Highlights of NECTFL 2007

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"The Many Views of Diversity: Understanding Multiple Realities" was the theme that brought about 2,500 people to New York City's Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square this past April. Many attendees kicked off their conference with a workshop on Thursday. That evening, they attended a reception hosted by George Mason University professor and NECTFL Conference Chair Marjorie Hall Haley, where they could rub elbows with award winners and enjoy the Marriott's tasty hors-d'oeuvres and beverages. The College Board is owed a debt of gratitude for its sponsorship of this festive event! Friday's first activity was the grand opening of the exhibit areas. NECTFL boasts the nation's second largest multi-language, multi-level exhibit hall, which was where attendees flocked to peruse a huge selection of textbooks, technological products and services, realia, tour operator programs, and more.

Workshop attendees enjoyed presentations, interaction, and hand-outs

Conference Chair Marjorie Hall Haley (center) with friends Educators love the exhibit areas!

Thanks to sponsor McGraw-Hill Higher Ed, it also hosted a quick cup of coffee and muffins for attendees at the opening on Friday morning. Several companies offered refreshments throughout the hall at their booths, and Vista Higher Learning celebrated the premier of several new publications with cake and champagne for everyone! Vista Higher Learning also earns the gratitude of NECTFL for its sponsorship of our 100-page Conference Program. We are grateful to all our exhibitors for providing attendees with free posters and other materials to take home, as well as solid information on products and services! Special thanks to sponsors EMC Publishing, Sanako, SANS, Amsco, Proficiency Press, and World of Reading for their generous contributions.

The next important event at the conference was Session Number One, an hour-long multimedia presentation highlighting NECTFL's 2007 interactive DVD resource kit on diversity which includes articles, powerpoints, weblinks, teaching ideas, and the full Annenberg Media video "Valuing Diversity in Learners" from the Teaching Foreign Languages K-12 series at http://www.learner.org/resources/series201.html. A copy of the DVD, generously sponsored by Annenberg Media, was distributed to each attendee at the conference. Session Number One used real teachers and students, telling their stories onstage, to answer the questions "What is diversity and how does it affect the way we teach?" "How is it reflected in our learners?"

Attendee bags were full of both purchases and "freebies"!    A new feature of Session Number One was the option to request professional development points for attendance but also the chance to win a $500 cash door prize! Congratulations to Kerri Brien, a Vermont Spanish teacher, who was the lucky recipient!

Session Number One actors gathered with Marjorie Hall Haley onstage include Nancy Gadbois (left) '06 Conference Chair

Audience members asked the actors questions about their approaches to diversity following the performance.

Along with Session Number One, Conference attendees had their choice of more than 200 sessions and 24 conference workshops covering everything from AP literature to classroom games, from the impact of NCLB to web-based portfolios, from Korean to German to Italian to Japanese, and so on. Try a New Language sessions gave attendees the opportunity to learn Basque, Polish, Yiddish, Wolof, etc. There were also many sessions offered by publishers, software companies, learning center designers, tour operators, and other exhibitors, which teachers always look forward to. Local Committee members worked diligently to help attendees find their way to sessions and ensured that everyone received handouts. The Northeast Conference was very happy to highlight in its program several "Best of State" sessions that were chosen from conferences held in the 14 states in the Northeast region. Thank you to those who presented!      Session presenters maximized their use of      technology to interact with attendees.

Standing Room Only in some sessions! Many states also participated in the annual "Meeting with the States" hosted by NECTFL for the purpose of giving representatives from each of the 14 member states in the region an opportunity to network. Lunch was provided by Pearson Prentice Hall, whom NECTFL thanks for helping us to continue strengthening relationships with and among the states. State leaders meet over lunch

Throughout the course of the conference, other associations such as ACTFL, NNELL, and NADSFL, as well as some exhibitor focus groups - including one specific to the community college sector - used NECTFL as a place to hold their meetings. The central location of New York and the time of year offer great opportunity for these groups to network and to interact with our attendees! We thank them and their corporate sponsors (Wright Group for NADSFL and McGraw-Hill Higher Ed for the community college breakfast).

District supervisors and coordinators enjoy the NADSFL breakfast Pasta at the Italian reception

McGraw-Hill Higher Ed reps Jorge Arbujas, Bill Glass, and Christa Harris (left to right, against the wall) listen to community college world language educators - Magali Jerez, also on the Local Committee, is seated at the table on the left, and Lori McNiel from Beauford Community College is to her right. A number of countries had receptions at their consulates, and the Italian Consulate General and Cultural Institute hosted a packed event in the Marriott Marquis on Friday afternoon, attended by Deputy Consul Paola Munzi and Education Director Alfio Russo who honored us with their presence.

On Friday evening, NECTFL held its first Awards Ceremony separate from the opening session. The Honorable Paul S. Sarbanes, who retired after a long and remarkable tenure as Senator from the state of Maryland, won the Dodge Award for his support of the study of classics over the years. It was a great treat to have him and his wife, Christine, who is a classics teacher, with us.

The Honorable and Mrs. Paul Sarbanes (left and center) celebrate with Marjorie Hall Haley.

Steve Levy (left) is congratulated by his Local Committee co-chair and Board member Francesco Fratto

Awards Committee Chairman Mark English with Teresa Pica.

Marjorie Hall Haley (left) congratulates Diana Scalera

Several embassies granted study abroad scholarships that were awarded to Northeast Conference teachers that same evening: the Embassy of Spain Education Office honored Melissa Schickler (who unfortunately could not attend) with Nora Guevara as an alternate (pictured), the French Embassy Cultural Services selected Jane McConnell, Goethe-Institut and the AATG presented Karen Ruecker with a scholarship, and the Cemanahuac Educational Community chose Michael Donnelly. Dr. Jes�s Fern�ndez Gonz�lez shared eloquent remarks of special interest to all world language educators (Read his remarks).

Mark English and Marjorie Hall Haley are joined by Jes�s Fern�ndez Gonz�lez of the Embassy of Spain and scholarship finalist Nora Guevara.

Mark English, Marjorie Hall Haley, and French Embassy representative Catherine Petillon (second from left) congratulate scholarship winner Jane McConnell

Uwe Rau of the Goethe-Institut recognizes scholarship winner Karen Ruecker along with Mark English and Marjorie Hall Haley

Vivian Harvey (second from left) joins the first NECTFL Cemanahuac winner, Michael Donnelly, as Mark English and Marjorie Hall Haley look on

Also acknowledged at the conference, where they met with mentors to work on their projects, were the 2007 Mead Leadership fellows: Cheryl Berman (NH), Amanda Seewald (NJ), Fran Malkin (NY), and Natalie Puhala (PA). We look forward to hearing from them in the very near future and beyond!

From left to right, the 2007 Mead Fellows: Natalie Puhala, Amanda Seewald, Fran Malkin, and Cheryl Berman

Our Advisory Council met on Saturday for business and a delicious luncheon courtesy of the generous people at Holt, Rinehart & Winston. As a result of the election held during lunch, the NECTFL Board welcomes three new directors: Arlene White, a French professor from Salisbury State University in Maryland; Ben Rifkin, who teaches Russian and is a dean at Temple University; and Mei Jean Kuo-Barth, a Chinese instructor in Fairfax County and Northern Virginia Community College. They will serve for four years and replace outgoing Board members Jorge Cubillos, Laura Franklin, and Frank Mulhern. We bid a fond farewell to Jorge, but Laura will still be with us as 2009 Conference Chair, and Frank remains as our ACTFL representative. We also bid adieu to Mark English, whose new position as superintendent of the American International School in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, forced him to leave the Board one year early.

Saturday evening was an unexpected treat with a Justo Lamas concert, sponsored by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill!

Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, McGraw-Hill Higher Ed, and Wright Group also covered the costs of producing our conference badges. Many thanks!

Finally, we were in New York City! Attendees told us that they took advantage of all this great metropolis has to offer by going to the theater, visiting museum exhibits, eating at great restaurants, going to mass at St. Patrick's, attending concerts, shopping, walking, going up the Empire State Building, and visiting embassies.

Be sure to check our website often as information on the 2008 Conference becomes available - if you were with us in '07, we know you'll want to return; if you weren't, ask yourself how you can afford to miss this outstanding event in '08!!

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