Congratulations to Parthena Draggett!

OFLA’s Nominee for Central States Teacher of the Year

Richard Emch, French Teacher, North Royalton High School, 2014-2015 OFLA President

The OFLA Board is pleased to announce that Parthena Draggett, Jackson High School French and Spanish 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. Parthena accepted my nomination and received OFLA Board approval in October. She holds a BA in both French and Spanish (Mount Union College) and an MA in Spanish and French Pedagogy and Applied Linguistics (Kent State University).

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 both French and Spanish at Jackson High School, Parthena is also the World Languages department chair. She is a member of OFLA, CSCTFL, AATSP, and ACTFL. Not only is she the advisor for Jackson High School’s local chapter of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, she is also the director for the state of Ohio. Her prolific publications include 2013-2014 AP Spanish Language and Culture Curriculum Module/College Board, which she authored, AP Community Online Annotated Resource Guide (2012) to which she contributed and edited, AP SPANISH LANGUAGE Quick Study Guide for Bar Charts, Inc, originally published in January 2011; revised February 2014, which she authored.  Parthena was the lead author for Temas, a new 2014 AP Spanish Language and Culture textbook focusing on the revised 2013-2014 Curriculum Framework – Vista Higher Learning and she was a materials creator, contributor, and reviewer for AP Spanish work text – Vista Higher Learning.  Parthena also co-authored Thèmes, a new 2015 AP French Language and Culture textbook – Vista Higher Learning.  She is currently a member of the Ohio Department of Education’s Regional Leaders Network and World Language Model Curriculum Development Committee.

Parthena’s inspiring presentations have been featured at the OFLA Annual Conferences, CSCTFL Conferences, ACTFL Conferences, and AATSP Conferences.

As the behalf of the Ohio Foreign Language Association, I am honored to nominate Parthena Draggett, an outstanding representative of the World language Teachers in Ohio, as our candidate for the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Teacher of the Year Award. Parthena is a talented and accomplished colleague whose accomplishments are outstanding, and whose dedication to teaching is unsurpassed. Join me in congratulating Parthena as an outstanding candidate to represent OFLA in the Teacher of the Year Project!