Tara McHUGH

Tara has been teaching a range of subjects including Literacy, Math, Social Studies and Science in elementary schools for fourteen years in Ireland and in New York City.

A dynamic and compelling presenter, she has been a valuable member of the CHF Team, giving multiple orientations annually for the Cordell Hull Foundation in New York City and in Garden City, New York for the past three years plus she has presented Zoom orientations for Baccalaureate teachers whose visas are sponsored by CHF in the Bay Area in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, California.

Recognized consistently for performance based excellence and contributions to success in education, she has worked in several New York City Charter Schools where she has also been called upon to learn Spanish and teach an increasing number of young students from Spanish speaking countries who have very little command of English. She has demonstrated a commitment to building inclusive classroom settings that offer world class curriculum and instruction to the students being served. She has strong classroom management in classrooms of up to 30 students at a time.

Tara is lso a certified personal trainer by Setanta College in Ireland, a certified Trauma Support practictioner, and holds a Bachelor of Education from St. Patrick’s College in Dublin.  She is currently working toward her Masters and obtaining a New York State teaching certification.

Kevin GLASS

Kevin Glass, innovator and prominent International Baccalaureate Head of school in the US, has been the Cordell Hull Foundation’s foremost guest orientation moderator and lecturer for the past fifteen years.  When he can fit it into his schedule, he travels to New York City on a weekend in September to present the orientation to the ever-growing number of teachers who are sponsored under the Cordell Hull Foundation’s sponsorship and mentoring in the New York/New Jersey metro corridor.  Born in England, his career in education includes leadership and teaching positions in South and West Africa, Central and North America, and Central Asia. Prior to joining Atlanta International School, Kevin was Director of Tashkent International School in Uzbekistan for five years.

Kevin has held office and served on various local, national and international Boards, including the Association for the Advancement of International Education (AAIE), the Academy for International School Heads (AISH), the Center for the Advancement and Study of International Education (CASIE), Horizons Atlanta, the Atlanta Area Association of Independent Schools (AAAIS) and the Buckhead Coalition.

He holds a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Framingham State College (USA), a Post Graduate Certificate of Education in Biology and Chemistry from Cambridge University (UK), and a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) Degree in Bacteriology and Virology from Manchester University (UK).

You can find Kevin’s personal presentation on strategies for teachers in Independent Schools to communiate with student’s parents:  www.vimeo.com/184075184
He also appears as the principal commentator in the Cordell Hull Foundation International Bacccalaureate School video describing the structure and benefits of the curriculum in:  www.vimeo.com/440890446

Francisco CAJARAVILLE

For several years Francisco Cajaraville has narrated CHF orientations in Spanish for Visiting Teachers from Spain and other countries. He held a scholarship from AFS (American Field Service) and graduated from high school in Connecticut.  In Spain he is a Technical Advisor and Robotics program teacher trainer in Educational Technologies tenured in the Spain Ministry of Education.

Since 2021, he has helped CHF translate updated sections of orientation programs, narrated CHF orientation videos, and presented orientations on Zoom.  He has helped CHF monitor teachers in J-1 visa status in Connecticut. While working as a visiting teachers for five years in New Haven, CT, he spent time advising visiting teachers from Spain how to adapt and settle during their US stay.

In New Haven, home to Yale University, he worked for five years as a Computer Science Teacher of Educational Coding and Robotics for students from KG to 8th Grade.  He is a Lego Education Master Educator.  An exuberant and articulate communicator, Fran Cajaraville is passionate about sharing his broad knowledge of computer science, robotics, and the Spanish language to students.  He Spain, he is fluent in Spanish and English.

Franck REYNAUD

Franck first came to the United States in 2002 in J-1 teacher visa status sponsored by CHF.  He has accumulated over 20 years of experience as a French-American school principal and educator certified by the French Ministry of Education in France and the United States.  After graduating in Biology from Université des Sciences de Montpellier, France, he completed his teaching credential while working as a windsurfing instructor and life guard in the beautiful seaside town of Le Grau du Roi, France.  While living and working in sunny Southern California at a French-American school for 8 years, he married an American woman, started a family and is now an American citizen. 

He became school principal in 2010, completed his Early Childhood Administrator credentials at UCLA and Business Emergency Response Team (BERT) Certification with the Santa Ana Police Foundation. He also worked as a consultant for Barron’s Educational Series for the AP French test preparation book.

Franck Reynaud has a wealth of experience in how French-American schools work in the US. We are very fortunate that he now shares his expertise to run Cordell Hull Foundation orientations to help support new French teachers coming to the US, especially during difficult Covid times.  He speaks eloquently in French and English and has also contributes his translation skills to the Foundation periodically.

AIBING JIA

Aibing JIA was born and educated in China, earning Bachelors and Masters degrees in English linguistics at East China University of Science and Tech and in English literature at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

She also holds the Certificate in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL) jointly from Teachers College at Columbia University, New York City and Beijing Foreign Studies University, in Teaching Chinese by Nanjing University, and in Teaching Mandarin to Non-Chinese Speakers by Dalian University where she received Confucius Institute pre-job training.
Aibing speaks Mandarin, English and Spanish and is also fluent in French. She lived in Luxembourg for over a year from 2014 to 2015 and has lived and worked in Hangzhou and Shanghai, China, New York City.
She has presented several orientations for the Cordell Hull Foundation in New York City and on Zoom. She wrote the script and exhibits and narrated the CHF instruction video explaining to Chinese teachers how to prepare the CHF Cultural Activity Report viewable on https://vimeo.com/294063500 and also contributed video material to produce the Cordell Hull Foundation Internet interactive orientation in Mandarin.

Marianne MASON

For the past twenty-five years, Marianne Mason has designed and presented orientations for new incoming foreign teachers granted J-1 visas through the Cordell Hull Foundation in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, New Orleans, Washington DC, Atlanta, Dallas and other US cities in English and French.  Upon invitation from the Greek and French governments, she traveled to Paris and Athens in 2009-10 to deliver J-1 teacher visa orientations for foreign teachers coming to the US to help them make the most of their experience in sharing their culture with ours.  Ms. Mason has overseen the growth of CHF’s teacher exchange program spanning two decades from 30 to 700 teachers annually.  www.vimeo.com/700102623

She earned a Masters degree in Non-Profit management from New School University NYC in 2005, and a post-graduate certificate from Stanford University upon invitation for Non-profit leaders in 2008.

Her book J-1 Visa Uncloaked–Complete Cultural Training Guide, is available on Amazon.com.  It contains the Foundation’s new-teacher orientation materials compiled over a decade of collaborating with professional foreign educators:  Orientation Manual, Pre-Arrival guide for exchange teachers, Visa and Immigration Booklets, and Orientation quiz materials in six languages.

Ms. Mason belonged to two teachers unions while working as a public elementary school French teacher and adult technology teacher.  She achieved Feng Shui certification, studying in New York and China, and speaks French and Spanish.

Video summarizing her work with CHF:  www.vimeo.com/700102623

Susana GHIO

Susana Ghio is a brilliant Argentine immigration lawyer who served as an educator and administrator in Oregon for eleven years.  She has presented CHF orientations to Spanish-speaking teachers in Detroit, Indianapolis, Idaho, Utah, and Oregon. She has also conducted Encuentras for CHF Spanish teachers in mid-year to obtain feedback and offer guidance on teachers’ progress adapting to US culture and the Oregon public school system.

She has narrated three CHF orientation videos in Spanish on the J-1 visa, Culture Shock, and Parent-Teacher Relations.  She continues to give orientations for the Mexican government summer migrant programs and for teachers of Spanish on the West Coast, and to monitor school programs in Oregon and other states.

A native of Argentina, now an American citizen, Susana holds certifications in Elementary Education K-8 and Secondary Education, and an Administrator License ESOL/Bilingual Education /Spanish.  She worked in the Oregon Public School administration for 11 years in K-12 Bilingual Ed and as an HR foreign-teacher Recruitment Director.  Susana introduced the Oregon Teacher Cadet Program developed by CERRA (Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, & Advancement) and helped win a state grant to offer a year-round course to students.  She served as consultant to PEAT (Professional Educators Advisory Team) and on the team of UMSAAT (Underrepresented and Minority Student Achievement Advisory Team) for the Oregon State DOE.

Betty YU, Ph.D

Dr. Betty Sheng-Huei Yu  于聖惠 was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the US when she was nine years old.  She is a fluent speaker of Mandarin Chinese.  She gives orientations for new teachers in J-1 visa status for the Cordell Hull Foundation in several southern states.  She has fifteen years of teaching and administrative experience in the American K-12 public education system.  Also she served four years as Associate Director for the Confucius Institute at Western Kentucky University (WKU).

Dr. Betty Sheng-Huei Yu has a broad educational background including a BS in Economics from Vanderbilt University, Masters in Elementary School Counseling, and Rank I in Supervisor of Instruction and Education Doctorate in the Organizational Leadership strand from Western Kentucky University.  

Benjamin ORILLON

Benjamin Orillon is a bilingual American citizen, native to France.  Benjamin served as the President of the Association of French Schools in North America, an organization of approximately forty-five US and Canadian French-American schools certified to teach the national curriculum of France, from 2006 to 2010.

Since 2013, he has conducted numerous Cordell Hull Foundation orientations in both French and English in New York City, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Rosa, Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas.

Currently Head of The French School at the Taipei European School in Taiwan, he was Elementary School Head at the French American School of Puget Sound near Seattle for many years and previously served as Chief Administrative Officer of the Lycée Français de San Francisco, Head of the Lycée Louis Pasteur in Calgary, Canada, Lower School Principal of the Silicon Valley International School in Palo Alto, California, and Head of School of the bilingual French-Japanese Kansai French School in Kyoto, Japan.

Passionate about bilingual education, Benjamin earned a BA in Linguistics from the University of Rouen and holds a teaching degree from Ecole Normale du Var in France.  Having also taught at various schools in France and the French International School in Hong Kong, he has extensive experience in international education and language acquisition.