Welcome back to a normal year!

Maria Herman, OFLA membership chair 
German Teacher, Maumee High School

Greetings to you all!  I am Maria Herman, the incoming membership chair for OFLA.  I would first of all like to thank Teri Wiechart for all her help in training me in this new position.  I would also like to thank my fellow board members for making me feel welcome in my new role.  And, I would like to thank you, our members, for being a part of this fantastic organization, and for all you do in your classrooms!

I also want to thank everyone for such a fantastic July OFLA conference.  I know it may not have been the ideal time, but it was so nice to see so many of you in person and to collaborate and work together with people in our profession.  It made me ready to dive into what I’m hoping is a “normal” school year.

As I returned to school in August, I realized how hard it was to remember how even to have a normal year. It seems the pandemic has been dominating our lives for so long.  However, with my renewed sense of purpose and passion for teaching that I gained from the OFLA conference and with the help of all the members of our profession, I felt ready to kick this school year off with some energy!

So, let’s all work together as members of one big family of teachers to make this year an amazing one!  Remember, the benefits of being an OFLA member are huge, with opportunities for so much professional development to keep that spark of energy going all year long.  I hope to see you at this year’s conference in Columbus from March 9-11, 2023.