Executive Director: Wendy J. Poole
Wendy holds a M.A. in Communication from the University of Arkansas, and is presently working toward a M.S. in Mental Health Counseling. She began working as the Executive Director for OLC in the Spring of 2010.
She has enjoyed two vastly different careers: one as a teacher, and one as a Sales/Marketing manager. She taught Communication and English for more than 10 years in public school, university, and community college settings. She has most recently worked for companies in the Wal-Mart vendor community such as AC Nielsen and The Walt Disney Company.
She has traveled to more than 15 countries and lived internationally. Presently she enjoys working with and is inspired by OLC students from all walks of life and from more than 35 different countries. She is a Master Gardener, and in her leisure time, she enjoys working in her gardens and spending time with her lovely husband, Hal, and their three dogs, Hercules, Harley, and Huckleberry.
Wendy, Mina, and Paul: 3 Amigos
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Program Director: Mina Phebus
Mina is originally from South Korea. She completed her Master’s degree in English Education and a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Korea. She has over 14 years of experience in various English Education endeavors. She worked for several years as Director/Instructor for private English academies in Korea from 1996-2007. She also served one year as an English professor at Gumi College in Korea in 2003. In 2004, Mina worked as and English/Korean interpreter for a Korean hospital. At OLC, she worked for over a year as a Program Assistant and an Administrative Assistant before becoming the Program Director in 2009. Her favorite part of working at OLC is having the opportunity to interact with students from all over the world and helping them achieve their goals.
Operations Manager: Paul Johnson (volunteer)
Paul was raised along the banks of the Mississippi south of New Orleans. He secured a BA in English after completing studies in music and history. Once retired from a career in the automobile business he moved to Fayetteville, soon finding a volunteer opportunity at Ozark Literacy Council. In the years since he has settled into a role of operations support, mentoring and teaching the occasional class. He now lives outside town where he enjoys being inefficient.
Executive Assistant: Nick Moore
Classroom Instructor: Deb Meisch
Deb the beginning English teacher, has been teaching at Ozark Literacy Council for about 10 years. She tutored for OLC for 4 years before becoming a classroom teacher. She has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Communication from the University of Arkansas. Deb came to OLC after teaching at the University for 10 years. She is married and has a blended family of 7 children, 4 grandsons, 3 adult granddaughters and 2 great grandchildren. She and her husband, Max, live in the woods outside of Winslow. She enjoys many outdoor hobbies such as hiking, canoeing, kayaking and fishing. A longtime resident of Northwest Arkansas, her activities have centered around her family, friends, church and the University. She feels that being associated with Ozark Literacy Council has enriched her life because of the interesting and rewarding experiences she has enjoyed with her students.
Volunteer One-on-One Tutor: Margaret Kraemer
Margaret has been a tutor at OLC since 1995. She was a high school English teacher for 20 years before retiring and moving to Fayetteville. Over the years she has seen students of OLC change markedly from the predominately reading and language challenged of the NWA population to an increasing numbers of ESL students from a variety of countries. Her greatest reward has been seeing former students continue their education in numerous schools, advance in their chose careers and lead happy, successful lives.
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Volunteer Classroom Instructor: Joel Giarrusso
Joel is a retired FBI agent, and is licensed as a private investigator. She was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has a B.A. in psychology and a Masters in Social Work (MSW). She and husband, Malcolm, have 20 year old twin sons, Tom and Eric. Joel is proud that her sons have attended the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival every year from their births through high school. Joel’s hobbies include gardening (which she learned from her father) and volunteering at the Walton Arts Center. She and her husband enjoy travel but do not venture out nearly as much as they would like. Joel gets great joy and satisfaction from working with the OLC students, and describes it as “fun” and very rewarding.
Americorps Worker: Matt Bryant
Matt teaches evening classes at the Ozark Literacy Council and tutored students one-on-one before starting his service with AmeriCorps on October 2011. Three teachers, Nathan, Phyl, and Matt currently serve AmeriCorps at the literacy council.
Matt was born and raised in Fayetteville, AR. He received his B.S.E. in Middle School Education from the University of Arkansas, also in Fayetteville. During some international excursions he changed his focus from middle school education to ESL, English as a Second Language, education.
Americorps Worker: Phyl Campbell
Creative Bucket StudiosVolunteer Classroom Instructor: Phyl Campbell
Phyl has taught Beginner, Intermediate, and the very popular TOEFL class! A Northwest Arkansas native, Phyl lives with her husband, Sean, and their son, Joshua. Phyl has a degree in English Literature (cum laude) from the University of Arkansas with minors in Political Science and Secondary Education. In the public and private sectors, Phyl has taught everything from pre-school to post-graduate, mostly in reading, writing, grammar, and special topics. She also has lots of experience working with students with special needs and students who speak English as a second (or third or more) language.
Before coming to OLC, Phyl dabbled in many things for the paycheck and the experience. She taught N.I.T.E. school and subbed for Springdale Schools, shelved books at the Lexington Public Library (KY), taught ESL at Obunsha Bluegrass Academy(KY), tutored for Club Z!, drove and managed newspaper routes, worked in a law office and became a notary public, worked at Kellogg’s, WalMart, AND Target, was a custodian and a nanny, and even had a brief stint as a telemarketer.
Now when she is not teaching or making contacts to bring new people and resources to OLC, Phyl is either spending time with her family, working on her second book, reading, or playing on Facebook. She is very appreciate of her OLC students, who encouraged her to finish and publish her first book, _Mother Confessor_. She also enjoys singing and will break out into song, in the middle of class, anytime something said reminds her of a song lyric. She is most appreciative when students laugh at her jokes — whether they are funny or not — and is so happy to have found a home away from home at OLC.
Volunteer One-on-One Tutor: Olivia Reddick
Olivia volunteers at OLC to give back to others some of the opportunities she has had being an American citizen. Her education includes a BSBA from the University of Arkansas plus a degree in interior design from a college in Dallas, Texas. She has completed advanced studies in interior design, art, and architecture, plus the Classical Civilizations at the University of London, England. Travel has always been her personal and professional goal. She has lived in many states, including Hawaii, plus lived three years in Okinawa, Japan.
After being an inventory management specialist and buyer for the Army and Air Force exchange Service, she returned to college to study interior design. She is a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers and was president of her own firm in Dallas, Texas, where she resided for over 30 years. Her other interests include the Lions Club, Blair Library, her church, art, historical and political organizations.
*We couldn’t possibly list all of our OLC volunteers (60 ish), although we did list volunteers that work more than 5 hours per week. If we missed you, you are probably on the list to contact for bio information. We love ALL of our volunteers, no matter how much time you give to us and OLC. THANK YOU, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
