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Full-Time Faculty Members
Robert Holcomb is originally
from Northern California, but moved to Los Angeles
during the 90s to attend the University of Southern
California. There he studied Spanish Literature and
Linguistics, (BA, 1997) and The Teaching of
English as a Second Language, (MS, 1998). In 2005,
Robert completed a Ph.D., in Education at Claremont
Graduate University. He began his teaching career in the
Los Angeles Unified School District in 1997 and shortly
thereafter started working in Rio Hondo's Noncredit ESL
Program. In 2000, Robert was hired as a full-time
faculty member to teach ESL for the Division of
Communications and Languages. Since then, he has taught
courses in basic ESL, vocabulary, grammar, Spanish, and
he is currently serving a two-year term as ESL Program
Coordinator. Robert enjoys playing the guitar and
sports, but has no plans of quitting the day job he
holds dearly.
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Rod Sciborski is the
founding member of the ESL Department at Rio Hondo
College and is credited with single-handedly writing the
ESL Program at its inception in the 1980s. During his
long tenure as Program Coordinator, Rod secured low
class-size limits, established the state-of-the-art,
computerized language lab, and coordinated the hiring of
all full and part-time faculty members to follow, among
other accomplishments. Rod maintains a balanced teaching
load, including grammar, writing composition, and
individualized modular courses. An avid baseball
enthusiast, Rod can often be found taking in a game,
sometimes involving his Alma Matter, Long Beach State.
Adjunct Faculty Members
Ken Baumheckel
has been teaching ESL in southern California since 1993
and at Rio Hondo College since 2003. He understands that
most of his students have academic and career goals that
require excellent English skills, and he thoroughly
enjoys helping students develop mastery in English so
that they can reach their life goals. In his spare time,
Ken likes running, hiking, camping, playing with his
dogs, reading history, and participating in discussion
clubs.
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Claudia Rivas
has been an ESL faculty member at Rio Hondo since July
of 2006, with prior teaching experience at Montebello
High School and abroad in Paris, France. Her teaching
assignments at the College have included basic
vocabulary (ESL 34) and writing composition courses (ESL
197 & ESL 198). Claudia’s educational background
includes a B.A. and Single Subject Teaching Credential,
in English, from UC Irvine, and an M.S. in TESOL
from USC. She has also attended numerous professional
development workshops and trainings, including
cross-cultural training with Dr. Montano-Harmon and
Advanced Theory and Methods in Bilingual Education
lectured by Stephen Krashen and Jim Cummins at USC.
Claudia is fluent in Spanish and has working levels of
Italian and French proficiency as well. Her travel
experience is vast, having visited approximately 22
states and 14 countries with extended stays in Venice,
Italy and in Paris, France.
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Moises Mata
first began teaching in Rio Hondo’s Noncredit ESL
Program in 2002, at various off-campus sites within the
College’s service area. Since then, he has taught
Freshman Composition (Intended for ESL Students) and
Introduction to Linguistics while serving as
Evening Supervisor for the Learning Assistance Center. A
product of the California Community College system,
Moises obtained an AA degree from East Los Angeles
College before earning a BA, in Language and
Linguistics minor in Communications, from California
State University, Dominguez Hills, and an MA, in
Linguistics/TESL Certificate, from California State
University, Long Beach. He is the son of Mexican
immigrants and has traveled extensively throughout
Mexico, with extended stays in Mexico City. In addition
to fluent Spanish, Moises speaks basic French, and is a
voracious reader of literature, history, and philosophy.
A glutton for punishment and excitement, Moises enjoys
running, having completed several marathons, and playing
the guitar with other local musicians and/or members of
his highly musical family.
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