DSC Faculty

Christine Burris
Teacher

Christine was born in Germany and received her MA in English and French from the University of Göttingen. After teaching middle school in Germany for a while she moved to San Francisco and received a BA in German at San Francisco State University. She then joined the German American International School, now Silicon Valley International School, in Palo Alto, CA where she taught the International Baccalaureate Program in German in elementary and middle school. Christine believes in fostering critical thinking skills and conceptual understanding as well as nurturing students’ natural curiosity.

Lynn Merritt Ekstedt
DSC Librarian

Lynn’s love of German began in her college days when she spent six months in Germany as an exchange student. A few years ago, she met Ludmila Schuster while taking German classes at Oregon State University. Lynn enjoys reading, traveling, learning new things, and meeting new people. In January 2019, she became the DSC librarian. She taught beginning adult German courses in 2021-22.

Annika Langner
Language Assistant

Annika is a student at OSU pursuing a degree in animal science with a pre-veterinarian option. She grew up in San Mateo California with both parents originated from Baden-Württemberg. She supports Ludmila and other teachers during class times by engaging with students.

Barbara Malloy
Administrative Support and Librarian

Barbara was born in Germany. She began working with us in 2018 and was teaching on a regular basis 2018-2020. Currently, Barbara is assisting with administration and co-organizing our DSC Library. We look forward having her back in our children program when she finds time after retiring from her current work.

Brittney Teal-Cribbs, MA
Teacher for A1/A2

Brittney earned her MA in European History from WOU, and her BA in History with a minor in German from OSU. Already as a student, she enjoyed teaching of German to children. With the Ashbrook Independent School’s German after-school program and the Corvallis Preschool Teacher experiences, she continues teaching Kindergarten and Elementary German courses at DSC. Brittney joined DSC in November 2014.

Annette Youngberg
Teacher Adult Courses

Annette is a retired clinical microbiologist who began studying German in junior high school. She has visited Germany several times, usually on a bicycle. Her favorite places in Germany are Berlin, Aachen, and rural Bavaria. Annette enjoys sharing her love of German language and culture with students of all ages. Annette joined our school in 2015 and is currently teaching A1and A2 levels adult classes.

Scott McCannell, B.A., B.A., MAT
Teacher: Conversations, Stammtisch & Board Game Nights

Scott earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and German from OSU and a master’s degree in teaching from Western Oregon University. Scott teaches mathematics and statistics at Central High School in Monmouth. He learned his first few words in German from his grandmother and studied German in high school and college, but his passion for the language ignited only after a 2018 trip to Düsseldorf, Berlin and Erfurt. He teaches the conversation class at DSC.

Christina Howard
Administrative Office & Teacher

Christina was born in Darmstadt, Germany, and moved to the United States in 2009. She earned her bachelor degree in Business Administration and worked in the United States as a certified human resource professional for more than 10 years. Christina met Ludmila Schuster in December 2022 at the Holiday Market. She loves to share her knowledge of the German language and culture by assisting DSC. She assists with classes and administration.

Kim Phillips
Teacher: Summer Camps

Kim was a Kindergarten teacher at the Ashbrook School, Corvallis.  She began as a DSC volunteer in 2017 and was an assistant for children’s classes for many years. 

Ludmila Schuster Provaznikova, Ph.D.
School Director & Teacher

Ludmila received an MA in Foreign Language Education and History in the Czech Republic. She spent several years teaching German and History at middle and high schools in the Czech Republic and in Germany. In the United States, she earned an MA in German Literature at the University of North Carolina and a PhD in Foreign Language Acquisition at the University of Iowa. She has been faculty in the German Program at OSU since 2010. Her interest is multi-lingual language development, which she gets to practice with her family every day. Ludmila started the school team in the Fall 2014.

Supporters, Assistants and Volunteers:

Elizabeth Jones, Ph.D.
Presenter

Elizabeth B. Jones is Professor Emerita of Modern German History at Colorado State University and currently lives in Corvallis. She is supporting DSC by co-organizing and preparing lecture series on German history and culture (see “Tuesday ZOOM Presentations” in our calendar).

Nikki Richardson
Language Assistant

Nikki began as a volunteer in 2019 and has been an assistant for children’s classes and adult German conversation classes ever since. She graduated from Oregon State University in 2022.

Tjorven Sievers,
Assistant/Conversant

Tjorven grew up in northern Germany and then lived in Berlin during college and in the UK while completing her master’s. After meeting her husband in the UK, she moved to the US in 2016, first to Maine, where her husband is from, and then to Oregon. Tjorven finished her PhD in Public Policy at OSU in 2021 and now works for the Oregon Employment Department as a Policy Analyst. She started volunteering for DSC early in 2022 and has been assisting with the adult classes.

Erika Scholl, Presenter and Native Language Conversant

Ryan Healey
Facebook Support

Ryan started studying German in the fall of 2019 and started classes at DSC in the spring of 2022. A self-proclaimed language nerd, he has a keen interest and background in languages and linguistics. When not exploring languages, Ryan likes to spend his time listening to and making music, playing tabletop games with friends, and being outside. Together with his partner Emily and their two cats, he has been in Corvallis since the summer of 2019.

Dan Youngberg
Web Support

Dan retired from HP long ago. He provides web support for several local organizations, rides a bicycle, and builds things.