Meet our Award Winners!

ANN SULLIVAN

FLAME Leader of the Year

The FLAME choice for leader of the year goes to an extremely deserving candidate:  Ann Sullivan of Messalonskee High School. She exemplifies leadership in her quiet and reserved way and has influenced us all by just being the person she is.  She is a solid anchor for our profession and a mentor to many and a model for all of us.

Ann continues to grow professionally.  She takes courses, leads trips and revamps her class work to accommodate all learners.  She touches many and their praise for her is strong.

Ann works tirelessly for FLAME and AATF to further world language study in Maine. She has been involved in FLAME for many years and has served as Vice-President, President, and Newsletter Editor.  She participates on task forces and is at the forefront of all that is happening in our profession. When some of us think we have had enough, she steps up to the plate and pushes forward. She is a walking history of FLAME and remembers all that has transpired. Never afraid to try and master new skills, she is also the future of FLAME as she is our web master! In short, she is a gift to FLAME!

JEREMY WILLETTE

Teacher of the Year

The FLAME teacher of the year for 2004-2005, Jeremy Willette of the Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham, is a natural.  His enthusiasm and joie de vivre reaches even the most apathetic of students! 

Jeremy has a gift for languages and is a true polyglot: he speaks French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and is tackling the impossible: Hungarian!  In his sixth grade classes students sample a smorgasbord of Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Greek and Portuguese.  The atmosphere in his classroom is described as lavish yet cooperative and positive, a supportive atmosphere that truly encourages students to explore languages, appreciate other cultures, and excel in learning.

Jeremy continues to work with his students on his online dictionary project www.trilingualdictionary.org   for which he received a $10,000 award from National Semiconductor for innovative technology and teaching. (Please refer to the December 2004 newsletter for more information on this project.  You can also peruse the article online at www.umaine.edu/flame). He travels with students, is yearbook editor and serves on the Civil Rights Team at his middle school. He also serves on the State Advisory Committee for Maine and Classical Languages. He is a National Board Certified teacher in Spanish.

            Jeremy has a lust for learning as well. This summer he will be spending a few weeks in a village in Senegal to learn language and experience culture. He is taking a two-year leave to accept a position teaching Spanish in an International School in Budapest. He never tires and is already remarking that he will continue with FLAME and State Advisory Committees upon his return.

RICHARD WILLIAMSON

Sister Solange Bernier

Lifetime Achievement Award

Richard Williamson, Professor of French at Bates College, is described as “a true treasure to foreign language teachers throughout Maine”.  He was one of the original founding members of  FLAME, has long supported AATF, and has been a continuous supporter of language teachers in the state.

Richard has been in service to our profession for many years. During his long tenure at Bates College, he has gone from Associate Professor of French to Full Professor of French, Charles A Dana Professor of French, Department Chair, and Director of various abroad programs. In addition, he has directed countless FLAME Summer Institutes at Bates. 

Richard received the FLAME Leadership Award in 1989.  AATF has named him Outstanding Teacher of French. He is a past-president of the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and a recipient of Les Palmes Académiques from the French government. He has been professionally involved at the state, regional, national and international level.  He has also published extensively in books, papers and reviews.

Richard will be retiring from Bates at the end of this academic year but “will still be around!”

CHARLIE R. WOOD

FLAME Student of the Year   

Charlie Wood, a Junior at Messalonskee High School, is an amazing language learner.  His recommendations praise his self-motivation and perseverance.  How many students would, in addition to their regular studies, on their own find a qualified teacher and begin learning Japanese?  Charlie would, and did.   He has a passion for learning languages, and pays equal attention to ancient and modern, western and eastern tongues. “By studying another culture one may become knowledgeable about it, but only by learning the language can one truly understand it, “ says Charlie.

            “I am sure that mastery of several modern languages will play a central role in his future activities and that he will serve as a strong voice in support of language acquisition as a means to global peace and prosperity,” says Alison Harvey, his nominating teacher.

As a student of the classics, taking Latin 1, 2, 3 and 4, Greek 1 and 2, his teachers rank him among the top 1% of all their students, past and present.  He ranks second overall in his class of 215 students and has a 97 plus average.

In addition to his recognition and gift today, our student will receive $200 at a future Awards ceremony at his school.

  by Catherine Hobby with Laurie Littlefield