Reading
Department
Faculty and Staff
- Cheryl
Altman
has been teaching in both the Reading and English as a Second
Language Departments at Saddleback College since 1982, first as a part-time
instructor and then as a full-time faculty member. She has also taught English,
ESL, and Reading for the Rancho Santiago Community College District. She
received her B.A. in Psychology from Hunter College and MS in Education with a concentration in Reading and Language Arts from Herbert H. Lehman College of
the City University of New York as well as a certificate in Teaching English as
a Second Language from UCI. She has made presentations at CRLA (College
Reading and Learning Association), CCHA (Community College Humanities Association),
IRA (International Reading Association), and ECCTYC (English Council of
California Two-year Colleges). Cheryl enjoys traveling, hiking, gardening,
eating Chinese food, and, of course, reading. You can always find her with
a good book in her hands; she loves to quote John Stuart Mills - "Reading
is the light of the mind." Her favorite books are Peony by Pearl
S. Buck and Beloved by Toni Morrison.
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- Janet
Bagwell received her BS from Duquesne University, a teaching
credential from University of Pittsburgh, and her MS in Education with a
concentration in Reading and Language Arts as well as a Reading Specialist
Credential from California State University, Fullerton. She continued her education at UCI where she received a certificate in Teaching
English as a Second Language. In addition to teaching at Saddleback, Ms.
Bagwell has been a lecturer at California State University, Fullerton where she
taught in the Undergraduate Reading Program. Her interests include reading,
the Civil War, nutrition and physical fitness, music and theater, and her grandchildren. Her favorite authors include John Steinbeck and Nelson DeMille,
and a few of her favorite books are The Prophet, Gettysburg,
and Angela's Ashes.
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- Brenda
Bruno graduated from Northern Arizona
University with a BS in English and a master's in English with an emphasis
in teaching at the community college. While teaching English, reading, and
ESL for four years in Flagstaff, Arizona, she earned a doctorate in English
Education from Arizona State University. Thereafter, she taught at Boise
State University in Idaho for five years before moving to Texas and joining
the staffs at Austin Community College and The University of Texas, Austin.Since
1986, Dr. Bruno has served on the faculty at Saddleback in both the English
and Reading Departments. Her interests include dancing, swing, Latin, and
country; figure skating; walking in the foothills; and reading. Favorite
authors span a lifetime of reading, from Agatha Christie's captivating plots
solved by her diverse detectives to Veronica Stallwood's intriguing Oxford
tales; from Jane Austin's social accounts of British life to Kingsolver's
cultural revelation of the Congo; from Theodore Dreiser's stark depiction
of turn-of-the-century morals to Joan Didion, N. Scott Momaday, and William
Zinsser's probing writings on the essence of the human experience.
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- Margaret
Carey received her BA from UCLA and her MS in Reading Education
from Pepperdine University. She works full-time with at-risk junior high
and high school students and at night teaches in our reading lab. She enjoys interacting
with college students and finds Saddleback students especially dedicated
and appreciative. Demands of her full-time job leave little leisure time;
however, she takes pleasure in gardening, walking, bike riding, traveling,
and reading in her spare time. She welcomes brief escapes in the works of
contemporary authors Tom Clancy and John Grisham, among others.
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- Bob
Cosgrove graduated from St. Procopius College with a BA in English/Philosophy
and earned his MA at Purdue University in English/Developmental Reading.
Continuing his education at Purdue, Dr. Cosgrove earned his Ph.D. in English/Linguistics.
He started his teaching career at Illinois State University and then moved
to Southwest Missouri State University where he was the Director of Freshman
and Sophomore English and Assistant Head of the English Department. Before
moving to California, Dr. Cosgrove directed the Writing Program at Texas
Tech University. He joined the English and Reading Departments at Saddleback
in 1981. When not at Saddleback, one can find Dr. Cosgrove tending to his
thriving Aliso Canyon Honey Company and Bee Removal Service or traveling,
reading, canoeing, or writing. His reading interests include several genres:
spy/mystery fiction, poetry, biography, and business publications. Specific
authors he enjoys are Conrad, Melville, Forster, Dante, Ciardi, LeCarre,
Hamilton and the 4th c. Greek dramatists.
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- Teri FitzMaurice received her BA in Psychology and her MS in Education with a concentration in Reading from California State University, Fullerton. She also holds a California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. She spent twelve years as an elementary school teacher before joining the Reading staff at Saddleback. She is currently continuing her education at UCI where she is pursuing a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language. Her interests include reading, gardening, yoga, cooking, and music. One of her favorite authors is T. Jefferson Parker.
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- Denise
Green was born in Philadelphia but grew up in New Jersey. She graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in History/Education and received a teaching credential from the state of New Jersey. She lives in Dana Point with her husband and the youngest of their four children who currently attends San Francisco State. She worked for the Capistrano Unified School District for twelve years before accepting a position as Reading lab technician at Saddleback in 1998. While working in the Reading Lab she earned her MS in Reading from Cal State Fullerton. Her role at Saddleback is unique in that she is both a lab technician and an associate faculty member and acts as instructor both in the class and the lab. With her years of baseball, soccer, and swim mom behind her, she fills her free time with travel, gardening and reading.
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- Jill Lagatta received her B.A. in English (with a minor in Education)
from Penn State and her M.A. in English from the University of
Delaware. She taught English and Language Arts on the secondary
school level before relocating to Southern California. She received
her Ph.D. in Education (with a specialization in Reading) from USC.
She taught a variety of English classes (reading and composition
courses) for many years at El Camino College in Torrance before moving
to San Jose. In San Jose, Dr. Lagatta taught reading and writing
courses at Evergreen Valley College and also taught in the teacher
education program at San Jose State University. She has additional
university experience, having taught in the writing programs at USC
and Rutgers, and she also taught and advised in the secondary school
credential program at University of California, Irvine. She is an
avid reader and likes to sample different types of literature, from
mysteries by Michael Connelly, Jonathan Kellerman, and T. Jefferson
Parker, to books focusing on family issues by Anne Tyler,
Elizabeth Berg, and Amy Tan. She also enjoys the work of other
contemporary writers, such as Richard Russo, Ian McEwan, John
Irving, and John Updike, and likes the nonfiction work of Jon Krakauer
and Ann Rule. During football season, she enthusiastically follows
college football, cheering for the Nittany Lions of Penn State and for
USC. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with
her family.
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- Mary
Madison earned her AA from Saddleback College
and continued her education at California State University, Fullerton where
she earned both her BA and MS degrees. Ms. Madison joined the Reading Department
in 1999 and also teaches at Fullerton College. During her leisure time she
enjoys browsing second-hand stores, listening to books on tape, and watching
black and white movies. One of her favorite contemporary authors is Anne
Tyler; she particularly enjoyed reading Tyler's The Accidental Tourist.
Recent reading includes A Lesson Before Dying and The Cider House
Rules, both of which she enjoyed very much and recommends to her students.
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- Mary
McRoberts' educational path started at Antelope Valley College where
she earned an AA in Math and Science. Thereafter, she earned a BA and an
MA in History, a second MA in Reading Education, and secondary and adult
education credentials from California State University, Northridge. Her
years of teaching experience include eighteen in secondary education, twenty-five
at the community college level, and fifteen with Chapman University. Her
favorite author is Ernest Hemingway whose The Sun Also Rises is one
of her all time favorite books. Favorite recent fiction includes Angela's
Ashes and Memoirs of a Geisha.
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- Lori
Pangborn's educational experience reveals her Southern California up-bringing:
a high school diploma from Mater Dei; a BA in English from Mt. Mary's College;
an MA in Education with a specialization in Reading from Chapman University;
and, coursework taken at California State University, Fullerton. Ms. Pangborn
also holds two Life Credentials in Secondary Education and a Credential
in Secondary School Administration. Her teaching career started at Kennedy
High School in La Palma where she taught for fifteen years. She has taught
at Saddleback for over 30 years in both the Reading and English Departments.
Aside from her professional interests, Ms. Pangborn enjoys activities with her three grown
children, two of whom are Saddleback graduates, and her five grandchildren. Living
near the beach, having fun with her golden retriever and reading give her pleasure
as well. One of her all time favorite novels is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. She finds pleasure and comfort in reading the Bible and in poetry.
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- Irene
Renault received her BA in English from Merrimack College in North Andover,
Massachusetts, and continued her education at the University of Massachusetts
where she received an MS in Reading. She joined the Saddleback staff in
1996 after teaching high school English and reading for twenty years. She
affirms that teaching at Saddleback is one of her most rewarding professional
experiences. To best meet the needs and interests of her students, she reads
a wide variety of materials. Recently, she's enjoyed the works of Anita
Shreve, including The Resistance and The Weight of Water.
She enjoys historical fiction as well such as Leon Uris's Trinity
and The Exodus. Two books she will always enjoy are Sinclair Lewis's
Main Street and My Antonia by Willa Cather.
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- Ruby Trott received her B.S. in Business Administration with a minor
in French from California State University, Long Beach. She has taught
computer literacy for ten years at the community college level, two
years to children grades K-8, and is a certified Microsoft Office
master instructor. Prior to beginning her teaching career, she had
also worked in the aerospace industry for a few years as a programmer
and database consultant. Ruby works as a lab technician in the Reading
Lab at Saddleback College. When she is not teaching or working in the
lab, she enjoys spending time with her family.
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Accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges, of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.