Staff

Marcelo Arroyo Jiménez, MA, M.Ed

Executive & Spanish Department Director
Intercultura staff

Marcelo is Costa Rican, from Alajuela, and has worked with the school since 1994, first as a Spanish professor and now as the department head and the school's executive director. He is in charge of teacher training and runs Intercultura's ongoing professional development series. He has a BA and Licenciatura in Literature & Linguistics from the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, where he then went on to obtain two Master's degrees, one in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language and, the other in Adult Education. Read more »

Adelita Jimenez

Founding Director
Intercultura staff

Adelita is a native Costa Rican. She co-founded the school after working for several years as Spanish professor and later as administrative director in a San José language school. Read more »

Laura Ellington, MA

Founding Director
Intercultura staff

Laura was born in Switzerland, grew up in England, then moved to the US, where she completed her BA in English Literature with a minor in teaching Spanish as a Second Language, from Skidmore College. She has RSA/CELTA Teaching Certification from Cambridge University, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in English-Spanish translation and linguistics from the Universidad Internacional de las Américas, Costa Rica. Her MA is in Cultural Anthropology, from the City University of New York- Hunter College. Read more »

Geovanna Castro

Client Services
Intercultura staff
Geovanna was born in Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica.  She studied at the Liceo Unesco and has a technical degree in Tourism with an emphasis in Marketing from the Colegio Universitario de Cartago.  She has also taken client services courses from Barrionuevo y Asociados.  She is married with 4 children, which are a blessing and great inspiration in her life.
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Sujeidy Bolaños

Student Services & Homestay Coordinator
Intercultura staff
Sujeidy Bolaños is a native of Costa Rica, and lives in Alajuela close to Heredia.  She started working with Intercultura in 2010 as homestay coordinator and in student support services, after working for several years in customer service positions.  She studied Administration at the National University, English in CCCN, and is currently continuing with her English studies in Intercultura.
 
 

Ericka Phillips, BA

Student Advisor & Group Coordinator
Intercultura staff

Ericka was born in San José and grew up bilingual/bi-cultural with her British father and Costa Rican mother. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English, and would like to go on to obtain her Graduate Degree in Journalism. She worked at the British Embassy in San José for 8 years, where her last job title was Vice Consul. After getting to know Intercultura during an embassy visit to our Sámara campus in 2011, Ericka eventually ended up joining our Heredia team a year later. Read more »

Jeri Arend

Tour Guide
Intercultura staff

Jeri helps Intercultura offer students excursions all over the country. He is from Costa Rica and has been involved in tourism his whole life. He likes working as part of the school team, and values the human contact and professionalism of his coworkers and students alike. The enthusiasm of the students and the interpersonal contact with them, as well as the chance to learn about different cultures and his own country, are what attracted him to working in tourism. Read more »

Monserrat Santana, M.ED

Spanish Teacher
Intercultura staff

Monserrat, a Costa Rican native, received her BA in Dance at the National University, and her BS in Education and Language Therapy at the University of Santa Paula, where she went on to do a Licenciatura in the same field and a Master's degree in Education with emphasis on Teaching Spanish as a Second Language. She has presented at various conferences on Language Acquisition and Speech Therapy, and is proficient in sign language. Read more »

Jesús Cárdenas, MA

Spanish Teacher
Intercultura staff

Jesús grew up in San Ramón and then went on to study at the University of Costa Rica in San José, where he obtained a BA in Teaching Spanish Language and Literature and his MA in Hispanoamerican Literature. He worked as a primary and secondary school teacher for six years, and also taught oral expression and literature in the corporate environment before joining Intercultura in 2005. His current professional development is focused on teacher-training for Spanish literature, and curriculum design and evaluation. Read more »

Samuel Barrera, M.ED

Spanish Teacher
Intercultura staff

Samuel is originally from Lima, Perú, but has lived in Costa Rica since 2000. He has a BA in Educational Science from the Costa Rican National University, and an MA in Education at the National University, with emphasis in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language. He studied Teaching English and Spanish as a Second language in Lima, Perú and has worked as a Spanish teacher in both Perú and Costa Rica. Samuel has worked in the Peace Corps and at the university level teaching Spanish since 2001, and at Intercultura since 2006.
 

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