"Emma" Amrein Franks

Emmanuelle "Emma" Amrein Franks is the Executive Director of the Alliance Française de Pasadena. She is a native French speaker from Strasbourg, France. She has a BA in English and a Master’s degree in French as a foreign and as a second language in schools and businesses. She was a language teacher with over a decade of experience teaching English, French, and Spanish in France and in California. Students varied from beginner to Masters level, at companies, in colleges and in language schools. She is also a DELF-DALF/TCF examiner, a translator (English-French) and a writer. She has 2 blogs : one about tips to discover California and one about the French language and culture : http://califrenchlife.com/ She became a teacher trainer certified by TV5MONDE in 2017.

She is eager to share her language knowledge and experience.

Twitter : https://twitter.com/CaliFrenchlife

E-mail : emma.amrein@gmail.com

Georgia Geerlings, M.A.

Georgia Geerlings received her BA and MA from the University of Utah in 1987 and 1992 respectively. She works with the USBE as the Director for the French Dual Language Immersion Program K-12, functions as the liaison between the USBE and Park City School District and as the representative for projects related to the Bridge Program and L2TReC at the University of Utah. She supports and advises French DLI teachers as well as oversees the development of curriculum, implementation of programs, delivery of professional development for DLI programs in Utah, and increasing the visibility of Utah DLI programs in national and international venues. She works with and collaborates with the French Embassy in WA DC and the French Consulate in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Ms. Geerlings has over 20 years of experience teaching all levels of French including Advanced Placement in Utah and Texas. She taught Concurrent Enrollment for Salt Lake Community College and was an adjunct professor at Richland Community College and El Centro College in Dallas, Texas. She was Director of the first Intensive French Language Course at Camp Williams, Utah, where she developed the program curriculum for soldiers deployed to West Africa. She was the French Dual Language Immersion Coordinator for two years and prior to that, taught 3^rd Grade French Dual Immersion for three years. She is certifying as an ACTFL OPI tester in English.

Georgia was awarded as Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Embassy and French Consulate in San Francisco in recognition of the her contribution to the French language and Culture, May 15, 2019.

Anne Lair, Ph.D.

Olivier Ngo

Olivier Ngo is the Higher Education and French Language Attaché at the French Consulate in Los Angeles (@FranceinLA) where he works to promote French language and to develop academic partnerships between the United States and France.

The mission of the French Embassy’s Cultural Services (@SpeakFrenchinLA) is to strengthen the presence of the French language in American primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools and to support research projects in Humanities and Social Sciences departments.

Irene Stone

Irene Stone is a coordinator for the Utah French Dual Language Immersion team where she helps support and train French immersion teachers all over the state. She received her Bachelors and Masters in French Studies from Brigham Young University, and taught traditional and immersion French classes spanning from University to the elementary level for ten years. Irene's goal as an educator is to help students acquire useful language abilities while increasing their overall self-confidence and life skills.

Valerie Sun, Ed.D.

Valerie Sun (@MlleValsunshine) is a dual-immersion and edtech consultant at EmpowerED Consulting. As a progressive, techy educator of thirteen years in private and public schools across elementary and post-secondary education, she developed a tech-infused French dual-immersion curriculum in Glendale Unified School District. She is a certified TV5MONDE trainer, a certified DELF-DALF examiner/corrector, a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, a Google Certified Educator - Level 1, and an Apple Teacher.

Valerie's dissertation titled Dueling Complexities: Experiences of Dual-Lang Immersion Teachers, focused on dual-immersion teacher experiences. Her goal is to support immersion teachers in their craft as language and culture ambassadors.