Publicado por: Lawrence Township Community Schools
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The Indiana Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) Board is pleased to announce that Lawrence North High School is the recipient  of this year's  5-Sun Department of Spanish state distinction. AATSP Indiana Board members considered that the Spanish program fulfills most of the requirements to deserve this recognition:
 
1.  Lawrence North has 6 teachers that are active members of AATSP.
2.  Lawrence North's teachers register students for the National Spanish Exam.
3.  Lawrence North  has a renowned Spanish immersion program.
4.  Lawrence North has an AATSP Spanish Honor Society.
5.  Lawrence North's teachers encourage students to study Spanish overseas.
 
The Award Ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 5th at 10am at the Sheraton Hotel Indianapolis​ (Keystone Crossing) during the AATSP Business Meeting (Suite 16, Second Floor) as part of the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association Conference (www.iflta.org). The Indiana Department of Education will be present in the ceremony to congratulate teachers and administration.

Publicado por: the Journal REWIRED
Por: Sergio Rojas, Quinton Stivers, and Taylor Sessions, Tial Chin Par
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Emma Hughes, a Southport graduate now attending Indiana University, has been recognized by the State of Indiana for her accomplishments in the Spanish language. She received the 2015 Indiana Outstanding College Student of Spanish Award, presented by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP).  To qualify, she had to meet the GPA requirement, study abroad, and demonstrate extensive, successful  use of the language.
Hughes began studying Spanish during her eighth grade year in 2008. She decided to study the language because she knew that with the growing number of Spanish speakers in the United States, being bilingual would benefit her employment and career options as an adult.
Learning a language is challenging, but Hughes has
discovered strategies to help her practice and perfect her speaking skills. For her, repetition is everything. In order to enhance her vocabulary, she would practice extensively both by writing and speaking. Communicating with teachers and native Spanish speakers has been one of the ways in which to hone her skills and knowledge of the Spanish language as well as to improve her grammar and pronunciation.
Hughes said that she had great support throughout her high school and college language studies.  Miss O’Connor and Ms. Powell, SHS Spanish teachers, have served as mentors, along with Linguistic Professor, Laura Gurzynski-Weiss from Indiana University who also helped her in ways that allowed her to learn the language at a more profound level.
Learning Spanish has benefitted her in ways that she had never
imagined.  As a result of the language, Hughes feels that the way she
communicates with others has improved. The ability to be able to speak with others about any particular topic in a foreign language also boosts her confidence.
“It gave me new ways to meet people and achieve the goals that I thought were previously impossible,” Hughes said.
As a high school student, Hughes did not believe that she would have such success with her language studies. The more she discovered about the language, the more intrigued she became.
In the near future, Hughes would like to teach Spanish as a
graduate student. Because of her level of proficiency, she believes strongly that the language will open many doors for her professionally and will have a positive impact on her future. Before settling into her career, she plans to further her knowledge of the language by teaching English in Spain for the next few years and completing a Master’s degree program in Spanish.

Desde: Franklin Community Schools
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Congratulations to Lauren Ehrmann for earning the '2015 Indiana Outstanding Student of Spanish Award'.  This distinguished award is given by the Indiana Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.  Lauren met the award criteria of maintaining a GPA above 3.7 and utilizing her Spanish skills at work. She is the Coordinator for the Adult ELL program at the Learning Network.  She has also participated in a 6 week Spanish immersion program in Ciudad Real through an Indiana University program. 

Publicado por: Monroe County School Corporation
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​Congratulations to Bloomington High School North students Diego Fierst Garcia and Maria Gonzalez Diaz who have been selected by the Indiana Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese as recipients of the 2015 Indiana Outstanding High School Student of Spanish Award.
 
Israel Fernando Herrera, AATSP Indiana Chapter President, IFLTA Advocacy Chair expressed to the students in the notification stating, "Your academic excellence, cultural interest and astonishing passion for Spanish was evident in the nomination sent by Professor Clara Garcia that you identified as your inspiration and motivation to study the language in your high school. Professor Garcia will be receiving the 2015 EXTIMO (Exceptional Teaching Impact and Motivation) Student Voice Award for Outstanding Spanish teacher in the ceremony as well. Professor Garcia's dedicated work with Bloomington High School North's Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, the AP Spanish courses and the Spanish Club has been of great value for all students learning Spanish in this prestigious top 10 Indiana school."
The Award Ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 7th at 10am at the Sheraton Hotel (Keystone Crossing) during the AATSP Business Meeting that is part of the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association Conference.

Publicado por: Penn High School
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​Penn senior, Amelia Rodriguez, and Penn teacher/World Languages Academy leader Kelley Watts were both singled out for honors bestowed by the Indiana Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) this month.

Amelia is a recipient of the 2015 Indiana Outstanding High School Latino/Hispanic Student Award. This comment comes from her award notification: “Your strong passion for Spanish and your dedicated community service are evident.”  Amelia is a fourth-year Spanish student; she took “accelerated” courses for two years and is currently enrolled in AP Spanish.
Mrs. Watts received the 2015 EXTIMO Student Voice Award for Outstanding Spanish Teacher.  EXTIMO stands for Exceptional Teaching Impact and Motivation.  The award committee noted that Mrs. Watts serves as both inspiration and motivation to her Spanish-language students. In fact, Amelia credits Mrs. Watts as a primary reason for her interest, enjoyment and success in the study and use of the Spanish language.
While neither woman was able to attend the recent awards ceremony that took place in Indianapolis, both are looking forward to their awards being delivered to them here.
AATSP reviews many nominations in their quest to recognize “the best students and the best Spanish teachers in the state of Indiana.”  P-H-M is proud that the statewide search resulted in two talented people from Penn High School being identified and honored!

Publicado por: Current In Westfield
By Anna Skinner
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Elle McFarlane spent time in the Palacio de Cristal in Retiro Park in Madrid during her time in Spain. (Submitted photos)
Two Westfield High School students were recognized as recipients of the Indiana Outstanding High School Student of Spanish Award.
Elle McFarlane and Taylor Knight were both recognized for their dedication in learning the language. After a recommendation letter from Jen Hasler-Troutman, WHS Spanish teacher, they were awarded the accomplishment.
“They suggest that students have volunteer work in the Spanish community, show dedication through Spanish or studied abroad, and I’ve done all of those things, and figured I had a chance and ended up getting it,” said McFarlane, who studied in Leon, Spain over the summer.
McFarlane also serves as a translator through her church, volunteered at Amigos de Westfield, and tutors other Spanish students.
Taylor Knight participates in the Camino
Knight also studied in Leon, Spain, volunteered at Amigos de Westfield and tutors other students in the language.
Both girls are AP Spanish students in Hasler-Troutman’s class.
“I am proud of this award because for me it means that I have achieved more than I thought that I could, and that I am being recognized for my passion for the language,” Knight said. “I would just like to add that the Indiana Honors Program in Foreign Language, which is the program I studied abroad with, gave me the opportunity of a lifetime and that I am truly grateful for the chance I had to do something with my passion.”
Knight and McFarlane will be honored and presented with their awards at a ceremony Nov. 7.
Knight and McFarlane say they want to continue learning the language, and McFarlane said she hopes to minor in the language at college.
“I want to be a doctor and have been told several times it’s good to speak another language, especially Spanish, in the medical career,” McFarlane said.
In addition to the girls receiving the awards, Hasler-Troutman will receive the Exceptional Teaching Impact and Motivation Award for Outstanding Spanish Teacher at the ceremony as well.

Publicado por: Center Grove Community Schools
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(October 2, 2015) – Center Grove High School seniors Gabrielle Vanbuskirk and Sabrina Maristela, along with their teacher Mrs. Kim Gill, will be honored by the Indiana Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese during the association’s annual awards program on November 7, 2015.
 Ms. Vanbuskirk and Ms. Maristela will each receive the 2015 Indiana Outstanding High School Student of Spanish Award. The award is given to the top seven students learning Spanish in the State of Indiana. Applicants for the award must be high school seniors who have a grade point average of at least 3.7 and have received outstanding grades in Spanish (A’s) during their first three years of high school. The students must also have participated is several Spanish-related activities during their high school career.
 
Mrs. Gill will receive the Exceptional Teaching Impact and Motivation Award for Outstanding Spanish teacher in the AATSP Indiana Award Ceremony. She was recognized by both Ms. Vanbuskirk and Ms. Maristela as their inspiration and motivation to study the Spanish language. Mrs. Gill is also a previous recipient of the prestigious Armstrong Teacher Fellowship from Indiana University.

Publicado por: Notre Dame University
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In 2011, Marisel Moreno, associate professor of US Latino/a Literature, in the department of Romance Languages and Literatures was recognized by Indiana Campus Compact with the Governor's Award for Service Learning for her pioneering work creating the first senior-level Spanish literature course in the College of Arts and Letters that features a required community-service component. Every semester since 2010 each student from Moreno’s community-based learning (CBL) classes has worked at least two hours a week at La Casa de Amistad, a local outreach center for young Latinos in South Bend. Collectively they have contributed over 3,500 hours since they started working with La Casa— contributing significantly to La Casa’s service capacity and their ability to do outreach. 
Two years later, La Casa de Amistad was recognized by Indiana Campus Compact with the 2013 Outstanding Community Partner Award for embracing the idea of community as classroom and creating a partnership that benefits the students of La Casa as well as the Notre Dame students.
Now, Jason C. Hoard ’15, a Spanish and science pre-professional double major and Adam Z. Stepanovic ’15, also majoring in Spanish and science pre-professional and minoring in Science, Technology, and Values have received the 2014 Indiana Outstanding College Student of Spanish Award from the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). Both students have participated in community-based learning courses through the Center for Social Concerns and the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures community-based learning program.
The award recognizes the top seven undergraduate students majoring or minoring in Spanish in a public or private university in the state of Indiana. The award is given to a non-native student of Spanish who has excelled in college with an outstanding GPA of 3.7 or above and has received outstanding grades (A’s) in Spanish courses (language, literature, cinema, linguistics, culture, conversation etc.) during his/her first 3 years in the institution. Students must also volunteer in events outside class where Spanish is spoken, engage in Spanish service-learning projects, tutor Spanish, participate in a cultural group where Spanish is required, or present in an undergraduate conference related with the Spanish language.