| NCLRC Arabic K-12 Bulletin - March 17, 2014 Ahlan ya colleagues, Welcome to the Arabic K-12 Bulletin, a biweekly resource for elementary, middle, an 
| | Ahlan ya colleagues, Welcome to the Arabic K-12 Bulletin, a biweekly resource for elementary, middle, and high school Arabic teachers, administrators, and researchers. Spring is finally around the corner, and with it plenty of opportunities for K-12 students to apply for summer programs and other unique Arabic study opportunities. This edition's "Current Research" is actually just a link to the ACTFL proficiency assessment demo, which is worth a look if you're not familiar with it. As always, if you would like to reach us please send a message to arabick12@gmail.com. Lucy Thiboutot, Editor |
▪ The Arabic K-12 Teachers Network consists of more than 1,000 educators, administrators, and researchers interested in the Arabic K-12 field in the U.S. It is a free membership provided by the National Capital Language Resource Center's Arabic K-12 Project.
▪ Recent issues of the Bulletin are archived here: http://bit.ly/10KRZi3 .
▪ All members are welcome to submit posts in English or Arabic and may do so by e-mailing their content to arabick12@gmail.com specifying their content for the listserv.
▪ This listserv is focused on elementary, middle, and high school Arabic teaching. Job openings at the university level can be found on the AATA's website .
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1. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
2. NEW RESOURCES FOR YOUR STUDENTS AND CLASSROOM
3. GRANT OPPORTUNITIES AND JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS
4. NADA'S WEBSITES: "Arabalicious"
5. BELAL'S ACTIVITIES: "Block Wars"
6. ARAB AMERICAN BOOK RECOMMENDATION: "Even My Voice is Silence"
7. CURRENT RESEARCH: "An online foreign language assessment"
8. FOCUS ON LEARNING: "Lincoln students pick up interest in Arabic"
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Two Master's students in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language at University of Texas - Austin invite you to participate in a survey that will be part of a research project they are conducting for their Curriculum Design in Arabic graduate seminar. The purpose of this survey is to assess the current state of Arabic language curricular materials used at the high school level. Your participation in the study will contribute to development of a framework for future high school Arabic teaching materials. This survey is completely anonymous and will take approximately 15 minutes of your time. Link to the survey: http://svy.mk/1ewSOE7 Workshops and Webinars CLASSRoad is offering "Teaching Languages Online," a 4-week online workshop for teachers of Arabic and other languages. This course was offered previously as CLASSRoad's 2013 STARTALK summer teacher training program. If you missed it last summer, now is your chance to enroll in a unique program to develop effective online language teachers, implementing ACTFL standards and STARTALK principles. You will learn how to use connected teaching practices to deliver language instruction and assessment to anywhere/anytime learners in distance/blended contexts. Through this course, you will integrate 21st century skills, teacher effective for language learning (TELL) practices, collaborative work, digital badging, and other strategies to engage and prepare students. The course experience features video presentations by experts, online quizzes, "Facebook-style" discussion environment, collaborative work in Google Docs (Drive), Padlet, and Voicethread, blog posts regarding your progress and reflections, and badges you earn for participating, contributing, and demonstrating acquired skills. The course will run from March 29-April 26, and the registration cost for the first 25 participants is $99 by March 23. Enrollment capped at 40 participants. This course will better prepare you for CLASSRoad's upcoming 2014 summer STARTALK program. CEUs available. To learn more and to enroll: http://bit.ly/MC57na Cornell University will be holding an Arabic Teachers Workshop , August 15 & 16, 2014 in Ithaca, NY. The workshop will be open to about 20 Arabic teachers and program directors who are interested in learning about the Integrated Approach and its actual implementation in the Arabic classroom. The two-day workshop will be led by Jonathan Featherstone, Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Edinburgh; Maher Awad, Senior Lecturer of Arabic and Certified ACTFL & ILR Tester at Rice University; and Munther Younes, Reis Senior Lecturer in Arabic Language and Linguistics and Director of the Arabic Program at Cornell University. Munther Younes will focus on the rationale behind the "Integrated Approach" and the problems and challenges raised against it. He will also demonstrate the use of materials from the three-volume, fully-integrated textbook series 'Arabiyyat al-Naas, which he coauthored and which is due to be published by Routledge in the fall of 2013 and the spring of 2014. Jonathan Featherstone will deliver training sessions focusing on applying the Integrated Approach to communicative reading and speaking activities and will help teachers design their own language drills. Maher Awad will focus on issues of assessment, especially proficiency assessment, and discuss similarities and differences between the assessment tools employed in the Integrated vs. the non-integrated approaches, with special reference to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. For more information and to reserve your spot in the workshop, please email Chris Capalongo at cmc40@cornell.edu Professional Development Travel Opportunities EnviroJordan offers a two-week environmental education study tour in Jordan (Aug 2-15, 2014). The program is open to private and public school teachers, administrators, curriculum specialists, environmental and science education professors, museum and nature center staff, and others. Visit Petra, the Dead Sea, and ancient castles, camping in nature reserves and the Wadi Rum desert. Hiking, camel riding, jeep touring, Bedouin music. Meetings with peers, specialists, leaders. An Amman overnight homestay. Some Arabic language learning opportunities in tandem with this, and a good opportunity for educators to integrate and collaborate across disciplines (science and Arabic). We will do some customizing to enhance the Arabic opportunity, if desired by any participant. Graduate credit and scholarships available. To learn more: envirojordan.org Professional Conferences The 61st annual NECTFL (Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) will take place March 27-29, 2014 in Boston, MA at the Marriott Copley Place Hotel. This year's theme is Sustaining Communities through World Languages. This conference offers outstanding professional development opportunities and the ability to network with other teachers of foreign languages, and is sure to include special panels for Arabic teachers. Read more here: http://bit.ly/1e7ZtoM An important national policy research conference on "Internationalization of Education in the 21st Century: The Future of International and Foreign Language Studies" will take place April 11-13, 2014, at the College of William & Mary. Join leaders in academia, K-12 education, business, government, and the NGO sectors for timely research and discussion of national human resource needs and strategies for enabling U.S. educational institutions to address the broad national policy goals to ensure a globally competent citizenry and workforce; strengthen the U.S. ability to solve global problems; and produce international experts and knowledge for national needs. Register by March 15, 2014. To learn more: http://bit.ly/1jtZP8t The 17th annual National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) conference will take place at the Westin Hotel & Resort in Chicago Northwest, IL from April 24-27, 2014 (with pre-conference workshops scheduled for April 24, 2014). This year's theme is "Collaboration and Internationalization: Enhancing and Sustaining Quality Outcomes for LCTLs". This conference brings together professionals from academia, government, private sector, and students in the field of Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs). To learn more and register for the conference: http://bit.ly/1gavjhU Call For Proposals and Papers The Foreign Language Association of Virginia provides an opportunity to share innovative teaching, technology, research and student success strategies. Send in your proposal by April 18, 2014. The Conference Committee invites proposals for active and engaging presentations on topics related, but not limited to: Supporting beginning teachers; Promoting active use of the target language; Making the most of classroom time; Supporting student learning; Active and engaging instructional strategies; Innovative instructional methodology; Innovative assessment strategies; Unique uses of technology; Technology strategies for all students including those with disabilities. To learn more and submit a proposal: http://bit.ly/1kk31CJ The Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (JNCOLCTL) is soliciting articles for publication. The Journal, published annually by NCOLCTL, is dedicated to the issues and concerns related to the teaching and learning of Less Commonly Taught Languages. The Journal primarily seeks to address the interests of language teachers, administrators, and researchers. Articles that describe innovative and successful teaching methods that are relevant to the concerns or problems of the profession, or that report educational research or experimentation in Less Commonly Taught Languages are welcome. Our general editorial focus is on policy, education, programs, advocacy, and research in the field of Less commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs). The envisioned coverage of the journal is as follows: Methodology and Technology; Academia; Beyond Academia; Social embeddedness. The Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages shall include papers focusing on broader theoretical and technological issues in all fields of LCTL's along with reports about research and teaching in academia, at both the K-12 and collegiate levels. Deadline May 1, 2014. For more information: http://bit.ly/1lCoSaE |
The National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC) in collaboration with BYU independent Studies and QFI are pursuing a project to reach out to high school students across the nation, especially in schools that do not offer Arabic. This initiative consists of two components: 1) Students begin with an intensive one-day Arabic language and culture camp in their hometown or region; 2) They continue studying Arabic in a highly interactive format via our asynchronous online courses which includes regular live interaction with a BYU-based tutor who assists camp participants in moving forward as a community of online learners in a systematic fashion that results in their acquiring proficiency in using Arabic for real-world purposes. Financial aid is available for students who cannot afford to pay the full cost of the course. The one-day camps will take place Saturday, March 22 at Ohio State University; Saturday, March 29 at University of Indiana; Saturday, April 5th at Portland State University; and Saturday, April 26 at Yale University. To sign up students, please contact Alex Simmons at: alex.simmons85@gmail.com You may be interested in a new resource for Arabic teachers, Teaching and Learning Arabic as a Foreign Language: A guide for teachers by Karin Ryding from Georgetown University Press: http://bit.ly/MGtNLk For those living within driving distance of Glastonbury, Connecticut, Glastonbury public schools are hosting a non-residential STARTALK Arabic course for rising 3rd-6th graders, running June 30-July 25, 2014. Applications are available from the website of the Glastonbury Public Schools' Foreign Language Department at www.foreignlanguage.org. Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy provides a full-immersion, pre-college summer language program for middle and high school students from June 22- July 17, 2014. Qatar Foundation International (QFI) has partnered with MMLA to offer full need-based scholarships with travel assistance for 20 students studying Arabic. The application deadline is April 30. To learn more: http://bit.ly/MqKUB5 California State University provides a seven-week residential or day immersion program for high school students in San Bernardino, CA from June 18- August 7, 2014. This program awards college credit to students, and students have the opportunity to continue study throughout the year for college credit. QFI funding will provide 15 student scholarships. Rolling admission, but the earlier the application the more likely to receive financial support. For more information, please visit: http://bit.ly/NWN8JC Choate Rosemary Hall, a private boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, is offering students in grades 9-11 the opportunity to immerse themselves in the Arabic language and culture in Jordan. Participants spend 4 weeks in Amman from June 16-July 16. The program offers Modern Standard Arabic (at a level appropriate to proficiency) and intensive Jordanian colloquial classes. Students also explore Jordanian History and learn about traditional Islamic arts. Participants in the program will stay in pairs with Jordanian families, helping them to improve their spoken Arabic and discover Jordanian social customs and traditions. For more information: http://bit.ly/1gSeOYt To apply: http://bit.ly/1hos63t The University of North Georgia (UNG) will host the fourth summer language academy for high school rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors in June and July 2014. The Federal Service Language Academy (FSLA) is a three-week residential program for students who are interested in an immersive intensive language experience, fitness, and exploring international-related careers with the federal government. During the two three-week sessions, students will be immersed in intensive language instruction in First-Year Arabic from highly qualified teachers, participate in a daily fitness program, receive career counseling from federal agency representatives (CIA, DEA, FBI, State Department, Homeland Security, the Peace Corps and US Armed Forces), and possibly receive high school credit for successful completion of the academy. For more information: www.ung.edu/fsla Where There Be Dragons offers authentic, small-group, cultural and language immersion programs in Jordan and Morocco every summer as well as semesters for Gap Year students. All include service, local mentorship, language intensives, trekking, leadership development and global studies. Our summer programs are for ages 14+. Semesters are tailored for Gap Year & College-age students. Visit the website: www.wheretherebedragons.com or call: 800-982-9203 to learn more about scholarships and programs. You may be interested in a mobile-ready, interactive network, game-like learning resource for Arabic students called "Falooka." Falooka can be used in the classroom, or purchased for a library or language lab. It encourages Arabic language students to jump in by selecting one of nine "3-Month Challenge programs." Students gain "Ookapoints" as they teach lower level students (for money or for free); post in the News Feed on Middle Eastern culture; and form "Ookafriendships" with other Arabic language students and native instructors. Falooka is both in Modern Standard Arabic and the Egyptian dialect. It includes over 700 web pages of learning materials plus 7,000 audio recordings by native Egyptians, 80 podcasts, and over 50 videos. To learn more, visit their website: http://falooka.com/ The Lingaga: Oxford Peace Project has free video conferencing and networking for language learners and speakers, including Arabic. On the free site, teachers and students may meet native speakers, make contacts in other countries, open their own and enter virtual classrooms, post videos on their country, discuss literature and culture, and swap language learning. With students and teachers in over 25 countries registering, it is a terrific place to actually speak the language and put into practice your learning. www.lingaga.com You may be interested in this simple Arabic typing tutor to help your students learn to type in Arabic: http://www.studyarabic.com/arabic-typing-tutor The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) now offers the Computerized Oral Proficiency Instrument (COPI), a computer-based, semi-adaptive test of Modern Standard Arabic or Spanish oral proficiency intended for use with native-English-speaking students in later years of high school, college students, and professionals. It provides language educators with a computerized, time-efficient assessment of their students' oral language proficiency in Arabic or Spanish. Performance on the COPI is rated according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. For more information: http://bit.ly/Iw45aE The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) has produced an Arabic Oral Proficiency Guide for Students. This free online tutorial helps high school and university-level students of Arabic understand and improve their oral proficiency. It teaches students how oral proficiency is rated according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines so that they can self-assess and set language learning goals. The tutorial features authentic examples of students speaking Arabic at different levels, tips and resources to improve oral proficiency, and student descriptions of their experiences being assessed and then using their Arabic to communicate abroad. View the site at http://www.cal.org/aop/index.php The Qatar Foundation International (QFI) is launching a new website for Arabic K-12 teachers Al-Masdar (almasdar.oercommons.org). Al-Masdar provides a platform for you to discover free resources through search strategies, to author or upload your own resources, to review resources, join groups and conversations, and collaborate with others. The site is intended to be a hub - the source - for language teaching materials, opportunities, news and events relevant to Arabic instructors. You are invited to explore it and offer your feedback by completing this survey: http://bit.ly/1gvdkWS Your advanced students may enjoy this new simplified version of Lebanese author Hoda Barakat's novel, Sayyidi wa Habibi, which comes with a set of pedagogical activities and a companion website: http://bit.ly/16vBpEc Al-Jazeera news is currently developing a special news site for Arabic language learners. Although some of the features are still in progress, it may be worth keeping an eye on as a resource for your classes: http://learning.aljazeera.net/arabic The National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC), in cooperation with Qatar Foundation International and Brigham Young University Independent Study, is offering a hybrid online course for high school students. The high school implementation of Arabic Without Walls, winner of the 2010 Distance Education Course Award, covers the basics of both spoken and written Arabic and enables students to acquire real-world communication skills. This process starts with students attending a one-day course in their region and continues as they work online with a tutor and a cohort of students who form a tight-knit learning community. Students who have done so have gone on to win NSLI-Youth Scholarships to study in the Arab world. For more information on registration, cost and credit please visit: http://bit.ly/1bfmfcG . The Institute for Middle East Studies (IMES) Title VI Outreach Program at The George Washington University (Washington, DC) maintains a film and book library and Skype-a-Scholar program that is free and available to area educators. You can view a list of all of the library resources and find out more about the films using our new Film Guide which contains synopses of the films and classroom usage ideas for educators. The Skype-A-Scholar program brings university experts to your classroom through Skype, to converse with students for an in-depth, innovative learning experience. Contact imesnrc@gwu.edu for more information on these programs. American Councils for International Education coordinates the U.S. Department of State's FLEX, YES, and A-SMYLE programs, where students from the Middle East and other areas of the world have competed against their peers and earned a scholarship to come to the U.S. for a full academic year. The students live with an American host family, attend school and become a part of the family. Anyone interested in hosting an exchange student for a period of two months to a full academic year, and the ability to provide a safe, supportive, English-speaking environment is welcome to contact the programs for more information. For more information: http://inbound.americancouncils.org . The Peace Corps offers the World Wise Schools website, with cross-cultural learning resources including lesson plans, videos, publications, an online game, and more. Take advantage of these free resources to develop your students' global competencies and prepare them to be engaged, 21st century global citizens. Connecting With Teachers Connect with hundreds of Arabic teachers in America and from around the world on the Teachers of Arabic Language K-12 (TALK12) page on Facebook. Teachers can chat, swap ideas, and give each other advice: http://www.talk12.org . |
Grant Opportunities The Arab Academy Scholarship will be offered for three ACTFL members in 2014. The scholarship includes three months of access to the online Arabic program in addition to one weekly one-on-one speaking class. In addition, Arab Academy offers onsite scholarships for two ACTFL members for 8-week sessions at its Arabic language center in Cairo, Egypt. Deadline March 31, 2014. Additional details can be obtained by contacting the educational programs coordinator, Hanan Dawah, at info@arabacademy.org and http://www.arabacademy.com. ACTFL Members: If you have any questions about this scholarship, please contact Jaime Bernstein at 703-894-2900. Qatar Foundation International has announced Teacher Initiative Grants (maximum award: $1,000) to enhance Arabic programs and promote excellence in the classroom. Arabic teachers working in U.S. public or public charter schools may apply for funding to purchase books and materials; host cultural events or workshops; take students on field trips; or attend professional development conferences. Applications are due on the first of each month for awards to be announced by the end of that month, from Nov. 1 until April 1. To download the complete Request for Proposal, follow the link: http://bit.ly/17lD6I0 To apply, go through QFI's grants management portal: http://bit.ly/18XUpgj Job Openings Boston Latin Academy (Boston, MA) is seeking a full-time high school Arabic teacher for the 2014-2015 school year. For further information and to apply: http://bit.ly/MH4VD0 There is an immediate part-time opening for an elementary school Arabic teacher for grades K-4 with Global Language Project in Harlem, New York. This individual must be New York state certified (or interested in pursuing certification--please make this clear to the contact below) and will teach two full days, or 10 periods a week at a school in West Harlem. The teacher will use GLP's Arabic curriculum, which introduces students to language through TPR, cultural activities, music and games. The emphasis is on oral communication and learning about other cultures. Please send cover letter and resume to Elisabeth Shovers: eshovers@glpny.org. Please write 'Arabic Teacher' in the subject line of your email. Friends Seminary in New York City seeks a Middle School/Upper School Arabic Teacher for the 2014-2015 academic year. This is a one-year leave replacement position. The candidate must be able to teach Modern Standard Arabic and a Levantine dialect to grades 4 through 12. Prior experience teaching middle and high school is strongly desired. To learn more, visit the employment section of the website and click on the Arabic Teacher listing: http://www.friendsseminary.org/careers Northeast College Prep, in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, is opening Kindergarten-3rd grade in August (eventually growing to K-8th grade) and hiring founding teachers in all subjects, including Arabic. This diverse, International Baccalaureate school is committed to closing the achievement gap and will offer both Spanish and Arabic classes to all students. Minnesota teaching license or eligibility for one required. Visit careers at Northeast College Prep's website to view job descriptions and the application process: northeastcollegeprep.org. If you have any questions, contact Erika Sass at esass@northeastcollegeprep.org. |
Nada Shaath (Bell High School, CA) suggests: Arabilcious (http://www.Arabalicious.com/) In the primary resources section, this site has a collection of Arabic Wordclouds that can be used as a resource for prompts during group or individual work. Students can use these wordclouds to speak and write about different topics. They can also be used in reading and comprehension tasks or used as extra support during listening activities--or in any way you can imagine! Do you have a favorite website to share? Send us a link and a short description, and don't forget to include the name and location of your school! |
Belal Joundeya (Renaissance Academy, UT) suggests: Block Wars Print a worksheet that has twenty pictures, each inside of a circle. The circles will serve as the "dots" in this game that resembles games described here. The students pair up and discuss each picture by either asking their partner questions about it or just giving them a description or statement about it. When a student initiates discussion about a picture, she or he gets to draw a line between the circle discussed and any other circle next to it. The student who adds a line that creates a square gets to initial it. This activity can be used with any topic you are teaching and it is really very communicative, especially because all students are talking at the same time. By the end of the activity, the students will have spoken many sentences within a short time. To make students more accountable, you can have them evaluate each other at the end of the activity. See it in action in this video: http://bit.ly/1eHS7UR |
The Arab American National Museum (http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org) recommends the non-fiction book Even My Voice is Silence
By Soha Al-Jurf
(CreateSpace, 2012). When Soha Al-Jurf goes in search of her father's Palestinian village, she believes she is embarking on a journey that will help her reconcile the conflicted parts of her identity as a Palestinian American Muslim woman. Instead, what she had anticipated would be the end of her long journey proves only to be the beginning of an elusive search for her true self, mired in the painful realization of what it means to be a refugee. Through exquisite storytelling and deep personal inquiry, Al-Jurf offers readers a rare and intimate perspective on one woman's struggle to reconcile her life in the U.S. with the one her parents left behind, instilling in her a longing for a homeland with which her own connection is uncertain. Soha Al-Jurf is a Palestinian American Muslim writer who was born in the West Bank city of Nablus and raised in Iowa City, Iowa. She works as a speech-language pathologist in San Francisco. Her writing focuses on issues of identity and "finding one's own, authentic voice" by exploring themes of politics, spirituality, and personal story. Her writing has appeared in Turning Wheel, Critical Muslim, ElevenEleven, and al Majdal magazines, as well as online on CounterPunch and Transform. |
An online foreign language assessment
By Kim Marshall | Marshall Memo #527, March 10, 2014, http://www.marshallmemo.com An online foreign language assessment – This link is a sample of the online, performance-based AAPPL Measure of Language Proficiency in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic and ESL: http://aappl.actfl.org/demo "Using Real-World Tasks to Assess Student Performance" by Douglass Crouse in The Language Educator, February 2014 (Vol. 9, #2, p. 20-22) |
Lincoln students pick up interest in Arabic
By Heidi Pierson, DesMoines Register | desmoinesregister.com
Source: http://dmreg.co/PxXMHz It's not often the playing field is leveled for all students in high school, but one foreign language teacher is making it happen. Hicham Jennane teaches Arabic 1 and 2 to ninth- through 12th-graders at Lincoln High School. "Whether you're good at academics or sports, it doesn't matter," said Jennane, who has been teaching at the school for five years. "Everyone starts with the basics." Since Arabic uses characters different than English, each student comes into the class with a blank slate, he said. Arabic 1 focuses on learning the alphabet and simple greetings; Arabic 2 moves toward conversations. "You don't ever feel uncomfortable in class," said Bryan Ronquillo, 16, a sophomore student in Arabic 2. He said he was quiet at the beginning of his freshman year, but Arabic 1 taught him how to build relationships. Once the alphabet and grammar are established, students talk about themselves and get to know fellow classmates. The curriculum then progresses through themes. With the group they've gotten to know, students interact as if they're at a wedding or the market, learning customs and practicing new vocabulary before moving on to the next theme. Jennane's classes are taught in 90 percent Arabic and 10 percent English. But speaking isn't all they do. Students made valentines and they each "adopted" a country to own and research. "He wants the atmosphere to be calm and welcoming," 11th-grade Arabic 2 student Dema Mamo said. In 2012, Jennane was the recipient of the Dora Johnson Award, issued annually by the Qatar Foundation International as part of its mission to support advances in curriculum and instruction for Arabic educators and individuals who promote the teaching of Arabic language and culture. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages selected Jennane for the honor. In late 2013, Lincoln had another winner when Mary Stimmel, chairwoman of the World Languages Department at Lincoln, received the honor. The Arabic class at Lincoln was developed in response to students' requests for something different and challenging. Said Ronquillo: "The world is getting smaller; we can't expect everyone to learn English." Stimmel and Jennane in 2011 applied for a $100,000 StarTalk Arabic program grant to begin Arabic as a summer course. The federal StarTalk program, part of the National Security Language Initiative, seeks to expand and improve the teaching and learning of strategically important world languages that are not widely taught in the U.S. With Stimmel as the program director, and Jennane as lead instructor, the first StarTalk summer program was a wild success. A year later it doubled in participants, from 50 to 100. "I believe that the support the students and community are giving Arabic has also been a factor in its growth," said Stimmel, who has taught at Lincoln for 18 years. The students' enthusiasm led Stimmel and Jennane to write the grant for a second year, then a third and now a fourth. Each year they've also added a component to the curriculum — art in 2012 and PE in 2013 — to continue challenging and teaching their students. "We believe in our students and their abilities," Jennane said. "For me they are the elite." Stimmel said teachers learned at the end of February that Lincoln was awarded another StarTalk grant for this summer. It will provide $90,000 for the program, which will allow 100 students in the metro area to take Arabic, with the potential to earn a semester credit in Arabic. The teachers plan to next add a music component to the curriculum. |
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