Kashandra Ball

Kashandra has been teaching since 1999 and finished her 25th year in May. Ms. Ball has been involved with TASLE since 2016. She became the chairperson in 2019.  She considers TASLE workshops fun, interactive, and rich in networking as well as resource-sharing. Kashandra has greatly enjoyed her time as Chairperson of the committee, blessed to have been surrounded by great teamwork and collaboration.  During free time, she loves to travel, play card/board games, enjoy craft bazaar/festivals with friends, work on family genealogy, and enjoys spending time with her Dachshund.

Lisa McLeroy

After graduating from Abilene Christian University Lisa was involved in the hotel industry for the next 20 years.  She has experience in both private and public schools since 2008, which includes serving on the district's curriculum writing team. She has been involved with TASLE since 2016, serving as a participant, presenter, and now as part of the leadership.

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When not teaching, Lisa is the Chairperson for NTPA Deaf Theatre.  She also enjoys hanging out with her family, playing board games, and watching professional football. 

Jennifer Bennett

​Jennifer Bennett has a Bachelor's degree in Deaf Education from TCU and a Master's in Teaching ASL from the University of Northern Colorado. She taught at a school for the Deaf for 7 years, then taught ASL as a foreign language at a hearing high school for 13 years. She now teaches ASL and Interpreting at Tarrant County College and also works as a community and VRS interpreter. She is also the lead administrator of the ASL Teacher Share group on Facebook. Hobbies include playing piano and handbells as well as performing in Deaf theatre.

Bethany Davis

Pamela has been teaching ASL at private schools in the Austin area since 2017. She has been involved with TASLE since 2018. Pamela holds an MS degree in Education of the Deaf, a BA degree in Communication Studies, an AA degree in Speech Communication, and certifications in Social Work, Social Media, and Trust-Based Relational Intervention Training (TBRI). She has experience as a Social Media manager, blogger, motivational speaker, and sign music performer. Pamela and her husband, also deaf, have four adult hearing children. 

Lisa Davis

For most of my younger adult life, I worked in the business world. When it came time for my daughters to go off to college, I went with them.  In 2013, I graduated from Stephine F. Austin University (exactly 30 years after I graduated high school).  My first three years of teaching career was in Deaf Education working with 3-year-olds to 2nd grade.  This is my 9th year teaching ASL. 

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When I am not teaching, I enjoy hanging out with my granddaughters, working on various craft projects, and watching movies. 

Amy Diaz

Amy is currently in her 2nd year as an ASL teacher at Melissa High School.  She has a Master of Business Administration from Friends University.  In her free time, she loves to travel and root for her KC Chiefs team!

Kristina Harsey

Kristina is an ASL teacher at Sachse High School.  She is a CODA and grew up in Houston, TX.  She received her Bachelor from Lamar University, and she has been in education since 2003. Kristina started out as an interpreter in Deaf education and transitioned to teaching ASL in 2017. She was awarded Sachse Teacher of the Year, and Texas Foreign Language Association Teacher of the Year for 2022.  Kristina joined TASLE in 2022 and is excited to serve on the 2024 committee. 

Melissa Ibanez

Melissa has been teaching since 2000.  Currently teaching ASL with South Texas College for 9 years.  Melissa has attended TASLE since 2018 and enjoys getting ideas from teachers.  Melissa is excited to work on the Committee and looks forward to the challenge.  She is also on the Board for the National ASL Honor Society as a Graduation Chairperson.  She is busy with her 2 daughters, 3 dogs, and a snake.  Melissa enjoys helping her daughter with Girl Scout and Boy Scout materials and Leadership.

When Melissa has time, she enjoys traveling, reading, crafting (especially cross-stitching), and watching movies/tv shows.

Dannette Lira-Anderson

Dannette is currently teaching at San Marcos High School teaching American Sign Language (ASL) as a foreign language for 9th – 12th grades since August 2021. In professional experience, she has been teaching ASL at the college level for 23 years and high school for 13 years. She has taught Deaf Education at the Elementary level for 11 years and taught colleges for years. In Bryan ISD, she has taught ASL beginning and advanced ASL classes for parents who have Deaf children and staff who have Deaf students in class.  In college, she taught ASL at all levels at Blinn Community College in Bryan, TX, and Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX. She is currently teaching ASL at all levels at Lone Star College System, CyFair Campus and North Harris campus. She has a Master of Science in Deaf Education/Deaf Studies from Lamar University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Communication from the University of Houston. She joined TASLE in 2018.

During her free time, she loves making chalk crafts, spending time with my dog and my family, and traveling.

Julia Nelson

Julia has been teaching since 2008. I spent 7.5 years as a deaf ed teacher in middle and high school, then switched to teaching ASL 9 years ago. I have been with La Vernia ISD since 2019. My first time going to TASLE was in 2019. I enjoyed it so much I couldn’t wait to go back! But covid would make that impossible for a few years. I went back as an attendee and presented in both 2022 and 2023 as I love sharing ideas and getting to know people. I am always looking for people to collaborate with. This will be my first year as a committee member. 

During my free time I spend as much time as possible with my husband and now adult children and I LOVE to cook and bake. I look forward to seeing what this year might bring!

Randi Shaw

Randi Shaw has taught ASL for the past nine years and is currently in her third year at Forney High School. She has a varied educational background and can teach History, English, Dual Credit Composition, and ASL. Before teaching, she
worked as an interpreter in the East Texas area, and since 2013 has served as the Chair of the Tyler Junior College Curriculum Advisory Committee for the TJC Interpreter Training Program. In 2019 she was introduced to TASLE and has attended each year since that great experience. At the 2022 TASLE workshop she
presented for the first time and showed her love of using technology in the classroom. She loves leadership activities and was a Student Council Advisor for six years, one of which as a State Officer; and is now in her second year as the
National Honor Society Advisor. In her free time, she enjoys reading, journaling, gardening, traveling, and being with family.

Rebekah Witt

Rebekah Witt (formerly Eudaley) is an ASL Teacher at Aledo High School. She grew up in Austin in a church with a large deaf population where She fell in love with ASL. Rebekah graduated from Lamar University in December 2017 with a degree in American Sign Language. She is beginning her 6th year of teaching this year. She presented at TASLE 2019 and 2023 and has been a part of the committee in 2020-2022, taking a short break to get married, and is excited to be back with us this year!