World Languages

NILA recognized several teachers during the Fall Conference. Nominations were received from around the state and reviewed by the NILA Board. The selected recipients were recognized in a formal presentation during the lunch on Saturday.

Melissa Hernandez pictured with Shanna Hellerich
World Language Teacher of the Year
Melissa Hernandez
Lincoln Northeast High School

Shanna Hellerich and Mariah Wailes
World Language New Teacher of the Year
Mariah Wailes
Lincoln High School
Lincoln Public Schools

Toben Cohen-Dunning and Katy Cattlett
Pro Lingua Award
Toben Cohen-Dunning
Omaha Public Schools Foundation
Omaha Public Schools

Jamie Honke and Angie Wagoner
Nebraska Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese Teacher of the Year
Jamie Honke
Ralston High School
Ralston Public Schools

Not Pictured:
Nebraska Association of Teachers of French
Kristen Tangen
Lincoln Southeast High School
Lincoln Public Schools

Nebraska Association of Teachers of German
Kristen Hetrick
Doane University

Some of the NILA Board members pose after the NILA Fall Conference. Top row (L-R): Shanna Hellerich, Alicia Dallman Shoemaker, Second row (L-R): Terri Wright, Will West, Front row (L-R): Katy Cattlett, Janet Eckerson, Cara Heminger

At the Fall Conference, NILA confirms and/or appoints its officers for the Board of Directors. NILA President Shanna Hellerich passed her gavel to Alicia Dallman Shoemaker. As president, Ms. Hellerich organized and led meetings of NILA’s governing board, led workshops, and participated in the revision process of the World Language Standards. Ms. Hellerich is a teacher at Shelton Public Schools where she has taught Spanish I-IV since 2007. Ms. Shoemaker, often called Senora Zapato, is a Spanish teacher and Curriculum Specialist at Elkhorn Public Schools. Ms. Shoemaker has expanded her classroom practice to include international education and STEM approaches. She is also an adjunct professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University. The two will continue to work together on the NILA Governing Board as Ms. Hellerich takes the role of Past President. Other members of the NILA Governing Board are:

President Elect Janet Eckerson. Dr. Eckerson is the World Language Department Chair and a Spanish teacher at Lincoln High School in Lincoln and a Practice Fellow at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

Vice President Katy Cattlett. Ms. Cattlett is the Supervisor of Dual Language and World Language for Omaha Public Schools.

Secretary Brett Avila. Mr. Avila is a Spanish teacher at Sidney Public Schools.

Treasurer Terri Wright. Ms. Wright is a French teacher at Millard Public Schools.

Communications Director Will West. Mr. West is a French teacher at Lincoln Public Schools Lincoln High School.

Nebraska Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese President Angela Wagoner. Ms. Wagoner is a Spanish teacher at Crete Public Schools.

Nebraska Association of Teachers of French President Cara Heminger. Ms. Heminger is a French teacher at Lincoln Public Schools North Star High School. Ms. Heminger also serves as the Conference Organizer.

Nebraska Association of Teachers of German President Wendy Brennan. Ms. Brennan teaches German at Millard North High School in Millard.

The 20^th Annual ESL Fall Conference sponsored by Omaha Public Schools will be Saturday, October 20 from 8:30-2:00 pm at 3215 Cuming Street in Omaha. The featured session is “Survival Brain vs. Learning Brain: Trauma Informed Practices for Immigrant and Refugee Students”. There will be over 40 other sessions available on topics such as technology integration, dual language, supporting newcomers, migrant education, and working with refugee students. Registration for non-OPS participants is $59 and includes breakfast and lunch. Register at http://bit.ly/2MMu2Zo

Language & Friendship, Inc, a Minnesota based organization, is seeking families to host students from France, Spain, or Argentina in the United States in 2019. Host families provide room, board, and hospitality. The upcoming French group will be in the US from February 2-February 23, 2019. Groups arrive in spring, winter, and summer from various countries. More information can be found on their website at www.languageandfriendship.com/hosting

Reach the World‘s curriculum-aligned virtual exchange journeys connect you and your students with volunteer travelers to explore the world without ever leaving the classroom. In matching your classroom of students with your own volunteer traveler abroad, you can harness authentic experiences in real time to enhance your lessons while inspiring your students to become curious, confident global citizens. Travelers are researchers or students with an interest in sharing their experiences with U.S. students.

Thanks to the generous support of the Malaika Foundation, you can take your students on one of these journeys this spring for free! Our programs are highly customizable, both in length and in curricular alignment. Whatever you want to teach and wherever you want to go, Reach the World wants to create that journey for you.

Spaces are limited, so e-mail Christopher Ahearn (chris@reachtheworld.org) to connect with your volunteer traveler today!

The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington, in cooperation with the University of Nebraska Lincoln, is sponsoring German Week October 22^nd – October 26^th. Activities throughout the week are free and open to the public. On Monday, October 22^nd, a poster session and talk will discuss “The Changing Faces of Germany: Migration/Immigration Scenes That Tell a Story”. Tuesday’s movie screening of “Die Fremde” will be introduced by German Consul from the Consulate in Chicago. More activities continue Wednesday through Friday. UNL’s contact for more information is Jim Benes at jbenes@unl.edu.

The Critical Language Scholarship Program is an intensive overseas language and cultural immersion program for American students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities. Students spend eight to ten weeks abroad studying one of 15 critical languages. The program includes intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to promote rapid language gains.

The application is now live and available online at: http://www.clscholarship.org/apply Applications are due Tuesday, November 27, 2018 by 8:00pm EST.

CLS, a program of the U.S. Department of State, is part of a wider government initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages that are critical to national security and economic prosperity. CLS plays an important role in preparing students for the 21st century’s globalized workforce and increasing national competitiveness.

This year, the CLS Program is pleased to announce the addition of Brazilian Portuguese to our list of language programs for 2019. The full list of the 15 languages offered through the CLS Program includes: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu. Most languages offered by the CLS Program do not require applicants to have any experience studying critical languages.

Language pre-requisites can be found on our website at http://www.clscholarship.org/about. The CLS Program seeks participants with diverse interests, and from a wide range of fields of study and career paths, with the purpose of representing the full diversity of the United States. Participants are selected based on their commitment to language learning and plans to apply their language skills to their future academic or professional pursuits. Students from all academic disciplines, including business, engineering, law, medicine, science, social sciences, arts and humanities are encouraged to apply.

Prior to preparing their application, interested students should review the full eligibility and application information on the CLS Program website. For news, updates and more information about the CLS Program, check out the CLS website or our Facebook page for updates!

CLS Website: http://www.clscholarship.org
CLS Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CLScholarship
CLS Twitter page: https://twitter.com/CLSscholarship
For other questions, please contact cls@americancouncils.org