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.
Vanessa Bertho, M.ed.
Vanessa Bertho has lead the “Petits Penseurs” workshop at the French Alliance of New Orleans for 3 years now. She is also a French immersion teacher in 1st Grade at the International School of Louisiana, in New Orleans. She has been teaching there for 4 years. Before coming to New Orleans, she taught for 6 years in Paris to students from 3 to 10 years old. She has been working at the French Alliance of New Orleans for 3 years now as a teacher and a storyteller.
She has 2 masters in Education and History, is a certified DELF-DALF examiner/corrector, and has a certification from Ecole du Louvre. She has followed the Mindfulness training and the Kidsmart program that integrate Art and Meditation at school.
Emma Buttin
Emma Buttin is an Officer for New Media at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the US. A graduate from Institute of Political Science of Grenoble and ESCP Europe Paris in management of cultural activities, she worked for cultural organizations in France and abroad, before joining ARTER production agency (arter.net) as a project leader. She worked then as the head of the residency program at La Gaîté Lyrique, a digital art center in Paris, (gaite-lyrique.net). She joined the French Embassy in 2019 to promote French and American cooperation through the programs French Immersion on XR experiences, the Créative Lab North America for cultural entrepreneurs and Games for Good to build a more inclusive gaming industry. She is a mentor at New Inc (New Museum) and a founding advisor of Oasis Consortium.
Moussa camara
Moussa Camara is a middle and high school French teacher at the Boerum Hill School for International Studies. He is in his fourth year of full time teaching and working with the school. He teaches all levels of French language classes using the International Baccalaureate framework.
Moussa has been leading the language acquisition department at the Boerum Hill School for International Studies the last 2 years.
Nathalie charles
Nathalie Charles is the program manager @FilmsontheGreen Festival and #CineSchool. She is the content coordinator for #WhatsNext and an advisory committee member of @CALEC_ORG.
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.
Eloise Cosky
Eloise Cosky and Natalie Stein have been friends at Language Academy in the French program since they met in Kindergarten. Neither come from French-speaking homes, yet have a lovely facility as bilinguals. They realized how the younger kids are struggling in online learning. Their goal is to teach kids French and create a safe environment. They are taking what they know as students and using it to help them make a group where everyone feels welcome. Eloise and Natalie both have younger siblings who are learning French. Seeing how they were struggling helped them create the idea of a group called Monde d’Amis.
La'Tisha Cotton
La'Tisha Cotton has worked as a SpEducator for the past 16 years in the New York City Department of Education. She has extensive experience in leadership beginning with Teacher Leader, subsequently executing the role of Special Needs Coordinator, she then supported her community as Academic Dean, and now she leads her colleagues as Assistant Principal at Fort Greene Preparatory Academy in Brooklyn, NY. Her perspective spans across three school districts: district 2 in Manhattan and districts 13 and 16 in Brooklyn. Additionally, Ms. Cotton is the school's Equity Team Leader and in close collaboration with Mr. Ramsey, the school's French Dual Language Coordinator. Unapologetically in favor of all students' learning and needs, she believes that any addition to a school community is a plus, not a minus, and that any plus can and must be felt positively by all cultures in a school community. Ms. Cotton brings a fresh perspective to the discussion that breaks away from the typical hurdle that is characterized by "Yes, but..." statements and moves towards, "Yes, and..." affirmations. Her mission is to empower every student to love themselves in order to be successful because the adults in charge inculcated within them the belief that they deserve success.
Patrice Courtaban
Patrice Courtaban is the COO of TV5MONDE USA.
Yoshito Darmon-Shimamori
Yoshito Darmon-Shimamori has been teaching French and Spanish for the past ten years in a secondary school in the UK. Trained with the Cumbria method, he teaches foreign languages in a fun way and based on the here and now. His lessons consist predominantly of games, songs, mimes and team competitions to develop in each learner, the inner desire to speak read and write in the target language. He is the author of "The Parents' Guide to Raising Multi-literate Children" (publication: April 2021) that provides to parents (and teachers) the keys to make learning to read and write a consequence of enjoyable moments spent playing together.
On his Instagram account (@multilingual_dad) he shares tips, techniques, and reflexions on the way he raises with his wife their trilingual sons (French-Korean-English).
Sophia Forker
Sophia Forker is a middle and high school French teacher at the Boerum Hill School for International Studies. She is in her second year of full time teaching and third year of working with the school. She teaches all levels of French using the International Baccalaureate framework for teaching language acquisition.
Sarah rice Fox ("Sally")
Before retiring in 2018, Sally Fox served as a coordinator at the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) for 12 years, specializing in providing professional learning related to integrated and designated ELD, dual language immersion, and world languages. Prior to her work at SDCOE, Sally was the lead English Learner (EL) resource teacher for La Mesa-Spring Valley where she became a certified trainer for OCDE Project GLAD® (Guided Language Acquisition Design), a premier instructional approach and model of professional learning for multilingual educators and teachers of ELs. Sally began her career in education as a Spanish/English bilingual 3rd grade teacher in Imperial Beach, CA. She had earned a BA from San Diego State University in French literature, and later earned her MA in education from California State University, San Marcos. She had the privilege of serving on the Board for CABE (California Association for Bilingual Education) and has published articles for NABE (National Association for Bilingual Education), DLENM (Dual Language Education New Mexico) and on a Mandarin resources website at mandarin.sdcoe.net. In 2017, Sally was honored for her work in literacy by the Greater San Diego Reading Association. She recently served as a co-chair of the World Languages Standards Advisory Committee for the California Department of Education, appointed by the State Board of Education.
"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
fabrice jaumont
Fabrice Jaumont has more than 25 years of experience in international education and the development of multilingual programs. He currently serves as Education Attaché for the Embassy of France to the United States, an adjunct professor in international education at NYU Steinhardt, and a research fellow at Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme. He hosts a podcast, a blog, speaks to audiences world-wide and has published five books. The Bilingual Revolution: The Future of Education is in Two Languages, provides inspirational vignettes and practical advice for parents and educators who want to create a dual-language program in their own school. Fabrice Jaumont is the 2020 NECTFL James W. Dodge Foreign Language Advocate Award recipient.
Emilie lehr
Spécialisée dans les relations entre Didactique des langues & Médias Audiovisuels, Émilie Lehr (@lehr_emilie) oeuvre pour le développement professionnel des enseignant.e.s de FLE aux côtés de TV5MONDE et de France Éducation internationale en tant qu’experte associée. Elle travaille au développement du réseau de formateurs labellisés TV5MONDE à travers le monde et anime chaque année la formation de labellisation de l'Université d'été du BELC. Parallèlement à ses interventions, elle conçoit des formations et des ressources pédagogiques à partir de supports vidéo authentiques.
Paula Lettiere
Paula Lettiere is the founding Principal of Fort Greene Preparatory Academy. Her 25 years in the New York City Department of Education have equipped Ms. Lettiere with a unique and invaluable perspective. Beginning her career as a teacher in a Gifted and Talented Program, she has subsequently serviced multiple communities as a English Language Arts Teacher, Assistant Principal in both the middle school and high school settings, and finally as Principal in her current placement. Just like her Assistant Principal, La'Tisha Cotton, Principal Lettiere believes in the importance of innovative thinking in education reform. As such, she was eager to welcome French Dual Language into her community she proudly describes as being one in which everyone wins. Furthermore, District 13 in Brooklyn, NY is the home of Fort Greene Preparatory Academy and also one of the most segregated districts in America. French Dual Language has played an instrumental role in bringing in new community members who are racially and economically diverse, Strategic and intentional about her school cultural shifts, Ms. Lettiere strives to lead a community of families and scholars through inclusion and equity.
Kelsey McDermott, M.S., NCSP, LEP
Kelsey McDermott has been a school psychologist at Language Academy for 9 years. Kelsey has been instrumental in implementing PBIS and Restorative Justice structures and practices at this K-8 Magnet School offering French One-way and Spanish Two-way Dual Language programs. During the sudden shutdown of schools, Kelsey worked with Middle School students in powerful ways to keep them connected.
Dr. Myriam Met
In her career as an educator, Dr. Myriam (Mimi) Met has been a foreign language teacher, district supervisor, and acting director of the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland. She is a nationally and internationally recognized Dual Language Immersion (DLI) educator, consulting with schools, districts, state offices, universities and private agencies on strategic planning and support for immersion programs.
Hugo Miranda
Hugo (@MundoBeyondo) was born and raised in Costa Rica. He moved to the US to learn English and graduate from high school. After majoring in English Literature, he returned to Costa Rica where he taught ESL for four years. He was later awarded a scholarship to learn Mandarin in Taiwan. He lived there for five years and gained valuable experience teaching and learning languages. After returning to California he taught Spanish and Chinese to kids while he completed a BA in Linguistics. He currently works for major game publisher as a language specialist.
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.
Luca Palladino
Luca Palladino is founder and editor of KATA Éditeur, a publisher dedicated to ecological themed book for children and YA. Luca Palladino became familiar with the Dual Language Programme schools when he led a Canadian mission to New York's French-language schools. Based in Montreal, KATA has three collections Rize Up! (environmental and human rights), Orbital (science-fiction and dystopian) and Mythos (First nations and indigenous stories).
Blake Ramsey
Blake Ramsey is the founding FDL Coordinator and teacher at Public Middle School Fort Greene Preparatory Academy in Brooklyn, NY. He has serviced the communities of four NYC Department of Education Public Schools as a French Dual Language Program Coordinator (K-5; 6-12; 6-8), Language Acquisition Instructional Coach (Grade 6-12), Literacy Coach (K-5) and French Dual Language Teacher. His practice is grounded in Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Equity in Education.
Natalie Stein
Natalie Stein and Eloise Cosky have been friends at Language Academy in the French program since they met in Kindergarten. Neither come from French-speaking homes, yet have a lovely facility as bilinguals. They realized how the younger kids are struggling in online learning. Their goal is to teach kids French and create a safe environment. They are taking what they know as students and using it to help them make a group where everyone feels welcome. Eloise and Natalie both have younger siblings who are learning French. Seeing how they were struggling helped them create the idea of a group called Monde d’Amis.
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.
Valerie Theriez
Valérie Thériez partage son travail et ses créations avec le Département de l’éducation de l’Etat de Louisiane, le CODOFIL, la Communauté Française de Belgique en Louisiane et l’Université de l’Etat de la Louisiane depuis des années. Elle a reçu les titres de
2011 LACUE Region 4 Elementary Teacher of the Year
2013 LFLTA Teacher of the Year
2013 Cecilia Primary Teacher of the Year
2013 Louisiana State Teacher of the year
2018-19 1st place Louisiana Kamishibaï Contest
She was the first Foreign Teacher to represent Louisiana at SCOLT in 2014 and was the Keynote speaker at the LFLTA Conference that same year.
She is a certified DELF examiner/corrector. She is all about making learning fun !