has worked tirelessly to make it a success. Although not a Spanish speaker herself, Jodi wanted to make a second language in a priority in their household of eight kids, with four from birth and two adopted from China and two adopted out of foster care. Jodi uses her degrees in business and administration to keep Lingual Learners organized, efficient, and well run. Jodi loves serving homeschool families and giving them places to connect, learn and grow.
Jamie Andino
Jamie has been teaching with Lingual Learners for the past three years but has decades of experience in immersion education. With degrees in Spanish and education, she has worked with over 500 early childhood students in Spanish immersion programs in the West Michigan area, including Ada Vista (Forest Hills Public Schools) and Legacy Christian. When she decided to homeschool their four children, she knew that Spanish would always be a part of their education, as a bilingual, bi-cultural family. Jamie loves teaching our kindergarten program and early Spanish literacy, giving students an amazing foundation for their Spanish learning journey.
Megan Cottrell
Megan was a Lingual Learners parent long before she became a teacher. As a homeschool mom, Megan wanted her kids to have an experience she didn't have growing up — second language education. After joining Lingual Learners, she was inspired to bring Spanish home and start learning herself in order to better support her children. As an assistant at Lingual Learners in 2021, she was inspired to create classes with music and dance, which she had taught for over two decades. She now teaches Spanish immersion experiences that harness the power of music and movement for language learning.
Mayra Lamas
Mayra Lamas is a native Spanish speaker born and raised in Mexico that has been teaching with Lingual Learners since 2019. With a degree in social work and a background working with parents and children, Mayra brings together her cultural roots and her love of teaching to be an amazing instructor in reading and writing, as well as coming up with wonderful hands-on activities for our unit studies classes. Mayra lives in Grand Rapids with her husband and her two children, who both attend a Spanish immersion school. Mayra says, "I love my culture, my country and my language. I am proud of my roots and fascinated that other people want to learn from them."
Cinthya Turcios
Cinthya Turcios has been teaching with Lingual Learners since 2018. A native Spanish speaker from Honduras, Cinthya has a lot of experience teaching and working with children in her church, as well as a marketing degree and experience working in university admissions. Cinthya lives in Grand Rapids with her husband and her three children, who attend a Spanish immersion school. Cinthya is a warm, friendly face and wonderful teacher that helps our children learn to read and write in Spanish and also helps them learn vocabulary and structures through games and activities. Cinthya says, "I love my language. It’s a beautiful experience to share Spanish with others. I’ve experienced myself how knowing another language opens new doors and possibilities and lets you communicate with other people. It’s a privilege to share that same ability with others."
Leah Houghton
As an experienced Spanish immersion teacher, Leah Houghton has taught with Lingual Learners since 2017 and currently teaches our online advanced Spanish classes for older learners. Leah's interest in learning Spanish began when she was a little girl with her grandmother, who was from Guadalajara, Mexico. Leah took Spanish classes all through her school years and graduated with a Bachelors' Degree in K-12 Spanish Education from Saginaw Valley State University. In addition to having taught Spanish at all different grades and levels, she has also traveled to several Spanish-speaking countries, where she has loved talking with people and learning about what life is like there. Leah lives in Rockford with her husband and two children.
Tiana Oliver
As a teacher for 12 years, Tiana Oliver has taught Spanish and English in many different settings, including Jackson High School, the Dominican Republic, Arizona and online with LifeTech Academy. With a B.A. in Elementary Education and K-12 Spanish, she also runs her own business, Puente Learning Services, LLC, bringing fun Spanish class to local children and has also taught early childhood Spanish at Mind Body Baby Collective and TreeSchool. She named her business Puente because her favorite part about teaching is bridging learning gaps to take students to new “places.” Tiana lives with her high school sweetheart husband, her Arizona-born desert daughter and their five fish! They love to travel and to try new things. Fun fact: Tiana once roasted marshmallows on top of a volcano in Guatemala!
Yesenia Vera
Yesenia Vera started teaching with us in 2024 and says she has really enjoyed being a teacher at Lingual Learners. She was raised born and raised in Grand Rapids in a bilingual home. From a young age, her life has focused on supporting children and the community, volunteering with infants and young children in her church and working at GRPS as a paraprofessional in dual-immersion. A homeschool mother to 9 year old boy/girl twins, she is extremely excited for the opportunity to help strengthen their Spanish at Lingual Learners. She currently teaches Beginning Language and Arts and Culture classes at Lingual Learners and also teaches Spanish at the Faith and Freedom Cooperative. She looks forward to continuing to bring exceptional learning experiences to your students!
Karina Patzy
Karina Patzy is originally from Bolivia. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood with more than 15 years of experience teaching and working with young children in bilingual settings. She lives in Grand Rapids with her husband, her daughter, and her son.
In her free time, Karina loves playing board games with my family and baking desserts. She is passionate about teaching Spanish in a fun and engaging way, and she is so excited to share her culture and language with her students this year.
Stephanie Martinez
Born in Puerto Rico but raised in Grand Rapids, Stephanie Martinez grew up in a Spanish-speaking home and became fluent in English through school. She has two beautiful daughters, ages 9 and 13, that she has been homeschooling for four years. She loves being a homeschool parent and encourages her daughters to find things that they love, such as dance and cooking.
In addition to homeschooling and working with Lingual Leaners, Stephanie also runs her own business. She's worked with children in many different settings and is excited to assist in the classes at Lingual Learners this year.