Board of Directors

Molly Fuentealba                                                                                                                                                                           IABE President                                                                                                                                                                                                Molly Jo earned her B.A. in Elementary Education from The College of Idaho with an emphasis in K-12 Literacy, ESL, Bilingual Education, and Spanish studying at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She received her M.Ed from Boise State University in Curriculum and Instruction, focusing on ESL and Bilingual Education, and she completed additional studies in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. Mrs. Fuentealba is currently working on her dissertation analyzing the effectiveness of co-teaching for English learners.

Molly Jo has been a Federal Programs consultant for Boise Schools since 2001. She is also an adjunct instructor in the College of Idaho’s ENL/BE graduate program. Molly is the former coordinator for LEP, Immigrant, and Refugee programs for the state of Idaho and a former district administrator of EL/Migrant programs, classroom teacher, and EL teacher. She has been in education for 32 years and loves every day.                                                                                                                                                                                

Sam Perez                                                                                                                                                                                                            IABE Vice President                                                                                                   

Marta A. Hernandez                                 
IABE Secretary                                          
Marta is a teacher at Burley Junior High School. Her current teaching position includes Geography/US History and the History & Culture of Ballet Folklorico. She received her BA in Elementary Education from Idaho State University and her M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in ESL/Bilingual Education from Boise State University. Marta participates in national, regional, and local organizations in which education is improved or enhanced, and health care is accessible.

Sarah Pelayo                                                                                                                                                                                    IABE Treasurer                                                                                                                                                                                                        Sarah has been in education for 20 years, 14 years as a CTE business and marketing instructor and EL Building Coordinator for Minidoka County at Mt. Harrison High School. She teaches business courses, including Business Computer Applications, Photoshop, Video, Entrepreneurship, Marketing Economics, Business Essentials, Personal Finance, Business Ethics, Intro to Journalism, and Yearbook! 

Sarah is passionate about public education and has a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction, emphasizing Career and Technical Education. She believes in “paying it forward,” serving in many leadership capacities, including the roles of BPA Advisor of her school’s Business Professionals of America Chapter, Senior Class Advisor, Membership Chair for the Career and Technical Educators of Idaho Association, and now, Treasurer for the Idaho Association for Bilingual Education. Her past leadership experience as the former President of the Idaho Business Education Association has helped her extend her reach of mentorship and support, including her recent nomination and acceptance of a seat on MBA Research’s Teacher Advisory Network.

Advocacy is another area that she is dedicated to. As an active Idaho Education Association (IEA) member, Sarah takes pride in supporting students and colleagues locally and across the state. She is a certified trainer for IEA’s Center for Teaching and Learning and enjoys orchestrating professional development and teaching classes to her peers. Previously, she served on the Idaho Education Association’s Statewide IGNITE committee, tasked with early-career mentorship.                                                                                                                                                

Mary Garcia
Magic Valley Regional Representative
 Mary earned her B.A. in Elementary Education from Idaho State University, her M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction, and her M.Ed as an Educational Specialist from Northwest Nazarene University. She has taught with the Minidoka County School District for over twenty years and worked as a teacher and Migrant Liaison in the Jerome School District, a Teacher for the Twin Falls School District, and a Principal for Cassia County School District.  

Victoria Potts                                                                                                                                                                                      Northern Idaho Regional Representative                                                                                                                                  “I have always had a passion for language and travel.  It is no wonder I found my way to teaching ESL.  It is a career I’ve learned from and loved to be a part of for over 25 years. The last 12 years have been as the District ESL Teacher for Moscow School District. I am thankful to be a part of IABE as the Region 2 Chapter President.  Gracias y que viva el lenguaje, cultura y herencia of all our ELs!”                                                                                                            

Alejandra Howell                                                                                                                                                                                    Treasure Valley Regional Representative                                                                                                                           Alejandra Howell is currently the EL Program Coordinator for the Nampa School District. This entails overseeing the English Language Learners program, coaching elementary EL Specialists, and providing professional development for schools. This position is close to her heart due to her background as an English Language Learner. Born in Mexico City, she emigrated to the US (Chicago) when she was six. Her path was not direct; her family moved often and spent long periods in Mexico, so learning English was not linear. She holds a BA in Music Ed, an MA in Curriculum and Instruction, and an M. Ed. in Educational Leadership. Her passion is supporting and advocating for Multilingual Learner students and their families and helping ML/EL and Gen Ed teachers succeed in supporting them. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband, Joe, in the great Idaho, hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and paddling.

Jared Heath                                                                                                                                                                                           Eastern Idaho Regional Representative

Maria Puga          
State Department Representative                                                                                                                                             Maria Puga is the English Learner Program Coordinator for the Idaho Department of Education. She has her B.A. in Political Science from Gonzaga University. Maria received her teaching credential from Northwest Nazarene University in 6-12 Social Studies and Government. Maria taught middle school social studies and 1st grade before moving to her current role. She also served in the Peace Corps in Colombia, teaching English and training teachers to support language instruction. Maria completed her doctoral program at Gonzaga University, and her capstone project was on how to support Idaho districts by engaging their multilingual families. 

John Stull                                                                                                                                                                                               IABE Technology Representative                                                                                                                         

Kelee Robinson
Past President
Kelee earned her BA in English and Spanish teaching from Brigham Young University and her MA in curriculum and instruction with a bilingual emphasis from Boise State University. She has taught language arts, Spanish, and English as a new language and now co-teaches multiple subjects at Kuna High School, including language arts, math, and biology. Recent endeavors include co-teaching biology online through the Idaho Digital Learning Academy and contracting with the Idaho State Department of Education as a co-teaching grant evaluator.