Norberto was born in Seattle, WA but raised in México City. He came to Portland to seek professional development and to study the classical guitar. He soon fell in love with this city and realized that he wanted to establish his home here.

Norberto has a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Autonomous Metropolitan University (UAM). He envisions Tierra Educational Center as a multidisciplinary environment where languages, culture and technology can fusion to effectively provide students with the knowledge and tools to experience personal growth and improved interaction with their respective communities.

He has always had a passion for teaching and languages. He has done research on information retrieval algorithms and as a thesis project built a prototype to index and dissect Web documents in Spanish by the concepts in their content. At the final stage of completing his degrees he started working as a research assistant at the Multimedia Laboratory of the Center for Computer Research (CIC-IPN) in México City. He stayed there over 3 years participating actively in several private and government financed computer system projects. Later, he decided to work for himself as a freelance consultant and software developer.

He was part of the leading team that designed and implemented the main information system for distribution and retrieval of meteorological data from all Mexican territory. The project was financed by the World Meteorological Organization part of the United Nations.

Currently he is busy serving as the Academic and IT director at Tierra, working on software development and website application projects in Portland, and studying the classical guitar.

His main professional research and work area interests are: multimedia educational tools, custom Internet applications, content management systems and any type of information systems.

Norberto's other interests are classical and Latin American music, ancient Mexican culture, writing, mountaineering, camping, biking, and microbreweries.

Rebecca Pillsbury grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies and a minor in German. After graduation, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee to fulfill a dream of working in the music industry. After three years in the business, she felt drawn to a more progressive and green environment, and moved herself to Portland—where she is blissfully happy trampling nymph-like through Forest Park, the Gorge, and her favorite sanctuary—the Oregon coast. When not among nature (or scheduling students), she can be found working concerts at the Aladdin Theater, practicing yoga, vegetable gardening, or swing/tango/blues dancing around the city (or her living room).

Rebecca’s experience in the field stems from two years working in Program Coordination for Big Brothers Big Sisters, and working at two different Portland language schools as an ESL teacher and as an Executive Assistant. Her language study experiences include studying German in Vienna, Austria, and studying Spanish in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Patzcuaro, Mexico.

Rebecca’s organizations:
• www.bbbsnorthwest.org
• www.oregonshores.org
• www.aladdin-theater.com
• www.yogabhoga.com

Elyse Medina was born in Southern California and grew up in Ashland, OR. Passionate about both Spanish and teaching since early adolescence, she studied Spanish throughout her high school and university education and enjoyed tutoring and mentoring students from Spanish-speaking families.  She spent a year of college abroad in beautiful Granada, Spain and after receiving her Bachelor's degree in Politics from UC Santa Cruz in 2005, she taught English for three years in Granada and Madrid, continuing to expand her Spanish abilities. In 2008, she returned to the U.S., choosing Portland as her new home, and was thrilled to quickly find opportunities to teach Spanish to both children and adults.

Elyse has been teaching foreign languages since 2005 to students of all ages and backgrounds.  Teaching Spanish is particularly satisfying for her as it blends her aptitude for teaching with her ever-deepening interest in the Spanish language and Latin American culture. Elyse's teaching philosophy is centered on the belief that classes ought to be communicative and enjoyable, and she helps students to learn grammar structures through practice and conversation. Appreciative of the unique teaching environment that the small classes at Tierra provide, she is so often inspired by the curiosity and enthusiasm of Tierra students in their drive to learn and in their diverse projects in work and life.

Outside of the classroom Elyse enjoys traversing the city of Portland by bike, hiking and camping in surrounding environs, learning about and visiting Mexico, expanding her culinary skills, and re-learning to play the piano.

Marina Walberg was born in Buenos  Aires, Argentina  and lived there until 2007. She started teaching English as a Second Language in 1996 and was trained as a teacher at "Lenguas Vivas" in Buenos Aires. Teaching has been a wonderful journey since then.  She worked in an elementary school classroom for ten years and during that time also tutored children with learning difficulties in private lessons.  Experience taught her how unique and gifted each human being is and how we all benefit from that diversity.

Teaching Spanish in Portland has offered her a unique opportunity to share her culture with students. Marina enjoys introducing grammar topics using the comic strips, songs, and short stories she grew up with as a child and young adult. She believes that through these resources  Spanish can be understood and learned at all levels. One of her goals is to provide a warm and friendly learning environment where students are encouraged  to speak the language no matter how much or little they know.  She likes to encourage her  students to take risks and allow themselves to make mistakes, since she believes that those are ultimately the most valuable learning experiences they can have.

In her free time Marina likes to practice yoga, take walks with her husband and swim in Oregon’s beautiful rivers in the summertime.  

Lawrence was born of a Croatian and Costa Rican in New York City. He was raised bilingual in San José, Costa Rica, where he grew a passion for art and literature. He gained an AA in Music from Miami-Dade College and a BA in English Literature from Green Mountain College in Vermont.

While traveling throughout Mexico and Guatemala, he satisfied a childhood obsession to see the pyramids and learn about the Maya. In the highland town of San Pedro la Laguna, on Lake Atitlán, he studied their ancient daycount with a town elder and shared with the local Tzutujil community.

Upon returning to his hometown, in Costa Rica, he taught ESL for 3 years and also worked as an interpreter. Today, he teaches Spanish at Tierra and is a GED instructor to unemployed Latino communities at a PCC Work-Force in Willow Creek. Portland is an exciting city with lots to explore. Lawrence looks forward to knowing it more intimately as he completes his first year in the Pacific Northwest.