Meet Our TexLER 2024 Committee
The Texas Language Education Research (TexLER) Conference Committee is a student organization comprised
of undergraduate, Master's, and Ph.D. students of the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
and TESOL in the College of Education and Human Development (COEHD).
of undergraduate, Master's, and Ph.D. students of the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
and TESOL in the College of Education and Human Development (COEHD).
Jerry Romero Jr.
President
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Jerry Romero Jr. (He/Him) is a Queer educator/ researcher, San Antonio native, and 4th year first-generation Ph.D. Fellow in Culture, Literacy, and Language at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). His research interests stem from his background in linguistics and sociological research, including Sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis, Decolonial theory, Feminist theory, QueerCrit theories, LGBTQ+ Identity, and Critical Trans/Queer Studies. His current research focuses on the social construction of Queer Necropolitics, linguistic violence within medicalization, and the production of transmisogynistic/anti-LGBTQ discourse and rhetoric.
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Jennifer Yanez-Alaniz
Co-Vice President
Jen Yáñez-Alaniz (She/her) is a Chicana Mestiza activist, educator, and poet. She is a PhD Fellow in Culture, Literacy, and Language in the Department of Bilingual Bicultural Studies at the University of Texas, San Antonio. Her focused studies center on Translanguaging Poetics. As co- founder of “Welcome: A Poetry Declaration,” she brings awareness through equity-driven cultural conversations centered on language justice, the preservation of language, and language literacy. Her work, “Matrilineal Poetics: Toward an Understanding of Corporeality and Identity” is featured in Latinas in Hollywood Herstories. Her latest and forthcoming publications are included in The Journal of Latina Critical Feminism, South Dakota Review, West Trestle Review, Cutthroat: Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century Anthology, Boundless Anthology, and more. She is the author of an extensive critical biography of Carmen Tafolla published in the forthcoming anthology Chicana Portraits, and her debut poetry collection, Surrogate Eater, published by Alabrava Press.
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Michael C. Mauricio
Co-Vice President
Michael Cabantac Mauricio is a multilingual teacher of English with nine years of teaching experience. He earned his Master of Arts in Education degree with specialization in English Language Teaching from the Philippine Normal University, The National Center for Teacher Education, Manila, Philippines. His research interests include language policy and planning, language in STEM education, teacher education, and multilingualism. He is currently doing a Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy and Language at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).
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CARYN CALISI
Secretary
As a Fellow of the Culture, Literacy and Language Program in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, Caryn brings with her 16-years of experience teaching ESL and English at the largest suburban, Title I, district in New York State. Alongside her doctoral studies, Caryn serves as a Graduate Research Assistant and instructional coach for Project SELFIES. With a Master of Science degree in Diagnostic Literacy, her research interests focus on aligning educational policy and sociolinguistic pedagogical practices that support teachers’ endeavors in broadening equitable educational access to underserved learners.
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ABRIL "ANDI" GARCIA-LIM
Treasurer
Abril Garcia-Linn is a proud Chicana from San Antonio’s Westside. She is a first-gen student currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Mexican-American studies at UTSA. She is a multi-talented artist, writer, performer, teacher and mother. Her poems are published in several anthologies. Her original play “The Altar” was showcased at the San Antonio Museum of Art in 2019. She has served as board president for San Anto Cultural Arts, and the Conjunto Heritage Taller. She works teaching ESL to adults at NISD. She is a founding member of The Write Spot Collective and co-hosts an open mic at The Lemon Girls every second Sunday.
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CELESTE MARTINEZ
Social Media Manager
Celeste Martinez (she/her) is a second year doctoral student in Culture, Literacy, and Language program at UTSA. She earned her bachelor's in Youth and Community Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and subsequently earned her Master's in Cultural Studies in Education. She taught for five years in EISD as a special education teacher and 7th grade general education RLA teacher. She is currently a Project DIVERSE scholar and is on Project ¡LEER! Her research interest is at the intersection between language, culture, and special education.
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GABRIELA KILLORIN
Volunteer Coordinator
Gabriela is a fourth-year doctoral student in Culture, Literacy, and Language with the Bicultural-Bilingual Studies Department at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), currently focusing on her dissertation. She holds a bachelor's degree in Infancy and Childhood Studies and a master's degree in Bicultural-Bilingual Education. Gabriela is deeply committed to advancing educational equity for Mexican-American, Chicano, and Latino students. In addition to her academic pursuits, she serves as a Spanish high school teacher at a Title I school where nearly 80% of the students are Hispanic/Latino.Gabriela has actively contributed to various academic and professional forums, including serving as a facilitator at the 20th Annual Summer Bridging Institute (SBI), Academy of Teacher Excellence (ATE) at UTSA in July 2023. She presented at the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Conference in Portland, Oregon, in 2023. From April to June 2022, she was the Program Director for the Adult Digital Literacy Through Language Education (A.D.L.L.E.) initiative. She also participated as a judge in the Honors College Experiential Learning Fair (E.L.F.) at UTSA in 2022 and presented interdisciplinary and international research at the 14th College of Education and Human Development Research Colloquium in the same year.Finally, Gabriela was selected as a Fellow in the Introduction to Doctoral Education program at Stanford Graduate School of Education in the summer of 2019. In 2017, she served as a panel presenter at the Sixth Biennial Siglo XX Conference, organized by the Inter-University Program for Latino Research, where she presented on Preschool Dual Language Learners.
KATHRYN HENDERSON, Ph.D.
Faculty Advisor
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Kathryn I. Henderson is an assistant professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, College of Education and Human Development at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Her education interests include language ideologies, language policy and dual language bilingual education programs.
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