Sponge - About us

We’re a diverse group who share a passion for children and early language learning.

	Jackie Friedman Mighdoll, Founder Jackie has been working internationally and inter-culturally for more than a decade. She has developed radio programs, consumer electronics products and Internet services for US and international markets. After her first son was born, she recognized the importance of acquiring language from an early age and founded Sponge. She is the author of the National Network Early Language Learning journal article ÒStarting Young: Best Practices for Ages 0-6Ó and an advocate and speaker on early language learning. She has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and a Masters in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Rachel VanDeMark, Regional Director Rachel started at Sponge as a parent in our pilot program and loved it so much that she joined us as the director of our Mt Baker location. Rachel has a BA in Psychology and a BS in Nursing--and believes in treating families and children as individuals in the context of their own unique situations. Her young children use English, Mandarin & Spanish at home, and are particularly fond of singing songs in any language. Madeleine Fish, Director - Eastside Madeleine and her son had so much fun in Spanish class at our Eastside location that when it was time for Madeleine to go back to work, she was thrilled to join the team. She brings years of experience in customer support and operations management at Amazon.com, and a love of language that started at five years old making crêpes with a Parisian neighbor!

	Our teachers are experienced educators who know how to make acquiring language fun.
	French Sophie Bertin comes from Normandy, France where previous work includes educating special needs children. She loves music--especially, the flute. She also enjoys hearing her two young children speaking in their new language--English. Laurence Milleroux is a native of France. She worked in Paris in the French film industry before moving to Seattle. She and her husband have a young son, who is growing up bilingual. Laurence enjoys all kinds of theatrical arts including movies, music, dance and drama.
	Japanese Shuku Dymond graduated from Kochi Women's University in Japan, with a degree in Japanese Literature. In Japan she taught elementary through high school students Japanese, Math & English. Shuku loves playing games and doing crafts with her young bilingual son. Rie Mizoguchi Zilly is a native of Japan. She got her Masters in Teaching after moving to the US, and did her internship at the John Stanford International School where she is also their favorite substitute teacher. She has one young energetic son who is learning to speak both Japanese and English.
	Mandarin Lillian Ai graduated from Shanghai's Fudan University with a Bachelor's degree in Foreign Languages and Literature. Besides her native China and the US, Lillian has also lived and worked in Germany and Thailand. She loves singing karaoke and dancing. Yi Ning Chen moved from Shanghai to the United States when she was eight years old. She is now fluent in both Mandarin and English. Yi Ning has taught art, music and language to young children. She plays the piano and violin and loves Chinese painting. Wenxin Huang Gillis comes from a family of musicians and is an experienced music teacher. She graduated from Nanjing Normal University in China. Her young daughter can sing more than 100 songs in Mandarin! Xiaojing Shen is originally from Shanghai, China. She has a BA in Chinese Language and Literature Education and a Masters in Second Language Teaching. She has taught Mandarin both in China and in the US. She loves playing with and learning alongside her young son, whom she is raising bilingually. Mei Zhu comes from Beijing originally. She loves playing games with young children. Mei has two young boys who speak beautiful Mandarin and are now learning English at school.
	Spanish Noelia Arzan graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a Bachelor's degree in Modern Languages (French, Italian and Portuguese) and a Juris Doctor. She loves dancing, yoga and capoeira. Noelia is the proud aunt of a bilingual nephew. Isa Calderon comes from Lima, Peru where she taught preschool children English and visiting foreigners Spanish. Recently, she has been singing, dancing and playing traditional Peruvian games with her infant son. Claudia Garcia Alor is originally from Mexico and loves sharing her culture and language with kids. She enjoys singing, acting, dancing and playing with young children, and believes that engaging in dynamic activities is the best way to learn. Lorena Gonzalez grew up in Mexico with a love of music and dance. She discovered her joy of teaching young children when she taught Spanish in an Oregon Head Start program. She has two young bilingual sons. Nadia Miranda is originally from Costa Rica. She studied and worked for 12 years in Germany where she met her husband--and now they are happy to be living on the Eastside with their 2 trilingual children. Nadia taught math at a German school in Costa Rica. Valeria Spring is from Argentina where she originally trained as a photographer. She enjoys spending time with young children and their parents and has been a group facilitator for the Program in Early Parenting Support. She has a young daughter who is trying out new words in Spanish and English daily.