For more than 20 years I worked as a teacher and then school district administrator in programs that served tens of thousands, particularly immigrant students, from youngsters to adults. Teaching was particularly rewarding as I graduated high school in the small, heavily immigrant, farming town of Immokalee in southwest Florida. I did all of my K-12 and adult ESOL teaching in Immokalee, and enjoyed every minute of it. As an administrator, most recently as Director of Adult & Community Education, I was blessed to work with great teams - and we achieved so much. From successful development of a refugee services program, to creating a one-of-a-kind inmate education and career unit in our local jail. I also served for almost a decade on the board of directors of Florida’s adult education professional organization, ACE of Florida, elected and serving as its president in 2008. Over the years, I was fortunate to be chosen by the Florida Department of Education to lead numerous advisory and project committees that have helped to strengthen the state’s adult education programs. I now am thoroughly loving my new role with BurlingtonEnglish partnering with outstanding education providers here and abroad to boost their adult ESOL programs.