Meet the Team
Current Research Team
Dr. M. Adelaida Restrepo
Univ. of South Florida
Co-Principal Investigator​
Dr. M. Adelaida Restrepo is Professor & Chair of the Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders at USF, where she directs the Bilingual Language and Literacy Lab. She is a bilingual speech-language pathologist who studies assessments and interventions for Spanish-speaking children in the US.
Dr. Erin
Rotheram-Fuller
ASU
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Erin Rotheram-Fuller is a licensed psychologist and board certified behavior analyst. Her work focuses on adapting interventions and environments to support children with unique learning styles, and especially with individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
![Sepide[45]_edited_edited.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f5de9f_e1fe0586fd0d4fbd8f9c9afce8620430~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_307,h_307,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/f5de9f_e1fe0586fd0d4fbd8f9c9afce8620430~mv2.jpg)
Dr. Melissa Pierce
Midwestern University
Researcher
Melissa Pierce is a bilingual speech language pathologist and an assistant professor of Speech-Language Pathology in the College of Health Solutions at Midwestern University. Her research focuses on assessment and intervention with culturally and linguistically diverse preschool students.
Dr. Yuchan Gao
ASU
Researcher
Dr. Yuchan (Blanche) Gao graduated with her PhD in Learning, Literacies, and Technologies from Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College in 2023. She studies technology-enhanced second language learning, in particular using games, as well as multimodal classroom interactions.
Annette Schmidt
ASU
Researcher
Annette is a doctoral student in the Learning Literacies and Technologies program at Arizona State University. Her research centers on building student and teacher well being in PreK-12 schools through hands-on, embodied learning in drama-based and nature-based pedagogies.
Ailin Zhang
ASU
Researcher
Ailin Zhang is a PhD student in Learning, Literacies, and Technologies at ASU. Her research centers on supporting the language and literacy development of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, with the aim of promoting equity in bilingual education.
Jae Young Jung
ASU
Researcher
Jae Young Jung is a PhD student in the Learning, Literacies, and Technologies program at Arizona State University. She is a board-certified music therapist, and her research focuses on enhancing socio-emotional well-being to support optimal educational outcomes in PK–12 settings.
Past Research Team Members
Thank you to the scholars who shaped past iterations of Literacy@Play research.
​
Dr. Kathleen Farrand, Dr. Megan Troxel Deeg, Dr. Sarah L. Alvarado, Dr. Katie Chapman,
Kate Hamm, Steve Capobres, Dr. Alan Brown, Cassandra Larsen
Research Assistants
Thank you to our wonderful team of student research assistants,
who are the day-to-day faces of our project in classrooms.
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Evan Ippolito, Sabrinna Flores, Rebecca Wilson, Kyrie Robbins, Alana Larson, Breanna Rebe, Suzanne Choi, Elizabeth Figueroa Lopez, Jessica Palma Moreno, Gisselle Ramirez, Ana Calixto, Rachel Hicks, Elizabeth Banuelos, Mirta Morales Alvarez, Lucila Castillo, Meredith Porter, Karen Cabrera, Ruowen (Viola) Qi, Krysten McGough, Andrea Ortiz, and Robert Landing
Childsplay Team
Kim Manning
Childsplay
With over 40 years of experience, Kim Manning is a performer and educator specializing in figure skating, dance, acting, and teaching artistry. Since 2008, she’s served as the resident bilingual Teaching Artist at Childsplay Theatre. She leads arts-integrated literacy programs for preschool teachers and is adapting her methods for students with special needs.
Teaching Artists
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the teaching artists who helped shape the EYEPlay program. You keep us thinking and learning and laughing every day:
Korbi Adams, Laura Berger, Patricia Black, Raquel Denis, Sarah Dolens-Moon, Megan Flod, Bradford Forehand, Emily Freeman, Jen Gantwerker, Mollie Gittleman, Liliana Gomez, Ximena Gonzalez, Iris Gutierrez, Ashley Hare, Gigi Hernandez, Haley Honeman, Maria Katsadouros, Molly LaJoie, Carlos Lara, Crystal Lizardo, Andrea Lombardi, Kim Manning, Karen Marulanda, Rachel McCabe, Lindsay McEuan, Katie McFadzen, Sean Medlin, Laura Mejia, Jenny Millinger, Kathleen Pennyway, Iva Pereira, Stacie Perez, Elizabeth Polen, Lillie Richardson, Julio Sauceda-Lara, Alli St. John, Brianna Stapleton Welch, Debra K. Stevens, Sarah Sullivan, Thomas Underdal, Carlos Urtubey, Xanthia Walker