As a Wheeling native, Professor Radaker graduated from Wheeling Central Catholic High School. She attended Bethany College, Bethany, WV on scholarship and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Spanish with a concentration in Secondary Education. During her studies, she was a Rassias Drill Instructor for the language department for two years. Her Senior Project was titled, “Official English: The Great Debate”. As a requirement for her undergraduate degree, she studied at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, where she earned her Diploma de Estudios Hispánicos.  She earned the honor of being awarded the Margaret R. Woods prize for Outstanding Spanish Major. She was also inducted into Kappa Xi Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society. She was a member of the national social fraternity, Alpha Xi Delta.

After graduation from Bethany College, Professor Radaker taught Spanish at Calvert High School in Prince Frederick, MD for 13 years. She taught many levels of Spanish, including AP Language and Advanced.  During her time there, she attended many conferences and workshops for AP Spanish through the College Board. She also founded an Honor society to recognize those students that excelled at languages, which continues to thrive today.  While teaching, she earned a Masters of Science Degree in Education, concentration in Curriculum and Instruction in Languages from McDaniel College, Westminster, MD.

Returning to Wheeling in 2005, Professor Radaker was employed by the Challenger Learning Center at Wheeling Jesuit University as a flight director for e-missions. These exciting learning experiences were sometimes bilingual, Spanish-English. She continues to work, when the need arises, for the Challenger Center for on-site and e-missions. She anticipates working with the visiting Spanish and Argentine secondary students that visit during the summer months with the ELI (English Language Institute). 

Professor Radaker joined the faculty in 2006 as a visiting Spanish instructor and now holds the position of Academic Associate.  She teaches Spanish 101, Spanish 102, Spanish 111, and other courses as needed. She is also the moderator of the Spanish Club on campus. Professor Radaker is a member of MAALLT (Mid-Atlantic Association of Language Learning Technology) and attended the 2010 spring conference at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. She is also a member of WVFLTA (West Virginia Foreign Language Teachers Association) and ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages).

Professor Radaker lives in Wheeling with her husband and 3 children. She spends her spare time reading, traveling, watching baseball and ice hockey, walking, swimming, listening to all genres of music, and playing the piano.