Cheryl Johnson, OFLA President-Elect
Instructional Technologist for the Modern Languages, Denison University 

I would first like to thank everyone who voted in our 2020 OFLA election. The board appreciates your participation in this process. We especially appreciate that you took the time to vote as our attention was being focused more and more on the pandemic.

Mark Himmelein was elected Executive Vice President. Mark Himmelein earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in German and finance from Baldwin-Wallace College, a Master of Arts in German from the University of Pittsburgh and Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education from the University of Akron. In 1995 he accepted a tenure-track position at Mount Union College (now University of Mount Union) where he continues to serve today as a Professor of German. Mark has been active in OFLA since his return to Ohio after earning his MA. Over the years, he has been a member of several OFLA committees and served as OFLA president from 2007-2008.  Mark has also been very active with the American Association of Teachers of German, having served as the President of the Assembly of Chapters, treasurer and currently as chair of the investment committee.  At Mount Union he has been a department chair, chair of the faculty personnel committee and has led several task forces. He authored several Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant grants that brought Russian, Arabic and Chinese instructors to Mount Union annually. In 2019 he was awarded the inaugural Distinguished Service Award by his fellow faculty members and this past October was named by the Mount Union Alumni Office as the 2019 McKinley Fellow for his outstanding service to and impact on Mount Union as a non-alumnus. A strong advocate for language study, Mark has undertaken numerous initiatives to improve the teaching of all languages at Mount Union and to ensure that languages remain a critical part of the undergraduate curriculum.

Alan Turner was elected Editor for Electronic Media. Alan has been an OFLA member since 1987 and has served on the Technology Integration Committee, as Treasurer and as President (2018-2019). He has taught French & Spanish at Saint Ignatius High School since 1987. He earned a BSLA in French and Linguistics from Georgetown University, master’s degrees in Educational Technology and Global Interactions from Cleveland State University and he is also a National Board Certified Teacher.  Alan participated in the AP French Reading for 19 years serving as a Reader, Table Leader and Question Leader and was a member of the SAT French Development Committee. He has participated in Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad in North Africa and South East Asia, studied Arabic at a National Endowment for the Humanities institute at Ohio State, and was Ohio’s 2014 World Languages Teacher of the Year.

Marianela Serrano was elected as the chair of Professional Development. Marianela Serrano is in her 4th year teaching as part of the World Language Team at Hathaway Brown School. She is currently teaching Spanish at the 7th and 8th-grade level, leading the Girls Global Academy for the Middle School, and is an acting 7th-grade advisor.

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and raised in Venezuela, Marianela was granted an international scholarship “Premio al Talento” to study abroad in the United States of America. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Economics at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and her MBA in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources from CWRU Weatherhead School of Management.

She later obtained her Certificate in Montessori Education from the Adrian Dominican Montessori Teacher Education Institute and was awarded her Permanent Non Tax Certificate from the Ohio Department of Education shortly after. She has been teaching in independent schools for 16 years and also has been involved in ESL adult education at the Spanish American Committee. She has been an active member of OFLA since August of 2017.

Our slate of committee chairs was approved. The elected chairs are:

Julia Thomas – Early Language Learning Chair	Maureen Gerber – Secondary Language Learning Chair	Kaleigh Baker – Technology Integration Chair	Megan Brady – Beginning Teachers Chair	Na Li – Scholarship Chair

The addition to our Bylaws was also approved. This addition explained the purpose of our organization.

Congratulations to our elected officers! I look forward to working with you!