The Cardinal

Reflections on my time as an OWLA Board member

Dawn N. Michael, OWLA Recruitment and Retention Chair
Reynoldsburg City Schools

In spite of personal circumstances that have hampered my ability to participate fully in the way that I would have liked, I have greatly valued my  time over the past year interacting with the leadership team of OWLA. I wanted to share some of my insights in the hopes of encouraging other members to engage with all that our organization has to offer.

CAMP OFLA IS REALLY, REALLY COOL

I am leading with this because I had absolutely no idea how amazing this language camp is before learning about it from the inside. Reading a flyer or email about it is not sufficient to convey the enthusiasm of the staff and campers. I wish that I would have sent my son when he was of an age to go, but since that opportunity has passed, I will actively promote this summer experience both in my home district and my employing district. I would love to see some videos recorded this summer that we could use to share with our districts when enrollment time comes for next year (hint hint Camp OFLA staff!).

Thank you so much for supporting our beginning and future teachers!

Nicole Hanlon, OWLA Scholarship Chair
French Teacher, Buckeye Valley High School

Our 3rd annual conference raffle was a huge success thanks to support from all of you who attended the conference! With your help, we were able to raise $750 for our Beginning and Pre-Service World Language Teacher Conference scholarships.

This year, we supported four beginning teachers and three pre-service students enrolled in World Language Education programs in Ohio and helped them defray the costs of attending our conference. This is such a valuable experience for them as it gets them involved in the teaching community early in their careers and provides them with support and new ideas. I know that many of us, like myself, have found life-long friends, valuable information, and a treasured sense of community through our own participation in OWLA. Here’s what a few of them had to say about their first OWLA conference experience:

Alondra Pacheco, AATSP 9-12 Representative

AATSP offers students a wonderful opportunity to showcase their artistic skills. Andrea Nazelli, our National Poster Contest Director, has been hard at work developing meaningful ways that students as young as pre-K can participate in AATSP programs. In Ohio, we have a state poster contest where teachers with a valid AATSP membership can submit entries to the contest. After all entries are  submitted for Ohio’s March deadline, a panel selects up to five entries to move up to the national poster contest. 

Ohio has a travel-study scholarship winner!

Darlene Lyon, Retired
Ohio AATG Testing Chair

This year’s National German Exam continued with its secure online testing format with 646 students in 10 schools around Ohio completing the exam.  At level 2, twenty-six students scored at or above the 90th percentile. At level 3, eighteen students and at level 4, there were ten students.  Outstanding achievements!    

Jesse Baum, Camp OFLA Program Director

Camp OFLA 2025 launches on June 8—and we’re asking for your help to make our 20th year of language learning the best one yet!

Camp OFLA is a residential world language camp for students in grades 3–8, offering them an unforgettable experience in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Japanese, or Korean. Each day, campers explore language through games, songs, crafts, cooking, and cultural activities. Rooted in comprehensible input, experiential learning, and ACTFL’s 5 C’s, Camp OFLA creates a joyful and effective environment for language acquisition at a critical age—long before formal high school coursework begins.