WAFLT Annual Meeting Minutes

Saturday, November 6, 2021

(Meeting was conducted virtually)

I. Greetings – Dan Tess

II. Fall Conference Committee

Program Committee – Shaniya Stengl Conference Overview: 165 attendees, nearly 30 pre-recorded sessions, 5 workshops, and 40 live sessions. Watching the recorded sessions after the conference – All can watch on Hopin through the Replay tab through Sunday, after that, please be patient as we transition the videos from Hopin to another platform that will be able to be shared to all attendees and members. 2022 Theme: Level Up: Embracing Change, Empowering Learners Local Arrangements – Lee Belanger-Gonzales

III. Secretary’s Report – Brian Wopat MOTION: Kellie Villalobos moved and seconded by Victoria Carter to dispense the reading of minutes and accept as written. The motion passed.

IV. President’s Report – Dan Tess Emailing members to fill vacancies has resulted in only a few spots filled. Your word of mouth and personal connections to colleagues makes more of a difference than an easily-deleted email. If you have colleagues who are ready to add WAFLT leadership to their CV, now is the time. Save the date! Power Hours (11/18, 12/16, 1/20, 2/17, 3/10, 4/21, 5/19)

V. Treasurer’s Report – Kellie Villalobos Note: EB Stipends went out on 11/3/21. Please email me if you don’t receive it within ten days. MOTION: Victoria Carter moved and seconded by Shaniya Stengl to dispense the reading of the treasurer’s report and accept as written. The motion passed.

VI. DPI World Language and Global

Education Consultant’s Report –Pam Delfosse

VII. NNELL Report – Jessica King Save the date for FLESFEST 2022 on Saturday, February 19, 2022. The conference will be FREE and held virtually. The theme is Enhancing Connections, Confidence, and Communication in our Interdependent World. For more information about previous conferences, visit wi-nell.org. Join NNELL to support and advocate for early language learning and teaching.

VIII. Professional Development

Committee – Jamie Gurholt Career Changers – Seeking someone energetic to step into this role. Virtual PD – Jamie Gurholt & Julie Horvath Currently we are supporting the virtual Power Hours each month (run by Linda Havas). Upcoming, there is a possible virtual December Share Fair (Anita Alkhas) and a definite (date TBD) spring Share Fair in the Fox Valley area (Zoe Witzeling). Lastly, the ACTFL conference is again virtual on November 19-21, sessions will be available for view beyond the conference, until February 28, 2022. They also have ongoing virtual professional development options.

IX. Summer Professional

Development Committee – Danielle Chaussee and Jenny Piorkowski Summer Institute – Danielle Chaussee & Jenny Piorkowski Currently seeking 2022-2023 Leaders. MOPI – Jody Reif Ziemann MOPI not held the past 2 years. Considering several sites for possible 2022 training.

X. Grants, Scholarships, & Awards

Grants & Scholarships Two Grants will be voted on via email. December 1: Deadline for Special Projects Grant, Student Travel Scholarships, and CSC Extension Workshop Grants. Awards No report until December meeting. Reminder to all to nominate their colleagues and students for the many awards. High School Guests This was not held this year, so no updates. We’re excited to hold it again next year (in person).

XI. Public Relations Committee

State advocacy: Still seeking State Advocacy Co-chair. One teacher has been contacted. National level advocacy: Pablo Muirhead and Dan Tess attended Language Advocacy Day virtually February 3-5, 2021. Janet Rowe was a CSC representative.

See [languagepolicy.org/advocacy] to view the constantly expanding resources from JNCL-NCLIS. Language Advocacy Day will be a virtual event this year (Feb. 3-5, 2021). Please continue to reach out to your legislative representatives as you learn about action alerts through JNCL-NCLIS. Discover Languages – Justin Gerlach Possible replacement officer being sought for 2022.

XII. Communications & Publications

Committee – Lauren Rosen VOICE – Katy Dueppen and Kelly Miller The Voice of WAFLT is a biannual publication that seeks the voice of its members. Please consider writing an article pertaining to effective instructional practices, assessment, or initiatives to promote language learning and interculturality in your school. We are seeking articles for our Spring edition from the entire WAFLT membership. January 1 – Spring edition deadline Send articles to voice@waflt.org Microsoft Word or Google Docs preferred. Affiliate organizations: January 1 deadline Provide a current list of all officers (name, school, and email, if your organization lists that information). Please check your verb tenses and dates when writing about past and future events. (Pay close attention to the publication date.) Photos are welcome and encouraged. Please send photos separately as .jpg, .jpeg, or .png files. Please include photo captions in your article and name your photo files to correspond with captions. eVoice – Lauren Rosen/Kara Torkelson We are also always looking for high tech/low tech articles. If you presented at this conference and want to write up a short article, non-research based we would love to have it. Please contact webmaster@waflt.org to volunteer and/or write an article for us. 21st Century Committee – We currently have over 1000 followers on FB and if you aren’t already following us please do so. You will see content about all things language educator oriented. Twitter has over 1700 followers and typically echoes much of what is on FB, so please consider following us there as well. We have been wanting to get an Instagram feed going so if you are an Instagram fan and would like to help us out with that, please contact 21stcentury@waflt.org. Advertising – Josh LeGreve Due to not having a physical conference program and an abbreviated Fall Voice of WAFLT without a pre-conference program, advertising sales were suspended this fall. They will begin again in spring. Website – Lauren Rosen I appreciate any feedback you have on our website so feel free to send comments to webmaster@waflt.org.

XIII. Announcements / Other Business, etc.

Please be sure to sign up for the drawing for one of two WAFLT memberships on the Google form in the chat.

XIV. Adjournment

MOTION: Cathy Stresing moved and seconded by Kelly Miller to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed.

Professional Development Opportunities

Wisconsin Association For Language Teachers (WAFLT) Fall

Conference | November 3-5, 2022 | Information: waflt.org

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

(ACTFL) Conference | November 18-20, 2022, Boston, MA | Information: actfl.org Join a Language Leadership Listserv: join-languageleadership@lists.dpi.wi.gov

Join Your Language Association:

Go to waflt.org/about-waflt/language-associations for a list of all organizations. Reach out to learn how to join their listserv.