President's Message
ATESL continues to be very active this year. The Calgary, Edmonton, and Central Alberta local committees have each provided a series of stimulating workshops to enthusiastic members and interested guests. Thank you all for your leadership and participation at the local level.
The Enhanced Language Training (ELT) conference in Edmonton from March 3-5 was very successful. This event was sponsored by Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and organized by ATESL. Thank you to Judy Sillito, Conference Chair, and Karen Bradley, Logistics Coordinator, for their excellent work on this project.
Plans are now well underway for the ATESL 2008 conference, “Bridging The Gap”, to be held in Edmonton October 17-18. The Call for Papers will be coming out soon. Please consider submitting proposals for workshops and sharing your experiences. The ATESL 2008 volunteer sign-up form is on the conference website if you’d like to provide on-site assistance.
The TESL Canada 2009 conference, co-hosted by ATESL, will be held in Banff from October 1-3, 2009. Thanks to the Calgary local members for the important role that they will play in organizing this conference. Volunteering at local, provincial, and national meetings offers rewarding opportunities to develop community and to enhance professional development. The call for TESL Canada 2009 volunteers will soon be available; thanks to all of you who volunteer for and/or plan to attend these exciting events.
Because our field is growing and becoming increasingly diverse, you will be receiving an email in the coming month asking you to identify your area(s) of special interest in TESL. We look forward to your responses; this information will enable us to organize forums or colloquia on specific topics at upcoming conferences, as well as facilitate discussion among members on an ongoing, more informal basis.
I hope that you’re finding our new ATESL website useful. If you have information that you would like to see posted on the website, we would be happy to hear from you. If you have issues or concerns that you would like to raise at the Board level, please let me know.
In closing, I would like to thank the ATESL Board members and local volunteers for their continuing assistance and support for the work that we do.
Sincerely,
Marian Rossiter
ATESL President