Milton Alan Turner, President Elect
French and Spanish Teacher, Saint Ignatius High School

2018 OFLA Elections
After working with the OFLA Nominations Committee, we will soon present the members that will be running for OFLA Board positions during the upcoming election! During this election cycle, as with each year’s election, a new member of the presidential track is elected to a four-year term to serve as Executive Vice-President, President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past President. This four-year term gives the person time to learn the function of the board and time to develop projects and ideas for the membership. In addition to the election of a new Executive Vice-President, the Executive Treasurer, the Public Relations and Advocacy Chair and the Parliamentarian and By-Laws Chair are also being elected on a three-year rotation. These positions will begin the 2018-2019 school year. The OFLA Board also voted to accept a slate of Committee Chairs for a one-year term, 2018-2019. These candidates are elected as a slate.
The biographies and vision statements of the executive position candidates will be available in late January and voting is planned to begin at the end of February. Please watch your email for details.

2019 Ohio World Language Teacher of the Year Nominations
Do you know an outstanding teacher who is deserving to represent Ohio as the 2019 Teacher of the Year (TOY)? The Teacher of the Year Award is designed to recognize very accomplished language teachers that follow best practices, both state and national standards, as well as proficiency guidelines. The award recognizes teachers employing best practices and excellence in language teaching and learning. Nominate a well deserving colleague or self-nominate yourself for this award.
Candidates must be full-time world language Pre-K-12 teachers or Postsecondary instructors or professors who spend at least 50% of their time in direct teaching during the year of application with an expectation of teaching for at least two additional years. To be considered for the TOY award, one must be a currently active OFLA member and a member for at least 3 years, of which 2 must have been in the previous 2 years. We accept both self- and other nominations. A nominee can be a member of the OFLA board except the president. Additional information on the application process is available on the OFLA web site at https://ofla-online.org/ofla-teacher-of-the-year-award-criteria/ .
The Ohio Foreign Language Association’s (OFLA) Teacher of the Year Committee will be accepting nominations beginning March 1, 2018. Please note that the nomination process differs from last year with requirements broken up into two sections with separate due dates. The tasks in the first section are due by March 31, 2018 and the candidate’s interview at the 2018 OFLA conference should be scheduled by March 23, 2018. The tasks in Section 2 are due by April 30, 2018. If you have any questions, please contact me at pres2019@ofla-online.org.

Central States 2019
As we look forward to seeing you in Cleveland for this year’s OFLA Conference, remember that the 2019 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages is returning to Ohio. Mark your calendars for March 14-16, 2019 and plan on joining us at the Hilton Downtown Columbus. The theme for next year’s conference is “Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges, Promoting Proficiency.” Please consider submitting a session proposal. Information on proposals will be announced this spring and the submission deadline will be in April.