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Boni LaValley Kim LaValley The Directors of Lake Tahoe Institute of English, Boni and Kim LaValley, are the primary instructors. The
LaValleys are uniquely qualified as instructors in this type of
personalized, total immersion program designed for adults, especially
executives or professionals. Friendly, outgoing people, the LaValleys
have traveled to 35 countries outside of the United States, and have
participated in language immersion programs themselves. They both have
TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certifications and special
Certifications in Teaching Business English. They also have numerous
university and professional degrees. Boni and Kim both
have a wide variety of business and educational experiences and outside
interests that gives them a diversity of experience and knowledge that
enhances their ability to provide a total immersion program designed to
meet your exact needs and interests.  Kim has his Bachelor’s Degrees in International Relations and
Comparative Religious Studies from the University of the Pacific. He has
his Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of California, Hastings
College of the Law. He has practiced law since 1977, with specialties in
labor law, human resources, family law and criminal defense law. He has
additional studies in Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Business and
Project Management. Recently the national Society of Human Resource
Managers (SHRM) certified Kim as a Professional of Human Resource
Management (PHR). Kim has also served on local and national boards for
Campfire, USA, TOCCATA, and has participated in Rotary International. He
also served on the Board of Directors and as a 2-year President of a
National Association of franchise restaurant owners (The Papa Murphy’s
Franchisee Association).
Boni has her Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from the University
of California, Berkeley. She has minor degrees in French and History.
She also has a Master’s Degree in Environmental Systems Engineering,
with an emphasis in cross-cultural issues, from California State University Humboldt. She has a teaching credential, and is certified to teach grades
kindergarten to 12 in English, History, Spanish and Social Sciences. She
also has a degree in Fashion Design and additional studies in
Alternative Dispute Resolution and Business and Project Management. In
addition, Boni has had the important experience of teaching school in
Puerto Rico, and has taught at all age levels, from young children to
older adults. Boni has also served on the boards of many local community
organizations, including CASA, Adoption Horizons, Council on Adoptable
Children, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and The Children’s Cabinet. Finally,
she occasionally serves as a local tour guide for the Lake Tahoe area. Boni
and Kim together owned a chain of six restaurants for 13 years, which
they operated together, Boni as the Chief Executive Officer, Kim as the
Chief Operations Officer. In the more distant past, Boni also owned and
operated a high fashion handbag manufacturing company, SidePocket, Inc.,
in San Francisco, California. Kim owned and operated a legal data base
management service. The LaValleys travel frequently, and have interests in history,
politics, civic affairs, environmental issues, business management, the
world economy, literature, and music. They have been involved in a very
wide range of informal studies. They also have many hobbies, which they
would love to share with you. They love to ski, hike, bike, kayak, swim,
relax at the beach, entertain at their home, cook, scuba dive and
snorkel, snowshoe, design jewelry, read, sew, dance, and make new
friends! “We guarantee that every client will increase their proficiency in
English by many levels, and that they will have one of the most
enjoyable times of their lives while learning! Come join us for a week
or more to explore beautiful Lake Tahoe and the nearby sights and cities
that make the Western United States one of the best tourist
destinations in the world. We see ourselves as very friendly and
hospitable, and anticipate becoming friends with all our clients.” 
Mary Edwards Mary Edwards has worked as an instructor at Lake Tahoe
Institute of English almost since the beginning. Mary has her Bachelor of Science Degree in
Sociology and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin Superior, along with
her Conversational and Business TOEFL Certificates from Oxford Seminars.
One of the things that makes Mary such a popular instructor
at Tahoe English is her personal understanding of the struggles of learning
another language. In addition to having
traveled broadly all over the world, Mary has lived abroad on three separate
occasions with her family, for a year in Florence, Italy, for a year in
Budapest, Hungary, and for 6 months in Dubai. In both Florence and Budapest, Mary diligently
studied Italian and Hungarian. Mary
truly understands the difficulties our clients face.
Mary has also managed to combine her love of travel with her
love of teaching. She has taught English
to Spanish business professionals in Spain at Pueblo Ingles, and she has also
spent 3 summers in China teaching English to Chinese graduate students and
medical professionals. Her latest
overseas teaching assignment was in Dubai, at the American University.
Living at Lake Tahoe for over 20 years, Mary has been active
in the Incline Village community, working in the schools, serving on several
organizational committees, and is currently serving as president of one of the
Incline Village Women’s Golf Clubs.
Mary continues to travel as much as she can and is always
looking ahead to her next travel destination. On her short list is Colombia, Argentina, and
wherever else she can go in South America.
Central America is of particular interest, too. And, after having spent 3 summers in China,
she would love to see more of Asia. She
has been an avid runner for the last 25 years and looks for any opportunity to
combine her travel with a running adventure as well. Running a marathon in Prague was her latest
running adventure.
Along with Mary’s love for Lake Tahoe,
she loves a good book and especially enjoys nothing more than sharing a good
bottle of wine with good friends, old and new. Marc Oakley Marc Oakley joined Lake Tahoe Institute of English as an
instructor in the summer of 2011, and has quickly become
our “go-to” expert for the most difficult intricacies of the English language.
At Tahoe English we share Marc with Truckee Meadows
Community College, where he is an adjunct instructor in Teaching English as a
Second Language. He also is employed by
the University of Nevada as an English/Spanish interpreter. Marc has a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Journalism and a Master of Arts Degree in Teaching English as a Second Language
from the University of Nevada. He is
fluent in Spanish.
With over ten years’ experience teaching English in Italy,
Spain and the US, there is no language problem too difficult for Marc to
solve. Marc, like everyone at Lake Tahoe
Institute of English, has lived abroad, spending some ten years in and around
Spain (where he met and married his lovely Spanish wife). This experience has given him special insight
into the difficulties of learning a second language as an adult.
When Marc is not working with clients, he loves to listen to
music, watch films, and hike and snowboard at Lake Tahoe. He also loves to travel every chance he gets. Lynn Berardo
Lynn Berardo has taught at Lake Tahoe Institute of English
since the winter of 2010. Lynn brings a very diverse background, and wide
ranging interests to our school. Our
clients find that she engages them in deep level conversations that have them
speaking on topics and at levels that they never before thought would be
possible.
A teacher by training, Lynn was born and raised in Great
Britain, received her education in sociology with an emphasis in family and
neighborhood studies, and taught Home Economics and Sociology in Britain. From a very early age, Lynn has charted a
course for living a “useful life”, feeling that contribution to her family,
friends and community is what makes for a good and satisfying life.
While teaching, Lynn met the love of her life, Stevan, who
is American. They married, and she
immigrated to the US in 1976. Although
she has lived in the US more than half her life, Lynn still flies the Union
Jack flag proudly, and still insists on British spelling, and endures teasing
about her “accent”.
Lynn lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years, and
while living there, as the mother of two pre-schoolers, she joined with other
“mothers of invention”, and helped create a publishing company called Bay Area
Publishing Group, Inc., which published a parenting magazine. Bay Area Publishing Group became one of the
largest, most profitable and successful regional parenting magazines in
America. BAPG held the distinction of
having won more awards for excellence from the Medill School of Journalism than
any other member of the influential trade organization,
“Parenting Publications of America.” After
17 years with her publication, Lynn’s magazine was purchased by United
Advertising Publications.
After a six month retirement, Lynn joined ”Beyond Work “, a
company focusing on providing life/work balance for professionals and others. She has much to offer our professional
clients in this arena.
Lynn and Stevan relocated to the Tahoe area in 2001, where
she has lived ever since. Retired from
corporate life, Lynn has dedicated her time to contributing to her community in
a variety of ways. She has served as
Trustee on several important community organization boards, and has also served
as Development Officer for Tahoe Parasol Community Foundation. Lynn’s life passion is contribution,
especially to families and communities.
In addition to her entrepreneurial achievements and
volunteerism, Lynn has traveled widely all over the world, and enjoys almost
nothing more than a good adventure.
Lynn also loves to study nutrition, loves to cook, and remodels houses
in her spare time. Still, she considers
her greatest challenge and reward to be being a successful parent to her adult
children, and with her husband, Stevan, to pursue deep and meaningful
friendships with all three children.
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