MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT, SONIA STEVENSON

            On behalf of FLAME, let me welcome you back to another school year.  As language teachers, we find ourselves being a major link (at times, perhaps the only link) between our students and other cultures that they rarely get to explore, visit, or learn about.  We carry the great responsibility (duty) to teach our students to understand other cultures and to perhaps look at things from different perspectives. In the classroom, we not only follow what is in the curriculum, but we become historians, English teachers, and at times counselors. We are living in a time where communication (political events, catastrophes, actually, any human interest story) spreads quickly, thus creating a need to communicate; and what better place to learn the basics of these interpersonal relations than in a foreign language classroom.

            As teachers, we try to teach languages as a way of communication, a way of intercultural understanding, as a pathway to the workforce, but also to the higher calling of understanding the people that compose the world around us. The need and demand to know another language has become so great in every field of employment.  We have the daunting task of preparing the students for the 21st century, and that encompasses knowing and understanding the people with whom we share our planet.

            One amazing thing about traveling is that no matter where one goes, one can find people of all ages that are willing, and are attempting to speak in English (or any other language in which they might know a few words).  The knowing of more than one language in other countries is a matter of necessity, a priority, whether it is for economic reasons or perhaps because of the facility of learning a language (depending geographic influences). Europe is a great example of that.  We can also visit many schools in the USA, and we will encounter students and teachers from other countries (sponsored by their governments) trying to understand the American people, the culture, and the language to a greater depth.  I wonder if this effort is shared with their counter parts, the Americans.  I know many teachers in this country spend their vacations (and money, traveling at a great personal expense) in order to be better informed. The goal is to become better acquainted with the people and cultures that they are sharing within their classrooms. Language teachers make a great effort, and perhaps are the one link, at least the best link, to pointing out the need to know more than one language.  The earlier we start, in the education of our young charges, the better the chances of their becoming aware of the larger world around them, and that cross-cultural connections are paramount in our new global society. 

MESSAGE TO NEW TEACHERS BY OUR FLAME PRESIDENT

(Please share with any new-to-the-profesion teacher in your building!)

Peter Nutting, of Skowegan High School and long-time Director of the annual "Deutsche Woche in Bar Harbor" was honored by the German Ambassador in Washington, D.C. for his great dedication and work on behalf of the German language and culture and received the German-American Friendship Award in August of 2007. Dr. Wolfgang Vorwerk, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Boston handed Peter the award. Congratulations to our former President of FLAME and present FLAME Board member Peter for this well-deserved recognition!

Catherine Hobby of Lunt School in Falmouth was awarded the AATF Outstanding Officer Award at the National AATF Convention in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in July.  She was AATF President from 2004-2006 during which she tried to keep AATF members connected and abreast of anything of import and of interest to French teachers, from encouraging them to join the Advocacy Initiative to letting them know of a good Franco American concert. She also oversaw the planning of the fall AATF Conferences.

Catherine is dedicated to the teaching of French: she was the first teacher in Maine to be National Board Certified in French and presently the only one to be certified in World Languages Other than English at the Early and Middle Childhood level.  She is employed by Falmouth schools, for which she designed and implemented the early elementary French program and is presently working on the world language program for grades 1-12. In addition she provided support to the only French School in Maine “L'Ecole Française du Maine” by creating their logo and speaking at their grand opening.

Upon receiving the award, Catherine noted that any success that AATF enjoyed during her presidency would not have been possible without the invaluable aid of her fellow officers Sylvie Charron (Treasurer) of University of Maine in Farmington, Ray Pelletier (Vice-President) of University of Maine in Orono, Priscille Michaud (Secretary) of Cony High School in Augusta, and Gail Carville (Grand Concours).

“My tenure as President was truly a team effort”, she says.

The Maine Chapter of the AATF held its fall meeting on October 13th at Bates College.  President Harrington of University of Fort Kent welcomed the many present who explored this year’s theme: "Comment Enseigner l'Heritage Franco-Americain?

        Professor Jane Smith (University of Maine Orono) spoke on the Study of the French spoken in the Northeast region of the United States. She and a New York colleague, along with their students, interviewed well over 250 people of French descent living in New England in order to study their distinct regional expression. Professor Smith played some recordings and provided scripts as well so that all could compare the various pronunciations. Discussion ensued on the existence of the many accents throughout the Francophone world, while some described the feelings of insecurity many Franco-Americans feel in regards to their regional French.

        Next, Susan Pinette of the University of Maine in Orono described her course “Franco-American Studies” and remarked on its importance as part of a college curriculum in Maine where so many are of Franco-American descent.  This new generation of students does not have a clear idea of who they are in regards to their own identity, thus, Susan Pinette's course teaches just that.  After studying many aspects of the Franco-American experience from Cultural Identity , its history to  Franco American Literature. Finally students have to write a research paper explaining their own cultural identity based on the findings that they have made in the course. 

          Julia Shulz was this year's Maine representative at the National meeting of the AATF which was held in Baton Rouge.  Ms Shulz is working on a project in Maine regarding the  preservation of one's native tongue. To that end she has interviewed groups of people in the Waterville area who grew up speaking French but have since lost their language.  Through a variety of language experiences, including movies, these people often rediscover their French. In Baton Rouge Ms Shulz met other people who are working on  similar projects. For more information visit “Louisiana a la carte” www.louisianealacarte.org/) . Shulz also mentioned a program of 13 documentaries called "Gumb-OH! LA! LA! whose goal is to celebrate “La francophonie louisiane” in the 21st century. 

          Professor Sylvie Charron spoke on the recent publication of “Canuck and Other Stories”, edited by Rhea Cote of the Franco-American Institute. Professor Charron explained that these stories, most of which take place in Lewiston, were all originally written in French by Franco-American women. Charron and Rhea Cote translated the texts into English in order to allow people who do not understand French to gain a real insight into Franco-American culture.

         After a delicious lunch attendees were treated to some wonderful theatrical skits.  Dramaturge Gregoire Chabot and his “Troupe Du monde d'à  Côté”  presented <<Les sacrés monologues>> et autres folies.  The skits varied in location and time period and were an evocative panoply of the Franco Amercian experience.

         President Harrington Katherine recognized Catherine Hobby at the meeting.  She was awarded by the National Chapter of the AATF as the winner of the 2007 Outstanding Chapter Officer.  This is a real honor and a much deserved award for someone who has worked so hard for the Maine Chapter of the AATF.

          President Harrington also announced the passing of Prof. Richard Williamson who died this past summer.  He taught French at Bates College for 30 years.  He was greatly respected by his fellow colleagues and his students. He strongly supported the Maine Chapter of the AATF all these years and he will be greatly missed.

         It was wonderful to see our Regional Director Jean-Pierre Berwald at our meeting and he announced that the next National AATF Conference will be held in Liege, Belgium.  He encouraged people to apply for scholarships to attend this conference as well as summer scholarships for study either in France or Canada. 

          The meeting was a completion and people headed home with a better understanding of what one does call Heritage Franco-Americain.             

                                                                            by Priscille Michaud, AATF Secretary

Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver

 Mon jardin ce n'est pas un jardin, c'est la plaine

 Mon chemin ce n'est pas un chemin, c'est la neige

 Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver

 Dans la blanche cérémonie

 Où la neige au vent se marie

 Dans ce pays de poudrerie

 Mon père a fait bâtir maison

 Et je m'en vais être fidèle

 A sa manière, à son modèle

 La chambre d'amis sera telle

 Qu'on viendra des autres saisons

 Pour se bâtir à côté d'elle

 Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver

 Mon refrain ce n'est pas un refrain, c'est rafale

 Ma maison ce n'est pas ma maison, c'est froidure

 Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver

 De mon grand pays solitaire

 Je crie avant que de me taire

 A tous les hommes de la terre

 Ma maison c'est votre maison

 Entre mes quatre murs de glace

 Je mets mon temps et mon espace

 A préparer le feu, la place

 Pour les humains de l'horizon

 Et les humains sont de ma race

 Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver

 Mon jardin ce n'est pas un jardin, c'est la plaine

 Mon chemin ce n'est pas un chemin, c'est la neige

 Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver

 Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'envers

 D'un pays qui n'était ni pays ni patrie

 Ma chanson ce n'est pas une chanson, c'est ma vie

 C'est pour toi que je veux posséder mes hivers

AATSP NEWS

Para ti río y lloro…   

Contigo río y lloro… 

Sin ti río y lloro… 

A causa de ti río y lloro…  -por un participante en la conferencia AATSP,  el 19 de octubre de 2007

          A “¡Bienvenido!” and “Bemvindo!” was given by acting president Kathy Yates to the forty-one attendees at the annual Fall Conference of the García Lorca Chapter of the AATSP held at the Senator Inn in Augusta.  It was an usually warm fall day, but even warmer inside was the cordial collegiality shared by all.  Kathy (Mount Ararat High School) introduced the other boardmembers: treasurer Skip Cosby (Poland Regional H.S.) and secretary Betsy Hudson (John Bapst Memorial High School).

            The latest regarding the National Spanish Exam was shared by Ginny Stelk (STELK2@aol.com).  Please contact her with inquiries, as the registration process has changed. 

            Mary Hubka from Lake Region High School then swept us away on a viaje introspectivo para los estudiantes….an incredible tour – rich in both ideas and resources, as to how poetry can be used in high school Spanish courses.  Before it concluded, we had not only mingled with ideas of Bécquer, García Lorca and others, but had easily written our own poems and had become poetas ourselves.  A display of student projects was breathtakingly original, and made us all wonder what would happen when (not “if”) we tried it.  Of course there were prizes and chocolates…we were sad to see the session close…¡ay!

            After a break and delicious café latino we were once again taken on a magical journey, this time to the other side of our mind, as we were lead through the latest in technology by Dan Bennett from Falmouth High School.  Dan too had handouts, these showed us about iTunes (already programmed on the state-funded MacLaptops many had brought along).  As it turns out, most of this can also be downloaded on one’s computer.  Dan kindly let the audience add information, and we were wowed by a “weather forecast” offered by one of the audience, a program he and his wife used in the classroom – carried on his iPod – a performance guaranteed to delight students.  Information about iPods and MP3’s was whizzing around the room at warp speed.  Some schools had iPods, a “sync” can program 15 iPods at one time…a transmitter can send from an iPod to a radio channel, so you can broadcast through your radio…way after way to bring authentic materials to the classroom was bombarding the audience. 

            Once again the Senator Inn outdid itself on a luncheon, and just as a siesta started to sound like a good idea, we broke up into groups and exchanged ideas.  Some groups learned about Moodle, others about “garage band” ; the ideas were a gluttonous feast for the mind.

            As the time warped by, we sadly exchanged our abrazos (abraços) until next year.  Kudos to the AATSP board and participants alike.

                                                -Betsy Hudson, Secretary, García Lorca Chapter of AATSP

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A new High School is born!

         After growing and consolidating for 23 years, the Nursery through Grade 8 Merriconeag Waldorf school of Freeport has opened the High School branch. The main campus is situated on Desert Road in Freeport but the new High School campus is at Pineland, in New Gloucester, on glorious, beautifully maintained grounds.

         As a Waldorf school, the curriculum is based on the ideas of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925).  Fundamental to Waldorf education is the recognition that each human being is a unique individual who passes through distinct life stages and that it is the responsibility of education to address the emotional, physical, social and spiritual needs of each developmental stage                                           

The High School is presently offering 9th and 10th grades to 15 brave pioneer students and plans to add upper grades in the following years. The students are thrilled with their new school  and the challenging program it offers.

         The Foreign language department is strongly represented with two language classes taught by native speakers: Regine Whittlesey, from France, teaches French and Eva MacVicar, from the Czech Republic teaches German. Both teachers are very keen on planning and organizing students exchange programs with European schools.

         Regine and Eva are starting a language library; if you have any books suitable for teens in either German of French that you would like to donate, please contact either teacher at the school. Many thanks.

         We will keep you posted of the progress of this new High School. In the meantime if you would like to learn more, contact Regine Whittlesy at reginew@2003@yahoo.com.

                                                                                                by Regine Whittlesy

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“Voluntourism": (volunteer/tourism)

by  FLAME President Sonia Stevenson

I recently went to a presentation at Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow, Maine. The focus centered around American adults–and students–who volunteer their services to benefit people in Central America. Johnny’s and other businesses donate hundreds of pounds of seeds to benefit and improve the standard of living of Central American families. For more information you may contact Nancy Kennedy, who  included the following, to better help you to understand the mission:

“We have programs in Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua and Panama and our service trips  are typically  10  days in length. Volunteer participants work with our local staff on a variety of projects with an agricultural focus. Projects have included building gardens, composting latrines, chicken  coops, reforestation, constructing wood-conserving stoves and irrigation systems. Participants work side-by-side with local staff and families and have the opportunity to take part in home stays. We also make time for a sightseeing excursion that may include visiting Mayan ruins, hiking in the rainforest or visiting a beach. You can read more about our Smaller World Service Trips on our website here: http://www.sustainableharvest.org/tours.cfmA couple of articles were recently published about Mainers taking part in our programs. Here is a link to an Associated Press article on "volunteerism": http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17839624/  And there was recently an article published in the Lincoln County News about two Maine high school students that worked with our Honduras program this summer: http://www.mainelincolncountynews.com/index.cfm?ID=26623  ”

Our calling is to promote the use of “World Languages,” as well as to advance intercultural understanding. There are, of course, many businesses (like Johnny's Selected Seeds) who already participate in their own version of our mission. Making our students aware of the needs of others, and putting them on the track to “make a difference,” in their own way, is certainly one of our most honorable goals.