Congratulations to our 2008 Educator of the Year!

Suzie Martin, Warren Woods Tower High School, Warren, MI

Nominations are due July 1 - download the form on the Forms for Members page.

Previous Educator of the Year Recipients

Laura Nork, Avondale High School, Auburn Hills, MI

2006 Connie Zucker, Riley Middle School, Livonia, MI

Good afternoon. Please allow me to begin by thanking the Michigan World Language Association for this honor. Last spring Margaret Cottrill called me and asked me if I would be willing to accept her nomination for World Languages Educator of the Year. I readily accepted Margaret’s nomination. And then I did my best to put it out of my head. I couldn’t imagine myself in the company of the amazing foreign language teachers who have received this award previously. So when Irma Torres called in the fall to tell me of my selection I was stunned and happy and humbled. We in the field of foreign language education in the state of Michigan are so lucky. This state is teeming with excellence in foreign language education. I am in debt to many people in this room and I would like to publicly thank several among you. Were it not for Margaret Cottrill's letter of nomination and Laura Baker’s letter of support this moment would not have happened. As I have said countless times in private and now joyfully proclaim in public I could not be one iota of the French teacher that I am without the education, guidance, and support given to me by Anne Nerenz, Jan Wilson, and Diane Farrug. Mr. Fred Cromie, principal of Avondale High School and Dr. George Heitsch, superintendent of Avondale Schools were kind enough to come all the way from Auburn Hills to join us at today’s luncheon and I thank you both for it. Most of all I would like to thank my parents, Diane and Earl Nork, for their tireless support and boundless love. Irma asked me to prepare brief remarks so I am going to quickly share with you two thoughts. First, by your presence at this luncheon I can safely assume that you know the value of professional involvement, but I would like to remind us all that as foreign language educators we are truly blessed. Other disciplines simply don’t have what we have and that is thought provoking, inspiring, engaging and just plain fun conferences. So I encourage you to stay involved in MiWLA and ACTFL and the Central States Conference. I am grateful to the many volunteers who toil to make these conferences the lifeline of foreign language teachers across Michigan and beyond. So let’s pause to recognize the hard work of the MiWLA Board and its many volunteers. And let’s be sure to attend and to volunteer our time to make the March 2008 Central States Conference in Dearborn, Michigan a smashing success.

My second thought is a bit more anecdotal. Fellow teachers, have you ever noticed that you can teach 139 students in a day and in that day you can do outstanding work with 138 of them. But there is that one whom you just cannot reach. And when you go home at night who occupies your thoughts? Not the 138 who were inspired by your teaching. Oh no. It is the one who was not. That one causes us countless sleepless nights. Now I would never suggest that we write off a student, but I do think we have to give ourselves a break. My Avondale colleagues and I go pale with anxiety as we stand over the Xerox machine and lament our failures with one student. So to prevent us from having an all out crisis of confidence I suggest this. The next time that one student steals your sleep, think about your 138 success stories instead. At times, when I try to do this I get down on myself and I think that I have no success stories, but in fact each of us has a multitude of them. I would like to share 3 of mine with you now and as I do I hope your own stories will come to mind. Do you know that one of my students earned his Bachelor’s degree in French as a Second Language at Universite Laval? He now lives in Quebec City and works in environmental affairs for a monolingual French company. One of my students at the age of 22 went to France to study for a year and came home engaged to Jean-Phillipe Saulnier. Ten of Jean-Philippe’s friends came here for the wedding. At the wedding I invited all 10 of them to come to school with me the following Monday. That spring at graduation one of my students wrote me a note. In it she said that meeting those 10 French people was the single most exciting moment of her high school career. She said it was at that moment she realized the world is bigger than Avondale High School. And just last week I kept one of my French 3 students after class to praise her for her excellence. The next day her mom sent me an email that simply said, “You have given our daughter confidence. Thank you.” Friends, we in this room daily educate young people and instill confidence in them. We have the best job in the world. I implore you to let that be your last thought as you drift off to sleep tonight. Thank you.