ASLIS Mentors

English-to-ASL Mentors and / or Deaf ASL Language Models

Bethany Gehman

B.S., M.A., AASECT certified sexuality educator

Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL and ASL Language Model
General, Post-Secondary, Medical Settings

Bethany Gehman, M.Ed., an AASECT certified sexuality educator, has more than seven years of experience in providing sexuality education and professional training. She studied Studio Art, Psychology, and Family & Child Studies at Gallaudet University for her bachelor’s degree. During her teaching years as an art and child development teacher at Texas School for the Deaf, Bethany studied Human Sexuality Education for her master’s degree.

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Bree Logan

B.A.

Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL and ASL Language Model
General Settings

Bree Logan is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in International Area and Studies. Bree has served on Oklahoma Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (OKRID) as Member at Large and Vice President. Also, she is a former Miss Deaf Oklahoma, Miss Deaf Oklahoma Director, and continues utilizing these platforms to provide workshops, trainings, and advocate for the Deaf community through a variety of avenues.

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Chantal Bergeron

B.A.

Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL and ASL Language Model
General Settings

Chantal Bergeron is a Canadian native. At age two, she was discovered that she has profound hearing loss. After few years at oral school, she was transferred to deaf school and started learning ASL. She graduated from Gallaudet University with a Bachelor’s in Family and Child Studies.

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Janine Cashman

RSC since 1979

Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL

Janine Cashman has had a variety of experiences in her 40 year career thus far. What initially sparked her interest was ASL linguistics, which prompted her to become an ASL instructor at Indiana University. During her time there, she worked closely with the well known author of the paper, “The Unlocking of the Curriculum” – 1989, Dr. Scott Lidell. As a team, they developed 76 intermediate and advanced ASL videotapes that were distributed nationally.

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Jenny Smith-Hastings

B.A.

Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL

I’m Jenny Smith-Hastings, I was born and raised in southern Minnesota and still live here! I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Interpretation from Gallaudet University. I am currently employed at St. Catherine University as a program specialist for the CATIE Center. My areas of specialty and focus as a mentor are in English to ASL interpreting, sign choices, register, deception, and some ASL model.

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Michele Rolewitz

Mentoring Specialty Areas: ASL Language Model

Michele Rolewitz was born in Moorhead, MN and raised in Fargo, ND. She attended the North Dakota School for the Deaf in Devils Lake, ND and National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester in Rochester, NY. Michele had Deaf grandparents, therefore learned sign language at a young age. Both her mom and dad are fluent in ASL.

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Naomi Sheneman

Ph.D., CDI

Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL and ASL Language Model
General, Medical, Legal, Post-Secondary, Business, and Atypical Settings

Naomi Sheneman, Ph.D. & CDI has been working professionally in the interpreting profession since 2000 in various roles. She is currently a freelance consultant, researcher, educator, interpreter diagnostician, mentor, and interpreter. She is the first deaf woman to receive a Ph.D. degree in Interpretation from Gallaudet University

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Nic Zapko

Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL and ASL Language Model
General Settings

Nic Zapko is currently working as a Deaf Interpreter and Deaf Mentor. Starting in 2006 she began her work as Co-Facilitator and Co-Director of Storyblend with Patty Gordon. This lead Nic into the profession of the mentoring and interpreting world. Storyblend is an immersion program focusing on developing Hearing interpreters and Deaf mentors by enhancing their knowledge and building a bridge between the two worlds.

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Sunny Brysch

B.S., M.A.

Mentoring Specialty Areas: ASL Language Model
General, Medical, Government, Education, Mental Health, Performance Settings

Sunny Brysch is a Deaf Asian woman and the second generation of a Deaf family. She is proud of the Deaf generational family and the ASL she was raised with. Sunny has a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Superior. She also has a Master’s in Social Work from Augsburg College. Unfortunately, a career in that field has limited opportunities due to communication barriers. She returned to school for ASL Studies to earn the required credentials to pursue a career as an ASL teacher.

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Tracy Ivy

AAS, B.A., M.S.

Mentoring Specialty Areas: ASL Language Model
Education, Technology, Mental Health Settings

Tracy Laneis Ivy went to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). She’s deaf. She obtained her AAS, BA, and MS from NTID/RIT. She holds a Minnesota Licensure as an American Sign Language Instructor.

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Vyron Kinson

B.A., M.A., PDIC

Mentoring Specialty Areas: English-to-ASL and ASL Language Model
General, Medical, Legal, Mental Health, Religious Settings

Vyron Kinson lives in Atlanta, GA. Currently, he works full-time with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) as a Communication Specialist. He also has various part-time positions: Atlanta Area School for the Deaf as an ASL Teacher, Georgia Parent Infant Network Educational Service as a Deaf Mentor, CATIE Center: Graduation to Certification Project as a Co-Facilitator and ASL Mentor; ASL Diagnostic Service LLC as owner and Deaf Interpreter and he is also a freelance Disc Jockey.

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ASL-to-English Mentors

Henry Yandrasits

M.A., NIC, QMHI

Mentoring Specialty Areas: ASL-to-English and DC-S
General, Medical, Post-Secondary, Business, Mental Health, Atypical Language, Engineer/Mechanics, Government Settings

Henry did his interpreter training at UW-Milwaukee before moving out to Washington D.C. to work on a master’s in linguistics from Gallaudet University. During his time at Gallaudet he worked as an interpreter and also an ESL instructor for international students both at Gallaudet and in the D.C. area. He has his NIC and recently completed his QMHI in Alabama to become a qualified mental health interpreter.

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Tarra Grammenos

M.S., SC:L, NIC Advanced

Mentoring Specialty Areas: ASL-to-English
General, Legal, Business, and Conference Settings

Tarra works as an ASL/English interpreter and has for almost 15 years. She holds a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice, Graduate Certificate in Legal Interpreting, Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology of Deviance, and Associate’s Degree in ASL/English Interpreting. She also presents workshops around the country on the topic of suicide, as she is a sibling survivor of suicide.

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