Founding Director and Board Chairperson

Katie Crook is a former multilingual learner (ML) teacher and a current full-time Ph.D. student and Graduate Research Assistant at Clemson University. She holds a BA in English from Lipscomb University in Nashville and an MA in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. Before settling in South Carolina, she taught in Brooklyn, New York and in the Transylvania region of Romania. She serves on the Executive Board of Carolina TESOL as Publications Editor. Her research interests center around professional development and building educator capacity for working with MLs. She is married to Paul Crook, an elementary assistant principal, and they have two children.

Assistant Director of Fundraising & Outreach

Kristin Craft works full time as a Multilingual Learner Program Specialist in Charleston, SC. She holds a BA in Elementary Education with a specialization in Mathematics and a minor in Spanish from Millikin University and an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from The University of Texas at San Antonio. She has taught early childhood through high school learners in four different states. She enjoys writing and intends to become an author of children's books in the near future. She resides in Charleston, SC with her husband and two young children.

Assistant Director of Programming

Alexis Lawton is a speech-language pathologist in Walterboro, South Carolina. She has worked with a diverse group of individuals spanning from ages 0 - 80. She currently serves as the Assistant Director of Programming for the SC Multilingual Learner Educator Network. She received her bachelor’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Columbia College (SC) and has her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of South Carolina. She is currently working towards her PhD in Literacy, Language, and Culture from Clemson University. She is passionate about educating future educators and clinicians about cultural competence and culturally responsive teaching to equitably educate and intervene MLs. She has presented on this topic as well as other topics at local, state, and national conferences. She’s also published in various non-peer-reviewed and peer-reviewed journals. 

Secretary

Megan Todd is a lead ML teacher for Horry County Schools. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Inclusive Special Education with a minor in Psychology of Children with Exceptionalities from SUNY Cortland and a Masters Degree in TESOL from Adelphi University. She is a member of the Programming Committee for the SCML Educator Network and has worked with the Content Committee to create and produce their social media. Megan has experience on her district’s ML curriculum development team and has an interest in the Science of Reading as it pertains to ML’s. Prior to coming to South Carolina, Megan lived in New York and taught for the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) and Long Island schools. While in NY, she had vast experiences with co-teaching and the SIOP model. She lives with her husband, daughter, and two animals. 

Secretary

Laura McAulay has been in education for 10 years and served as a multilingual learner program (MLP) specialist for 8 years. She currently serves as the Assistant Director of Programming for the SC Multilingual Learner Educator Network. In addition to her K-12 ESOL certification, she received her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education (K-6) and a minor in Spanish from Georgia Southern University and has her master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Clemson University. She has spent her entire career in South Carolina and taught for both Chesterfield County and York 4-Fort Mill School District. She has experience teaching all K-12 MLs. In Fort Mill, she also got extensive experience co-teaching at the elementary school level which allowed her to develop further classroom experience and an understanding of how to support MLs within the general education classroom. She is passionate about advocating and empowering ML parents and school staff to equitably educate MLs. She lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband, Sam, and is currently staying home with their son, Colin (1).

Member-at-large

• English Teacher graduated at UPEL Maracay-Venezuela

• Master in Educational Management and Doctor in Education, UPEL Maracay - Venezuela

• Speaker at national and international conferences

• CELTA Certified to teach English to students of other languages by Cambridge University and British Council Venezuela

• English Teacher in secondary schools and Universities in Venezuela (2006-2018)

• State Coordinator for secondary Teacher training Program (2014-2018)

• Member of the Venezuela Research Program (2016-2018) and Territorial Research center at UPT Aragua (2018)

• Participated in the creation of the National Teacher Program syllabus in Venezuela

• K-12 certified Spanish and ESOL Teacher in South Carolina

• Currently: Multilingual Learner Program Teacher at White Knoll High School and Advisor in the Education Doctorate Program (Venezuela)