Meet Your ISSI Instructors
Lake Tahoe Community College takes pride in the caliber of the educators who bring their passion and expertise to the ISSI program. Meet the talented individuals who will guide you through an immersive and enriching journey into the Spanish language and culture.
Now, let the introductions begin!
Alana Cayabyab
Alana is excited to join the ISSI team this year. Her own journey of learning Spanish as a second language included a month-long study abroad in Costa Rica as part of her undergraduate degree, as well as taking many Spanish courses in college. As a part of the bi-national teaching credential Mexico BCLAD program, Alana had the opportunity to live in Oaxaca, Mexico. Alana has had the pleasure of being a Spanish Immersion elementary educator at Bijou Community School for 8 years. She is inspired to create experiences for ISSI students to engage in high-interest content and to develop their Spanish together as a community of learners.
Alana encourages anyone learning Spanish to have immersive experiences—spend time with native speakers and travel, if possible, to Spanish-speaking countries. Mexico is her favorite Spanish-speaking country to visit, and just this past spring, she enjoyed exploring the impressive waterfalls in Chiapas! Alana looks forward to meeting you.
Alejandra Quirarte
Alejandra has been teaching at ISSI since it started in 1993. She is passionate about sharing her culture, history, traditions, foods & customs with all levels of Spanish learners.
Her hot tip for new ISSI students is to read children's Spanish books aloud and slowly, and to watch Spanish soap operas and children's cartoon channels. But, more than anything, be patient and not give up on the process of learning any new language. For more advanced students, take a course in a Latin American country where you will immerse yourself fully in the language.
Cecy Gutiérrez
Cecilia was born in Bogota, Colombia. She has been with ISSI since July 2018. She received her B.A. in Foreign Language Education (Spanish and English) from the University of La Gran Colombia in Bogota, where she taught English after graduating. She also taught Spanish language and literature in private and public schools before coming to the United States. She received her first M.A. in Education Administration and Supervision from the Externado University of Colombia in Bogota in 2000, and her second M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from University of Nevada, Reno in 2008. She is currently finishing her doctorate program in education, and she has taught Spanish for over 24 years. She loves her career because she can share not only her culture, but also other Hispanic cultures and of course, learn more about the culture of this wonderful country. She contributed cultural information to the 9th edition of the textbook "Puntos de Partida" for McGraw-Hill. In her spare time, she likes to dance, listen to music, travel, and hang out with friends and family.
Some tips and tricks she recommends to new students is to participate in class using the target language regardless of whether the sentences are well organized or not, and it is also important to take 30 minutes each day to listen to music in Spanish, especially soft ballads to get more vocabulary, watch soap operas and watch/listen to the news to improve the acquisition of this new and interesting language.
Dana Ix
This is the first year that Dana Ix is teaching at ISSI. As a Spanish as a second language learner herself, Dana is passionate about helping others to achieve their goals of mastering a foreign language and experiencing the excitement of learning about other cultures in the process. She studied in Mexico City during her undergraduate program at UC Irvine, and it was one of the most important times in her life! After graduating with her degree in Spanish Literature, she got her BCLAD teaching credential and Master’s degree from UCLA and went on to pursue her career in education. She has been a teacher for over 20 years and has taught in bilingual and dual immersion programs in every grade from 1st through college level at one time or another! She is excited to be coming to ISSI this year and hopes you will enjoy the classes she has prepared!
Dena Marie
Dena has been a part of ISSI since Summer 2016. She was a student participant in 2016 to observe what the program was all about, and in 2017 she started as an instructor.
She loves the enthusiasm her students exude when delving into the nuances of Spanish grammar, the analytical details of the literary works, and culture. The camaraderie feeds her 'alma.' She recommends you attend a variety of classes. Ask peers what their favorites are, be flexible and understanding, and be sure to attend the evening events!
Esther Gormley
Esther has been teaching at LTCC and ISSI since 2008 and has yet to miss a year! Born in Brazil, she fell in love with languages at an early age, and has taught Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English throughout her academic career. She has a Master’s of Arts in Spanish Linguistics from Sacramento State and has lived in many Spanish speaking countries, such as Spain, Mexico, Peru, and Guatemala.
After enjoying the Tahoe life for many years, Esther moved to Reno to raise her two young daughters with her husband David, but she calls the world her home and still travels as much as she can. She has been to over 50 countries and all 7 continents. Her biggest advice to students who want to become fluent is to live in a Spanish speaking country, but if that’s not possible, ISSI is the next best thing! Practice makes perfect, and she hopes to see you at ISSI for many years to come.
Henry Wilds
Henry has been instructing at ISSI since 1994, making this his 29th year as an instructor (although records show he missed 2 years, but who's counting?). That same year, he started doing group travel trips. Shortly after that, it all evolved into the Adventure Travel Institute.
His passion is to inspire beginner and intermediate students to keep moving forward by helping them build a solid, basic understanding of how the Spanish language works.
Jessica Gerland
The first time Jessica taught at ISSI was in 2018, and she hopes to continue well into the future and loves teaching our ISSI students. Jessica is passionate about Spanish language, culture, and Latin American travel, most intimately with ancestral medicines and indigenous cultures and practices. She loves sharing the similarities between languages and cultures and helping people see the life-changing experiences of travel. Outside of ISSI, she's been planning off-the-beaten-path travel adventures and specializes in creating language immersion experiences.
Learning a language takes lots of time, patience, and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. She says you should commit to at least 15 minutes a day of language learning. It's also important to remember that we all make mistakes when speaking, even in our native language, so be willing to take risks and make mistakes. Latinos are some of the friendliest people you will meet, and they greatly appreciate that you are taking the time to learn their language. Immersion is the best way to learn, so continue immersing yourself after ISSI. That could be as simple as watching YouTube videos or movies in Spanish, listening to Spanish music, changing your phone or computer settings to Spanish, or finding a conversation partner. One of her favorite ways to get better at language learning is to read out loud in the target language. It helps with pronunciation, comprehension, and more!
Matthew (Mateo) King
Mateo has been an ISSI instructor since 2018 and every year since (except for 2020, unsurprisingly).
He's passionate about teaching Spanish by way of, and to the end of, communication. Seeing students make the mental connections in their own paradigm of language that allows them to express themselves is truly rewarding. Mateo finds the distinction between past tenses fascinating and thinks storytelling is one of the best ways to solidify one's understanding of that aspect.
Some of Mateo's best practices for new ISSI students are speaking only in Spanish, attending as many classes and breakouts at ISSI as possible, and finding light in their mistakes and miscommunications here in our own safe and encouraging space.
Pat Palley
In 2003, Pat attended ISSI as a student. Pat was raised in Chile, but wanted a review of grammar and more practice speaking and reading. Two years later, she began leading conversation groups and teaching breakout sessions and has participated in ISSI every since. She continues to find it a wonderful program - fun, educational and inspirational!
Pat is most passionate about the students! She loves the diversity in age (she once had an 80+ year old and a high school student in the same group)!
Her advice is to have fun and enjoy the diversity of classes being offered. Be sure to dance or sing or do a craft during the day - it's not just about the subjunctive!!
Sandra Carter
Sandra Carter has been an ISSI instructor for over 15+ years, teaching the core grammar courses, the subjunctive and many breakouts! She has an MA in Spanish and an MA in English from CSUS. She has taught Spanish and English at Cosumnes River College since the 1990’s, as well as conduct small Spanish tutor groups in Sacramento. She has studied, lived and traveled in most of the Latin American countries and has taught English in Mexico and Argentina. Her teaching philosophy centers around the idea that learning Spanish or any second language is more than learning words; it is learning to see the world through a different lens—to see the world as a native Spanish speaker sees the world.
Skip Crosby
As one of ISSI's newest instructors, Skip joined the program in 2022 and is eager to return. Skip's passion is continuous learning and striving to develop the most effective language acquisition strategies. Feedback from a recent student epitomizes this goal: "This class was interesting because I did not think I was understanding the language, and then we would be given a reading assignment or test and I realized I fully understood what he had been teaching us! I was learning without realizing I was learning!" How neat is that? One of Skip's top secrets for Spanish learners is to listen to and read highly repetitive and comprehensible language.
Susanna Janssen
Susanna first joined ISSI in 2018. She is passionate about helping students at all levels crack the “hard nuts” of Spanish language learning, such as learning how to master preterite/imperfect, ser and estar, por and para, and subjunctive; how to become an enthusiastic reader in Spanish; and how to identify and eliminate the common “blind spot” errors that English speakers tend to overlay onto their Spanish.
Susanna suggests that students make every effort to speak Spanish outside the classroom and, the ultimate secret, commit to doing something in Spanish every day for the rest of your life, even if it’s just three minutes of reading aloud or listening to a song in Spanish. Capitalize on the intensive experience to keep making progress on the bilingual path. Engage every day!