Who are we?

Board Members

Bobbie Jo Kite
Bobbie Jo Kite is currently a faculty member in the Department of Education at Gallaudet University. Originally from Pennsylvania, Bobbie Jo received her B.A. in Early Childhood Education in 2004 and her M.A. in Deaf Education in 2005 from Gallaudet. She has taught Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School for 5 years and Kindergarten-First grade at New Mexico School for the Deaf for a year. She is currently working on her Ph.D. from George Mason University, specializing in Early Childhood Education and Multilingual/Multicultural Education. In her very little free time, she enjoys spending time with her dogs and trying new restaurants with her friends.

Susanne Scott
Susanne Scott, is a Cochlear Implant/Bilingual Specialist at the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University.  She earned her Master’s Degree in Audiology from Gallaudet University and has worked at Gallaudet University and the Clerc Center since 1980; first as an educational audiologist, then as a clinical educator in the Department of Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences.  She joined the Cochlear Implant Education Center in 2003 where she provides content expertise in cochlear implants and ASL/English bilingual programming specific to working with professionals, students, and families at the Clerc Center and throughout the nation.

Richard Romero
Ricky Romero has been involved in EarlyChildhood Education field since his undergraduate days.
During that time, he has interned at different schools teachinga variety of students and collaborating with parents.
Currently, he is working at Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center as a bilingual Preschool teacher.

Marlene Etkie
Marlene Etkie is currently Preschool teacher. I grew up in Austin and am an alumnus of TSD. While working at TSD as a teacher assistant, I fell in love with the field of teaching and got my Masters in Deaf Education. It is my eleventh year teaching Early Childhood Education including PIP and Preschool. I have been part of ASL focus group for last three years. My husband and I have four children that are attending TSD as well.

Brenda Perrodin
Brenda Perrodin is an Early Intervention Provider in the Parent-Infant Program at the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (KDES). KDES is a component of the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University. Since graduating with an B.A. from Gallaudet University in Early Childhood Education. In addition, she earned an M.A. in Family Centered Early Education from Gallaudet University. She has worked at the Clerc Center since 1996. She is also a mentor with the KDES Shared Reading Program and has taught KDES family classes in American Sign Language (ASL).

Laurene E. Simms
Laurene E. Simms is Professor of the Department of Education at Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.  After graduating from the Indiana School for the Deaf, Indianapolis, Indiana, she received a B.S. Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a M.Ed. in Deaf Education from Western Maryland College, Westminster, Maryland.  She received a Ph.D. Degree in Language, Reading, and Culture from the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.  Laurene has hands-on experience in the implementation of a bilingual/multicultural educational environment for diverse Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and is an acknowledged expert on the topic of using ASL/English as the languages of instruction.

Michelle Gough
Hailing from the Midwest states and northern California, Michelle Gough is a Deaf bilingual teacher working with various grade levels from preschool through first grade. She has taught at Sidwell Friends Lower School for a year after committing a full semester of internship in the prior year, and New Mexico School for the Deaf for three years before moving back to Washington D.C.  She has been teaching at Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center for seven years, and is currently teaching Kindergarten this year.  She has received her B.A. in Early Childhood Education and her M.A. in Deaf Education from Gallaudet University.  She also has received various trainings in ASL/English bilingual education for young deaf and hard of hearing children.  She is a proud mother of two boys, a Deaf teenager and a 8 year old CODA.

Nancy Milner
Nancy Milner is an A/E Bilingual Early Childhood teacher in the Early Childhood Center at Kansas School for the Deaf. She has taught since 2003. She is also a Mentor for ASL English Bilingual Professional Development (AEBPD) from 2006 to 2011. She participates in the Shared Reading Project and Deaf Mentoring program, working with families who have young children.  Since graduating from High School in New York, she has received a B.S. degree from Mid America Nazarene University, Olathe, KS in Elementary Education and a M.S. degree from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS in Special Education/Deaf Education in Early Childhood Education.  Besides teaching, Nancy is a mother of 3 bilingual sons and enjoys being with family. Her other interests include reading, jogging, swimming, and cooking.