ABOUT
Promise Opens Doors was founded with the goal of providing an excellent education to students across the world. Since 2004, we have been providing online, real-time English language training to k-12 students in East Asia by connecting them with fluent English speaking teachers. English is the most globally recognized language for business, and therefore it is our mission, through our language programs, to empower our students for future success.
Hiring and training teachers for teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is something that is highly important, and which we have been perfecting since 2005. We have been privileged to work with many wonderful and passionate teachers who have shared in this vision. Indeed, finding passionate and dedicated teachers is one of the pivotal areas of focus for Promise Opens Doors.
And as a natural extension of its core business and values, Promise is pleased to offer teachers the chance to get trained and receive a TESOL/TEFL certificate. Whether planning to travel abroad or teach from a home office, we offer certificates geared specifically towards any potential career in the TESOL/TEFL industry.
As a mark of the quality and preparation our certificate programs provide, participants are required to complete teaching practicum in order to graduate. There simply is no substitute for live experience!
The teaching practicum requirement goes hand-in-hand with our class offerings to EFL learners. Practicum participants are placed in our online classrooms and since practicum teaching is unpaid, Promise is better able to serve underprivileged youth across the world by offering them free-to very low cost courses with these teachers.
OUR TEAM
Ernest Wagner
Founder & President
Chihyun Ahn
Director
Ernest's background is in international business and information systems and he co-founded Promise Opens Doors Inc. He also has over 15 years of experience teaching ESL to all ages and it was these experiences that ignited a passion for teaching English to non-native learners. English is the language of business and for so many, fluency in English has a major impact on career opportunities.
Ernest enjoys the opportunity to travel abroad on work trips, but more than that he loves spending time with his family and his daughter.
Chi graduated from Rahima Academy in Saudi Arabia and also studied at Ashland University in Ohio. He has taught English for over 10 years in Korea to Junior high and high school-aged students. He has had numerous opportunities and experiences to engage with a variety of people around the world.
He is interested in playing basketball and soccer, communicating with people, and spending time having fun with his wife and his son.
Mary Davidson
Career Advisor
Elizabeth Fitzpatrick
Administrator & Content Contributor
Mary's background is in law, psychology, marketing, and education. She is a world traveler, and holds a Juris Doctorate in International Law. She has over 10 years of experience in education, consulting, program development, and student advising. Mary is passionate about the English language and also works as a writing coach and book editor.
Mary enjoys reading, serving at her church and in her community, and spending time with her three daughters.
Elizabeth graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education- English. She has over 10 years of teaching experience ranging from coordinating an at-risk program for middle schoolers to teaching ESL online to orphans in South Korea. Teaching English to non-native speakers has been very rewarding.
In her spare time, Elizabeth enjoys gardening, camping, and fishing with her family.
Carol Verone
Support Specialist
Carol Verrone spent 31 years as a reading specialist in a public school in Pennsylvania. Her passion is teaching, and in her spare time she loves to travel, sing in her church choir and sew dresses for little girls in orphanages in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia and Senegal.
OUR INSTRUCTORS
Gloria Mann
Sonja Osborn
Gloria's background is in Special Education, psychology, social science, case management, and education. She has over 7 years of experience in ESL education and over 4 years in ESL administration.
Gloria has a deep passion for providing every learner an opportunity to learn and grow as individuals.
Gloria enjoys singing, working at her church, and spending time with her children.
Sonja has been passionately involved in education for over 10 years. After working with adult students on college campuses she earned her teaching certificate and traveled abroad, teaching ESL in South Korea for several years. It was there she joined the Promise Opens Doors team and taught in cyber classrooms with many awesome English Language Learners.
While not teaching, she loves traveling, making music, and spending quality time with her dogs and family.
Michael Moses
Michael previously worked for six years teaching English reading, writing, and conversation courses at Joongbu University in South Korea, and is currently working as an assistant professor of TESOL at Paichai University, also in South Korea. He holds a BA in Urban Studies from UC Berkeley and a Masters of Education with an emphasis in TESOL from Framingham State University in Massachusetts.
He has lived in Daejeon, South Korea for the past 8 years, where he enjoys getting outside, particularly while cycling, rock climbing, or mountain biking.