Staff

Teaching Faculty

Christine

Instructor

Christine Mahelona was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.  She has a B.A. and an M.A. in French Language and Literature from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  She also received the Diplome au Niveau Superieur in French Language and Literature from the University of Paris at the Sorbonne and a certificate in TESOL from Trinity College, London.  She has taught ESL in Japan, Spain, and Poland.  Besides French, she learned Finnish living in Finland for a couple of years.  Before she joined Academia Language School, Christine taught French, English, and ESL at Hawaii Pacific University for ten years.  In her free time, Christine enjoys reading, listening to music, swimming, eating chocolate, and volunteering for her church and the Boy Scouts of America Scoutreach program.

Sean

Instructor

Sean Flannagan was born and raised in Kansas. He has a B.G.S. in Theatre and Film Studies from the University of Kansas. Additionally, he has International TEFL TESOL (ITT) certification. A talented writer, Sean was a Screenwriters’ Showcase Awards finalist and a semi-finalist in the Annual Writers Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition. Sean taught English for four years in Japan before coming to Academia Language School and has a working knowledge of Japanese. His hobbies include hiking and playing tennis.

Administration and Office Staff

Larry

Director of Language Programs

For several years Larry Rhodes was a reporter on international affairs for Shin’etsu Broadcasting Company in Japan, where he also hosted his own television series. He came to Honolulu to study at the University of Hawaii at Manoa but took leave to join the Economics Department of Shinshu University in order to conduct research on youth employment for a Ph.D. in Political Science. There, he was granted an audience with Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan to discuss the results of his research, which was subsequently published. His publications include “Homeroom Teachers in Japan,” National Forum: Phi Kappa Phi Journal, Winter 1994, and “From School to Work in Japan,” Compare, October 1996. More recently, he has published works on the usefulness of sentence diagramming in ESL instruction in Hawaii TESOL’s journal, The Word. Having been thoroughly immersed in the language and culture of another country, Larry is sensitive to the difficulties that students face while living in America and learning English. As the Director of Language Programs at Academia, he strives to continue developing courses that meet the varied interests of the school’s diverse student body.

Kimberly

Assistant Director of Language Programs

Kimberly L. was born in Saginaw, Michigan. She has a B.B.A. in Marketing from Western Michigan University. Having worked at the school since 1995, Kimberly is Academia Language School’s longest tenured employee. Before taking on her current administrative position, Kimberly taught ESL for many years at the school. While not claiming to be proficient in any particular language, she is familiar with several languages. Her interests include reading, baking, and raising her two sons.