vol. 31, no. 3 (may 2016) editor and photographer: …...vol. 31, no. 3 (may 2016) editor and...
TRANSCRIPT
Foreign Language Academic Alliance for International Rapport
An Academic Alliance of Georgia and South Carolina
Vol. 31, No. 3 (May 2016) Editor and photographer: Jana Sandarg
Department of English and Foreign Languages Augusta University
Congratulations
2016 FLAIR Student of the Year Mark David Chamberlain
Augusta Preparatory Day School
2016 FLAIR Teacher of the Year Julio Ávila
North Augusta High School
s
2016 FLAIR Outstanding Students of the Year Khang Kieu, German, Academy of Richmond County
Carolina Lovas, Spanish, Aquinas High School Mark Chamberlin, Latin & Spanish, Augusta Preparatory Day
Gracie Smith, Latin, A.R. Johnson Health Sciences & Engineering Tiara Jones, Spanish, Butler High School
Julia Powell, Latin, CSRA HEA Trent Andrew Swanson, Spanish, Curtis Baptist School
Aubrey Quick, Spanish, Edmund Burke Academy Morgan Powell, Spanish, Fox Creek High School
James Robert H. Clay, French, Greenbrier High School Christina E. Toler, Spanish, Grovetown High School
Britney Claxton, Spanish, Harlem High School Allison Sasser, Spanish, Jefferson County High School
Connor Preston Lewis, Spanish, North Augusta High School Meisha Godbee, French, T.W. Josey High School
Dayna Frazier, Richmond County Technical Career Magnet Michael Kyser, Spanish, Washington County High School
Morgan H. Brunty, Spanish, Westside High School
FLAIR Honor Society Induction
February 29 and March 1, 2016 For the fourth year, FLAIR held two honor society inductions because we have outgrown the theater, which seats about 750 folks. Richmond County public and private schools, North Augusta High School, Jef-ferson County High School and Washington County High School attended on March 1st. All other schools attended on February 29th. Below are some highlights from both events.
Left: North Augusta High School Jr. ROTC Above: Kailin Chen, Greenbrier High School, recites a poem in Spanish. Right: Dr. Christopher Botero, Assistant Chair of the Department of English and Foreign Languages, Augusta University
Below: The Evans High School Step Team perform to a Latin beat. Directed by Di Johnson.
Below: The Panamanian dance group, “Venimos de Panama,” performs under the direction of Ricardo Rodriguez
At left:
Johanna Walters, an
Augusta University
student from Pana-
ma, helped arrange
the dance perfor-
mance by Venimos de
Panamá. Johanna is
the dancer in front of
the group.
At right, students from North
Augusta High School perform
the Candle Lighting Ceremony.
L-R: Erin McDowell, Shay Walk-
er, Sarina Shahidpour, Savan-
nah Paull and Martha Ramirez.
Their teacher, Julio Ávila (far
right) looks on.
Elizabeth Stevenson (at
left) and Alysha Worden
(at right), both from
Aquinas High School,
recite poetry in French.
Elizabeth recites “Il
pleure dans mon Coeur”
and Alysha recites “La
pluie” and “Le depart.”
Both are students of
Terry Meredith..
The Upper School Chorus of Augusta Preparatory Day School performs “Va Pensiero” by Verdi and “Lacrymosa” by Mozart.
They sing under the direction of Kirsten Newlin (far right).
In Memory of Leslie Dawson
Leslie Arlene Dawson, beloved French teacher at Evans High School, passed away on January 31, 2016.
Leslie held a Master’s degree in French, and she taught for 18 years at Augusta Christian School, for 6
years at Evans High School, and for 2 years as adjunct professor at Augusta State University. Leslie had a
great love and enthusiasm for the French language and culture, which she shared passionately with all of
her students. She took a group of students to France a year ago, with photos published in this newsletter.
Leslie won the 2014 FLAIR Teacher of the Year Award (photo above left), and she gave generously of her
time and talent to FLAIR. Leslie always served as “chef” at the FLAIR Culinary Arts Class (photo above
right), and this year, FLAIR honored her by publishing a FLAIR Cook Book with her photo on the front and
her recipes inside. Every year, Leslie led the candle lighting ceremony at the FLAIR Honor Society induc-
tion. This year, we held a moment of silence in honor of our colleague and friend. She leaves behind her
husband of 36 years, Mike, and her children, Kelly and Kyle. Leslie is sorely missed by all.
Culinary Arts Class This year we held a Culinary Arts Class, “International Cuisine: Cook and Eat,” for FLAIR honor
society members on Tuesday, March 15th. Our host and head chef was Craig Oglesby (Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School). Other teachers who taught the cooking class were Julio Avila (North Augusta High School), Terry Meredith (Aquinas High School), Christy Presgrove (Greenbrier High School), Sonia Puerta Quinn (Episcopal Day School), Michael Harris (Butler High School) Marisol García-Mitchell (Butler High School), Richardson “Rico” Lane (Butler High School), and Edwin Pérez (FLAIR Treasurer). Jana Sandarg (Augusta University) was the official photographer, taster and cookbook editor. A big thank you to all the students and teachers who attended! Below are photos of students, teachers and chefs enjoying the class and the food.
Sonia Puerta-Quinn (left) watches two
students prepare a dish.
Master Cleaner Adam Cowart prepares tables for the meal.
Julio Ávila (right) with
student, preparing food.
Michale Harris (center)
directs two student
cooks.
At left, (L-R), Marisol García-Mitchell
and Christy Presgrove with student
cook. Below, two students stir the
filling for empanadas. Below at left, a
student prepares a sauce.
Above, Rico Lane (on left) watches stu-
dents fill the cups with onion soup. At left,
Edwin Pérez (in red apron and cap) super-
vises three students who are preparing
“tostones” or fried plantains.
At left, guests Puerto Rican chefs, Sonia and Wendell
Rodríguez, trained at Helms College. Below, Jana Sandarg
and Christy Presgrove are official tasters. Below left, Craig
Oglesby and Edwin Pérez duel with plantains.
At left, Rico Lane washes dishes. Above, Julio Ávila stirs the pot with two stu-
dents, while Adam Cowart (in tie) observes. Below students and teachers enjoy
the international feast.
FLAIR wants you! We need steering committee members. Please contact Terry Meredith
([email protected]) or Jana Sandarg ([email protected]) if you wish to be added to the steering
committee email list. Everyone is invited to attend the meetings.
Michael Harris from Butler High School, took students from his French ll and French lll classes, along with a few of Marisol García-Mitchell’s upper-level Spanish students, on a day trip to tour the Biltmore Estates in Ashville, North Carolina. They saw the only châteaux in North America patterned after the châteaux of the Loire River Valley in France, especially Chambord where King François 1er established French as the official language of France. A great time was had by all!
FLAIR TEACHER GRANTS are available to active FLAIR members who are presenting at a conference, working on a special project, or other similar items. Up to five $100 teacher grants will be awarded per year, if
funding is available, to active FLAIR teachers. Teachers may receive the grant only once. To apply, e-mail Terry Meredith at [email protected] No deadline.
Seal of Biliteracy Beginning in fall 2016, Georgia high school students will have the opportunity to ear a “Seal of Biliteracy.”
http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Curriculum-and-Instruction/Pages/
Georgia%27s-Seal-of-Biliteracy.aspx
For more information, contact Michaela Claus-Nix, Georgia Department of Education, at
Congratulations to
Mayra Maura
Augusta University
2016 AATSP-Georgia University Student of the Year
Maura (at left holding her plaque) will study in Sala-
manca, Spain, this summer to complete her degree in Spanish.
Jana Sandarg (at left) from Augusta University
received the 2016 Leadership Award Post-
Secondary from the Foreign Language Associa-
tion of Georgia. It was awarded at the FLAG
Conference held in Augusta, Georgia, in March.
Michael Harris (at right) of Butler High
School received a FLAIR Study Abroad
Scholarship of $250 for a study program
in Nice, France, during the summer of
2016. Although he is an extraordinary
chef — preparing authentic onion soup
for our FLAIR Culinary Arts Class — Mi-
chael hopes to learn new recipes for our
next class.
2016 FLAIR Conference
World Languages and Career Readiness in Georgia – a Worldly Fit!
Featuring Michaela Claus-Nix
Several new initiatives in the state of Georgia are putting World Languages in the forefront as a ca-reer readiness skill. Michaela Claus-Nix is the Program Specialist for World Languages and Work-force Initiatives at the Georgia Department of Education. She will give an update on the state of World Languages in K-12 public education in Georgia, an overview of two new seals for graduating high school students, the International Skills Diploma Seal and the Seal of Biliteracy, and a synopsis of the rapidly growing dual language immersion programs and the 50/50 model recommended by GaDOE. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide comments throughout the presentation.
Saturday, August 27, 2016 10:00 am
Allgood Hall, N-126, Augusta University
Free to FLAIR teachers No pre-registration required.
Certificates of Merit for Middle Schoolers For the tenth year, FLAIR offered Certificates of Merit to middle school students who have maintained an A average for a year and a half of foreign language study. We hope they will join the FLAIR Honor Society when they reach high school.
2016
Aug 27 FLAIR Conference, Augusta University Sept 24 AATSP-GA Conference, Baggett Elementary School, Lawrenceville, GA Nov 18-20 ACTFL Conference, Boston, MA
2017 Mar 6-7 FLAIR Honor Society Inductions, Augusta University 16-18 SCOLT Conference, Orlando, FL Nov 17-19 ACTFL Conference, Nashville, TN
2018 Feb 26-27 FLAIR Honor Society Inductions, Augusta University Please email items for the calendar to the editor: [email protected]
$250 Student Study
Abroad Award
Students who are members of the FLAIR Foreign
Language Honor Society are eligible to receive a
$25 award for participating in a study abroad
program. Only one award will be given per year.
Students must participate in an organized pro-
gram and the funds will be disbursed after re-
ceiving official documentation of completion of
the program. No deadline. Contact:
Terry Meredith at
$250 Teacher Study
Abroad Award
Teachers who are active members of FLAIR are eligi-
ble to receive a $250 award for participating in a
study abroad program. Only one award will be given
per year. Teachers must participate in an organized
program and the funds will be disbursed after re-
ceiving official documentation of completion of the
program. No deadline. Contact:
Terry Meredith at
$100 FLAIR TEACHER GRANTS are available to active FLAIR members who
are presenting at a conference, working on a special project, or other similar items. Up to five $100
scholarships will be awarded annually, funds permitting, and a teacher may only receive it once. To
apply, email Terry Meredith at [email protected]. No deadline.
Minutes of the FLAIR Steering Committee Tuesday, April 12, 2016
The FLAIR steering committee met at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, April 12, 2016, at Mi Rancho Mexican Restaurant on Washington Road. The following members were present: Julio Avila, Angelica Eubanks, Michael Harris, Di John-son, Richardson Lane, Pam Light, Sandra Moore, Edwin Pérez, Christy Presgrove, Sonia Puerta-Quinn, Jana Sandarg and Robert Walker. Jana prepared the agenda and Di volunteered to lead the meeting. We thanked everyone for helping with the cooking class. Julio announced that North Augusta High School is looking for another Spanish teacher for next year. Send all items for the next newsletter to Jana as soon as possible. Her email is [email protected]. Please send your favorite memory of Leslie Dawson for the newsletter. Jana took flowers to Leslie and sent a condo-lence card to her family on behalf of FLAIR. By means of email, it was moved and seconded to buy electric candles for the FLAIR honor society ceremo-nies. The motion was passed unanimously on February 19, 2016. The treasurer, Edwin Pérez, presented the treasurer’s report. As of March 2016, we have a balance of $2,589.67. It was moved and seconded to accept the report. The motion carried. Jana and Edwin have debit cards to the account, which we can use to purchase supplies for events. The honor society payments, as well as those for the cooking class, are still coming in. We stuffed conference bags for the FLAG conference, but we forgot to give them the door prizes. It was moved and seconded that we buy ten $5 gift cards to Chik-fil-A to send to FLAG now. The motion carried. Edwin will purchase them and Jana will mail them. Michael is volunteering to stuff FLAG conference bags at the next FLAG con-ference in Atlanta, 2017. If you are there, please pitch in to help. There was discussion about the amount awarded to the TOTY and the SOTY. We decided to stay with the current amount of $100 for the TOTY and $50 for the SOTY. It was moved and seconded to purchase name tags for the TOTY and the SOTY, beginning with the recipients for 2016. The motion carried. Edwin will order them and Jana will deliver them. It was moved and seconded to order a banner for FLAIR for our events, which would include the logo. The motion carried. Di and Christy will check their schools for prices. We discussed changing the cooking class to a Saturday, from 10:30 am until 1 pm, since our host, Craig Oglesby, is supportive of it. But we need to see if there is a custodial fee for opening the school for us on a Saturday. Edwin will check with Craig about the custodial fee and we will revisit this issue at our fall meeting. It was moved and seconded to give Craig Oglesby a $100 gift card, which would be an annual contribution from FLAIR, each time Craig hosts the class. The motion carried. We will hold our fall conference on a Saturday morning in August at Augusta University. We choose “dual im-mersion” as our theme, and Jana will invite Michaela Claus-Nix to present from 10:00 am until 11:30, or a similar hour. We will offer her a $100 honorarium and mileage. Michael Harris will study in France this summer, so he requested the study abroad scholarship for teachers. It was moved and seconded to award him the $250 scholarship. The motion carried. After he completes the study pro-gram and presents FLAIR a certificate of completion, we will issue the check. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, August 30, at 5:00 pm at Mi Rancho. The meeting adjourned around 6:45 pm. Submitted by: Jana Sandarg