Alondra Pacheco
Spanish Teacher, University School, Hunting Valley

Let’s get together Ohio! We would like to invite our AATSP (American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese) members and OFLA members to follow our “AATSP Ohio Buckeye Chapter” Facebook page. To connect with our members, we have been posting several events of interest to Spanish teachers in Ohio. Check it out if you are looking for enrichment activities and cultural events in your area. Please send us a message if your town is hosting a Hispanic cultural event and we will be happy to post it.  Also make sure you keep an eye out for our upcoming get togethers and join us for coffee to talk about what AATSP can do for you.

This fall AATSP launched the “Sheri Spain Long Professional Development Webinar Series” aimed at providing free professional development to its members. Our distinguished speakers have been carefully curated to offer a wide range of topics. This past month some of our presentations were: “ACTFL’s Guiding Principles for Language Learning: What do they look like for K-5”, “A Great Year for AP Spanish Language and Culture: Guiding priorities, practices, and procedures” hosted by AATSP president Parthena Draggett, “Construyendo Puentes: Spanish language resources for teaching about the Holocaust” hosted by the US Holocaust Museum, “Pathways to Student Success through AATSP Programs/ Caminos al éxito estudiantil por los programas de la AATSP” , “Languages for Life: Recruiting and fostering excellence in world language education”, and “Zoomba/ Zumba self-care and NTSW”. The webinar series will offer a new webinar nearly every week and registration information can be found here: https://www.aatsp.org/page/ProfessionalDevelopmentWebinar. We hope to have a great turnout at each webinar.

September 24^th-30^th AATSP celebrated National Teach Spanish Week. #NTSW23 aims to recognize the positive impact of Spanish language education in our nation. This year’s theme for NTSW, Unlocking the Power of Spanish for our Students: Connections and Opportunities in the Classroom and Beyond, previews and invites us to prepare for the 2024 Conference theme. We encourage everyone to continue to participate in AATSP events and attend the 106^th AATSP conference in Portland, Oregon.

To support our teachers’ professional development, AATSP is pleased to announce the “Distinguished Teacher Certificate” to recognize the commitment of AATSP teachers.  AATSP members can receive the Distinguished Teacher Certificate by participating in selected activities. School principals and superintendents will be notified of this distinction as requested by certificate recipients.

The 2023 AATSP Board of Directors Election is underway and all AATSP members are invited to vote. Voting closes October 30^th, 2023. You may find information about each candidate and position here: https://www.aatsp.org/page/2023BODElections