Antonia Petniunas – Contact

Telephone: (323) 391-4011 

Email: antoniapetniunas@gmail.com / tonip25@outlook.com 

Toni Petniunas on LinkedIn

PERSONAL DETAILS 

Pronouns: She/her Citizenship: American English Ability: Native Speaker Spanish Ability: BH

EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS 

2017-2019: Univ. of San Diego Professional and Cont. Ed.  San Diego, USA 

Foundations of Classroom Management (3 semester units), Foundations of Curriculum  

(3 semester units), Foundations of Teaching Adult Learners (3 semester units),  

Teaching Portfolio (2 semester units) 

2017 State of California Commission on Teacher Credentialing         Los Angeles, USA 

Credentials in Elementary and Secondary Basic Skills, English, 

English as a Second Language, Arts, Media and Entertainment, Information and  

Communication Technology, Marketing  Sales and Services. 

2017: CBEST Cert. for Adult Education Credential  Los Angeles, USA 

2015: TESOL/TESL/TEFL Certification Los Angeles, USA 

Oxford Seminars (100 hours) 

2013 – 2015: Web Design and Development Certification     Irvine, USA 

University of California, Irvine (15 qt. units) 

1977 – 1981: Bachelor’s Degree – Bachelor of Arts                             Madison, USA 

Major: Creative Writing/English  

University of Wisconsin, Madison 

Digital Skills: Internet technology including Google suite, Canvas, Schoology, Zoom, Photoshop, InDesign, Premier Pro (video editing), Doodly, AfterEffects, Illustrator, WordPress, Dream Weaver, Social Media, Jamboard, Quizlet, Kahoot. Can write HTML and some basic coding. 

WORK HISTORY 

2017 to present ESL TEACHER Los Angeles Unified School District   Los Angeles, USA 

• In 2020-2021 Worked for the Los Angeles Regional Adult Education Consortium (LARAEC charged by CA Assembly Bill 86 with improving California adult education) to design lesson plans in alignment of their new course outlines for English Language Learners. Course outlines advance the K-12 state standards to the adult learners  

• Instructed beginning low, beginning high, intermediate and advanced adult students in a new pilot program, Family Success Initiative, which helped immigrant parents learn the language and skills to help their children succeed in school. Created multi-media and hands-on project-based lessons on a variety of topics to aid in comprehension.  A video tape of my class helped the district fund and expand the program four-fold the following year. Taught additional classes to BL and IH level speaking learners at night.  

2017 (AUG.-SEPT.) ESL TEACHER UCLA Extension (ALC), Chyeth Chinese Youth Program   Los Angeles, USA 

• Taught American Literature, American Culture/History and College Culture to gifted ESL high school students visiting for this special university-track pilot program based in Shanghai. Coursework included advanced (Common Core) reasoning skills, vocabulary and digital media integrations to enhance student learning.    

2015 – 2017: ESL TEACHER, North China University of Science and Technology Tangshan, PRC 

• Dynamic and fun loving teacher of ESL, Oral English, culture, history and business classes to college students at this 50-thousand student university not far from Beijing. 

• Utilized advanced audio-digital skills to create engaging, culturally appropriate educational media for students from beginner to advanced levels. 
• Researched and devised original curriculum for a broad range of classes including Advanced Oral English, International Trade, Western History, Speech, Debate, Western Culture and more. 
• Called upon to teach special advanced classes to university professors from various departments.  
• Asked by various colleges and outside universities to judge or act as question master for local, regional and national speaking competitions. 
• Selected to give a keynote speech at Tangshan’s 2016 Foreign Experts Reception Banquet.  Many of my remarks were televised on CCTV to an audience of 9 million viewers.  

• For classroom case studies and additional details please see these pages on my websites: http:// http://www.writertoni.com/teaching.html and http://talktotonip.com/teaching-in-china/ 

2002 – 2015: Communications Specialist and Writer, Self-employed  Los Angeles, USA 

• Provided expert communication and copywriting services to clients in business, education, advertising and entertainment. Clients included Disney, Chevron, Wal-Mart, U.S.C., Occidental College many more. 

• Wrote online articles reporting on Occidental College’s Information Resources department developments. Served as curator of Oxy’s NEA sponsored event, “Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry.” 
• Substitute taught ESL classes to students at LASCUSA (language school) in Los Angeles. 
• Guest lecturer in marketing communications to students of LA Art Institute. 

1999 – 2002: Director, Brand Strategy & Staff Writer, Three Ring Circus  Los Angeles, USA 

• Advised U.S. and international TV networks on the best words and images to use to attract followers and communicate with their audiences. 
• Clients included ABC Family (USA), DirecTv (USA), Astral Networks (Canada), MEGA (Greece), Fox Network (International), and Televisa (Mexico). 
• Worked directly with Spanish language documents to come up with suggestions to make Latino brands more appealing to U.S. audiences. 

1998 – 1999: Writer, TV Producer, Air Creative (Ad Agency)  Los Angeles, USA 

• Wrote TV, print and radio marketing campaigns for news stations across the United States. 
• Scripted witty TV commercials and print advertisements for national CBS network TV and Paramount Pictures movie studio. 

1992 – 1997: Writer, TV Producer, CBS TV  Los Angeles, USA 

• Won multiple awards for writing and producing exciting TV news promotions. 

• Delivered over one million multicultural and multilingual Los Angeles news viewers to the network each night. 

Other Writer Producer Experience 

Solved a wide range of communications/marketing challenges for universities, nonprofits, and companies including ABC Disney, Chevron, Doubletree Hotels, Hallmark Channel and Microsoft. Award-winning writer/producer collaborated with departments and managed teams to create media for virtually every platform, e.g.: • University of Southern California – Conceptualized, “pitched,” obtained department sign-off, selected historic images and wrote script for key fundraising video, “Honoring the Past.” Interfaced with shooters and design team for timely completion of the project under extremely tight deadline. • Occidental College – Served as Curator for “Robinson Jeffers and the ‘Ecologies’ of Poetry,” part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ “Big Read.” Under direction of Special Collections Librarian, wrote exhibit content, negotiated loans of objects from local museums, designed visual direction of signage, created key art, took nature photos, installed elements, and acted as host to VIP visitors at exhibit launch. • Occidental College – As Social Media Writer/Blogger for I.R. Dept., uncovered stories important to staff yet accessible to students. • Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County – As a Docent, engaged with visitors to teach concepts of evolution, conservation and human impact on the environment. • Oracle – Conceptualized and wrote web video to promote the company’s S.T.E.M. competition for teens worldwide. Collaborated with Art Director to create a video that went viral and won the year’s Platinum Creativity Award. • Health Club Media Network (Outcast TV) – Performed research, testing and complete rebranding of the digital media offered in health clubs nationwide. Ascertained goals, designed research study, assembled test media, oversaw data gathering, analyzed results and offered thorough recommendations for creative revisions and rebranding, embraced by all parties. Worked with top design firm to create templates for all new media recommended. 

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE 

2014 – 2015: Docent/Teacher, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Los Angeles, CA USA 

• Taught international, multilingual groups of up to 40 visitors to the Natural History Museum of LA County about local wildlife, culture, pre-history and science. 
• Clearly conveyed ideas to non-English speakers using gestures, exhibit materials and realia. 

2011: Copywriter and strategist, Taproot Foundation Los Angeles, USA 

• Served as writer and strategist to Taproot’s client, All People’s Community Center, which supports disadvantaged primarily Spanish-speaking people in South Los Angeles. 

• Crafted ads and marketing materials and taught staff the best way to use this media to reach out to their constituents and donors. 

Skills: See “skills” page 

Interests:

Culture, history, art, nature, science, education, photography and communication. 

Travel: Mexico, Spain, Egypt, Thailand, Canada, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, France, England, China 

Professional Memberships: WGA (Writer’s Guild of America, West – The Hollywood screenwriter’s union) 

References Available upon request