About CCFLT - Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers

HISTORY:

As of 1942, the Colorado Education Association was holding general meetings for Colorado teachers. Following these meetings, smaller gatherings were held for special interest groups by subject matter fields. Foreign language teachers met then.

In 1947, foreign language teachers created the organization now known as Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers, or CCFLT. It was an organization within the academic community.

It was only in 1971 that Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers was officially incorporated under the leadership of Bryce Jackson, then president of CCFLT. He and others in the organization worked to incorporate CCFLT as the membership and detailed budgetary records had substantially increased.

Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers (CCFLT) incorporated for the purpose of providing foreign language teachers a forum for mutual support, a means for sharpening their pedagogical skills, and a vehicle for keeping culturally and linguistically current.

PURPOSE:

Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers, Inc., is organized for the purpose of the advancement of the study and teaching of foreign languages in the schools, colleges and universities of the State of Colorado.

CCFLT is a constituent of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and an affiliate of the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Languages (CSC) and the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching (SWCOLT). At the same time CCFLT is a member of the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL) and the National Network for the Early Learning of Languages (NNELL).

MEMBERSHIP:

Membership in CCFLT is open to all who are associated with the teaching of foreign languages and to friends of foreign languages. Its members find not only professional development opportunities through the annual conferences, but extended growth through its grants and scholarships current and proposed. The organization has grown to more than 950 members.

EVENTS:

Currently, CCFLT sponsors three annual conferences: Linguafest in September, the Fall Conference in October, and the three-day Spring Conference in February.

Meeting in Colorado Springs or the greater Denver area, the Spring Conference attracts over five hundred participants each year for its keynote speaker, its six to eight workshops and dozens of smaller sessions, its book exhibits, awards luncheon, and more. Speakers at these conferences include nationally respected language scholars and textbook authors.

Twice in recent years the Fall Conference, also with a featured speaker, has met in Vail, reflecting CCFLT's earlier commitment to hold conferences not only on the Front Range but to the west as well.

STANDARDS:

Standards were adopted in 1999 and further its commitment to foreign language education in Colorado by pledging:

• to provide high quality professional growth opportunites for its members;
• to secure broad membership among foreign language teachers in Colorado;
• to advance the interests and status of foreign language study; and
• to network with members and other professionals at local and global levels.

PUBLICATIONS:

CCFLT publications include the biannnual journal Peals and the quarterly CCFLT Newsletter.

Peals, the professional journal, features articles on advocacy, methods, and current trends in foreign language education along with classroom-tested ideas for teaching language and culture.

In turn, the CCFLT Newsletter offers detail on the Fall and Spring Conference programs, along with feature articles and news on grant and scholarship opportunities. Members look to its TechnoCorner, Teacher TipBits and more for additional resources.

GRANTS:

Grant opportunities include the $1,000 Ronald W. Walker Memorial Grant for innovative language-oriented student activities, projects and trips; materials development for new and existing programs, and student projects with a service component or outreach into the community. Lesser grants are funded for $500 and $250, not to exceed $2,000 for this category annually.

Professional development opportunities in a three-year pilot program not to exceed $2,000 annually, proposed. Selected recipients would receive partial funding for ACTFL Development Workshops such as Oral Proficiency Tester Training in any among eight languages, Practical Applications of the ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners, Integrating Internet Resources into the language curriculum, and more.

SCHOLARSHIPS:

Each year Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers, Inc., recognizes two "Best of Conference" presenters or groups whose sessions at the Spring Conference have earned the highest ratings from peers in their audiences. The following year, in turn, each group receives up to $500 for expenses incurred in presenting as "Best of Colorado" at SWCOLT or the Central States Conference.

Professional development opportunities such as those afforded by Spring Conference can play a critical role in the growth of novice teachers. For that reason CCFLT has begun offering Conference Scholarships for First-Year Teachers. Up to four selected recipients participate in workshops and sessions and attend the Keynote Luncheon, for non-redeemable cash value not to exceed $500 for the category.

As proposed, CCFLT would award up to three scholarship grants annually for conference expenses up to $500 for members whose session proposals are formally accepted for presentation at CSC, SWCOLT, or ACTFL. Selected recipients would qualify only one time for this scholarship award.

AWARDS:

Each year Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers bestows Special Recognition Awards on selected recipients nominated from among the membership who have shown outstanding service and dedication to the needs of the foreign language profession. The first such awards were given in 1978.

Special Recognition Awards include the:

Genevieve Overman Memorial Service Award, honoring an individual for lengthy and dedicated service to the foreign language profession;

Excellence in Teaching Award, recognizing a foreign language teacher who has demonstrated exceptional ability and outstanding performance in classroom instruction;

Program Leadership Award, conferred on a foreign language educator who has provided exceptional leadership and innovation in programs beyond the classroom level.

Creativity Award, given to an individual who has inspired enthusiasm for language learning through unusual innovation and creativity in the foreign language classroom;

Young Educator Award, presented to a foreign language teacher in the first five years of service who shows uncommon potential for the development and implementation of ideas in the classroom; and

Friend of Foreign Languages Award, presented to an individual or group outside formal instruction having contributed in a significant way to the promotion of the teaching and learning of foreign languages.

From the ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION:

"The Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers is organized for the purpose of the advancement of the study and teaching of foreign languages in the schools, colleges and universities of the State of Colorado.

"No part of the net earnings of the corporation shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributed to its members, trustees, officers or other private persons, except that the corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered...

"No substantial part of the activities of the organization shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements ) any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office."

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