SCOLTalk The newsletter of the Southern Conference on Language Teaching November 2021
Greetings from the SCOLT President During my second year as an educator, my department chair told me, “You are going to the annual foreign language conference along with me and the rest of the department.” The tone and intent of her message was not an invitation, but rather a requirement of my role as a French teacher in a rural high school. I didn’t object because the passion in her voice conveyed the value she attributed to professional conferences. Though still a little naive in my understanding of professional conferences, I clearly heard her passion. I also felt a sense of inclusion that compelled me to listen. To be included among colleagues with many more years of experience than me made me feel good. It signaled something very important about the culture of my workplace: the needs of everyone matter.
Volume 54
This year’s theme, Inclusion is about US All, is a reminder that we all share the responsibility and basic right of having our voices heard and feeling a sense of belonging to something that is greater than ourselves. In turn, we share in the responsibility of ensuring that all students are able to see themselves as speakers of another language, that they feel included in our classes, and that language teaching and learning is a communicative, collaborative endeavor.
Today, as we look toward the SCOLT 2022 conference in Norfolk, I am reminded of this seemingly small yet important act on the part of my friend and colleague, Becky Lee. It remains to this day a lesson that I not only carry with me, but hopefully continue to magnify in my role as a university administrator, educator, and in this context, President of a professional organization. At this time in our history, as an organization serving the southeastern United States and beyond, SCOLT is reaching out to all language educators K -20 to let you know that you matter. We understand the challenges you face, perhaps even more so now given the communal experience of teaching and learning during a global pandemic. We appreciate the sacrifices and frustrations you have experienced since March 2020. And we want you to know that our mission is to provide a high-quality professional development experience for you, where you will not only feel safe, but at home with the conversations, learning, and networking opportunities.
INDEX
President’s Greeting……………………………….…..1-2 2022 Registration..…………………………………...…..2 Herman Bostick Memorial……………...………………..4 Scholarship Recipient Update………………………….5-7 Interrogating Inclusion……………..…………………8-10 Advocacy Note…………..………………..……………..11 SCOLT Sponsors and Patrons………….…….………….11 2022 Schedule at a Glance…………..…………………..12 2022 Pre/Post-Conference Workshops……..………..14-16 Program Cover Contest……………………….................17 Scholarships Update………………………………….....18 Dimension 2021…………………………………...…19-21 Conference Impressions……………………………..22-23 Award Nominations...…………………………………..24 Conference Hotel Info………………………………….25 Top 5 Norfolk Sites………………………………….26-27 SCOLT Board of Directors……………………………..28 Around the Region………………………………..…….29 1
