By Alfonso De Torres Núñez
alfonso.detorresnunez@jefferson.kyschools.us
The Kentucky World Language Association (KWLA) is seeking nominations for its annual awards. These include and honor the following people:
- Outstanding Teacher (K-16): Recognizes an individual of the world language teaching profession who has demonstrated long-term achievement and service to the profession. Candidates for this award are named the “Teacher of the Year” for their own respective professional language teaching organizations. Currently in Kentucky, there are organizations for Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese and K-8.
- Outstanding New Teacher (K-16): Recognizes a teacher with no more than five years of experience (both in the U.S. and/or internationally) who already has made a significant impact on their students by exhibiting best practices to an uncommonly high degree.
- Outstanding Administrator: Recognizes a school administrator who has demonstrated exemplary support of world language learning and teaching at his or her institution, community or in the state.
- Lifetime Achievement: Recognizes a person whose life-long career in the world language teaching profession has made a vast and immeasurable difference on the lives of their students, parents, communities and colleagues
- Amici Linguarum – or “Friend of Languages:” Recognizes an individual or organization not directly involved in the teaching of world languages that has made a significant contribution to the profession.
Winners will be announced at the association’s annual conference in Sept. 19, which will be virtual this year.
Founded in 1974, the KWLA is dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction. The KWLA Awards Program was designed to further advance the group’s mission to better serve the world language teachers and students of Kentucky.
The winner of the Outstanding Teacher Award will advance to the regional competition, sponsored by the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT). The person who wins at SCOLT will advance to the national competition sponsored by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL), where he/she will compete against other regional winners for the ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year Award. This year, Kentucky is fortunate for having a representative competing for the national award: Elena Kamenetzky, a Japanese teacher at Eastern High School (Jefferson County).
The deadline for nominations is June 30.
For more information on the awards and the nomination process, visit the KWLA’s Awards webpage or email the chair of the KWLA Awards Committee, Alfonso De Torres Núñez.
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