Volunteers
|
|
Rick Belcher
|
I was born in South Carolina and currently live in East Tennessee with my wife Linda, a silly dog Elsa, and a few chickens. I am a US Navy Veteran and after my service I attended the University of Tennessee and earned a Bachelor and a Master's degree. I taught Engineering and Manufacturing to High school students before taking an Engineering position in the private sector that I recently retired from. My favorite hobbies are fishing and kayaking. My favorite activity is spending time with GOD's word studying the bible with a Bible Study Fellowship International group. We meet on line once a week and it is truly a blessing. I am also blessed to be teaching the English 1 class to a fabulous group of students! |
Marcia Benedict
|
Marcia Benedict lives in Portland, Oregon. She taught English and writing to high school students who needed better skills in these subjects. She was also a high school counselor. Presently, she also teaches ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) in her church and hopes to continue teaching GED WRITING to ForgetNot students. |
Machiko Watanabe
|
I was born and raised in Tokyo. After working for a real estate company for 12 years, I decided to leave my job when my husband was transferred abroad. We lived in Oregon for three years. During that time, I had the opportunity to learn English, and inspired by that experience, I obtained a qualification as a Japanese language teacher. I have a passion for cultural exchange. I teach Japanese at a language school in Tokyo and also work as an online tutor. |
Karina Lee
|
A lifelong Oregonian, Karina works for an education technology company as a user experience designer. Prior to this, she taught violin and writing for several years. She is eager to work with students again, helping them forge a path in their education journey towards a fulfilling vocation. Some of Karina's favorite pastimes are reading, playing her violin with other musicians, cooking new recipes, and spending time with her family. |
Sung and Jessie Yoon
|
Sung and Jessie are currently living in Oregon with two beautiful daughters and a lovely dog. They both grew up in South Korea and came to the USA for graduate studies.
Jessie has held multiple analyst positions in financial services and electric utility industries. Outside of work, Jessie enjoys watching Broadway musicals, baking and playing the flute (as a beginner). Sung has served as a machine learning expert in multiple industries such as semiconductor, electric utilities, and entertainment. He is dedicated to helping people and businesses to succeed with data based insights. Sung loves to cook, especially Korean cuisine, and brew a fresh cup of coffee. They both share the same passion to help grow people around them. |
Jordan Johnson
|
Jordan was born and grew up outside of Portland, Oregon. He has been teaching for 11 years. After teaching English in South Korea for two years, Jordan got his Masters degree in teaching. He taught in Washington state and in Beirut, Lebanon. He is now back in the US. Jordan has a heart for serving those who are overlooked. Jordan enjoys cooking Korean food and baking sourdough bread. He also enjoys looking for and cooking with food he finds in nature. Recently he has been learning a lot about the edible mushrooms that grow all around us. |
Wonjae Kang
|
Wonjae L. Kang is currently working for Immigrants and Refugee non-profit organization for the last two and half years after having an engineering management career at Intel Corporation. Wonjae is passionate about how technology can help the non-profit's mission and the people they serve in various ways. |
Kelvin Paul
|
Kelvin is a Computer Engineer who is passionate about educating young minds on the topics of technology and renewable energy. He spent his early childhood in India and attended middle school and high school in Taiwan. Having been raised as a "third-culture kid," Kelvin loves getting to meet people from different cultural backgrounds. Kelvin holds a Bachelor's Degree in Electronics and Computer Engineering and graduated with a Master's Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Portland State University, Portland, OR. He currently resides with his family in Portland and works as a Pre-Silicon Verification Engineer at Siemens Digital Industries Software. In college, Kelvin led a university club which hosted multiple events to educate student communities in India on the topics of renewable energy and sustainable living. In Taiwan, he volunteered to serve in multiple student outreach programs. Kelvin is driven to continue helping student communities to have a well-rounded education through technology. |
Laurie Howard
|
Laurie is a retired elementary school teacher in Oregon, who keeps busy as a substitute teacher to keep the connections made with staff, students, and families. During her tenure as an elementary teacher, Laurie earned her "English as a Second Language" endorsement. Laurie has been married to her husband, Don, for forty-one years. They have two grown children and being Nana and Papa to four granddaughters ages 3, 5, 9, and 11 (and one grandson due to make his appearance in October of 2022!). Laurie has a heart and passion to touch the lives of students in SE Asia. |