by Taylor Bryant
One University of West Georgia professor and two alumni will be recognized by the Foreign Language Association of Georgia for their dedication to support and improve foreign language instruction at the college. They will receive the honor at the 2014 FLAG Conference, which will be held March 7-18 in Atlanta, Georgia.
UWG Assistant Professor of Spanish Dr. Jeffrey Zamostny will be awarded the FLAG 2014 Teacher of Promise for K-12 and Post-Secondary Education. This award recognizes teachers who effectively strive to use various strategies, techniques and materials to enhance the students’ interest in, acquisition of and proficiency in a second language.
“I am thrilled to receive the 2014 FLAG Teacher of Promise Award in the postsecondary division,” says Dr. Zamostny. “Since January 2012, I have enjoyed outstanding opportunities to fine-tune my teaching strategies in Spanish and Gender & Sexuality Studies at the University of West Georgia. The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures has also given me chances to lead study abroad trips to Costa Rica, mentor first-year students in a living-learning community and direct a scholarly conference on pedagogy in the humanities. I am extremely grateful to the students and colleagues whose collaboration has helped me grow as a teacher and life-long learner. Winning this award motivates me to continue serving the West Georgia community as best I can.”
UWG alumna Jennifer Bartlett '13 is also receiving the 2014 FLAG Teacher of Promise Award for K-12 teachers. This award recognizes teachers in their first, second or third year of teaching who show promise of being an outstanding teacher and leader in the foreign language education.
"I was elated to discover that not only had I been nominated for such an honor, but that I had been selected as the recipient,” says Jennifer, world languages teacher for New Manchester High School of Douglasville, Georgia. “Being able to really invest myself in a career right after graduating from UWG is such a blessing. As a first-year teacher, I can feel myself growing everyday in the classroom; what I do and who I am becoming in the classroom is certainly a work in progress. Receiving this honor excites me about my work and compels me to continue pressing on as a foreign language teacher."
UWG’s third honoree is Rodney Kay, a 1994 graduate who earned his bachelor’s degree in Spanish. Rodney will be given the Administrative Support of Foreign Languages award at the March conference for his strong and overt support for foreign languages as the principal of Heard County High School.
“I am very honored to receive the award from FLAG,” says Rodney. “Being a Spanish major at the University of West Georgia and then a high school Spanish teacher for 12 years at Central High School, I know the type of organization it is, and to receive recognition from them is simply flattering. I strive every day to support all of our teachers at Heard County High School, but I would be lying if I said Foreign Language didn’t hold a special place in my heart. I am blessed at Heard High to have two other former spanish majors, Tammy Garces and Lee Burson, who are fantastic teachers and make my job very easy.”
All recipients were nominated by their peers and reviewed by a committee that made its final recommendations to the FLAG board. UWG alumna Tammy Garces was also nominated for Teacher of the Year.
For more information, visit www.flageorgia.org.
