John Antonellis
John Antonellis is the lead instructor at Harvard University's Bridge to Learning and Literacy program. He received his bachelor's degree in biology from Northeastern University in Boston and a master's degree in TESOL from the University of Massachusetts. He came to Harvard in 2002 from the Commonwealth Corporation, a quasi-public organization whose mission is to empower people and businesses to "learn, earn, and succeed." While at the Commonwealth Corporation, he was the project manager of the Workplace Education Professional Development program, which researched and compiled a list of competencies required by effective workplace educators and then piloted an innovative professional development training program to address those competencies. He has had several years' experience administering and teaching in both workplace and community based education programs. He has taught all levels of English as a Second Language classes in academic and non-academic settings. He has a particular love and expertise for developing material for low literacy learners.
Antonellis enjoys collaboration and sharing ideas with other teachers. He has twice served on the Massachusetts Association of Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages (MATSOL) Board as Adult Education representative. During his tenure, he represented both MATSOL and the Commonwealth Corporation as a member of the Massachusetts Department of Education's ABE Licensure Work Group, which made recommendations towards the development of a teaching license for adult educators. He also served as a taskforce member on the TESOL Standards for Teachers of Adult Learners project. Antonellis presented at the TESOL international conferences in 2003 and 2007 and has often presented at annual conferences hosted by MATSOL and the Massachusetts Coalition of Adult Educators (MCAE). He has also run workshops on effective workplace education practices for the Massachusetts Department of Education training and technical assistance program called SABES (System for Adult Basic Education Support).
