Post-meeting follow-up

Dear fellow French teachers,

Thanks to all of you who attended this most recent fall meeting of the Houston Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French. I am sure you will agree that it was filled to the brim with useful and entertaining information. Remember that you can access the links mentioned all in one place at http://www.delicious.com/georgesd/fall2009aatf. I’d call it ‘one-stop shopping’… except it’s all free!

The other AATF-Houston officers and I are most pleased to announce to you all our new Houston Director for the National French Contest (NFC) / Grand concours, Mr. Jeffrey P. Roberts. Jeff is currently serving as the International Baccalaureate Coordinator at the Westchester Academy for International Studies. I have had the pleasure of knowing Jeff for a few years now, as he is also an Adjunct Instructor of French here with me at Lone Star College-CyFair. Please join me in giving Jeff a warm welcome! You can reach Jeff by email at Jeffrey.Roberts@SpringBranchISD.com. Dates and other info for (early March) exam pick-up, administering, & return and the eventual ceremony (toward the end of the school year around early May) are, indeed, forthcoming (yes, we are keeping that new tradition going of examens sur place!): please be patient while Jeff adjusts to his new duties, and you will hear all you need to know from him soon!

Likewise, please join me in expressing sincere thanks to the wonderful Ann Clogan from Strake Jesuit who did an absolutely knock-out job this past year with the grand concours. We’re at record levels of participation and placement, and this is in no small part thanks to the practices Ann implemented so very handily. While Ann has stepped down as the contest director, she’s still a chapter member and hasn’t left Strake Jesuit, of course. I am sure we can expect many more great things from her as a stellar teacher, a supporter and exponent of success in French teaching and learning, an AATF-Houston family member, and someone I have proudly come to call a friend. Chapeau, Ann!

If you have general questions about the NFC (elementary, middle-school and high school levels), please visit the website at the national office online at http://www.frenchteachers.org/concours/index.htm. In the meantime, to assure your students’ eligibility for participation in the contest, please be sure to have your AATF membership up-to-date and your chapter affiliation done so as well. As of last year, all teachers who participate in the Houston area must be current AATF members who have affiliated to the Houston chapter.

Membership issues can be addressed online with links to the varied (online, mail, etc.) options at the chapter website, http://aatfhouston.blogpsot.com. You may also want to visit the chapter site now and subscribe via RSS (see link in upper right of the site) to get updates on all sorts of topics (meetings, events, teaching tips, general links, French/francophone goings-on about town, etc.) right in your email inbox.

Take a moment now to forward this message to all of your French teaching colleagues in the Houston area so that they, too, can enter their students in the grand concours. You are our only real recruiting tool! Houston has a rich and esteemed tradition of active participation and high placement in national and local results in this contest and many more, and it is up to all of us to keep this winning spirit going.

Speaking of other opportunities to showcase the winning accomplishments of your students, I also encourage you to participate as best and as much as you can in National French Week (November 4-10). More at http://frenchteachers.org/nfw/Default.htm. There are essay & poster contests going on whose entry deadlines are approaching in October (some of you may recall last year’s great winners from our own Claire Frazier and Paula Friedman’s classes). Again, let’s all do our part to keep that winning Houston tradition going!

Bonne continuation à tous et à toutes !

Bien cordialement,
Georges Detiveaux, AATF-Houston President