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PNCFL Spring Conference, March 5-6:
For the first time in many years, PNCFL - Pacific Northwest Consortium for Foreign Languages will be holding a regional conference! The conference is virtual. This will be an exciting time to join with language teachers from all over the Northwest for inspiration and professional development. Conference Details and Registration Consider presenting! Step out there and share what you are doing! Then let us know so that we can share this on our IATLC website. Proposals are due by Jan 30. Proposal Form Congratulations to Jorge Pulleiro for being chosen as Idaho Teacher of the Year! Jorge has taught Spanish since 2012 at Wood River Middle School. For more information on Jorge and this great honor, see this article by Gretel Kauffman for Idaho Mountain Express: www.mtexpress.com/news/education/wrms-teacher-named-idaho-teacher-of-the-year/article_93c5f070-02ab-11eb-8070-272ee0bd568a.html
In honor of Sandy Garcia’s decades of service to COFLT, PNCFL, and ACTFL, the PNCFL Board has voted to honor Sandy’s legacy as a lifelong learner this year by offering a stipend (up to $200) for a member of each PNCFL state to attend the ACTFL Convention. This includes individuals who have already registered and paid to attend (the early bird rate for members was $185.00) Each state will be responsible for setting selection criteria and identifying their state’s selected individual. Each state president and/or PNCFL state representative will provide the name of their state’s selected member to PNCFL Executive Director Lauren Kiolet (laurenk7186@gmail.com) and PNCFL Treasurer Lisa Werner (lisawerner65@gmail.com) no later than Friday, October 30, 2020. Proof of ACTFL registration and payment must be submitted to Lisa to receive the stipend or reimbursement. Any fees/dues beyond the $200.00 are the responsibility of the individual. Questions may be directed to PNCFL President Brandon Locke at Locke_Brandon@asdk12.org.
Sandy Garcia was a language educator since 1987, teaching Japanese, Spanish, and methods at Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR. She was also a lifelong learner and spent decades giving her time and talents to the profession. Her countless contributions showed the true essence of service leadership. She spent many years serving in multiple roles on the boards of COFLT, PNCFL, and ACTFL, and for the past three years she represented PNCFL on the ACTFL Board. On March 7, 2020, the Confederation in Oregon for Language Teaching honored Sandy Garcia with its highest honor, the Lifetime Contribution to the Profession award, at the 2020 COFLT Spring Workshops. March 7th also marks the date that Oregon lost a passionate language teacher and vocal advocate for language learning and cultural exchange, as Sandy passed away peacefully at home after a years-long battle with cancer. 
It's not too late to get credit through NNU for attending the fall conference! See the attached flier for details.
 The American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) is hosting a series of Zoom webinars this summer featuring some of the presenters who were due to present at their canceled conference. See the whole program here. You can register for as many or as few webinars as you want, and you can also get one graduate credit through Webster University in Saint Louis for $195. You can register for the webinars here. You must be a member of AATF to participate. If you are not currently a member, join here. If you have any questions about registering or the requirements for the credit, email aatf@frenchteachers.org.
 We're thrilled to have Dr. Bridget Yaden join us as our Keynote Speaker for 2020! She is the 2020 ACTFL president. She is dedicated to issues of access and equity in order to advance the study of all world languages in the U.S. She has worked at Pacific Lutheran University since 1996, serving as a Professor of Hispanic Studies, Director of the Language Resource Center, and former Chair of Languages and Literatures. She teaches Spanish language and linguistics as well as World Language and ELL theories and methods courses. Bridget is proud to have mentored dozens of teachers of less commonly taught languages on their path to full teacher certification in Washington State. Bridget served as the Pacific Northwest Council for Languages (PNCFL) representative on the ACTFL board from 2010-2013 and served as ACTFL Treasurer in 2013 and as Convention Chair in both 2011 and 2012. Since her initial board term ended, she has also served on ACTFL’s Finance & Audit and Professional Learning Committees.
Here's a sneak peek of IATLC president Danyelle Davis' article in the most recent edition of Lingo from our friends at PNCFL. Be sure to check out the rest of the articles, as well as Danyelle's favorite ACTFL hightlights, in the next edition of Lingo. I’ve been the K-5 French teacher at Sage International School of Boise since it’s doors opened in 2010. That year my son Graeme was starting Kindergarten and my daughter Claire was a newborn. I was thrilled about the idea of building a K-5 language program, one that would give kids, my own included, an early start and would be the foundation of a K-12 French continuum.
Once a week language programs present their own unique challenges however. At a pace of one class per week with new students walking onto the dance floor at anytime (this is not dual-immersion afterall), how do you keep the music going for returning students, help new students hear the beat and inspire everyone to find their groove? It’s enough to leave you in a puddle on the floor when the lights come up. These were the questions I was wrestling with when I attended my first state teachers’ conference for IATLC in 2015. There I met Dr. Kelly Arispe, professor at Boise State University. She was the keynote speaker that year. She challenged me to take my questions and research ideas to the next level, using my classroom as a lab to work out a model for K-5 language programs that might point the way for K-12 continuums in other districts. This November I presented my work to date, with Kelly Arispe, at the ACTFL Conference in Washington DC. The session was enthusiastically received by around 150 attendees, with lively discussion spilling out into the lobby afterward. It was thrilling to know that the work I am doing in my own classroom, my own ongoing experiment, might contribute in some way to the growth and stability of other K-12 language programs. I’ve provided links here to the presentation and an introduction by Dr. Arispe. Introduction - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mFUHs5czI Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY1KDh_KKhA Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xdqLUwJX6k Before I sign off, allow me one anecdote from ACTFL. Since the conference was in Washington DC this year, ACTFL organized an Advocacy Day for Languages on Capitol Hill. I happen to be the only person from Idaho, so when it came time for meetings with our legislators, off I went. Senator Risch was in meetings with the European Union that day, but he took time out to speak with me. During our conversation, he mentioned rather casually that, when the EU comes, they don’t need translators, because everyone on the EU delegation speaks English. I thought to myself, how convenient for the US, but how powerful for Europe. To connect with someone through their language, that is quite frankly a superpower. Other countries are equipping their children with this superpower as a matter of course. Why aren’t we? I am convinced that K-5 language programs play an essential role in raising every child with the power of language proficiency. We cannot rely solely on dual-immersion and we cannot make students wait until high school or even junior high to begin language studies. Unbroken K-12 paths must be the standard and the norm. As we enter 2020 I want to send a hearty thank you and cheers to all of you, my K-12 language teaching colleagues across the Northwest. You are doing a great thing, equipping the next generation with the superpower of biliteracy. I wish you all continued vision and renewed practical insight for the New Year!  The Idaho Association for Teachers of Language and Culture (IATLC) Name Rebecca Sibrian, Boise State University German Instructor, as World Language Teacher of the Year.
On Oct. 5th, the Idaho Association of Teachers of Language and Culture (IATLC), the professional organization for World Language teachers across the state, honored Rebecca Sibrian with the 2019 Teacher of the Year Award at its annual conference on the College of Idaho campus in Caldwell. Rebecca has taught German at Boise State University for the past 19 years. She has served as the German chapter (IATG) president and on the board of IATLC as vice president and president. She is a leader both on campus and in the community. About Rebecca, nominators wrote: Recca is an energetic, caring, creative teacher who is always willing to share her ideas with her colleagues across languages. Her classes are highly interactive and creative. Over the years many students have commented that they continued their German studies because of her. She has also created a new University Foundations 100 class for the department, Dynamics of Diverse Cultures in Film. Besides her regular teaching duties, Becca has been instrumental in organizing Do Deutsch Day which provides over 500 high school German students annually the opportunity to visit the BSU campus, meet faculty and fellow students, and participate in a variety of German language based educational and cultural activities. German students from across the state look forward to this experience each year. She is a fundamental contributor to all things German in the region. Please join the Idaho Association of Teachers of Language and Culture (IATLC) in congratulating Rebecca Sibrian on her well deserved award. May she continue to inspire us all.  The 2018-19 Idaho World Languages Teacher of the Year is Cyndi Cook, German teacher at Mountain Home High School. The Idaho Association of Teachers of Language and Culture (IATLC) recognized Mrs. Cook’s outstanding contributions to World Language teaching. As the association’s Teacher of the Year, she will serve as an advocate for World Language education in Idaho. She joined IATLC in the first year of teaching back in the late 80's, and has gained valuable insight and support from all the teachers she has gotten to know in the many years she has taught in Idaho and been active in IATLC. Cook states that "IATLC played a very important role in my development as a teacher early on, and it is a very valuable organization for FL teachers in Idaho."
According to fellow German educator Cassie Shelton, “Cyndi is innovative in her teaching style and she is always thinking outside the box. Nothing is too messy, elaborate or time-consuming if it helps her students learn language.” Mrs. Cook has taught for both Mountain Home High (1987-1998 and 2009-Present) and Boise State University offering Concurrent Credit courses to high school students. Additionally, Cook has coordinated the GAPP program (German American Partnership Program) for Mountain Home High School since 2013. In her “spare” time, Mrs. Cook has transcribed the memoirs of a World War II pilot whose missions took him over a good portion of Germany, and works on an additional transcription and translation project for a woman born in Prague who can only recall her experiences in German. During the fall she volunteers her time with the high school swim team. She's been married to her very supportive husband David for over 30 years and has three grown daughters who also speak German! |
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