Ontario Modern Language Teachers' Association / Association ontarienne des professeurs de langues vivantes
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President’s Message

What a great honour it is to be chosen to be your new President. The Board of Directors that has been elected by you, the members, is an amazing and dynamic team, who represent passion for language teaching from across the province. It is a privilege to be leading and working with this wonderful team.

2012-2013 promises many new and great opportunities and experiences. From the eagerly anticipated release of the FSL & International Languages curricula to professional development opportunities for all language teachers, such as sessions on the CEFR, Projet à Québec and the partnership with Nippissing University in the creation and delivery of International Language AQs, this year will be exciting for all language teachers in Ontario, and the members of OMLTA.

This is the year of communication for the OMLTA. With the impending release of the new curricula, and the focus on spoken interaction and a shift in our practices, our task as an organization is to ensure that we are communicating with our members through a variety of methods. This will include the launch of our new professional collaboration forums offered to our members through our website; using social media such as Twitter to keep our members updated and connected, and continuing to develop and improve our newsletter, Communication, which will offer practical classroom ideas and other language teaching related information. I challenge our members to become involved by submitting articles and lesson ideas to Communication. Through this type of differentiated communication, our members will continue to benefit from being a part of the OMLTA.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank our Past President, Faten Hanna, for all the time and effort that she has given to this organization. Her work has been greatly appreciated.

Le congrès du printemps était un grand success! Wanda West et son comité, avec Heidi Locher a fait un travail fabuleux. Merci et félicitations! Aussi, je souhaite exprimer ma profonde reconnaissance à ceux et celles qui avaient presenté des ateliers informatifs et passionants.

Thank you again for electing me as your President. I remember in 1998, coming to my first OMLTA conference, as student monitor from the University of Western Ontario. I was amazed with the sharing, resources, and friendly environment of the OMLTA. Almost 15 years later, I am still in awe of the dedication and network of support that the OMLTA, its members and the Board of Directors- past and present, provide. Together we are better.

All the best for a successful end to the school year, and a safe and restful summer.

Karla Torrente-Lepage
President, OMLTA/AOPLV

The OMLTA has played a big role in my professional life. I was fortunate to attend the Spring Conference in my third year of teaching, and that experience opened my eyes to the “big picture” of languages in Ontario. It was so exhilirating to meet others who were experiencing the same challenges in the classroom. Networking and sharing with colleagues who had similar teaching assignments to my own made me realize that we can support one another so effectively when given the opportunity to meet and talk.

Eventually, I decided to make the leap and put my name forward as a director of the OMLTA. That led to 10 years of participation on the Board and the Executive. This experience has made me aware of the full extent of the influence of this association, and its importance to FSL and Classical and International Language teaching in Ontario.

Then, there is the fun part! Back in the day, when so many publishing houses freely shared wine and cheese parties with delegates, it was a time to socialize and party in as many languages as you wished! :^) It is still an opportunity to celebrate as I meet up with friends and colleagues at the Spring and Fall conferences.

Ultimately, it has been about community. The friends, the support I’ve received over the years, the many opportunities I’ve had to give back to my profession, the “idea sparks” that have been triggered during workshops- the OMLTA has given me so much.

May the association celebrate many more anniversaries, for hundreds of years to come! Languages teachers need the support!

– Linda Hendry - Waterloo Region District School Board