#AvantAchiever
Each year, on March 8th, International Women’s Day (#IWD2022) is one of the most important days of the year to:
- celebrate women’s achievements
- raise awareness about women’s equality
- lobby for gender parity
- fundraise for female-focused charities
This year’s theme was #breakthebias and we, at Avant, want to celebrate women who are achieving in all areas of language. This means teaching, learning, preserving languages, and representing diversity of language around the world.
Thank you to everyone who nominated their friends and colleagues! Our featured nominees truly are the “head of the class”!
Linda Egnatz – Executive Director, Global Seal of Biliteracy
Linda Egnatz is an #AvantAchiever because she has been revolutionary to the world of language by providing access and validation, with her work on the Global Seal of Biliteracy . She is a teacher, mentor, director, and advocate for language learning. Linda is a Board Member of the Joint National Committee for Languages–National Council for Languages and International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS) and the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ICTFL) of which she was President (2013-14). She has taught as an Adjunct at DePaul University, Purdue University and Joliet Junior College. Linda was also awarded the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2013, and was recognized as the ACTFL 2014 National Language Teacher of The year. She is now the Executive Director of the Global Seal of Biliteracy. Thank you Linda, we here at Avant Assessment are grateful for your work!
Sheri Spaine Long – Executive Director, AATSP
Sheri Spaine Long was nominated as an #AvantAchiever for her mentorship to so many in the world of language. She is an author, editor, educator, former faculty member, department chair, and study abroad program director. Sheri held several chair positions and is now the Executive Director of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish & Portuguese (AATSP) . Sheri has also received numerous accolades for her work in teaching and service. In 2009, she was honored with the prestigious Steiner Award for Leadership in Foreign Language Education from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. We are inspired by you Sheri, thank you for your consistent efforts in the world of language.
Bonnie Peterson – Regional Account Manager, Avant Assessment
Bonnie Peterson was nominated as an #AvantAchiever because she is dedicated to ensuring all students have the skills and opportunities they need to thrive in a global society. Bonnie has worked as the world languages coordinator and the Director of the Confucius Institute in Davis School District. Professionally, Bonnie has served as the president of the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching (SWCOLT) and the Utah Foreign Language Association as well as having been on several national, regional, and local task forces and committees. We are so grateful for your work and enthusiasm Bonnie!
Krista Spradley Chambless – Associate Professor of French and Spanish, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Krista is nominated as an #AvantAchiever because she is a passionate advocate for the world of language in Alabama and nationally. She is an associate professor of French and Spanish at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the President Elect of Southern Conference on LanguageTeaching (SCOLT). Krista is an accomplished advocate, educator, and author. She was the Alabama nominee to Southern Conference on Language Teaching for Educator of Excellence, 2013, and Southern Conference on Language Teaching Educator of Excellence, 2013 in addition to serving on several state and national language association committees and boards.
Thank you, Krista, we are so impressed with you!
Stephanie Wood – Director of Wired Humanities Projects and Senior Research Associate, University of Oregon
Stephanie Wood has been a lifelong advocate for teaching history of the Americas through more indigenous perspectives. She joined the Honoring Tribal legacies (HTL) in 2010 and in 2015 she was given the lead investigator role. She now manages the funds made available to UO by the National Park service for the support of HTL. She was also the principal investigator for a project that built the online Nahuatl dictionary which now has over 36,000 words. In addition to that, Stephanie worked as the principal investigator for the Mapas Project which is an online collection of indigenous-authored pictorial manuscripts from New Spain. Stephanie Wood has and will continue to achieve in the world of language and for that, we honor her as an #AvantAchiever!
Thank you for helping us celebrate #AvantAchievers!
