Congratulations to Rebecca Wiehe!
OFLA’s Nominee for Central States Teacher of the Year
Roslyn Terek, President
The OFLA Board is pleased to announce that Rebecca Wiehe, Hudson High School WL teacher and National Board Certified Teacher, will represent OFLA as our nominee for the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Teacher of the Year. Rebecca accepted my nomination and received OFLA Board approval in August. She holds a B.A. in Spanish (Miami University), a B.S. in Spanish Education (Miami University), an M.A. in Spanish, (University of Cincinnati) and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Kent State University (Second Career Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Profession).
The Teacher of the Year Project was designed by the New Visions in Action Task Force on Teacher Recruitment and Retention. This annual award process is first conducted at the regional level, and continues at the national level with one teacher to be named by ACTFL as the National ACTFL Teacher of the Year. ACTFL has finalized the process of submission criteria, and CSCTFL has chosen to use the same portfolio in order to select their Teacher of the Year. All regional winners will be required to submit a portfolio of no more than 50 pages that shows evidence of quality instruction. CSCTFL has chosen to use the same portfolio in order to select the CSCTFL Teacher of the Year.
The following is a statement by the New Visions in Action Task Force on Teacher Recruitment and Retention which defines the goals of the Teacher of the Year Project: “The proposal to establish a national award for Foreign Language Teacher of the Year is intended to elevate the status of our professional at the state, regional, and national levels by creating opportunities for recognizing the most accomplished members of our profession. First and foremost, this proposal is designed to involve all of our state, regional and national organizations in promoting our profession. Second, it is intended to create as many media opportunities as possible to increase the visibility of the importance of learning languages and cultures to the general public.”
In addition to teaching Spanish at Hudson High School, Rebecca is a professor and Bilingual/ESL Coordinator for the American College of Education and an Adjunct Professor at both Ashland University and Miami University. She is a member of ACTFL, OFLA and AATSP. Last year she began a chapter of the Spanish Honor Society at Hudson High School. Her publications include Action Research, “Cyber-Portfolios: Motivating Our Students to Speak More,” published in Action Research for Teachers: Traveling the Yellow Brick Road, 2nd edition by Mary Louise Holly, Joanne Arhar, Wendy C. Kasten, 2008. And Milo con un nimbo (Milo with a Halo). Translation. Written by Lisa Umina. Halo Publishing Company, Independence, Ohio, 2004. She is currently a member of the World Language State Standards Revision Committee and has piloted LinguaFolio and Curriculum Units for the Ohio Foreign Language Model Writing Team.
Rebecca’s inspiring presentations have been featured at the OFLA Annual Conferences, CSCTFL Conferences, Northeast Ohio Language Association Conference and at individual conferences held at several Ohio universities. For several of her OFLA Conference presentations, she has received the Best of Ohio Award and the All-Star Award. In 2007, Rebecca and colleague, Martha Pero, received the eTech Ohio grant of $20,000 to provide innovative technology in the classroom. At Hudson High School, Rebecca is a member of the Master Teacher Committee and the Curriculum Council. She is a mentor teacher for the Hudson Schools and has mentored candidates for the National Board Certification program. Rebecca’s accomplishments are outstanding, and her dedication to teaching seems unsurpassed. Join me in congratulating Rebecca as an outstanding candidate to represent OFLA in the Teacher of the Year Project!
The Cardinal 