Instructors and Academic Coaches

Janet moved from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Lake Tahoe in January 2001. The previous year, she earned an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Minnesota. Her main interests are environmental literature, poetry, and 19th century British and European novels. She primarily teaches the Foundational Skills and ESL bridge courses. She also enjoys teaching creative writing and her first collection of poems, All of a Sudden, will be out from Wordtech in 2010.

Marcela DeLira Astorga was born and raised in Torreon, Coah. Mexico. She moved to the United States 14 years ago. She currently works as a writing tutor at the Tutoring & Learning Center, and as a ski instructor in Heavenly. She is also a student at LTCC, and a mother of two beautiful children ages 12 and 10. During the summer, Marcela likes to spend her time in South America skiing with her husband. In the past, Marcela has worked with High School and Middle School students teaching sex-education and health. She has also been an outreach specialist and mentor for the schools she worked back in Portland, Oregon. In her spare time Marcela enjoys hiking, reading, gardening, knitting, traveling, and skiing with her husband and children. Spanish is her first language, and she plans to double major in English and Spanish.

I am a child of the 50's--an upwardly mobile family ethic pursued by a nurse and an hispanic Detroit factory worker.  I am a child of the 60's--the first in my family to go to a college, let alone, graduate.  I always was "cum laude"  due to a severe Protestant work ethic--even though we were Catholics!!!  I never cared to excel.  I only cared about my own ideas about God, Nature vs nurture, capitalism vs socialism.  I only ever cared about my own ideas--even marrying and having children was undertaken mostly to get answers to my questions about male/female, Nature/nurture, etc.  I did not care about what I did to earn a living, and I was not interested in becoming a teacher because my definition of "teaching" was "pouring knowledge into another." 

I've remained married for 38 years, which teaches one a lot.  I've raised my two girls and one son, which teaches one a lot.  And I have worked at a low level job as a member of the proletariate, which certainly teaches one a lot.  I lived in Denmark for a while, and I have studied many languages and travelled in Europe, which again (just be be redundant), teaches one a lot.  I now have the chance to use what I have learned and to get back to the atmosphere I have always appreciated.  But, I go there with a different definition of the word "education."  I now accept the Latin meaning which is: to draw-out, not to pour in.  The tutoring opportunity and the tutoring methods class have given me such a new lease on life.  That is not an exaggeration!  I still see this as a stepping stone to being a philosophy questioner.  But this is a perfect path, and I know I still have a lot to learn.

Mary Cook was born and raised in Upstate New York. Before her passion with writing transpired, she acquired a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Cornell University, dabbled with medical school for an eight-month period, worked two harvest stints in a Napa winery, and ski instructed at Heavenly for three winter seasons. She currently works as a freelance development editor for medical textbooks. She also takes Creative Writing classes offered by LTCC. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, mountain biking, cycling, playing ice hockey, skiing, and running with her dog.”

Geoff is a graduate of Monrovia High School in California. He is currently a student at LTCC. After working for the last twenty-five years as an industrial engineer and occasionally moonlighting as a bass player in several rock bands, Geoff has decided to complete his education in the natural sciences. His interests include reading, travel, astronomy and snowboarding.