Profiles

Faculty profile:

Lisa Grimsley
A warm personality and a contagious smile, patience, dedication and an irresistible southern drawl--these qualities suggest a particular Southern Belle who works at ELI: Lisa Grimsley.

	Lisa Grimsley

In her wildest dreams, Grimsley never thought she would leave the South to call Delaware her home. However, eight years ago, she did just that. Born and raised in Smyrna, Georgia, Grimsley graduated from the University of Georgia in 1983, earning a B.S. degree in elementary education.

Motivated and full of fresh ideas, Grimsley spent the next five years teaching kindergarten, third and fourth grades--an experience which she describes as "incredibly rewarding."

During that time, Grimsley embarked on two unforgetable journeys that would whet her appetite for her future profession as an ESL instructor. Rather than spend her summers poolside, planning for the upcoming school year, Grimsley twice hopped a plane to Asia, where she taught conversational English at Korea University and Kyunghi University.

Eager to learn more about different cultures and to pursue the field of language instruction, Grimsley then attended Columbia International University in South Carolina. She received an M.A. degree in Intercultural Studies and Teaching English as a Foreign Language. A subsequent teaching practicum took her to Bandung, Indonesia, where she again experienced the joy of teaching abroad. Only one month after her arrival back in the United States, Grimsley found herself taking on yet another daring endeavor away from home: this time as an ESL instructor at the University of Delaware.

At ELI Grimsley is probably best known for her involvement in teaching the Community Outreach class. Realizing the need for a course that would help students understand the American tradition of volunteerism and that would actively integrate them into many aspects and services of the community, Grimsley personally designed and initiated the course. Students "sing her praises," expressing their gratitude for this opportunity to engage in the local community through active English communication. And they often take their new interest in volunteerism back home to their native lands.

Praises of a different kind are sung by Grimsley herself. When not in her office or classroom, Grimsley can be found at her local church, singing with a "worship band." She describes music as an outlet from her busy schedule. In fact, if she weren't teaching, Grimsley said she would pursue a career in music. "I am very interested in singing," she said, "especially harmonizing." Fortunately for the students and staff at ELI, she has chosen to share her talents with them: Lisa Grimsley and ELI... perfect harmony.

Professional staff profile:

Dru Arban
Among ELI students, Dru Arban may be best known for generating those "blue sheets" students receive each session--the bills. "Got a question about your bill? Go see Dru," they're told.

Dru Arban

Billing is just one of the responsibilities, including personnel contracts, grants, budgets and accounts receivable and payable, which Arban has been juggling since becoming executive assistant to ELI Director Scott Stevens in 1998. Not many people know that behind Arban's easy smile and quiet demeanor is a professional with a flair for music and a long track record of achievement in the field of education.

Arban grew up in Woodstown, New Jersey, just across the Delaware River from Wilmington and not far from the site--known to locals as the "Woodstown Mall" Arban confides with a smile--of the Cowtown Rodeo, regularly visited by ELI students each September.

He received his Bachelor's in Music Education from West Virginia University, got married and started working as a choir director at Pennsville High School, back in his home state. After the birth of his son in the late 1970s, Arban changed his career path to administration and was contracted by the state to travel all over New Jersey establishing a new self-paced high school diploma program in private schools, government agencies and military bases. After spending six years at this job, Dru accepted a position as job placement and internship director at a private vocational school in Maple Shade, New Jersey.

Beginning in 1984, Dru completed two years of course work at Victory Christian Fellowship, a church in New Castle, Delaware. This led to a new job for the church as music director and associate pastor. In his new position, Arban was in charge of all TV, audio, video and print production as well as running the international bible school program. Between 1986 and 1998, he helped to establish 150 schools in 20 nations, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, the Bahamas, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, England, Canada and the United States.

Arban and his wife, Teresa, are both musicians and still participate actively in their church's music program. In addition to playing music together for fun, they also enjoy canoeing and bicycling.The couple are especially proud that their son Brian entered Villanova University Law School this summer.

Tutor profile:

Patrick White

"And thank you to my tutors, especially Patrick White--the best, the craziest!"

Valedictorian Rafael Diaz-Cañabote (Venezuela), speaking at ELI's graduation in June, reserved his last congratulation for the popular tutor known to everyone as "Whitey."

Patrick White

Why does Whitey teach English classes in the morning at the University of Delaware, tutor at ELI for three or four hours each afternoon, and then prepare for teaching other English courses at Delaware Technical and Community College in the evening?

"I like to keep busy," he says, "and it's fun to meet people from different backgrounds." Growing up in a small Pennsylvania town with a very homogeneous, middle class population, Whitey says he now enjoys ELI's diversity. International students challenge the typical American ways of thinking.

"I'm always learning something from them," he says.

Whitey brings a lot to his students, too. He began tutoring at ELI while working on his master's and doctorate in English at the University of Delaware. His love of history and his profound grasp of grammar as well as writing and literature enrich all his classes.

While Whitey prefers to tutor students who are "all business," who have a clear agenda of what they want to learn so that time isn't wasted, he doesn't hesitate to draw out shy students with humor. In fact, other tutors verify that they are always prepared for sarcasm and innuendo when Whitey is around.

Whitey would agree with former Massachusetts Governor Francis Sargent, who said, "I refuse to take myself seriously, but I always take my job seriously."

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