Prospera Initiativies: Leadership


	Regla Armengol, Executive Director Regla has more than 20 years of experience as a bilingual educator, program director, and advocate. She was one of the co-founders of The Heritage Language Literacy Club of Bailey’s Elementary School for the Arts and Science in Fairfax County, Virginia. In 1989, Regla was one of a small group of teachers who pioneered the Partial-Immersion Foreign Language Program of the Fairfax County Public Schools. In this capacity, she was instrumental in shaping the curriculum of the program through its initial stages of growth and development. She holds a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the Department of Bilingual Education at George Mason University. In 1998, she was awarded The Washington Post's Agnes B. Meyer Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award and the Fairfax County Teacher of the Year Award. In 1999, she received the National Hispanic Teacher of the Year Award from Hispanic Magazine/Nordstrom and was recognized as a Virginia State Teacher of the Year (Region IV).

Leadership

Stephanie Fillman, Vice President of Program Development

As an educator, curriculum developer, and consultant, Stephanie has worked for over 15 years in support of educational programs that benefit Latino children and their families. Her work at Prospera Initiatives is focused on assisting schools with establishing HLLC programs by providing assistance with program planning, staff development and curriculum design.

She was a co-founder of the Heritage Language Literacy Club (HLLC) at Bailey’s Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia and a Teacher Leader since the inception of the program.

She holds a bachelor in Elementary Education with a minor in the Spanish language and specialization in FLISET (Foreign Language and International Studies for Elementary Teachers), from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, summa cum laude. In 2005 she was recognized for her educational efforts on behalf of Hispanic children and families as a finalist for the Educational Leadership Award from Leadership Fairfax, Inc.

Kristin Percy Calaff, Ph.D - Vice President of Education

Kristin has been committed to improving the achievement of Latino students throughout her career in education. She has over 15 years of experience teaching in ESL, bilingual, and Spanish immersion classrooms in California, Spain, and Virginia. She currently works as a consultant in the Seattle area where she helps local schools establish dual language programs and strengthen existing ones.

In 1999, she was a co-founder of the Heritage Language Literacy Club (HLLC) in Fairfax, Virginia and the author of its highly regarded Tutor Training Program. At Prospera Initiatives Kristin leads all educational efforts, having recently authored the Prospera Initiatives Program Manual for training staff at new HLLC sites. She also works with schools to provide assistance with program planning, staff development and curriculum design.

She received her Ph.D. in Multilingual/Multicultural Education from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, in 2005 and also holds a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction. She taught as an adjunct instructor in the College of Education at George Mason and at the University of Maryland, College Park, and is a full-time lecturer at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2007, she received a Dissertation Award from the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) for her documentation of the successful practices that contribute to Latino students’ preparation for a four-year college or university.