Our Team

Every member of our team is a native German speaker who strives to provide a culturally diverse language education to our students. Many of our colleagues have been part of our team for many years and have lived and worked in the United States or German speaking countries before coming to the German Language School of Naperville. All of our teachers speak German natively and English too!

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Anne Becker

Director

Anne grew up in Wuppertal, went to the University of Bochum and studied History, German Linguistics, German literature and Educational Science.

Caroline Curley

Assistant Teacher

Caroline was born and raised in Berlin, Germany, has a background in marketing, and moved to Chicago through the German/American Youth Exchange program.

Holger Becker, PhD

Teacher

Born and raised in Schwelm (NRW), Germany, Holger earned a degree in German philology and a PhD in linguistics and moved to the US through a job assignment in 1993.

Jana Sutherland

Teacher

Jana grew up in Rostock, Germany, studied fashion design in Berlin, and subsequently worked as an editor for numerous lifestyle magazines. In her free time, she also teaches yoga.

Karina D.-Hoffmann, PhD

Teacher

Karina Duncker-Hoffman was born in Hamburg, Germany. She has a Master’s degree in Teaching, teaches German and ESL, and earned a PhD in Germanic Studies.

Petra Kohler, PhD

Teacher

Petra was born and raised in Giessen, Germany. She is currently teaching Science at DuPage Montessori school working with children from K through 8th Grade.

Sandra Nelson

Teacher

Sandra was born and raised in the suburbs of Cologne. She has been working as a preschool teacher since 2001. Sandra lives in Warrenville with her husband and three children.

Andrea Vrecko

Teacher

Andrea was born in Munich. She studied at University of Eichstätt to become a primary school teacher and currently lives in Naperville with her husband, and their four children.

Cynthia Vargas

Teacher

Cynthia was born in Würzburg, Bavaria, and has a master's degree in international relations. She speaks several languages, and is married to a local Chicagoan.

Jacky Lühder

Teacher

Jacky grew up near Hamelin, Germany, famous for the Pied Piper legend. She worked as a primary school teacher and enjoys outdoor activities, acting, and being social.

Jasneet Kaur

Teacher

Jasneet grew up in India, where she earned a masters degree in German and completed her teachers training at the Goethe Institut. She teaches German ever since.

Kathrin Schmid

Teacher

Kathrin was born in Reutlingen, Germany and gained her Masters degree (MA) in communications and cultural anthropology at the University of Tübingen.

Petra Rose

Assistant Teacher

Petra holds a degree in special education, worked for many years with children ages 3 to 12, and today lives with her husband and their three children in Downers Grove.

Thu Hoang

Teacher

Thu grew up in the Bremen area, Germany. She has a Master of Education for German and Mathematics, and moved to the Chicago area with her husband.

Angela Jöstlein

Director Emeritus (retired in 2021)

Angela founded GLSN in 2001 and served as the director until 2021. Born in Berlin, Germany, Angela earned a degree in Social Work in München, and moved to the US in 1970.

Elena Bender

Teacher

Elena was born and raised in Lower Saxony, attended a language school with business focus, and worked for several international companies before moving to Chicago.

Jacqueline Schüring

Teacher

Jacqueline was born in Dortmund, has a degree as a primary school teacher, and worked several years at an inner-city school in Ludwigshafen.

Julia Kastenmeier

Assistant Teacher

Coming soon.

Melinda Beck

Teacher

Melinda lived in Cologne, Hamburg and Mannheim and majored in Germanic Studies, receiving her teaching certificate from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Sabine Galagher

Teacher

Sabine was born in Bavaria, Germany and studied Chemical Engineering at the Technical University in Munich.

Tristan Druelinger

Teacher

Tristan was raised in a suburb of Chicago and got his degree in Education and German Language from Saint Louis University.