PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Chers collègues,
Nous vous souhaitons une bonne et heureuse année. The fall of 2007 found us celebrating La Semaine du Français with great enthusiasm. On Tuesday, November 6, members of the AATF and the Widener University community were treated to a recital of French and Italian opera pieces followed by an informal reception. On Thursday evening, November 8, at Restaurant Taquet in Wayne, members of the Philadelphia chapter of the AATF, their friends, colleagues and family enjoyed a dégustation de vin. Participants tasted five French wines from several regions of France while listening to a French sommelier and wine distributor. Many of the attendees chose to remain at Taquet for dinner after the tastevin. Un grand merci to Stephanie Schechner for organizing the recital and Barbara Barnett for organizing the wine-tasting.
Félicitations to Emily Wagner, who was named PSMLA Educator of the Year, to Sister Mary Helen Kashuba, who was recently elected vice-president of AATF for 2008–2010, and to Alice Cataldi, who was re-elected Region IV Representative for 2008–2010.
In 2008, we are preparing programs of cultural interest for our January and April meetings. First, on January 26 at Rosemont College, Nancy Mellerski and Michael Kline of Dickinson College will present “The Architecture of Disaster/Social Fracture in France,” a program which they presented at the Northeast Conference last spring. For our spring meeting on April 5 at Chestnut Hill College in conjunction with MLAPV, we are organizing a program on Québecois culture with the participation of local winners of the AATF Summer Scholarships to Québec in 2007.
March is the time for the Grand Concours. Sister Mary Helen Kashuba has sent out information and registration forms via e-mail. If you have not received them, please contact her at kashubam@chc.edu. Good luck to all our participants.
Amitiés,
Kim Marucci
Elaine Danford
Listserv
Our listserv is exclusively for members of both National and Philadelphia Chapter AATF. We send reminders of meetings and other events, as well as news that supplements the most recent newsletter. The complete Listserv Policy is on our site, www.aatfphila.org. Members can request that open French positions be posted. If you are not on the listserv and would like to be included, please send a message to josilver@erols.com. And of course, if you would like to be removed or have your e-mail changed, you have that option.
— Joanne Silver, Secretary-Treasurer AATF Philadelphia
Tête-à-Tête
Mentoring
The AATF is continuing its initiative to improve communication among teachers. If you are a relatively new teacher and would enjoy adding ideas to your repertoire, or if you are a more seasoned teacher and are eager to help the next generation, please contact Susan Zeager, our chapter’s Mentoring Coordinator at Suzea3@aol.com or at 610.277.3941.
Reminders from National
Information regarding AATF Summer Scholarships is almost complete and will be posted on the website in the next week or so. The deadline for applications is March 31.
Don't forget the many awards and honors available to members and their students. These include: (a) the AATF Dorothy S. Ludwig Excellence in Teaching Awards (available at four levels); (b) the 2007 ISE Language Matters Award; (c) AATF Outstanding Senior in French Awards; (d) AATF Small Grants; (e) AATF Summer Scholarships; (f) the Walter Jensen Study Abroad Scholarship (long-term study abroad for an undergraduate/graduate student). See the January National Bulletin for information on these opportunities and more.
The AATF strives to provide professional development and professional recognition opportunities for members at all levels. We offer support for the promotion and defense of French programs and recruitment and retention of students. If you haven't visited the AATF Web site (www.frenchteachers.org) recently, please take a few minutes to find out about the latest developments.
French Language Initiative
Learn more about the benefits of studying the French language and French-speaking cultures. Visit www.theworldspeaksfrench.org to download promotional material and to link to partners in this initiative.
Philadelphia Books in Paris Museums
The Benjamin Franklin exhibit is now in Paris until March 30, 2008, at two major museums. The Musée des Arts et Métiers will feature Franklin the Scientist, while Carnavalet will highlight Franklin in a more personal way. Philadelphia is honored to be represented during this special event by the sale of two books in the boutiques of both museums: French Philadelphia: The French Cultural & Historical Presence in the Delaware Valley, and its French version, Philadelphie à la française by Annette H. Emgarth & Lynn H. Miller, with photographs by Pierre Emmanuel Gee. The books were recently published within our chapter by Beach Lloyd Publishers, LLC, for the Alliance Française de Philadelphie.
AATF National Convention 2008
Liège, Belgium July 16–19
Make plans now to attend. Preliminary information can be found in the National Bulletin and on the website www.frenchteachers.org.
Honors and Awards
PSMLA Educator of the Year
Emily Z. Wagner was recently named “Educator of the Year” by the Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association at the association's annual conference held in October in King of Prussia. The Award honors distinguished teaching in world languages. Mme Wagner, a member of the Conseil Exécutif and former secretary/treasurer of the Philadelphia Chapter of the AATF, has been at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington for more than 25 years, where she teaches French, serves as head of the Middle School Modern Language Department, and is assistant head of the Middle School.
She was honored by the AATF in 2002 as the recipient of the Dorothy S. Ludwig Excellence in Teaching Award. Involved in the language teaching community for decades, Emily Wagner has served on the executive boards of the MLAPV, the AATF and MCFLA. She has presented sessions at local, regional and national conferences on a variety of language related topics. As part of the Committee on the Promotion for French, she conceived of and wrote the AATF brochure French is Not a Foreign Language. She says that she feels privileged to teach in an environment that allows the freedom to develop her own curriculum and to design courses to meet students’ individual talents, needs and interests. Wagner visits France often and loves everything French: the people, the culture, the history and—bien sûr—the cuisine.
Among the many trips Mme Wagner has organized for students in Québec and France was a tour of the Normandy beaches. In an article written about her in the December 30 Sunday Inquirer, she was quoted as saying: "To be honored for doing something you love to do is simply icing on the gâteau! Emily considers her French-teaching colleagues among her closest friends. And we, the members of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Association of teachers of French, are proud to join the PSMLA in honoring Emily Wagner as Educator of the Year!
Friend of French Award
Purpose: This award was created by our chapter to honor a person who makes or has made a noteworthy contribution to the promotion of the study of French and/or of Francophone cultures in the United States.
Eligibility:
- Winner must not be a current or former teacher of French.
- Winner must reside or work within the region served by our chapter.
- Winner must make or have made a noteworthy contribution to the promotion of the study of French and/or of Francophone cultures in the United States.
Past Winners: A musician, a food services coordinator, a restaurateur, an AFS leader, a
high school principal, a college.
Contact Kimberly Riviere for more information or for a nomination form--skriviere@comcast.net. Deadline is March 31st.
Professional Development Award
To encourage new or returning teachers of French to become active members of the American Association of Teachers of French and to continue to grow professionally by attending workshops and conferences, the Philadelphia chapter of the AATF sponsors a Professional Development Award, given annually.* The recipient receives a one-year complimentary membership in the AATF and reimbursement of up to $200.00 for language conference registration fees. The winner is also honored in a ceremony during the Grand Concours Distribution des Prix at Chestnut Hill College in May. In addition, a letter announcing the award is sent to the recipient’s school.
*If there is no qualified candidate in a given year, the Philadelphia Chapter of the AATF reserves the right to not offer the award that year.
Eligibility: Nominees must be teachers or professors of French at a school in the area served by our chapter, having taught no less than one academic year and no more that six academic years.
Judging: The nominees credentials will be judged on the following criteria:
- knowledge in the field
- planned active teaching status
- potential for leadership
- promotion of French studies
- long range professional goals
Expectations: The recipient of the award:
- Must use the stipend during the 2008–2009 academic year;
- Is expected to write an article for the chapter newsletter within three months of attending the subsidized conference;
- Will be reimbursed for AATF membership and conference fees upon receipt of proof of payment and article for the chapter newsletter.
Nominations: Nominations packets should include:
- A letter of nomination from a colleague explaining how the candidate meets the criteria and the nominator’s relationship to nominee;
- An updated professional résumé of the nominee;
- A brief personal statement from the nominee, including permission to be considered for the award, describing his or her contributions to the profession to date, and explaining how this award would help him or her develop professionally.
Please send the nomination packet to Emily Z. Wagner, Germantown Academy, 340 Morris Road, Fort Washington, PA 19034. It should be postmarked no later than March 1, 2007. For further information, write to emily.wagner@germantownacademy.org.
THE PHILADELPHIA CHAPTER OF
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF FRENCH
IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE ITS WINTER CONFERENCE
The Architecture of Disaster:
Social Fracture in France
Saturday, January 26, 2008
9:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Global Classroom, Good Counsel Building
Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA
(directions at www.rosemont.edu; parking in Lawrence Hall lots)
snow date February 2; in case of inclement weather, e-mail emily.wagner@germantownacademy.org
In this widely praised and recently updated workshop from the 2007 Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, presenters Nancy Mellerski and Michael Kline of Dickinson College will contextualize the riots of 2005–2007 in the Paris suburbs with a brief review of politically and socially motivated urban planning and architecture in Paris from Haussmann to Le Corbusier. They will examine how the transformation of the city fed the hotbed of revolt during the Commune of 1871 and will compare that change with the transformation of the banlieues under the French Fifth Republic, where riots in the fall of 2005 and unrest again in 2007 have garnered world attention.
This presentation may be of interest to others (e.g. history and architecture teachers) as well, and they are most welcome. While this conference is free to members of the Philadelphia AATF Chapter, we ask that non-members contribute $10.00 to attend.
Extensive handouts, including a CD and printed material, will be available at the conference for those who pre-register by contacting Emily Wagner at emily.wagner@germantownacademy.org by January 19. |
Calendar of Events
Saturday, January 26 9:30 to 1:00
Winter meeting at Rosemont College. Nancy Mellerski and Mickael Kline will present ”The Architecture of Disaster/Social Fracture in France.“ Snow date is February 2. |
February 8, 10, 13, 15, 17
Opera Company of Philadelphia: East Coast Premier of Cyrano by David DiChiera and Bernard Uzan.
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April 5
MLAPV/AATF Spring meeting at Chestnut Hill College.
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July 16-19
AATF National Convention in Liège, Belgium.
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