This year marks TESOL’s 50th anniversary. Fifty years of serving and educating ESL professionals! This is no small feat, and I’m proud to be a part of it. Yet, this milestone leads me to ponder VDMIS’s role thus far, and even more important, what our role shall be in the next 50 years. The VDMIS holds an important place in the TESOL dynamic; it is a group where ESL educators can either use existing multimedia or, better yet, have students create multimedia in the quest to improve their language skills.

The strength of the interest section lies, however, within its members. While many educators list VDMIS as their primary interest section, and many more have us as a secondary interest, few actually take part in the business aspect. We need more members to come to the business meetings, submit proposals, and generally take a more active approach. I welcome incoming chair, Julie Lopez, to take over chair responsibilities knowing that she will do an amazing job in leading VDMIS this next year. But she will need your help and support. Please join us this year in Baltimore and come to the VDMIS business meeting, Wednesday, 6 April, from 6:45 pm–8:15 pm. If you have never submitted a proposal or a newsletter article, make this year your first to do that.

It takes a village to raise a child; it takes a global ESL community to ensure that an interest section not only functions but grows and becomes stronger. Julie and I look forward to working and collaborating with you all to help VDMIS prosper for the next 50 years!

Scott Duarte has been an instructor at the University of Delaware English Language Institute since August of 2012. Scott has taught in high schools and universities in Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and Morocco and conducted teacher-training workshops in India and the Middle East through the State Department English Language Specialist program. His students’ audio and video projects can be viewed on YouTube on the ELI Film Studios channel and on ESL Student Publications.