2006 ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year
Ken Stewart
Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill, NC, SCOLT, Spanish
“I subscribe to the ancient philosophy that Plutarch stated in his teachings: ‘The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.’ As a world language teacher I cannot imagine a better model to follow. Language teachers are charged with fostering an intercultural understanding as well as igniting the intellectual flames of adolescents—one student at a time. As an 18-year teaching veteran, I seek to fulfill this challenge by cultivating a positive rapport with students and fomenting an atmosphere in my classes in which both student and teacher strive to be exemplary. Demands for accountability, increased scrutiny from the outside, and the political climate of public education require that educators be at the forefront of our profession in terms of pedagogy, technology, and meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse population. To meet those demands, we must transform America beginning with its schools and universities and improve upon the fact that only 9% of Americans speak a second language. Moreover, we must diversify in our study of languages; only 8% of students in grades 7-12 are taking a language other than Spanish, French, or German.”
