Our care for the whole person is part of what makes us different. We know that our students live busy lives, and we work to learn about their specific interests and needs—for their personal life, their work, and family. Our greatest joy is to see people move toward reaching their dreams.
Another thing that makes Westminster Language Academy different is the warm, welcoming environment. Our teachers really care about their students, and students also come to care for one another. People come to us to learn English, and in the process they also make new friends.
Every teacher at Westminster Language Academy shares a love for learning and for serving our community. We look forward to getting to know about you and your goals for the future.
What Our Students Are Saying About Us
Celebrating 20 Years
We recently celebrated 20 years of helping people reach their language goals! Hear from some of our students and teachers about the difference that Westminster Language Academy has made in their lives:
Westminster Language Academy Staff
Learn more about our teaching team
Leanna Busse
Leanna has been an ESL instructor for nearly 30 years, teaching a wide variety of students, from senior executives and business people in numerous branches of industry to university, elementary, and even preschool students. She has lived for extended periods of time in China, Germany, Brazil and The United Arab Emirates.
Leanna has a B.S. in Psychology and East Asian Studies from Valparaiso University and an RSA/CELTA certificate from International House, Hastings, England.
She enjoys quilting, singing, gardening, and camping with her family.
Mark Pedrin
Mark has been teaching English for over twenty years. He enjoys working with people from many different backgrounds, and helping them to reach their personal goals.
Mark has a B.A. in English from Northwest University and a M.Ed. in Education from Seattle University. In addition to teaching in Seattle, he has taught English in Central Asia and India. He enjoys being outdoors, traveling, and watching great movies with his family.
Wendy Hunt
Wendy has been teaching English since 2015. She has a BA in Education from Wheaton College in Illinois, and a TESOL/TEFL certificate from Seattle Pacific University.
Growing up in Taiwan, Wendy remembers how it feels to live in a place where you don’t understand the language all around you. She loves getting to know each student in order to discover which parts of language learning they most need to improve.
Wendy loves playing with her four grandchildren, beekeeping, working in her garden, and taveling to scuba dive with her husband.
Sara Wright
Sara is an experienced ELL and Adult Education instructor with over 10 years of experience supporting multilingual learners. She has a Master’s degree in TESOL from Multnomah University and a CELTA certificate from International House in Torrance, California. Sara has taught in higher education, adult education, and community settings, working with students from various backgrounds both in-person and online.
She is passionate about creating supportive, student-centered learning environments where learners can build confidence and use English in meaningful ways. Her teaching interests include pronunciation, conversational English, academic English, workforce English, and helping learners navigate everyday life. Sara believes that making mistakes is one of the best parts of learning a language!
Outside the classroom, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading a good book, and trying new foods.
Jessica Klauder
Jessica has been teaching English to speakers of other languages since 2015. She has a B.A. in Communications from Villanova University and a TESOL/TEFL teaching certificate from Liberty University. Her desire is to help students of all backgrounds and abilities become confident, articulate English speakers. Jessica believes that with a growth mindset, every student can reach their language-learning goals and enjoy the journey. One of her favorite things about cross-cultural teaching is learning from her students about their culture and life experiences.
Anita Matheson
After retiring from a long career in Finance and Operations last year, Anita transitioned to being a tutor for WLA and has very much enjoyed this change. It has been a chance to learn about different cultures while helping people reach their English Language goals.
Anita holds a B.A. in Business Administration with a specialty in Accounting and Finance from Washington State University. She also holds a TESOL/TEFL teaching certificate. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, cooking and traveling to new places.
Don Matheson
Don has taught English since 2022. He holds a TESOL/TEFL teaching certificate, and has taught through WLA. He has tutored ages 6 to 45, and having struggled studying a foreign language in college has empathy for those learning a new languages. His career in engineering gives him a perspective on the added challenge of speaking a new language in a technical and business environment. He also helps his students to understand the cultural influences unique to the United States and especially the Seattle area.
Caden
Caden has taught English in both classroom and tutoring settings since 2021. She has experience teaching English in South Korea and America, and holds a TESOL/TEFL teaching certificate. As a teacher and therapist (Caden is also a licensed mental health counselor and runs her own private practice), Caden loves connecting with her students in meaningful ways and supporting them in their English goals. In her free time, Caden enjoys reading, hanging out with friends, and spending time in nature.
