Meet the Leaders

Natalie Wagner, Graciano Petersen, Joseph (Joe) Paola

Natalie Wagner, Graciano Petersen, Joseph (Joe) Paola

NATALIE WAGNER
University of Oklahoma, B.A., French and International and Area Studies; University of Pennsylvania, M.A., Education

While at the University of Oklahoma, Natalie focused on French, Spanish, and International Studies; spent a semester studying in Bordeaux, France, and  worked in the campus Education Abroad office supporting French language exchanges. After completing her undergraduate studies, Natalie moved to Philadelphia where she earned her master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania while teaching English, Social Studies, and Drama with Teach For America. Natalie now lives in Washington, D.C., where she teaches French at Paul Public Charter School and runs The Institute for Student Health, a nonprofit she co-founded which is dedicated to teaching cooking, gardening, and fitness skills to elementary school students. Natalie has traveled extensively in Mexico and has chaperoned school trips to Costa Rica and Japan. She is fluent in French and Spanish and led Putney’s Language Learning France and Community Service Costa Rica programs.

JOSEPH PAOLA
Providence College, B.A., Spanish, B.A., Global Studies; Middlebury College, M.A., Spanish; University of Virginia, Ph.D., Spanish Literature (candidate)

After finishing his undergraduate studies at Providence College, Joseph moved to Madrid, Spain, where he spent a year completing his master’s in Spanish language and literature.  During this time, he traveled extensively throughout Spain and Europe before returning to teach for a year as a professor of Spanish at Providence College, his undergraduate alma mater. He then moved to Boston to teach Spanish at CATS Academy Boston, an international boarding school. He is currently a PhD candidate and graduate instructor of Spanish at the University of Virginia. Joseph is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Italian.

GRACIANO PETERSEN
Tulane University, B.A., Spanish; Tulane University, B.S., Cell and Molecular Biology; Tulane University, M.A., Spanish Language and Literature

During his undergraduate studies at Tulane, Graciano lived in Madrid, Spain, for an academic year and traveled extensively throughout the country. After graduation, Graciano worked as an editor and writer at Expert Editions, an editor and vice-chair at Student National Medical Association, and a journal program manager at the American Geophysical Union in Washington, DC. Most recently, he has worked as an editor at Southern Pulse and Potent Magazine. He has worked as an ESL instructor at Montgomery College/Shortman Education Center teaching all levels of adult English Language Learners in grammar, writing, and pronunciation. He is currently a Spanish teacher at Emerson Preparatory School and Fluent City. Graciano is fluent in Spanish.