Angie Hayes assisted the teachers in the Literacy class for the Friendship Community Project in 2018. In February 2019 she took over as level 1 beginning teacher. Prior to teaching adults Angie was a teacher in the Iowa City School District for 41 years.

She worked with kindergarten through sixth graders. She has a BA in Elementary Education, an MS in Science Education, and endorsements Reading and Gifted Education. She is also a choreographer, co-founder of Travelers Dance, and has taught dance to children and adults. Angie LOVES teaching her English students! She is in awe of their dedication to learning and has tremendous respect for the efforts they have made to come to this country. They have inspired her to become a better person and to do all she can to understand their challenges so she can help them become even more successful.

Susan Prepejchal, Founder and Director of Friendship Community Project, received her BA in anthropology and English and MA in English with a focus on TESOL at Northern Illinois University and has taught English/ ESL at Northern Illinois University, Madison Area Technical College, Cardinal Stritch College, Kirkwood Community College and Friendship Community Project.

She loves learning languages as well as teaching English and is functional in Spanish, Italian and Mandarin Chinese and learned a little ASL, as well. She loves getting to know people from all over the world and sharing language, culture and recipes with them, and she finds that the students in this program continually renew her faith in humankind by showing time and again their friendliness, caring and kindness toward classmates and teachers of all nations, races and creeds and by demonstrating the ability of the human spirit to overcome even the most grave adversity.

She feels honored to serve the immigrants and refugees of Iowa City through this program.