Committee
Erika Puusemp
Erika Puusemp has been a teacher of English since 1989. Currently she works as a teacher of English, British Literature, and IB Language A: Language and Literature at Miina Härma Gymnasium in Tartu.
Erika is the Chair of EATE, an item-writer for the oral part of the National Exam in English, and an assessor for the writing part of the National Exam. She is also a CAE examiner, and occasionally teaches other teachers and university students.
Outside her workaholic zone, she is a mother of three lovely grown-up daughters, an avid reader, and dabbler at arts and crafts, e.g. poetry, wire- and beadwork, etc.
Taivi Õigus
Taivi Õigus has been working as a teacher of English since 1998. Currently she works as a teacher at Saku Gymnasium. She used to be the head of the Department of Foreign Languages right up until structural changes at school. In the current academic year, she is in charge of the work of UNESCO Associated Schools Network at her school and is involved in eTwinning collaboration. In her free time she loves doing health sports. Swimming and Nordic walking are just some of her favourites. No less important is committing herself to professional development.
Siiri Vimberg
Siiri Vimberg has been a teacher of English since 2004. Currently she works as a teacher of English at Pärnu Koidula Gymnasium. She is also a CAE examiner and has given courses of English for Specific Purposes in the field of Social Work in Pärnu College. What is more, she is proud to be a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society.
Ülle Türk
Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures, University of Tartu
Kai Tammik
Kai Tammik has been a teacher of English since 2010 and currently works as an English teacher at Kose Gymnasium and she is also the head of the school's English Committee. She is also a CAE coordinator and a class teacher. She conducts English courses at the Tallinn Industrial Education Centre and is an active member of the English Language Subject Association in Harjumaa. She is an active member of the local community and participates in organizing different events. She believes that everything is possible if you really want it.
Kristi Vahenurm
Kristi Vahenurm has been an English teacher since 2000, she currently works at the Tallinn Secondary School of Science. In addition to ordinary English classes she teaches US history and culture and academic writing. She has trained teachers under the Tiigrihüppe Foundation and HITSA and has always been interested in incorporating ICT into foreign language classes. She is currently active as one of the moderators of the e-Koolikott repository, she is an item writer for the listening part of the National Exam in English and also functions as a CAE examiner. Her new role as an Erasmus+ project coordinator has made her see the importance of international project-based learning and knowledge sharing.
Merike Saar
Merike Saar, PhD, is a long-time English teacher and educational technologist at the Tallinn French School and a visiting researcher at the Center for Educational Technology at the Tallinn University Institute of Digital Technologies. She has published several English language textbooks and e-courses. For over twenty years, Merike has shared her experiences with colleagues at seminars, conferences, and trainings. In 2023, she led the foreign language work group supporting the implementation of national curricula, which developed support materials for the preparation of school curricular. Merike's research interests include teacher professional development (supporting the Teacher Inquiry with learning analytics), research-based effective teaching strategies, and the impact of using AI-supported tools on learning.
