Executive Board

Nadine Jacobsen-McLean

Past President

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Nadine Jacobsen-McLean currently works for Middlebury Interactive Languages teaching early language learners. She has worked as a Spanish teacher in Jefferson County Public schools since 2005. As the Kentucky representative for NNELL she reached out to teachers in the World Language profession creating professional development opportunities both virtually as well as in person with hands on activities including a mentoring network for new teachers. She contributed to the Kentucky World Language Association (KWLA) as an early language learning consultant and NNELL representative, created opportunities to mentor language teachers and worked with a network of dedicated world language specialists on organizing the annual state conference. Nadine has presented language acquisition strategies at the local, state and national level including the ACTFL, CSCFLT and KWLA conferences; a video highlighting the strategy she created to engage, assess and encourage a CAN DO attitude can be seen on the Kentucky Education Television (KET) program for professional development for all teachers. She received her B.A. in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Louisville, studied second language acquisition at Northern Kentucky University and received her M.Ed from the UofL.

Nathan Lutz

President

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Nathan Lutz is the Global Learning Coordinator and Primary School French Teacher at Kent Place School, an independent girls’ school in Summit, NJ. Although Nathan has taught at all levels, nursery through college, his passion is working with early learners. Nathan has served the world language community as president of Language Educators of Central New York and as the National Networking Coordinator for the National Network for Early Language Learning. He is currently a board member of Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey, for whom he coordinates its social media presence. Among Nathan’s accomplishments are being a 2014 Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Mead Fellow, a 2012 UPenn STARTALK Excellence in Leadership Institute Fellow, and a 2007 New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers’ Leaders of Tomorrow Fellow. In addition to frequently presenting workshops, he has written several publications concerning world language education for Early Advantage, Little Pim, and Research Education Association. In addition to teaching, Nathan consults for Teach for America and serves as their national coach for their virtual World Languages Teaching Community. Nathan designs professional development opportunities and provides guidance for world language teachers throughout TFA’s regions.

Kathleen Priceman

President Elect

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Kathleen Priceman holds a BA in Spanish Education from the State University of New York at Albany and a MA in Instructional Leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has more than 25 years experience teaching English as a Second Language, Bilingual Education (grades K-4), Spanish as a Second Language, and Spanish Immersion. She was selected to be the 2014 Illinois Foreign Language Teacher of the Year in recognition for her efforts to promote language learning and expertise in instruction. Since 1997 she has worked with colleagues to develop curriculum and teach in a very successful Spanish Immersion program for Oak Park Elementary District 97 in Illinois.

Currently she is the FLES Chair of ICTFL and the Illinois state representative for NNELL, National Network for Early Language Learning. She is an Advisory Council member of the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. After returning to Spain in 2001 on a scholarship awarded by the Spanish Embassy, Ms. Priceman was inspired to create opportunities for families and other educators to experience the richness of being immersed and living in another culture. Each July she returns to Salamanca Spain where she lives and teaches graduate courses in Spanish Language and Culture for Educators.

Laura Terrill

Treasurer

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Laura Terrill holds a BA in French from the University of Missouri — St. Louis and a MA in Secondary Administration from Northeast Missouri State University. She taught French at all levels for 21 years before becoming the Coordinator of Foreign Language and English as a Second Language and then, Director of Curriculum. She has taught methods courses in St. Louis and in Indianapolis and continues to present at the local, state, regional and national levels. She has served on the Board of Directors for Central States and ACTFL. She is the recipient of the Founders Award for Central States, has been named as the NADSFL District Supervisor of the Year and has received the ACTFL Florence Steiner Award for Leadership. She recently co-authored the ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning: Effective Curriculum, Unit and Lesson Design. She is currently working as an Independent Consultant.

Kate Krotzer

National Networking Coordinator

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Bio coming soon

Marcela Summerville

Advocacy Chair

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Bio coming soon

Dorie Perugini

Executive Secretary

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Dorie Conlon Perugini is an elementary Spanish teacher in Glastonbury, Connecticut currently teaching grades one through five. She is passionate about using a variety of technologies in her classroom to engage her students and bring real-life applications to foreign language lessons. Dorie, along with her team of 5th grade students, produces a monthly podcast to broadcast school-wide news to parents and the surrounding community. She has presented several sessions at foreign language conferences and workshops around the nation on topics ranging from model foreign language assessments to digital storytelling. She also serves as the webmaster for her district’s foreign language website.

NNELL Presidents

The mission of the National Network for Early Language Learning is to provide leadership in support of successful early language learning and teaching. Since its founding in 1987, NNELL continues to be an invaluable resource for educators, parents and policymakers advocating for K-8 programs of excellence in second language education.

NNELL’s Core Beliefs

NNELL believes that all elementary school students should have access to high quality, ongoing and systematic world language instruction. This belief is based on research that indicates:

The period of early childhood is considered an optimal time to begin learning a second language, as the methods and materials used in early childhood classes are multi-modal and may facilitate second language acquisition and learning.
Children in effective early second language programs show overall gains on standardized tests of basic skills, and derive additional cognitive, social, and affective benefits.
The integration of content and language learning and the development of positive attitudes towards people who speak other languages occur more easily when long, articulated sequences of second language instruction begin in early childhood and become an integral part of school learning.
Early second language learning may result in improved phonological and phonemic awareness, two building blocks of literacy in one’s native language.

NNELL holds an annual meeting at the fall conference of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

Executive Board

Nadine Jacobsen-McLean

Nathan Lutz

Kathleen Priceman

Laura Terrill

Kate Krotzer

Marcela Summerville

Dorie Perugini

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