President’s Newsbrief for Georgia AATF

by Kristin Hoyt

 

The leadership of Georgia AATF invites you to share in our eager anticipation of a rewarding year of activities. As the outcome of a fruitful planning meeting on May 5th with a group of your Georgia francophile colleagues, we share the following plans for the upcoming 2007-2008 academic school year.

 

Ø      Welcome in the school year by joining us for a special GA-AATF Fall Conference being planned by Bill Griffin of Kennesaw State University and Jay Lutz of Oglethorpe University for September (date to be announced) in conjunction with the upcoming exhibit “Rodin in His Own Words” at the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art.

 

Ø      Take advantage of the “La semaine du français” November 5-11 to schedule some special activities or programs in your school or community in promotion of French language and culture. To facilitate your planning, you can access a plethora of resources, materials, project ideas, and archives of past years’ celebrations at http://www.frenchteachers.org/nfw/Default.htm.

 

Ø      Watch enthusiasm for the French language grow among your students (high school students as campers and university students as camp guides) when they participate in the Student Immersion Weekend February 22-24 to be held at Rock Eagle Camp in Eatonton, The event is being organized under the direction of Muriel Davison of Collins Hill HS, Suwanee.

 

Ø      Join your GA-AATF chapter for the annual business meeting, breakfast, and special francophone program during the FLAG Conference, February 29-March 1 in Augusta. A special workshop presentation on how to organize a student immersion day/weekend is being collaboratively planned by Muriel Davison of Collins Hill HS, Suwanee and Catherine Francisse of Northview HS in Duluth. Tracy Rucker (Stratford Academy, Macon) will also present at FLAG on the history of Québec and its various regions, based on his study experiences as a Quebec scholarship winner this summer.

 

Ø      GA-AATF is working in conjunction with FLAG officers to have at least one French language/culture-related presentation offered during each conference session. Session proposals are due at www.flageorgia.org by September 30, 2007. GA-AATF is offering mini-grants of $100 to members who propose and present French language/culture-related sessions at FLAG to help defray travel and registration costs. For more information, contact Bill Griffin (griffinwc@mac.com).

 

Ø      Help add to Georgia participation numbers in le Grand Concours, National French Contest, by getting your K-12 students excited and enrolled. Exams are to be administered during the time period of March 1-23. More information is available at http://www.frenchteachers.org/concours/index.htm or from our state level contest administrator, Valerie White of Northview HS in Duluth, at whitev@fulton.k12.ga.us. We are seeking additional members to assist Valerie in this important effort. If you are available to assist, please contact me (khoyt3@kennesaw.edu) or Valerie.

 

Other programming ideas currently under development include:

 

Ø      The GA-AATF Teacher-of-the-Year award is being organized by Kathy Porto of McIntosh HS in Peachtree City. Look for upcoming announcements about how to nominate your esteemed colleagues at both the K-12 and postsecondary levels for this award.

 

Ø      The reinstitution of Le Bulletin GA-AATF is underway, guided by Stéphane Allagnon (Creek HS, Tyrone) as editor and with the assistance of Jen Bonn (Mt. Paran Christian School, Kennesaw).

 

Ø      The possibility of establishing a Teacher Immersion Day is being reviewed by Anne Shook of Rabun Gap Nacoochee School in Rabun Gap.