Jessa joined the RBERN staff in January 2015. She was a Spanish teacher for seven years in the Capital District and holds a professional certificate in Spanish 7-12 and ESOL. Jessa works extensively with district administrative teams on programmatic and regulatory considerations. She has presented on best practices for ELLs at the regional, national and international level for NYSEC, NCTE, NYSTESOL, NABE and TESOL International. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Spanish from SUNY New Paltz, her master’s degree in Adolescent Education from the College of Saint Rose and her ESOL certification from Mercy College.

Juanita Reyes holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University at Albany, SUNY in New York, and an MA in Spanish from the same institution. Juanita was an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Dominican College from 2020-2022 where she taught Introductory to Advanced Spanish and served as a member for the Faculty Affairs committee. She also taught Spanish for the University of Kansas, and the University of Albany, SUNY, and has experience teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Spanish at Brown School in Schenectady, NY. Dr. Reyes is currently a member of the National Spanish Honor Society, Sigma Delta Pi (Chapter Eta Psi), and has been awarded the Carson Carr Memorial Scholarship, Frank Carrino Scholarship, and the SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology (IITG) Grant. Her research interests include Sociolinguistics, Bilingualism, Dominican Spanish, Spanish in contact with other languages, Spanish in the US, Spanish as a Heritage language, and Dual Language Education. Dr. Reyes currently serves as Program Support Specialist for the Capital Region RBERN (Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network) in upstate New York where she supports the many districts in the region with Dual Language Education, the New York State Seal of Biliteracy, the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute (PRHYLI), World Language, English as a New Language, and much more.

I studied to become an Early Childhood teacher at MCLA (MA College of Liberal Arts) in North Adams. Then continued my studies by receiving a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning with a Concentration in Reading at Nova Southeastern University of Fort Lauderdale, FL. I completed my studies by receiving an Educational Specialist degree in Reading and Language Arts at UMASS in Lowell. My teaching career began in 2004 as a Pre-school teacher in East Greenwich, RI. I have taught in several cities, and even around the world, including Orlando, FL, throughout MA, and in Al Ain, which is in the UAE (United Arab Emirates). Throughout my career I have taught and worked with ELL’s ranging from Pre-K through 5th. grade, in SEI (Sheltered English Immersion) classes, and in whole classes while living overseas in the Middle East. This is my first year working for the school districts of NY, as well as my first month working for Questar III BOCES. I am excited for this next chapter in my educational career working as an RBERN Specialist, with a focus on elementary ELL education.

Ms. Kristen Vadnais, ED. S

Ricardo studied Spanish linguistics with a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Secondary education at the University at Albany. He is a doctorate candidate investigating the outcomes of dialect contact between Dominican and Puerto Rican Spanish in Puerto Rico. He researches how social factors can affect the acquisition and use of specific linguistic features in Dominican Spanish and how these factors can affect the identity of second-generation Dominicans in Puerto Rico. Besides his dissertation, he has researched heritage language acquisition, specifically the contribution of psychosocial and biographical variables to heritage language learners’ linguistic knowledge of Spanish.

Ricardo has 12 years of experience teaching Spanish, linguistics, and cultural and methodology courses. He taught mainly in higher Ed. (University at Albany, Florida State University, Mercyhurst University & Penn State University) with two years at the high school level in Tallahassee, FL, and Albany, NY.

Aside from his job duties, Ricardo has been a professional athlete and competed internationally for Puerto Rico.

This is his first year working for Questar III BOCES as a Program Support Specialist for RBERN. He looks forward to working with the RBERN team to build a better support system in our district.

Chris joined Questar III BOCES as a data analyst in 2014. He supports the work of the Capital District RBERN as well as working with a number of local districts and on other Questar initiatives. Chris earned an undergraduate degree in History from SUNY Geneseo, an MSEd from SUNY Cortland, and a Graduate Certificate of Advanced Study in Program Evaluation from The College of Saint Rose. When not at work, you can find Chris writing and recording music and exploring the outdoors with his wife and three young children.