Mission:

The Association of Teachers of English North Kazakhstan (ATENK) aims to provide and promote a forum of communication among English language teachers within the region, to deliver practical training to enhance Kazakhstani teacher status, to facilitate a creative environment and think tank of sharing ideals and experiences among its members, and to promote and further the educational acumen of area teachers for the betterment of education.

Our Objectives:

To promote and support English language teaching and usage in Kazakhstan, through the Association of Teachers of English in North Kazakhstan (ATENK). The mission is accomplished through a combination of:

Volunteerism & Mentorship
Collaboration with the Kazakhstani Teachers of English Association and the US Embassy National Alumni Network
Partnership with American Corner Petropavlovsk

ATENK will also support the government’s idea about increasing teachers’ social status in Kazakhstan through professional development and training opportunities. The positive encouragement of teachers leads to professional satisfaction and desire for continued professional development (CPD). ATENK puts into priority, a teachers’ motivation for CPD, and plans to encourage it through:

Positive reinforcement for rural area teachers through professional development opportunities

Diversification of trainings, seminars, courses and a conference
Stimulating competitions for teachers (including students)

Albina Kassenova

Founder and President of ATENK, teacher trainer

Albina is an experienced teacher trainer, presenter, and educational leader, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Ms. Kassenova has studied abroad at Montana State University (USA) and at The University of Cambridge (UK), and has received many awards and accolades from different global organizations and governments. She has over 10 years’ experience as an educator and has collaborated with the British Council, US Department of State, Kazakhstan Teachers of English Association, and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Atameken" on various educational projects.

email: albina.kassenova@gmail.com, atenk2030@gmail.com

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Active ATENK members

Dina AlibekovaVice President of ATENK, school-kindergarten #26, Petropavlovsk, English teacheratenk2030@gmail.com

Dina has over 9 years of experience of teaching English. She won first place in ATENK’s Best Lesson Plan 2020 contest and was awarded with the TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test). She was nominated to participate at CATEC 2020 (Central Asian of Teachers of English Conference) by the US Embassy in Kazakhstan. She is participating in British Council’s Virtual Teacher Activity Group (vTAG) Project for English teachers of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Assel JaxalykovaVice President of ATENK, Petropavlovskassel-ds@mail.ru

Assel has been teaching both students and teachers for over 15 years. She is a certified CLIL trainer and is currently participating in the Central Asia STEM project in Bishkek. She is a US Department of State E-Teacher Program alumna and also an experienced IELTS preparation teacher. Since 2019 she has been a vice-president of ATENK.

Valentina ChernykhHead of the Department for the Content and Quality Assurance of Education, North Kazakhstan Education Department, Petropavlovskchernykh301@mail.ru

Valentina graduated from North Kazakhstan State University and started her career path as an English teacher in Russia. In 1999, she was a winner of the Best Teacher Award in Petropavlovsk and also participated in ‘Train the Teacher’ course with the British Council in Almaty. Holding these credentials, she became a teaching methods specialist at the education department for the North Kazakhstan region. Since 2013 Valentina has been promoted as head of the content and quality assurance department. As an active ATENK member, Mrs Chernykh was a juror for English Song Contest 2020

Saule ZikirinaNIS (Nazarbayev Intellectual School), Petropavlovskzikirina61@inbox.ru

Еnglish teacher- expert , Nazarbaev Intellectual school Petropavlovsk city, an alumni KAZTEA program 2011, KazTEA and ATENK member, working experience more than 40 years

Irina FolenveiderCenter of Excellence, Petropavlovsk, teacher trainerfolirina@mail.ru

Irina has over 32 years experience in education, with over 6 years experience as a teacher trainer. In 2014, she a Fulbright TEA (Teaching Excellence & Achievement) program participant at Winthrop University, South Carolina, the U.S. An experienced program developer, and in-service teacher trainer at various levels. She was nominated to take the TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test) by ATENK in 2020.

Maira KakimovaM. Kozybayev North Kazakhstan State University, Head of Germanic and Romance Department and Assistant Professormkakimova2009@mail.ru

Maira has over 35 years of experience in education, including 26 years teaching at the university. She is the author of about 70 scientific articles and 4 manuals. She was a juror member for ATENK’s Best Lesson Plan Contest. Fields of interest include FLT, intercultural communication, onomastics, comparative and contrastive linguistics.

Alexandra IlinaSchool # 8, Petropavlovsk, English teachermarakushkina_alexandra@mail.ru

Alexandra graduated from North Kazakhstan State University with the degree of Bachelor of Education (Foreign Languages Faculty, English and German). Alexandra has been teaching English for over 7 years. Recently she won ATENK’s Best Lesson Plan 2020 contest and was awarded with a TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test). Also, she was awarded by the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan an 8-week Online E-Teacher Spring 2020 Scholarship with the Arizona State University in the US. She took the course “Professional Development for Teacher Trainers”. The course was facilitated by RELO, Nur-Sultan.

Beinegul BekbolatovaSchool-lyceum ‘Parassat’, Kyzylzhar district, English teacherbekbol_beinegul@mail.ru

Beinegul has been teaching English for over 19 years, and more recently was a Fulbright TEA (Teaching Excellence & Achievement) program participant at Montana State University, USA. Since her return, Beinegul has presented and shared her experience as a TEA program alumna. Her teaching interest focuses on children with special education needs.

Tamara ChereshkoMinkeser secondary school, Mamlutsky district, English teachertomochka.78@mail.ru

Tamara graduated from North Kazakhstan State University, has got two higher education diplomas (English language and biology). She has been teaching English for 20 years. Recently she won second place in ATENK’s Best Lesson Plan 2020 contest and was awarded a CELTA online preparation course with Jo Gakonga. Her special interest in EFL is CLIL methodology.

Irina OlkovaM. Kozybayev North Kazakhstan State University, Petropavlovsk, Head of FL Department and Assistant Professoririna_m_a@mail.ru

Irina graduated from North Kazakhstan State University, has over 18 years of experience in education and is the author of about 50 scientific articles, a monograph and 2 manuals. She participated in British Council’s ‘Train the Trainer’ course in 2018. And now she’s a facilitator for the US Embassy’s American English MOOC project in Petropavlovsk.

Lyubov PolyakovaTamanskaya school, M.Zhumabayev district, English teacherplju79@mail.ru

Lyubov is a dual teacher of English and German languages. Recently she won second place in ATENK’s English Song Contest. She was nominated to participate at CATEC 2020 (Central Asian of Teachers of English Conference) by the US Embassy in Kazakhstan. She is participating in British Council’s Virtual Teacher Activity Group (vTAG) Project for English teachers of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Tatyana ArendarenkoFirst IT-Lyceum, Petropavlovsk, English teachertatyana444@yahoo.com

A regional Examination Materials Developer since 2020. A member of the Republic Commision of Educational materials experts since 2021. An OPEN Program Alumna 2021 and an OPEN Alumni Facilitator 2023. More than 30 years of working experience.