Instructors

​Steve Copley received his B.S. from Georgetown University and his M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction, Teaching English as a Second Language from George Mason University in Virginia. For more than 30 years he has enjoyed working with ESL learners, as well as undergraduate and graduate students, and teachers from around the globe. He has presented at many conferences, written for Voice of America radio, developed an ESL TV series, lived...

I was born and raised in Northern California. I received my B.A. in History with a Minor in Spanish from Brigham Young University in Utah. I also had the opportunity during that time to live in the Canary Islands. This experience allowed me begin my acquisition of a foreign language, and it was also my first time living abroad which was very exciting. After receiving my degree, I decided to...

Jasmine Newell received her B.A. in English at Metropolitan State University of Denver and her M.A. in English with an emphasis on Rhetoric and the Teaching of Writing from the University of Colorado at Denver. She is a Colorado native with a passion for teaching and writing. Jasmine has been teaching composition courses for four years and has been a part of the ESL Academy team for one year. She...

Kerry has been with the ESL Academy since the summer of 2019 and loves UC-Denver and the professional staff and teachers. She has stated, “I’ve never been so privileged to be a teacher with the finest in the world.” Since this is her “last rodeo,” she is giving it her all every day! Kerry comes from Wisconsin, by way of Denver, Europe and back to Denver in her teaching of...

Kyra Odom received double Bachelor’s degrees from Arizona State University. After that, she spent time working in corporate training, where she taught job skills and management skills. It gave her the opportunity to travel the United States and the world. However, she decided to go back to school to earn a Master’s in Linguistics and Graduate Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from San Jose State University...

Ryan has been involved in education for many years, having taught after-school Spanish in elementary schools, to being a full-time second-grade teacher in a bilingual classroom, to teaching adult learners through Community College of Denver, the Metropolitan State University Family Literacy Program, and in the UCD ESL Academy. He studied at the University of the Basque Country in San Sebastian, Spain while attaining his degree in Spanish literature ultimately from...