|
Presidents’ Message
Spring 2010
Chers collègues,
We can’t believe that it has already been a year since we took over as Co-Presidents of the AATF – Philadelphia Chapter. It has been a good year for us and we especially thank our Conseil Exécutif members for their commitment and contributions during the school year which have made our job run smoothly. As we all come down the home stretch of the school year,
Subjects of interest:
Le Grand Concours
Congratulations to all the students of French and their teachers for participating in the Grand Concours 2010! Special recognition to those students who were winners or recipients of honorable mention both on a national and local level. They will be recognized at the Distribution des Prix at Chestnut Hill College on Wednesday, May 17 at 7:00 pm. And, of course, we are eternally grateful for the superb job done by Sister Mary Helen Kashuba in administering the tests. Her dedication to this endeavor is a testimony to her deep commitment to French. GRAND MERCI, Sister!
AATF Website
As of this fall, we hope that you will find the website easier to navigate and properly updated in a more timely fashion. Thanks to the hard work of Joanne Silver, Dianne Goddard and George Morrow, our website will be redesigned and much improved.
Awards
Friend of French Award:
Congratulations to Dr. Priscilla Sands, Head of School, Springside School, Philadelphia who has been named the recipient of the Friend of French Award for 2010. As we all face the reality of decreasing numbers in our French programs, we are particularly grateful to Dr. Sands for recognizing the value of preserving French as a vital part of an academic curriculum. French does indeed have a future role to play in preparing our students as participants in a global community. Kudos to Dr. Sands for taking a stand in this direction.
Please be on the lookout for other deserving candidates as nominees for next year’s award.
Professional Development Award
We are working on expanding and revising the Professional Development Award. Under consideration is changing the name from an “award” to a “stipend” or “scholarship” with the idea of attracting more candidates. Specifics will be available in the fall on our website.
Recruitment
We are always looking to increase our membership. Please encourage any teacher you might know to join the AATF. A potential candidate need not be a full time teacher of French. She/he might be teaching other disciplines in addition to French.
Programs 2010-2011 Academic Year
As we look toward next year, we are working on programs that will be both useful and stimulating. As we have done in the past, we intend to focus on these three different areas: teaching methodology and technology, current events/history, and culture.
Future Dates to Keep in Mind
| May 19 at 7:00 | Distribution des prix |
| June 7 to September 6 | Philadelphia Museum of Art: Late Renoir |
| July 4-7 | AATF National Convention – VENEZ NOMBREUX! |
| October 2 | tentative date – AATF – Philadelphia fall program. |
| October 15-16 | PSMLA Fall Conference |
| October 23 | MLAPV Fall Meeting |
| November 3-10 | National French Week |
| November 19-21 | ACTFL Conference 2010, Boston, MA |
Stay Informed!
Please consult our website as well as the National AATF website periodically. Not all information related to French will be sent out on the listserv.
* * * * * * * *
We hope to see you all at the National Convention. If you have never attended an AATF convention, you are in for a treat. It is always a stimulating and enriching experience. There is no better time to be a student instead of a teacher, to make new friends, to exchange ideas, and to renew our sense of purpose in what we do. You’ll come away saying, “YES! French is alive and well”.
Have a safe and pleasant summer, and Profitez bien des vacances bien méritées!
Rita and Susie
|
|
