Meet the Mid-West RBERN Team

Nicole Bell (Nikki) began her career in education as a music teacher before earning her master's degree in TESOL at Nazareth College. Nicole was an ENL teacher, serving as the coordinating teacher for the WFL ENL teacher consortium, and was very committed to family engagement practices with ELLs and their families.  In 2019, Nicole became a specialist with the Mid-West RBERN. Her areas of interest include culturally responsive teaching, bilingual classroom techniques, the Latinx student experience, and migrant education. Nicole recently completed the doctoral program in the Leadership for Diverse Learning Communities program at Molloy University. Her dissertation was titled, “Bridge Building in Professional Development for Educators Working with Latinx Families: An Action Research Approach Leading to Equitable Family Engagement.”

Currently, Nicole serves as the coordinator of Mid-West RBERN and continues to support school leaders and educators in developing equitable learning environments for multilingual learners across New York State. She leads regional professional learning initiatives and collaborates with statewide partners to strengthen programs and outcomes for multilingual learners. Nicole has volunteered with NYS TESOL, a statewide association of professionals concerned with the education of multilingual learners at all levels of public and private education. She has served as the student projects coordinator, on the executive board as VP of Conference and President-Elect, and, in 2027, she is honored to serve as the organization's President.  

Madison Warax joined the Mid-West RBERN team in March 2026. Before she joined our team, she was the Central Scheduler and a Kit Processor at BOCES 4 Science for almost four years. She provides support for the day-to-day office operations, financial and administrative support.

Jennifer Raponi is a Resource Specialist and the senior member of the Mid-West RBERN team. She was a preschool speech therapist before deciding to get her Masters in TESOL at the University of Rochester. Jennifer worked as a K-12 ESOL Teacher in Geneseo and started the original GV ESOL Teacher Cohort to support ELL education in rural districts. She is passionate about the equitable education of English Language Learners. Jennifer’s particular areas of interest and expertise are Students with Interrupted Formal Education, Literacy Development for English Language Learners, and collaborating with Districts to create effective and responsive programming for ELLs.  

Cori Smith joined the Mid-West RBERN team as a Professional Development Specialist in 2022. Before that she taught K-12 ESOL in New York State for 22 years. She also has experience teaching English in Asia and in Latin America. Cori is passionate about ENL instruction and advocating for students. She enjoys supporting educators and finds ways to connect with and engage all learners. She facilitates the Genesee Valley BOCES ENL Teacher Cohort and leads the CTE ENL Champions group (for instructional support) at WeMoCo CTE. Some of Cori's favorite topics to teach about are oracy, meaningful instruction for ELLs, social emotional learning, and culturally responsive and sustaining education. She has been known to bring dancing, rock painting, and a singing bowl to her PD sessions. Cori holds a Master of Education degree in TESOL and a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. 

Christopher Bethmann joined the team at Mid-West RBERN at Monroe 2 BOCES as a Professional Development Specialist in 2024. He has 10 years of teaching experience in secondary education and holds a B.A. in international relations and Spanish and an M.S. in adolescence education and TESOL from the University of Rochester. Christopher is passionate about curriculum, instruction, and advocacy for multilingual learners in schools. His research interests include translanguaging, culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy, curriculum and programming design, and indigenous pedagogy.

Anna Stukes has ten years of experience as an ENL and Spanish educator serving in roles ranging from ENL teacher, mentor, Instructional Coach, and now Professional Development Specialist and Local PRHYLI Coordinator for Mid-West RBE-RN. She has done extensive work with educators and families of English language learners in providing and supporting them with the resources needed in language and literacy development.   She strives to continue to aid families and educators with the resources and knowledge needed in developing language and literacy skills to ensure access to a quality and equitable education.  Along with providing youth with a platform to develop transferrable and sophisticated language skills and leadership experiences through PRHYLI. Anna holds a Master degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Spanish; Bachelor’s degrees in Communications Studies, Spanish Language and Literature, and International Studies.

Jodi Hyland-Haak joined the Mid-West RBERN team in December 2025. She has over 20 years of experience in education, including Special Education and English as a New Language. Her work has included supporting students and families through the NYS Migrant Education Program and serving as the Wayne-Finger Lakes Title III Coordinator. Jodi is passionate about equitable educational access and creating more meaningful learning experiences for multilingual learners. Her professional interests include culturally responsive teaching, migrant education, family engagement and special education. Jodi holds certificates in Elementary Education, Special Education, and TESOL. She earned a B.A. in Art History from SUNY Oswego and a Master's in Inclusive Education from Nazareth College. Jodi completed her TESOL certification through an individual pathway and is currently working toward a Certificate of Advanced Study in School District Leadership which she'll finish in Spring 2026.

Sarah Sadowski joined the Mid-West RBERN team as a Professional Development Specialist in 2026. Before that, she taught elementary English as a New Language (ENL) for 11 years in New York State and 3 years in Viriginia. She is passionate about meeting the instructional needs of all multilingual learners, especially those with disabilities. Sarah’s particular areas of interest and expertise are supporting classroom teachers with ENL strategies, understanding linguistic demands for elementary academic content areas, using data to drive new language instruction, supporting the difference vs. disability process to identify a multilingual learner as a student with a disability, and evaluating special education students for possible ELL identification. Sarah holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and Spanish from Canisius University and a M.A. in TESOL from New York University.