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Michigan Virtual

Our Instructors

Michigan Virtual’s instructors and staff are passionate about and dedicated to the advancement of blended and online learning.

Adam Jurek

Aaron Jurek

Aaron grew up on a farm in Standish. He attended Saginaw Valley State University and obtained a degree in mathematics and natural science. He is a full-time science and mathematics instructor at John Glenn High School in Bay City. Aaron has three wonderful children. His hobbies are to hunt and fish in his local watershed.
Aaron Lang

Aaron Lang

Aaron became a Michigan Virtual online instructor in 2010. He is a member of the Math department and is certified to teach history and math.
Adam May

Adam May

Adam is a Michigan Virtual math instructor. He has been teaching face-to-face mathematics since 2008 and online since 2012. Adam has taught everything from pre-algebra through calculus. He’s married to an art teacher and lives on the farm that he grew up on with two basset hounds (Edison and Lucy) and two cats (George and Marmalade).
Adam Sanborn

Adam Sanborn

  • Instructor - Career & Technical Education
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Adam teaches math in the L’Anse Creuse School District and previously taught for the Lansing School District. He holds degrees in computer engineering and mathematics from Michigan State University. Adam’s interests include game theory, writing, stage performance, church volunteering and attempting to make his two young sons behave themselves.
Alan Thompson

Alan Thompson

  • Instructor - World Language
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Alan became an online instructor for Michigan Virtual in 2018. He earned his degree in 1994 from Grand Valley State University. He has been teaching for over 23 years in the Grand Rapids area of Michigan. In addition, Alan also has a wife and two kids. Alan enjoys spending time with family when not working with students.
Alanna Prieditis

Alanna Prieditis

  • Lead Instructor - World Language
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Alanna became an online instructor with Michigan Virtual in 2012 and is currently a lead World Language instructor. While completing her undergraduate work at Oakland University, Alanna participated in a summer study abroad program at an American Institute in Valencia, Spain, receiving 12 college credits while living with a host family. After Alanna’s first year of teaching, she went back to Oakland University and received a master’s in educational studies. Alanna is a proud mom of two young children who, in addition to two Dogos Argentinos, keep her and her husband quite busy. She looks forward to sharing her love for traveling when the kids are a little bit older.
Alicia Dubisky

Alicia Dubisky

  • Instructor - World Language
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Although Alicia began teaching as a long-term substitute preschool teacher in Florida, she has been a secondary teacher of English Language Arts and German since 2002 in public, private, studio and online education organizations. She has taught English, journalism, German, music (specifically percussion) and basic law. She is active in community music as a performer, a volunteer and as a board member. She also holds a TEFL license, and she enjoys volunteering in ESL programs, German language discussion groups and Argentine Tango groups. Alicia earned a bachelor’s degree in English and German at Western Michigan University, as well as a master’s degree in English studies for teachers at Eastern Michigan University. Alicia immerses herself in cultural and social activities and often finds herself taking on logistical and training duties, teaching technology-oriented skills to others to help implement efficient and accurate systems for departmental/organizational improvement. She currently serves as the School of Education Licensure Officer at Boston University and is a part-time German and English instructor for Michigan Virtual.
Alison Bourassa

Alison Bourassa

  • Instructor - World Language
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Alison Bourassa joined Michigan Virtual in 2016 as a Japanese instructor. She has been teaching Japanese at the high school and middle school level for 20 years. Alison earned a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese language and culture from Madonna University and a master’s degree in teaching from Marygrove College. She also holds certification in history and social studies, and has developed and taught many courses in those fields as well. Alison lives in Linden with her husband and has two boys in college. She enjoys traveling, cooking diverse ethnic recipes, reading and most of all, meeting people.
Allison Comer-Djoko

Allison Comer-Djoko

  • Instructor - World Language
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Allison is a Spanish educator who is also a lifelong learner. She is a passionate educator and fell in love with Spanish as a high school student when she studied abroad in Spain. Before joining Michigan Virtual, Allison obtained a BA in Spanish and ESL education from Michigan State University and an MA in world language education from Michigan State University. She has taught Spanish for the last seven years from middle school to Adult Education in North Carolina, Michigan and Indiana. When not teaching, Allison enjoys reading, traveling, exercising and spending time with her husband and her pup Cora!
Allison Davert

Allison Davert

  • Instructor - World Language
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Allison Davert is a passionate German teacher for Michigan Virtual. She has been teaching with Michigan Virtual since August of 2015, but she has been a full-time German teacher since 2010 in a public school. Allison also teaches German for Oakland University in the summer as a hybrid in person/online course. She currently holds a Master in the Art of teaching and a Bachelor of Arts in German and English both from Oakland University. She has studied German since she was 12 and has studied at the Goethe Institut in Bonn, Germany. In her free time, Allison enjoys writing and working on her memoir, spending time with her family, and shopping.
photo of Allison Gillie

Allison Gillie

  • Instructor - Social Studies
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Allison joined the Michigan Virtual staff as an Instructor in 2018. She has a bachelor’s degree in History with a minor in Psychology from Michigan State University. She spent 4 years teaching face-to-face before joining the Michigan Virtual staff full time. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, family, and pets. She is an avid cooker and loves the outdoors, camping, and Aikido – a Japanese martial art.
Amanda Hill

Amanda Hill

Amanda has been teaching math and coaching basketball for over 10 years. Before becoming a teacher she worked in public accounting at Deloitte. She earned her undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross and her master’s degree in education from Wayne State. She loves to travel the world and has lived in both Boston and California. Right now, she is living in the Metro Detroit area with her husband and two small children.
Amy Kotsch

Amy Kotsch

  • Instructor - Career & Technical Education
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Amy L. Kotsch, English and Business Education Instructor, has been a Michigan-certified 7-12 educator since 1996 and a Michigan Virtual instructor since 2003. She has taught English 10A, English 10B and beginning composition courses as the lead instructor, and a second section instructor for employability skills and business ethics. In addition to being a member of the Michigan Virtual team, Amy teaches English and computer courses at a small school in Michigan’s thumb. Amy graduated from Central Michigan University in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in English, business education and recreation. In 2002 she earned a master’s degree in educational technology from Central Michigan University.
Amy Smith

Amy Smith

  • Instructor - World Language
  • Email
Amy is thrilled to be a part-time French and health instructor with Michigan Virtual. Her subject areas of French and health are more than academic for her as she uses French in her everyday life and does her best to live out what she teaches in health education. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband, Nick Smith (also a Michigan Virtual instructor), and their young daughter Caroline, cooking, running and going to the beach.
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Andrea Bright-Fontana

  • Instructor - American Sign Language
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Andrea loves to work and live within the Deaf community. She currently works as an American Sign Language Interpreter in Austin, Texas, as well as teaching at Michigan Virtual. Prior to interpreting, Andrea earned a B.A. in deaf education from Michigan State University and an M.A. from Texas State University in theater. She also taught at the Texas School for the Deaf from 1999-2005. When not working, her family spends time camping, at various sporting events for their boys and being foster parents for little girls.
Andrew Abissi

Andrew Abissi

Andrew became an online instructor for Michigan Virtual in 2017. He earned his degree in 2009 from Central Michigan University. He has been teaching for over 10 years in the Grand Rapids area of Michigan. In addition, Andrew also has a degree in art education. Andrew enjoys spending time with his family when not working with students.
Andrew Moore

Andrew Moore

Andrew became an online instructor for Michigan Virtual in 2016. He earned his degree in Chemistry from Michigan State University in 1998, and earned a Masters in Chemistry from MSU in 2006. Andrew has taught in various places, starting on Long Island in NY, to Grand Rapids, to Okemos. Along the way he has authored a textbook and two major science programs that are currently running in numerous Michigan schools; one program allows high school students to perform college level research in college research labs, and the other program takes hundreds of high school students each week to elementary schools to work one on one doing advanced inquiry science with 2nd to 5th grade students. He has been teaching for over 20 years in both high school and the college setting. Andrew has three children, two dogs, and enjoys spending his free time snowboarding in the winter and wakeboarding in the summer.
Andrew Spiece

Andrew Spiece

Andrew became a mathematics and computer science instructor with Michigan Virtual in 2014. Andrew received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in 2005. He came to Michigan Virtual with eight years’ experience teaching in a face-to-face classroom for the Brandon School District in Ortonville. His passions lie in STEM education, Project-Based Learning and inspiring students to pursue STEM careers. In February 2013, he was named the Oakland County Teacher of the Week and in the Fall of 2012 was inducted into the Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association Hall of Fame for Educators. Andrew also spends his spare time as the team leader for the award-winning Truck Town Thunder Robotics Team, FIRST Team 68.
Angela Martin

Angela Martin

  • Instructor - World Language
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Angela has loved the French language and France since a high school trip to Paris. She then decided to major in French at Eastern Michigan University where she earned her bachelor’s in French and communications. She then returned to her former high school where she subbed for five years and then taught French and several other subjects for seven years. During that time, she also got a master’s degree in social studies, and then a few years ago, another master’s degree in French from EMU. During the 2013-2014 school year, Angela moved to Paris to finish her master’s degree, and while living in Paris for that year, she was also a nanny for a French family. After returning to Michigan in summer 2014, she started working for Michigan Virtual and also as a part-time professor at EMU. She continues to love both jobs to this day. Recently, she also got her realtor’s license so that she could continue working during the summer. When Angela isn’t busy working, she loves to travel and spend time with family and friends.
Angela Rasmussen

Angela Rasmussen

  • Instructor - World Language
  • Email
Angela joined Michigan Virtual in 2015 as a Spanish instructor. She has 10 years of teaching experience at the secondary level. Angela earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Spanish from Michigan State University. She is certified to teach Spanish and English. Angela lives in Lapeer with her husband and two children. She enjoys reading, traveling and everyday adventures with her family.

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Limited Course Capacity

We’re sorry to inform you that we have reached capacity for several of our Semester 1 and Trimester 1 courses. You’ll notice when attempting to enroll students in our Student Learning Portal that some courses are unavailable. While we are no longer accepting new enrollments for these courses at this time, many courses continue to remain open for enrollment.

With many students across the state 100% remote, demand for our online courses is greater than ever before. Because every course we offer is taught by a Michigan-certified teacher, this high volume of enrollments has created capacity issues for our teachers who provide each and every student with individual feedback.

While the Michigan Virtual team anticipated and planned for significant increases in student enrollments this Fall, the increased demand we’ve experienced has been unprecedented. As a result, we are taking steps to hire even more part-and full-time teachers to support larger numbers of student enrollments for Semester 2 as well as for Trimester 2 and 3. 

For schools that still need online learning options this year, please fill out the form at the bottom of our virtual pathways page to meet with someone to discuss other solutions. While some of our teacher-led courses are full, we may still have the capacity to help you in upcoming terms or can discuss timing to implement a whole-school or collaborative program in which local teachers from your school/district use our online course content to teach students. We also have free course content and resources available for you to use.

We know this is an incredibly stressful time for all, and we’re sorry if the courses you’re looking for are unavailable. We never want to turn away a student who wants to learn from us. Our top concern, however, is student success, and we have a policy to not take on additional enrollments if we cannot guarantee that all students will have a quality online learning experience. 

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate the unusually high volume of enrollments we are receiving.