Course Listing - by Instructor

Maria Elena Bucelli was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but moved to Milan, Italy, at a young age, where she completed her education. Later in life, she moved to the United States and obtained a Master’s degree in Foreign language and literature and a TESL certificate. She taught at Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University, where she was the faculty director for the Study Abroad Programs in Spain, Italy and Latin America. She taught English to Italians, Italian to foreigners, and Spanish to Italians while she lived in Milan for fifteen years. Now a retired teacher of Spanish and Italian of Arlington County Public Schools, she has been teaching for the Community Learning Center for six years.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Luis is an eLearning, Security and Technology Expert, that has worked in the Systems Engineering and Military fields, developing a successful career as a professor and spokesman in several Venezuelan universities, in undergraduate and graduate programs, in subjects related to Information Technology and Math. He also obtained an eLearning expert, Teaching Component and Accelerated Learning Facilitator Diploma. In his personal web page writes and publishes papers about personal growth, humor, quotes, management, security, and travel. He is Honoris Cause Doctor, awarded by the Iberoamerican Council in Honor of Excellence in Education. Father of two kids and a poodle. Feels great passion for the good food, photography, meditation and outdoor activities.

Simón R.  Contreras is a native Venezuelan.  He earned a B.A and a Master in Education from George Washington University. He taught Spanish for 34 years at the high school level, He teaches Spanish  at Nova, the University of Maryland and The U. S Senate Page Program. He is the author of a novel (Las Hijas del Mastranto, 2005) and a flamenco and ballroom dancer. He also taught Spanish for Educators to a national audience via satellite.

A native Arlingtonian, Richard has been performing professionally since the age of thirteen. With multiple shows under his belt, he started to privately teach guitar and bass to friends in his neighborhood. Since then, Richard has taught numerous classes, workshops and camps. Back in the fall of 2014, Richard was approached by the pre-production team of Andrew Lloyd Webber to help their lead Alex Brightman to play and sing guitar for the fall 2015 musical “School of Rock”. The musical opened to rave reviews, and Alex Brightman received a Tony nomination for best male performance. Richie has been teaching for over twenty years and loves to interact and have fun with his students; his bohemian approach to teaching guitar is both infectious and viral.

Aida graduated from the American University of Beirut with a degree in Arabic literature and a Teaching Diploma. She taught Arabic as a native and foreign language in Lebanon, Greece and the US.Aida published her short stories and translations in various outlets (Annahar, Alhayat newspapers, Ghurba magazine, Cultural Studies Quarterly, Al-hakawati, Almukhtar, Mitra, World Bank blogs and others). Together with Mishka Mojabber Mourani, she co-authored a bilingual book of poems, “Alone Together”, and a short story “Hiatus” published in Lunch Ticket literary magazine, Fall 2019. Aida started teaching at Arlington Community Learning in 2018.

Carol Stevens has spent more than 30 years involved in all aspects writing and editing — both nonfiction and fiction works. She has worked as a reporter and editor for publications including USA Today, the Baltimore Sun, and Washingtonian magazine where she has written about subjects ranging from health care to presidential politics. She currently runs the communications division of a major trade association where she is involved in all phases of media relations from speech writing to media training. Carol graduated from Syracuse University with a major in communications and international relations.

Gregory Scott Stuart, a music professor at Frostburg State University, came to his love of foreign language learning through his exposure to languages as a singer. Fortunate to have had an intensive language study experience on a semester abroad in France, where he earned a prize for the most outstanding student in French at the Institute pour les universités américaines, he brings to the table a keen ear (he speaks French without an accent) and a thorough understanding of the rules of French diction. He delights in deepening daily his knowledge of the subtleties of French grammar, of idioms and of French slang. He has worked in francophone environments. He now also concurrently studies several other languages. As an educator he has trained to teach not only foreign languages, but also singing, theatre and yoga. He has broad artistic experience, encompassing professional engagements as a singer, actor, church musician and stage director. He has sung leading roles in operas locally and regionally and directed several operas and plays including Sadko for Bel Cantanti and the US premier of a French musical, Bigoudi (which he directed in French) at Atlas Performing Arts Center in DC. He was a soloist in world premieres of three oratorios by Paul Leavitt in Washington, Paris and at Lincoln Center, NYC and on CD. As an actor, he’s tread the boards in theatres up and down the East Coast and in the Midwest and performed in many musicals including a national tour of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Ithaca College, and an MFA in Classical Acting from The Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University.

Ms. Yoshki Weick was born in South Korea, and later moved with her parents and sisters to Japan in 1971.She lived there for 34 years with husband and daughters. She is fluent in Korean and Japanese. In 2004 she accepted an invitation from the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC and began her residency as an Artist. She has taken part in numerous group shows in Japan, China, India, France and throughout the United States. She has exhibited individually in Tokyo, New York, Washington DC and Chicago. She has received a number of awards for her artwork. She is an author of numerous publications. She teaches oriental brush art (sumi) and Japanese & Korean languages.