Dear IEPIS Members,

“It's a world of laughter, a world of tears
It's a world of hopes, it's a world of fear
There's so much that we share
And it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all.”

Fifty years ago, the It’s a Small World ride opened in Disneyland. Ten years later, I rode that ride over and over, mesmerized by the traditional costumes and the catchy tune. What young child didn’t get caught up in the spirit of the ride? Who didn’t want to travel and meet people from different cultures after such an event?

How appropriate that TESOL was established in that same year. Bringing together teachers from across the globe, the organization has been instrumental in our growth as a profession and in our personal growth as teachers. As we grow, we share our experiences with each other and our students. It’s time for that world to become even smaller and for us to share once again as the TESOL International Convention 2016 is soon upon us!

Approximately 380 proposals were submitted to IEPIS, and 84 were selected to present. I would like to personally thank those of you who submitted proposals. The quality was truly excellent, so the competition was high. I also extend my gratitude to those who reviewed proposals. Reviewing is an enormous time commitment, but the convention could not be as successful as it is without help from our community, so thank you.

Our academic session this year is focused on how to work effectively with Gulf Arab students. It will be held Wednesday, April 6th from 3 pm to 4:45 pm in room 314 in the Convention Center. We have two InterSections this year. IEPIS has collaborated with Program Administration IS to offer a session on developing and aligning standards in an IEP. It will be Thursday, April 7th from 1 pm to 2:45 pm in room 330. We are also collaborating with Higher Education IS and Second Language Writing IS to discuss aligning writing standards from kindergarten all the way to freshman writing programs. It will be held on Friday, April 8th from 1 pm to 2:45 pm in room 330

I would like to thank Judy Dillon, past-chair, for serving our community over the past three years and welcome Dayna Ford as incoming chair. I would also like to welcome Olivia Riordan as the newsletter editor and thank her for her work on her first newsletter

See you in Baltimore!

Officers

Chair: Angela Waigand
Chair-Elect: Dayna Ford
Past Chair: Judy Dillon
Incoming Chair-Elect: Peggy Street
Members-at-Large: Kim Green, Russ Kiser, and Tim Cauller
Newsletter Editor: Olivia Riordan
Community Manager: Tony Terry