Presenters

mathieu Ausseil

Mathieu Ausseil est attaché de coopération éducative à l’Ambassade de France à Washington DC. Il administre à ce titre le French Dual Language Fund et, en partenariat avec les attachés en charge de la coopération éducative dans les consulats, définit le plan de soutien de l’Ambassade à l’enseignement bilingue francophone aux Etats-Unis. Il intervient également dans le suivi des programmes d’assistants de langue et dans la promotion de l’enseignement du français dans le K12 et dans le supérieur.

Monique Clifford, M.Ed.

Monique Clifford was born and raised in San Diego where she began her French study in high school. She discovered French Immersion Education in Manitoba, Canada, found her calling to raise her two sons bilingually, and enrolled them in The Language Academy, a public French Immersion program in San Diego founded in 1995.

After many years of being involved as a parent, Monique earned her Multiple Subjects credential and Bilingual Authorization in French. She has been teaching Kindergarten at Language Academy since 2011 and is gratefully Project GLAD trained. Monique's continued efforts working with amazing colleagues and the French Consulate of Los Angeles are to increase prospects for continuing French proficiency through university for our students leaving K-8 programs each year, while advocating a new pathway for high school and higher education French World Language programs to meet the growing demand for Future Immersion Teachers and multilingual professionals, so that all our kids can reach their dreams and go “#Plusloin avec la langue française!”

Monique is the proud kindergarten teacher of Natalie Stein and Eloise Cosky, the first student presenters at French Immersion PD.

Megan Diercks, MA

Megan Diercks is the French instructor at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO, having previously taught French in several high schools in north Texas. She is also the Assistant Director of the National French Contest, the editor of the AATF National Bulletin, the co-organizer of the AATF's National Francophone Cultural Trivia Contest, and will become the representative for AATF Region IX (northwest) in January. Megan has an MA in French from the University of North Texas and was named a Chevalier in the Order of French Academic Palms.

Nelson lepicouchÉ

Nelson Lepicouché is the Educational Affairs Program Officer at the French Embassy.

Catherine Ousselin, MA

Catherine Ousselin is a graduate of the University of Kansas with an M.A. in French Language and Literature. She is a member of ACTFL, IALLT, NADSFL, WAFLT, ASCD, NADSFL, and the AATF of which she is the current Region IX representative. Catherine is the AATF Social Media Manager and Curator, the Chair of the Technology Commission, an avid blogger on World Language curriculum development and technology integration as well as a frequent participant on #langchat and other Twitter Ed-chats. She teaches French at Mount Vernon High in Washington State where she serves as a Digital Literacy Coach for the school district. Catherine was the 2017 PNCFL Teacher of the Year and a finalist for the 2018 ACTFL Teacher of the Year.

Benoît Labat

Benoît Labat is Attaché for Higher Education and French language at the French Consulate in Los Angeles (@FranceinLA). He previously worked for several years in Paris in the central administration : first at the Ministry of Education, where he participated in the management of the network of private schools and then at the Ministry of Higher Education and Research. He was there first interested in European policies before working on bilateral internationalization strategies and programs, as deputy head of the cooperation programs department. Prior to joining Los Angeles in 2021, Benoît Labat served as a university attaché at the French Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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.

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 - Levels 1 & 2 and Trainer, 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.