Sorry about the lack of bulletin last week, but I had
hoped to include the Film Fest info which will
probably have to wait till Friday, since I need to go
to Pullman tomorrow for three days to begin setting up
my WSU life.
I. FILM FEST/CENTRO DE LA RAZA. I am now aware of
the Spanish and Portuguese films of the festival, but
wasn't able to check with Warren about Saturday or
Sunday dates. I will send out a special announcement
Friday telling you the film, the dates, the cost, and
whether I could arrange the Centro tour on the same
date. The chapter will only be buying 20-25 tickets
at a discount rate, so you'll have to order your own
or try your luck at the door if you don't act soon
after the announcement. COULD PEOPLE PLEASE INDICATE
THEIR POTENTIAL INTEREST? This doesn't commit you,
but I would like to know who besides Steve, Paloma,
and myself are going. Attendance at the west side
tertulia and Cocina Gallega events was very good, so I
don't anticipate this being a problem. Socios in SW
Washington, Bellingham, or even Eastern WA might want
to contact each other if you plan to come out for
this...that is, once we have a date!
II. AATSP BECAS. Look at page 171-172 of HISPANIA
or
an old BOLECTRONICO for info on lots of grants for
travel and study to Luso-Hispanic countries.
III. SPANISH TEACHER OF 1999. So far there are only
two nominees, though two more have promised to
nominate two other socios. DEADLINE-- which will be
observed strictly-- is April 30.
IV. ELECTIONS FOR CHAPTER POSTS. The following
people have filed for the following elective posts:
President: Steve Green, Olympic High School
NW Vice President: Paloma Borreguero, Univ. of WA
SW Vice President: None
Eastern Vice President: Sonja Hokanson, WA State Univ.
Secretary: Jay Adams-Feuer, WA State Univ.
Treasurer: None
Deadline for filing is May 31. Intentions to run must
be filed with the chapter by May 31, but candidate
statements are not due until June 30. Ballots will be
mailed September 1 and returned to Robert Slabodnik,
Vice President of the state chapter of American
Association of Teachers of French, by September 30.
He and Sharon Higgins, Vice President of the state
chapter of the American Association of Teachers of
German, will deliver the results by hand to Secretary
Jay Adams-Feuer by 3:00 p.m. Friday October 8 in
Spokane.
V. APPOINTIVE POSITIONS. The following positions
will be appointed by the incoming elected Executive
Council at our annual Veterans Day meeting which will
probably occur in Pullman, WA this year:
1. HISTORIAN. This person will take pictures at
major AATSP gatherings and will also record the events
and traditions of the chapter. This person will
receive an additional copy of CLAMOR to be filed in a
hardbound three-ring binder. The chapter historian
must also arrange for people in other parts of the
state to take photos at regional gatherings.
2. NATIONAL SPANISH EXAMINATION (NSE) COORDINATOR.
This person must get in touch with outgoing NSE guy
Bob Clairmont as well as with National, to assume
duties promoting and making arrangements for the
administration of NSE. This person should communicate
with other states to find out trends in subscription
for the exam as well as communicating with teachers
whose students sign up to find out about its relevancy
and needs for improvement.
3. SOCIEDAD HISPANICA HONORARIA CHAIR. The chair
is
the one making decisions (based on discussions with
the Board and National) as to how we can get students
in our state to belong to SHH and informing teachers
of its benefits. THIS IS A GREAT THING FOR HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENTS: LOOKS GOOD ON COLLEGE ADMISSIONS
VITAE. This position would be a good one for a grad
student or a student teacher to gain experience with
the membership, National, and the Juan de Fuca Board.
If you have a student teacher or grad student full of
energy AND follow through, mention it to him/her.
4. CLAMOR EDITOR. For the sake of stability and
continuity, it is ALMOST ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that Ana
Maria Rodriguez-Vivaldi will be reappointed for a
second one-year term. However, you have the right to
press your suit if this interests you. She enjoys the
full confidence of the current executive council and
launching a newsletter is a time-consuming job. New
chapters' newsletters are fragile operations, and we
want to use CLAMOR as the basic building block and
mortar of the chapter. You had best want to work VERY
hard if you want to run CLAMOR.
VI. PNCFL AATSP LUNCHEON. President Marco Arenas
made us all laugh with his excellent anecdotes, Gail
Guntermann of Arizona State wowed us all with a
presentation on AATSP's upcoming publication of ways
to make the National Standards a practical reality,
and Anne Fountain (an Argentine of Welsh descent) was
the talk of the conference for her presentation on how
to use political protest songs to teach about language
and culture. We salute Ray Verzasconi, Executive
Director of PNCFL for more than half its 50 years, for
a job well-done. Joining the Board and Drs. Arenas,
Guntermann, and Fountain at the head table were socias
Barbara Rupert and Maria Basave-Gillman. Barbara's
presentation on Making Connections so that Students
Will Remember was a runaway hit at PNCFL.
***The Juan de Fuca Chapter Board and the WAFLT Board
wishes to thank President Marco Arenas for sitting
through 3.5 hours of the WAFLT Board Meeting and
making smart, incisive, and hard-hitting suggestions
on increasing the effectiveness of WAFLT's already
effective advocacy efforts at the state level.
Sonja Hokanson, Paloma Borreguero, and I also thought
that Dr. Arenas's linguistically innovative theory of
language teaching as evidenced by his text and a talk
he gave to us privately is evidence of true
originality and brilliance in language teaching. We
hope to invite him to a future state or regional
conference as a presenter so that he can share these
ideas in a two-hour workshop format.
If you are interested in Dr. Arenas's ideas, e-mail
him at marenas@aol.com. He is clear and
comprehensible in his exposition, so you should
benefit a great deal from his ideas.
I will be in touch this Friday with an update on the
Film Fest/Centro issue.
