About the LEA Committee
The LEA Committee is a newly-formed group of professionals from Local Education Agencies (LEAs) within member states. Our mission is to amplify the voice of LEAs in NAELPA and advocate for and prioritize the needs of LEAs in policymaking, practices, and professional learning as they pertain to multilingual learners.
We are currently working on gathering and developing guidance on the Seal of Biliteracy for LEAs. Our goal is to provide a guiding document with resources, examples, considerations for initiating the Seal of Biliteracy and expanding current processes in LEAs, and contact information of experts in the field to support schools districts with the implementation of the Seal of Biliteracy with their students. This work will also include best practices for involving parents and families in the discussion of providing opportunities for their children to participate in the program.
The committee meets on the second Tuesday of the month from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET/12:00 pm - 1 pm CT, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm MT, 10:00 am - 11:00 am PT
Jill Bessette
Jill Bessette brings 25+ years of experience in education and is dedicated to prioritizing access to high quality teaching and learning for multilingual learners in Connecticut. Jill currently serves as a Regional Education Specialist for Multilingual Learner Education at LEARN in Connecticut. Since 2013, she has been an Adjunct Instructor at the University of St. Joseph’s TESOL Graduate Degree program in Hartford, CT. Her diverse background includes roles as an elementary classroom teacher, middle school TESOL teacher, and Mathematics Curriculum & Instruction Coordinator. Jill has shared her work focused on anti-racism and linguistic equity for multilingual learners at both the state and national levels. She is completing a doctorate degree in Teaching English as a Second or Other Language (TESOL) at Anaheim University. Jill has been a Member - at - Large on the Executive Board of NAELPA since 2022 and is co-chairing the newly formed LEA Committee, dedicated to projecting the voices of the Local Education Agencies within the NAELPA membership.
Deborah Wilkes
Deborah Wilkes currently services as the ESL Coordinator for Cumberland County Schools, NC. Deborah has been a member of NAEPLA since 2019 and is a former NAELPA Executive Board Member At-Large. Deborah brings 32 years of experience in TESL both nationally and internationally, 23 years of which have been in Public Schools in NC. Deborah holds a Master’s degree in Education with ESL from Meredith College in NC and was named North Carolina’s Migrant Education Teacher of the Year in 2003. Deborah is a National Board Certified Teacher of English as a New Language and received the Carolina TESOL Distinguished Service Award in November of 2021.
Deborah’s professional experience includes roles such as ESL Lead Teacher, district-wide SIOP Coach, high school SIOP Co-Teacher, district-wide ESL Instructional Facilitator, State ESL Consultant, State Curriculum and Professional Development writer. Deborah Education Instructor and TESL consultant for the University of North Carolina Wilmington, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, and NC State University.
Deborah has worked extensively with the NC Department of Public Instruction to develop programs and curriculum for EL/ML students and particularly enjoys working alongside classroom teachers to design instruction and materials to meet the needs of EL/ML populations.