The U.S. Department of Education today announced guidelines for current college students and high school seniors to apply for new Academic Competitiveness Grants and National SMART Grants for the 2006-07 academic year.  Students who completed rigorous coursework in high school or who are pursuing degrees in math, science and critical foreign languages are eligible for a portion of $790 million in new federal funding for higher education.

Rita A. Oleksak has been elected President-Elect 2006 of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Ms. Oleksak, who holds a B.A. degree in French and Spanish, a M.A.T. in Spanish and a M.Ed in Educational Administration, is the Foreign Language Director K-12 in Glastonbury, CT.  Previously, she was Supervisor of Foreign Languages K-12 in West Hartford, CT.

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages will launch a major nationwide language education initiative at its 39th Annual Conference and Exposition at the Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore, MD from November 18-20, 2005.  Discover Languages will be a sustained campaign designed to heighten public awareness of the critical importance of language education and proficiency in the United States.  The program will build on the momentum achieved during the association’s 2005: The Year of Languages   initiative that celebrated the value of language learning throughout 2005.