Staunton Language and Cultural Center

Promoting Cultural Awareness through Language Instruction
Home
About Us
In the News...
Contact Us
Courses for Fall 2009
Courses for Spring 2010
Prices
Application
Course Description
Site Map
The Staff
Michele Dixon Edwards is the director of SLCC.  Her professional experience includes almost 20 years of work in education in a variety of settings.  She received her BA in French in 1990 from the University of Virginia and earned an M.Ed. in Special Education at Virginia Commonwealth University.  Michele has worked as a school administrator for small, private special education schools in Northern Virginia and Maryland, and more recently gained employment with Augusta County Schools.  She began teaching French at Stewart Middle School and Fort Defiance High School in 2007.   Michele is certified by the State of Virginia to teach French and Special Education.
 
On the personal side, Michele grew up in Alexandria, Virginia and moved to Staunton with her husband, Wally, and two children, Maeve and Owen in 2003.   Michele and her children have travelled in Canada, France, and Costa Rica, studying French and Spanish along the way.  Maeve and Owen are learning French at SLCC and Michele is studying Creole. 
Marina Obrusnik- Spanish teacher.  Marina is a native of Uruguay and has lived in the United States withe her husband, Sergio, and her two children for 6 years.  Marina is a trained musician and music teacher.  Beside teaching Spanish, she plays the piano for a local church.
 
 
  
 
Patrick Eugene- Creole teacher.  Patrick is from Hinche, Haiti and has been in the United States for 3 years studying English at Eastern Mennonite University and Computer Science at James Madison University.  Patrick works for a non-profit group in Haiti called Chemenlavi (Path of Hope) whose mission is to raise support for education for all children in Haiti. 
Joachim Bagirirwa- French teacher.  Joachim is from the African nation of Burundi and speaks five languages.  French is his native language, as it is the instructional language in schools in Burundi.  Joachim completed his medical studies in St. Petersburg, Russia and earned a Masters in Health Policy at Tulane University in New Orleans.