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.
Sam Perez, IABE Vice President Sam is a co-teacher at Centennial High School in the West Ada School District and is the ML Case Manager for 60+ students. He has been an ESL, ELL, EL, and ML public school educator for thirty years. He has experience in the following positions: K-12 English Language Learner Teacher/Case Manager, ML Department Chairman, Academic EL Coach/Consultant, ESL Coordinator, and WAEA President. Sam was born in Weslaco, TX, into a proud Spanish-speaking, migrant-working family. The Perez’s moved north and settled in Wisconsin, where he learned English and graduated from high school. His undergraduate pursuits took him to North Dakota, where he graduated with a B.A. in Theology/Psychology. Then, he met and married his college sweetheart and moved to her home state – Idaho, in 1989. He gained experience working with young people in several churches in the Treasure Valley as a youth minister/counselor. His start in education involved driving a school bus and substitute teaching in the Fruitland and Payette School Districts. He earned his teacher’s certificate in 1994 and continued to pursue further education by earning two M.Ed. degrees, one in ESL and another in Educational Leadership. He has been Teacher of the Year twice and has mentored many new teachers. He has been happily married for over 35 years, and he and his wife, Lori, spend time volunteering, reading, camping, gardening, and spoiling their nieces and nephews.
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
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.