On Tuesday, May 20, our New Berlin West World Language Department hosted their first awards ceremony to honor staff and our world language students. In previous years, the department hosted a small ceremony to award participants in the Concours Oral and Concorso Oral competitions, but this year more achievements were recognized.
During flex and lunch, students who were attending to receive their awards were provided with pizza and cake to celebrate. In addition to the students in attendance, NBW hosted several guests of honor, including the School District of New Berlin (SDNB) Superintendent Joe Garza, SDNB Director of Secondary Schools Kelli Kwiatkowski, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jill Underly, the Assistant Deputy State Superintendent Sara Kneuve, and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction World Language and Global Education Consultant Pam Delfosse.
The ceremony began with Underly awarding NBW Spanish teacher Jessica Santiago as the 2024-25 Global Educator of the Year as recognized by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Santiago is the current president of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) and recently participated in the U.S. Department of Education-funded Global Curriculum development Program, where she collaborated with other global educators. With this recognition, she received an International Educational Exchange scholarship to represent Wisconsin on a global site visit to Rome, Italy, this summer.
In addition to Santiago, fellow NBW Spanish teacher Nicole Zaeske was recognized with the AATSP Programs Support Award to recognize educators who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to promoting Spanish Language learning and Hispanic culture. She accomplished this through her participation in AATSP exams and programs, including Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (Spanish Honor Society).
Beyond recognizing our teachers, the students were also awarded for a variety of their language accomplishments. This includes the students who placed in the Wisconsin Association for Language Teaching (WAFLT) Poster Contest, the National Spanish Exam, and those who received their Global Scholars certificates this year. Additionally, students were recognized for their world-language related scholarships, their language class GPA, and for having over 35 service hours with either the Spanish or French Honor Society.
