Board 2021-2022

Joseph DiLucente
President

Curriculum/ESL Supervisor, Westmoreland Intermediate Unit and Founder, English Language Starts, LLC; I am a former ESL teacher, an ESL adjunct instructor, and a K-12 ESL supervisor.

I founded English Language Starts, LLC to provide additional support to our English learners and help their schools become more inclusive.

I want to continue my service as a leader for our local ESL community.

Affiliation: English Language Starts

president@threeriverstesol.org

Dr. Jason Litzenberg
Vice President

Dr. Jason Litzenberg: Associate Teaching Professor of Applied Linguistics / Director of the Intensive English Communication Program at The Pennsylvania State University; I have a PhD in Applied Linguistics and ESL from Georgia State University.

I have over 20 years of experience as a TESOL professional in North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. My research interests include phonetics/phonology, language attitudes, linguistic landscapes, language teaching, language teacher education, and language program administration.

Affiliation: Penn State University

vp@threeriverstesol.org

Kathy Lipecky
Past President

Kathy Lipecky joined the ESL Program at Duquesne University in 2014. As the program’s ESL Specialist, she coordinates the peer tutoring program, student activities and placement/benchmark testing among other administrative responsibilities.

She received her Bachelor’s in English and Journalism at Duquesne University, where she later completed her TESOL certification. She also has a Master of Business Administration degree from South University. Her interest areas are in curriculum design, content-based instruction and assessment.

Affiliation: Duquesne University

pastpres@threeriverstesol.org

Susan McKeever
Secretary

ESL Coordinator, Westmoreland Intermediate Unit and Consultant, English Language Starts, LLC; I am a K-12 ESL Coordinator, K-12 ESL Specialist, an ESL adjunct instructor and a consultant for English Language Starts, LLC.

Each of these positions affords me the opportunity to pursue my passion of teaching, working with, and advocating for speakers of other languages. I seek to have more opportunities with Three Rivers TESOL to continue this important advocacy work.

Affiliation: English Language Starts

secretary@threeriverstesol.org

Michael Burke
Treasurer

Mr. Michael Burke joined Duquesne University in 2013. He currently holds the position of Director of International Student Services in the university’s Center for Global Engagement.

He earned his M.Ed. and TESOL certification from the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to his experience in the US, he worked and lived in the United Arab Emirates for more than a decade. His professional interests include sociolinguistics, second language assessment, program administration, and educational leadership.

Affiliation: Duquesne University

treasurer@threereiverstesol.org

Dr. Susan Morris-Rutledge
Webmaster

Dr. Susan Morris-Rutledge is an associate professor of Secondary Education at the California University of Pennsylvania. Her field of study and research is teaching English as a second language. She is particularly interested in school personnel attitudes and perceptions toward English language learner inclusion in school-wide settings and advocacy, especially for improved school personnel/ educator preparation and English language learner inclusion in all aspects of preK-12 grade educational settings.

She teaches all the required English language learner’s course for all education certification areas and coordinates an ESL specialist teacher program. This is her 10th year at CALU. Dr. Morris-Rutledge was the recipient of the 2016 TESOL Top 30 up and coming researchers, the 2016 Dr. Caryl Sheffield Faculty Excellence Award, and the 2019 Faculty Professional Development Award at CALU. She loves learning about language, through language, and for language.

Affiliation: California University of Pennsylvania

webmaster@threeriverstesol.org