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 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 daughter now uses English, Mandarin & Spanish at home, and is particularly fond of singing songs in any language. Rachelle Blair, Director - Eastside Rachelle joined Sponge after many years of running her own English language school in Japan. After getting her BA in Asian Studies from the University of Puget Sound, Rachelle lived and worked in Japan, China and Tonga--teaching language and culture. She is excited to be back home in the US helping families here learn about other parts of the world. Her young son speaks Japanese and English. Freya Wormus, Director - Seattle Freya fell in love with Sponge taking Spanish classes with her son, and jumped at the chance to be the Seattle director. Recently, she has been the business manager for Artist Trust, a state-wide arts organization as well as the Artistic Director of the acclaimed BetterBiscuitDance company. She enjoys using her administrative skills and creativity to support both families and teachers in their language and cultural journeys.

	Our teachers are experienced educators who know how to make acquiring language fun.
	French 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. Renee Simard is a native French speaker who grew up in Quebec where she helped illiterate adults learn to read and write in French. She sings and dances and has even tried the trapeze. She has one daughter who is completely bilingual.
	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. Kasumi Yamashita grew up at home in 2 countries. She attended universities in both Japan and the United States, and has taught Japanese in the US and English in Japan. She is a cultural anthropologist who also speaks Spanish and Portuguese. She loves doing arts and crafts with her young bilingual daughter. 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. 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! Jun Wang holds degrees in Chinese Language and Literature from Fuyang Normal College and a Masters in Teaching English as a Second Language from Seattle University. Jun loves teaching language to students of all ages - both native and non-native speakers. 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 preschool.
	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. 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.