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Our Director

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQHpb7EXXI&feature=related

Our video 2009 will tell you our story and show you how much we care about the program your children will enjoy with us.

     

Maria Isabel Martinez or Ms.Bel, as she is affectionately called by her students, is the founder and director of Spanish All Year, formally known as “Westbury Language Center.” She is originally from Colombia and arrived in New York at the age of 19.  Ever since she was fourteen she has dedicated her time to working on community projects. 

In college, Ms.Bel intended to pursue a career in social work.  While taking a course on multicultural education, Ms.Bel came across Dr. Josie O’Neill who inspired her to become a teacher, and later on became her mentor.  She began her career at Hicksville Public Library, where she founded 1991 the Library Spanish Program that is still up and running.  

In 1993 she became the k-6 Spanish teacher for Westbury Friends, while being the Spanish interpreter and translator for Hicksville School District.  After graduation from SUNY “Old Westbury” in 1995, Ms.Bel became a Kindergarten Dual Language Teacher for Bay Shore School District until 2001.  

 On December 2000, Ms.Bel opened the doors to Westbury Language Center on a part time basis until forced to take a sabbatical to finish her Masters.  With a smile on her face she confesses to have almost a Masters (12 graduate credits from NYU in Linguistics and 18 credits from Queens College in Spanish Linguistics and Literature).  She insists that is the only unfinished business that has allow her to fulfill her dream.

Today the Center serves students ranging from 12 months to 12 years of age.  The Center serves students through the Español sobre ruedas (one of the Center’s outreach programs that bring Spanish into public and private schools).  In addition to our Spanish classes, with the support of the State and the Westbury Public Schools, we offer English as a Second Language Program to adults in our community. 

Ms.Bel, is very active with The Long Island Children's Museum where she supports the parent component for "Juntos to Kindergarten" a program that aims to prepare Latino parents entering the public schools for the past six years.

She serves in the National Committee to LTBT "Learn Together Be Together" Program with the leadership of Jeanmarie Walsh, where they aim to educate parents who are facing some difficulties in Family Court or Social Service. 

This year she join GEAR UP a program run by Nassau Community College, where she educate Latino parents on how to send your child to college.

In addition, Ms.Bel visits public schools supporting teachers as a a liaison with Latino Parents.  

Ms.Bel enjoys the diversity of her staff.  Her teachers represent almost every corner of the Spanish-speaking world and they are a great example of the kind of treasure that you will find at the center.  The teachers are native speakers who are knowledgeable about their topic, adept at teaching children, and enthusiastic about sharing language and culture.

 
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  Spanish All Year Informs!
 
 
Over 332 million people in the world speak Spanish as their first language; another 100 million people speak Spanish as a second language [More...]
 
Learning a second language at an early age
  *Has a positive effect on intellectual growth
  *Enriches and enhances a child’s mental development.
  *Gives a child the ability to communicate with people he/she would otherwise not have the chance to know.
  *Gives a student a head start in language requirements for college.
  *Increases job opportunities in many careers where knowing another language is a real asset.
[More...]
 

 

 

 
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