Every year, at the annual Conference FLAME awards certain individuals for their contribution to the teaching and learning of foreign languages in Maine.  Here are the 2006 awards recipients, as presented by FLAME president, Janice Clain, on March 10, 2006.

Student of the Year

The FLAME student of the year for 2005-2006 is Allyson Ettinger, a student at Camden Hills. She is taking AP Spanish, as well as an independent study French / Spanish Teaching class. She scored a “790” on the SAT II Spanish test. Her two Spanish teachers state that she is the most outstanding student they have ever taught, and they’ve been teaching a long time. She is the only student to have earned a 100 average in Spanish 4 and she completed the AP Spanish Literature list in one semester. She has studied and continues to learn French in an independent study class in which she and a friend teach each other French and Spanish, and which they have titled “Espançais”. She has studied Japanese at the Penobscot School in Rockland, and has helped eighth graders with translations in that language. As an example of her community service, she organized an International Night as a fundraiser for tsunami victims, inviting exchange students, teachers and “world travelers. She helped to raise about $1500 with and auction of international items at the event. She also wrote and played one of the principal roles in her school’s one act play.

Teacher of the Year

The FLAME Teacher of the year for 2005-2006 is Suzanne Janelle, who teaches at Cape Elizabeth Middle School.  She has been teaching since 1972, since 1989 in her present position. She has presented at FLES and FLAME conferences and has worked with the state’s Assessment Design Committee, as well as led an Assessment Initiative workshop at the Center for Applied Linguistics. She is LAS coordinator for the World Languages Team at her school.  Her colleagues and former students testified to her innovative methods, including the use of puppets to facilitate linguistic and cultural lessons, her varied thematic units and interdisciplinary activities, such as music and computer projects.

Leader of the Year

The FLAME Leader of the Year for the 2005-2006 is Catherine Hobby, who teaches at the Lunt School in Falmouth. She has been an invaluable asset, not only to the teaching staff and the students in her own school, but to all the members of AATF and FLAME.  On the local level, she has created curriculum and assessments for the elementary French programs in her system, and she has worked on curriculum review and alignment to the Maine Learning Results. At the state level, she has served as president and secretary of FLAME, compiles and distributes the FLAME newsletter, was instrumental in producing the advocacy video, The Many Faces of Maine, that all attendees at last year’s conference relieved. She has made workshop presentations at the annual FLAME and FLES conferences. When AATF desperately needed leadership, our award recipient stepped in and helped to form a team to keep the organization going.  At the national level, she has been a delegate to ACTFL and to NECTFL, and she has earned national certification and has served as a mentor to others who also aspired to the same level of professionalism. With all those time-consuming activities, she still manages to oversee the FLAME Listserv and keep all of us informed about anything and everything that we might need or want to maintain our own professional standing.

Sister Solange Bernier Award

Claudette O’Connell, who teaches at Brewer High School, is the well-deserving recipient of the Sister Solange Bernier Lifetime Achievement Award for 2005-2006.  She has devoted more than 25 years to instructing and inspiring her students, mentoring and leading her colleagues, and serving her school, her district and the educators of the state,. A proud Franco-American, she has taught French language, including courses in AP Language and AP Literature. Her students have consistently placed in the top 10 in the state on the Grand Concours, and 5 of her students have placed in the top 10 in the country.  In addition to her teaching duties, she has organized and led foreign trips, and has inspired her students and colleagues to be world trawlers, as she herself is. In her school, she has served as department chair, chair of the NEASC accreditation steering committee, as president of the local teachers’ association, has also been a delegate to state and national educators’ conventions, and presently serves on the Board of Directors of the Maine Education Association. She was instrumental in establishing and maintaining the Penobscot Foreign Language collaborative, and served for a number of years as treasurer of FLAME. A colleague stated that our reward recipient “seizes every opportunity to help students expand their knowledge of language and culture, is a mentor to her colleagues, and is the embodiment of the word teacher.” She received the Distinguished Teacher in her own school in 2004.