Kumu Keli‘i Taua
PhD Philosophy

Keli‘i Taua is a respected Kumu Hula, musician, composer and Hawaiian Cultural Specialist. He has been involved with Hawaiian youth as an educator with the Hawai‘i Department of Education for many years. Kumu has been teaching with the Maui Language Institute since 2003, both in the Intensive English and Rainbow Studies programs. Hawaiian Studies is an integral part of the Maui Language Institute content-based learning program which connects language and culture.

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Kumu Kapono Kamauna
Master Hula Teacher and Performer

Kapono hails from Maui where he graduated from Baldwin High School and studied Hawaiian Studies and liberal arts at the university level. He graduated as a Kumu Hula in 2001 after nine years of study under Kumu Keli‘i Tau‘a. He has taught Hawaiian Studies and hula at Haleakala Waldorf School, Maui Waena Intermediate School and Baldwin High School. He is the vice president of the Polynesian Tahiti Fete and can be seen in performance as a chanter and dancer at the Old Lahaina Luau.

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Derek Snyder
BA (Anthropology, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo), MA (English as a Second Language, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa)

Derek began his career as an ESL professional by teaching English in Japan. After returning from Japan, Derek pursued a Master‘s degree in ESL at the University of Hawai‘i - Manoa. His graduate studies were focused on content-based curriculum development for the ESL students. Since 2001, Derek has taught ESL extensively across many campuses in the University of Hawai‘i system.

Derek is an instructor for the Second Language Studies Department at the UH-Center on Maui as well as an instructor in the English Department for UHMC. In his free time, Derek enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf, and watching sports.

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Ian Edmondson
BS (Secondary Ed., Michigan State University), MA (Creative Writing, Western Michigan University)

In addition to teaching at MLI, Ian teaches developmental English and creative writing at UH Maui College where he has been an instructor for the past four years. He previously taught full-time at an award winning middle school in Michigan. Before pursuing teaching and graduate studies, Ian was a member of the U.S. Ski Team. He competed in the acrobatic snow sport of freestyle skiing on the international World Cup tour for twelve years. He also ran his own ski camps and coached many young competitors from Japan, Europe, and North America. In Hawaii Ian enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities and is also an artist specializing in ceramic sculpture.

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Susan Briggs - Guest Faculty
BA (California State University), BBS (Weber State College) MEd (University of Hawaii, Manoa), PhD (University of Hawaii, Manoa)

Susan has an extensive teaching career in ESL both in Hawaii and on the US mainland. Prior to joining the faculty at the Maui Language Institute, Susan was an instructor and administrator with the Pasadena City College where she also supervised and coordinated all operations in the ESL multimedia lab. During her doctorate degree, Susan specialized in Higher Education Administration and conducted her research in The Impact of Video Disc Computer Assisted Instruction on College Students Studying English as a Second Language. Susan is currently the Coordinator of the ESL program at Pasedena College in Los Angeles.

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Jennifer Aly
MA (English as a Second Language Education, University of Tennessee)

Jennifer holds a Master's degree in English as a Second Language (ESL) Education from the University of Tennessee. She began teaching ESL in 1999. She received an academic fellowship from the U.S. Department of State to work in Honduras, Central America as a teacher and consultant for 2002-2003. Currently a lecturer in the English Department at Maui Community College, she has also taught English for Art Purposes at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Academic English at the University of Tennessee and was a full-time Instructor at Tennessee Wesleyan College. As a freelance writer, she has a blog, writes for magazines and loves playing with words. In her spare time Jennifer enjoys playing tennis, swimming, learning about Hawaiian culture, traveling, hiking, hula hooping and watching movies.

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Neil Stotts
BA (CSU Fullerton), MA (San Diego State University)

Neil began his teaching career as a student co-founder of CSU Fullerton's Writing Lab where he developed ESL workshops for students from a wide variety of countries. After receiving his Master's in English from SDSU, he began teaching at the intermediate and high school levels. His teaching career has since taken him to other schools and locales, from Mexico to New York, and most recently to UH Maui College and the Maui Language Institute.

In his spare time, Neil enjoys a wealth of outdoor activities in the wide ocean and on the big mountains, and he also enjoys writing, reading, and learning new things.

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Morgan Andaluz
BA (Western Washington University), MA (Western Washington University)

Morgan Andaluz has a Masters of Arts in Teaching Languages and a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from Western Washington University. Morgan began her teaching career in Mexico, where she lived for three years. During that time, she taught English as a Foreign Language at the Universidad Vasco de Quiroga in Morelia, Mexico. She is currently working on a Masters degree in English, and has been teaching reading and writing in the credit English program here at MCC for four years. Previously, Morgan lived on Oahu, where she taught Spanish, ESL, and College Reading and Writing for eight years. Morgan loves to surf, paddle and do Yoga in her free time.

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Stephen Outlaw-Spruell
BA (Emory University)

Stephen has been an instructor of ESL/EFL since 1989. He began in Japan working with students ranging in age from 2 to 80. During that time, he managed 3 language schools and lectured at various colleges, including Hiroshima Prefectural University and Sanyo Women's Junior College. He also designed curriculums for all age groups and all levels of English ability; trained other native and non-native English teachers in ESL/EFL pedagogy; and created and implemented both short-term and long-term Business English programs for Japanese companies such as Fujitsu, Fuji Electric, Mazda-affiliate Kautex Japan, and the Japanese condiment conglomerate, Otafuku, Inc. In 2008, he and his family moved to Maui to continue his career as an ESL/EFL instructor at Maui Language Institute. In addition to teaching, Stephen is also the Short-Term Program Coordinator for MLI.

Stephen is fluent in Japanese and speaks conversational French. He enjoys the outdoors and is especially fond of water sports. His spends most weekends at the beach snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving, or just relaxing. He loves Hawaiian culture and has studied Hawaiian language, chants and hula.

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Marissa Hanada
BA (International Studies, Pepperdine University)

During Marissa's undergraduate career at Pepperdine University, she studied abroad in Florence, Italy, and also traveled throughout Europe . After graduating from Pepperdine University, she received formal ESL training through the JET program, and was an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) for two years in Fukuoka, Japan as part of the Exchange and Teaching (JET). In her free time, Marissa loves being outdoors, especially at the beach, and also enjoys baking and cooking for her friends and family, and staying in touch with her friends back in Japan.

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Gwyn Gorg
BA (Hawaii Pacific University)

Gwyn Gorg's career covers over thirty years in the field of media and entertainment for education and the community. She has worked professionally as an actress, model, dancer, singer, songwriter, storyteller, screenwriter, producer, director and manager in theater, television, radio, film and educational media.

Ms Gorg has taught a diverse range of ESL students. At the Merced Unified School District in Merced, California, for example, the majority of her students were Hmong, Mien, and Laotian refugees from South East Asia. She has taught students from the Americas, all of Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and the South Pacific.

Her involvement with the Los Angeles Unified School District began in 1981. She has taught ESL, Speech, and Drama, including all levels from pre-literacy to GED. She produced the stage musical "West Side Story" with ESL students that aired for five consecutive nights on the district's KLCS television station. She has been the faculty sponsor for annual talent shows and Culmination Awards Events, and has served as a Student Council Advisor. In addition, at the Venice Community Adult School, she was the literacy teacher for three years. In 2008, she was named "Teacher of the Year," by United Teachers of Los Angeles.

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Becky Picher
BSc, MEd

Becky holds a Master's degree in Education, specializing in second language pedagogy. Her educational experience includes ten years of teaching French, French as a Second Language and English as Second Language in both British Columbia and Québec, Canada. Becky is also a 200h registered Yoga Alliance Hatha/Kripalu teacher since 2006 and continues her journey through studies with wonderful yoga teachers worldwide. A former competitive alpine skier, she now enjoys practicing her passion: surfing the waves of Maui.

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Rick Scheideman
Ed.D. (Psychology and Counseling, University of Northern Colorado), M.A. (Theology, Denver Seminary)

As an academic and as a performer, Rick's professional career includes university teaching in psychology, counseling, literature, theology, and theatre. Rick returned to Maui from Colombia, SA where he taught ESL in a bilingual school. As a performer he both directs and acts in the theatre, and tours one-man shows. Musically, he sings and plays flute and guitar. He enjoys writing. Mountaineering, skiing, sailing, swimming, the challenging ocean of Maui, and the discovery of Tai Chi keep his heart pumping and the body moving.

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Emi Young
BA (Asian Studies, UC Berkeley), Multiple Subject Teaching Credential (San Francisco State University), ESL Certification (UC Santa Cruz)

Emi is a San Francisco native but is at one with her new home on Maui. For as long as she can remember, she was in the middle of different cultures, growing up on her city block with kids from Irish Catholic, German Jewish, Chinese, Greek, and Italian and Latin heritages. She attended U.C. Berkeley, where she studied Japanese history, and later, went back for her teaching credential. Subsequently, she went corporate training in a Fortune 500 company in Silicon Valley and doubled as an English language program manager. For the last ten years she has been teaching adults in English as a Second Language and Career Development classes in Union City, California, followed by a decade of teaching at the New Haven Adult School.

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Toshie Outlaw-Spruell - Student Services Specialist
AA (Japanese Literature)

Toshie graduated from Onomichi Junior College in Japan with a degree in Japanese Literature. Before moving to Maui, she spent over 10 years in private English school administration. She also holds certifications in Teaching English as a Second Language to Children and Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language. Since 1998, she has designed and implemented English language curricula for children that have been used extensively in day care centers, community centers, elementary schools and private language institutions in Hiroshima, Japan. She enjoys reading, painting, hiking and water sports.

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Misako Fukuchi
BA (Psychology, University of Rissyo)

Misako was born and raised in Japan and has a Bachelor's degree in the Psychology from Rissyo University. In January 2009, Misako studied English at the University of Hawaii - Manoa NICE program. She was married in Oahu, then moved to Maui and transferred to the Maui Language Institute (MLI). She is currently a student of MLI and UHMC, and the student assistant at MLI. Her interests include cooking and golf.

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