Meet the Teachers
The success of the Center for Community Arts Partnerships' Saturday Scholars program would not be possible without the dedicated service of the following teachers.
W. Terrell Burgess
Terrell received his bachelor's degree in math education at DePaul University and master's degree in educational leadership at Roosevelt University. He is a former Saturday Scholar and was one of the first program coordinators. He currently teaches math concepts for Saturday Scholars. Burgess is a Golden Apple winner and has taught for seven years at Lane Tech High School. He will be teaching at Oak Park-River Forest High School in fall of 2006.
Allen Cichon
Allen Cichon is the vice president of private client services for JPMorgan Chase. He has 30 years of banking experience. Cichon received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Loyola University in Chicago. Prior to his banking career, Cichon was a teacher and principal. He has been a mentor with Saturday Scholars for eight years, currently having sent off the Class of 2006, and teaches the program's Financial Literacy classes.
Deb DiPasquale
DiPasquale currently works at JPMorgan Chase Bank in HR Recruiting. For many years, she was in charge of Bank One Academy in Chicago, a program that helped place high school students in jobs at the bank and trained supervisors to work with them. She also worked with the Hire the Future program at the bank, which helped hire and train summer interns. DiPasquale has worked with Saturday Scholars for eight years as a program mentor and most recently as a teacher. She teaches classes at Saturday Scholars in the following: resume building, interviewing skills, etiquette, conflict resolution, basic principles study skills, and college/career on-line searches.
Paula Epstein
Paula Epstein is a Reference Librarian and Bibliographic Instructor at Columbia College Chicago. She is involved in the library component of how to research a topic, as well as finding career, scholarship and college information. Epstein is a Certified Nursing Assistant, and has an associate's degree in radiological technology, a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology, as well as a master's degree in library and information science. She belongs to the American Library Association, Art Libraries Society of North America, and the Association of College and Research Libraries. Epstein also chairs the North American Relations Committee and the ARTS Liaison - Publicity Committee. She is a contributor to two Library Research Guides - Core Collection in Dance, ALA, 2001, and Dictionary for Artists and Performers and Managers: 1995-1999.
Roberta Heinrich
Heinrich is a former teacher who currently trains student teachers. She has been with Saturday Scholars for eight years. Heinrich's expertise is writing, from college essays and current events, to poetry and seminar/book discussion. For the past five years, she has facilitated Saturday Scholars' Summer Reading program, where Scholars have read There are No Children Here, Of Beetles and Angels, Warriors Don't Cry, The Alchemist, A Hope in the Unseen, The Things They Carried and The Kite Runner. Heinrich is also an advisor for Saturday Scholars.
Terre Holmes
Holmes is an award winning speaker, actress, educator, business owner and author. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in communication and has been speaking and teaching entrepreneurship, leadership development, presentation, writing and communication skills to students of all ages for more than 10 years. Holmes currently teaches speech as an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago. She also runs her own business, Aspire to Inspire Communication LLC, a communications firm that produces educational activities and video.
Cynthium Johnson-Woodfolk
Johnson-Woodfolk received her bachelor of arts from Columbia College Chicago and is currently completing both a master's in the teaching of writing and a master's in fine arts in creative writing. She is a teaching artist with other CCAP programs including Project AIM and Urban Missions. Johnson-Woodfolk is a recipient of the Academic Excellence Award, the Hermann Conaway Leadership Award, and the Dwight Follett Fellowship. She was a 2004-2005 fellow in the Illinois Consortium for Educational Opportunity Program, and her work appears in Hair Trigger 9, 10, 25, and 26. At Saturday Scholars, she teaches creative writing and public speaking.
Marilu Gonzalez
Marilu Gonzalez is a first-generation Mexican and has been a resident of Chicago's Little Village community for 25 years. Gonzalez's passion for social justice issues has led her to organize in and around the city for more than 20 years. She has been particularly active working with Mexican youth and undocumented immigrants. She recently became a full-time student at the Catholic Theological Union, pursuing her master's degree in pastoral studies. She is a member of St. Agnes of Bohemia Parish and active in the Little Village Violence Prevention collaborative.
David Pritchett
Pritchett is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago, and is affiliated with several departments including Arts, Entertainment & Media Management (AEMM) and English. He is very active in community development initiatives locally, nationally and globally. Pritchett has conducted seminars and consulted for various organizations on cultural diversity. He has been teaching goal setting with Saturday Scholars since the 2006-2007 academic year.
John Riley
Riley worked with Kaplan ACT Preparation. He has been with the Saturday Scholars program for six years. Riley currently leads the Saturday Scholars' Socratic seminars, where Scholars learn critical thinking skills by reading short stories, usually from the Great Books curriculum.
Lori Zaimi-Cuevas
Lorianne Zaimi-Cuevas was born and raised in Chicago. In addition to being a former Saturday Scholar, she spent four years as a coordinator of the program, and was a mentor for the Class of 2002. Zaimi-Cuevas teaches math, study and learning skills, and life skills classes. She earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education with a concentration in mathematics, as well as a master's degree in math education from DePaul University. She currently teaches eighth-grade Algebra I at Sabin Magnet School, and works as a trainer for the Young People's Project, which prepares high school and college students to teach math at the elementary school level.
W. Terrell Burgess
Terrell received his bachelor's degree in math education at DePaul University and master's degree in educational leadership at Roosevelt University. He is a former Saturday Scholar and was one of the first program coordinators. He currently teaches math concepts for Saturday Scholars. Burgess is a Golden Apple winner and has taught for seven years at Lane Tech High School. He will be teaching at Oak Park-River Forest High School in fall of 2006.
Allen Cichon
Allen Cichon is the vice president of private client services for JPMorgan Chase. He has 30 years of banking experience. Cichon received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Loyola University in Chicago. Prior to his banking career, Cichon was a teacher and principal. He has been a mentor with Saturday Scholars for eight years, currently having sent off the Class of 2006, and teaches the program's Financial Literacy classes.
Deb DiPasquale
DiPasquale currently works at JPMorgan Chase Bank in HR Recruiting. For many years, she was in charge of Bank One Academy in Chicago, a program that helped place high school students in jobs at the bank and trained supervisors to work with them. She also worked with the Hire the Future program at the bank, which helped hire and train summer interns. DiPasquale has worked with Saturday Scholars for eight years as a program mentor and most recently as a teacher. She teaches classes at Saturday Scholars in the following: resume building, interviewing skills, etiquette, conflict resolution, basic principles study skills, and college/career on-line searches.
Paula Epstein
Paula Epstein is a Reference Librarian and Bibliographic Instructor at Columbia College Chicago. She is involved in the library component of how to research a topic, as well as finding career, scholarship and college information. Epstein is a Certified Nursing Assistant, and has an associate's degree in radiological technology, a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology, as well as a master's degree in library and information science. She belongs to the American Library Association, Art Libraries Society of North America, and the Association of College and Research Libraries. Epstein also chairs the North American Relations Committee and the ARTS Liaison - Publicity Committee. She is a contributor to two Library Research Guides - Core Collection in Dance, ALA, 2001, and Dictionary for Artists and Performers and Managers: 1995-1999.
Roberta Heinrich
Heinrich is a former teacher who currently trains student teachers. She has been with Saturday Scholars for eight years. Heinrich's expertise is writing, from college essays and current events, to poetry and seminar/book discussion. For the past five years, she has facilitated Saturday Scholars' Summer Reading program, where Scholars have read There are No Children Here, Of Beetles and Angels, Warriors Don't Cry, The Alchemist, A Hope in the Unseen, The Things They Carried and The Kite Runner. Heinrich is also an advisor for Saturday Scholars.
Terre Holmes
Holmes is an award winning speaker, actress, educator, business owner and author. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in communication and has been speaking and teaching entrepreneurship, leadership development, presentation, writing and communication skills to students of all ages for more than 10 years. Holmes currently teaches speech as an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago. She also runs her own business, Aspire to Inspire Communication LLC, a communications firm that produces educational activities and video.
Cynthium Johnson-Woodfolk
Johnson-Woodfolk received her bachelor of arts from Columbia College Chicago and is currently completing both a master's in the teaching of writing and a master's in fine arts in creative writing. She is a teaching artist with other CCAP programs including Project AIM and Urban Missions. Johnson-Woodfolk is a recipient of the Academic Excellence Award, the Hermann Conaway Leadership Award, and the Dwight Follett Fellowship. She was a 2004-2005 fellow in the Illinois Consortium for Educational Opportunity Program, and her work appears in Hair Trigger 9, 10, 25, and 26. At Saturday Scholars, she teaches creative writing and public speaking.
Marilu Gonzalez
Marilu Gonzalez is a first-generation Mexican and has been a resident of Chicago's Little Village community for 25 years. Gonzalez's passion for social justice issues has led her to organize in and around the city for more than 20 years. She has been particularly active working with Mexican youth and undocumented immigrants. She recently became a full-time student at the Catholic Theological Union, pursuing her master's degree in pastoral studies. She is a member of St. Agnes of Bohemia Parish and active in the Little Village Violence Prevention collaborative.
David Pritchett
Pritchett is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia College Chicago, and is affiliated with several departments including Arts, Entertainment & Media Management (AEMM) and English. He is very active in community development initiatives locally, nationally and globally. Pritchett has conducted seminars and consulted for various organizations on cultural diversity. He has been teaching goal setting with Saturday Scholars since the 2006-2007 academic year.
John Riley
Riley worked with Kaplan ACT Preparation. He has been with the Saturday Scholars program for six years. Riley currently leads the Saturday Scholars' Socratic seminars, where Scholars learn critical thinking skills by reading short stories, usually from the Great Books curriculum.
Lori Zaimi-Cuevas
Lorianne Zaimi-Cuevas was born and raised in Chicago. In addition to being a former Saturday Scholar, she spent four years as a coordinator of the program, and was a mentor for the Class of 2002. Zaimi-Cuevas teaches math, study and learning skills, and life skills classes. She earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education with a concentration in mathematics, as well as a master's degree in math education from DePaul University. She currently teaches eighth-grade Algebra I at Sabin Magnet School, and works as a trainer for the Young People's Project, which prepares high school and college students to teach math at the elementary school level.