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12.31.08
Membership Renewal: Unless you are a Lifetime Member, all memberships will expire with the end of this calendar year, on December 31st.
Please visit the Membership page of this site for renewal information.
1.15.09
WNYFLEC Poster Contest
All poster contest entries are due to Carol Wirth by January 15, 2009. For specific rules and requirements, please visit the Awards & Contests page of this site.
Reminders
WNYFLEC is currently looking for a member to serve on the Executive Board in the position of Historian. This is an Interim position. Responsibilities include attending WNYFLEC-sponsored events and taking photos, developing those photos and storing them in an event album, and storing copies of event programs for future reference. If interested, please contact WNYFLEC President Ellen Connell at econnell@wnyflec.org.
Lend a Hand !
WNYFLEC is an organization that is only as strong as the involvement of its members.
Please consider volunteering with the organization in some capacity. We are always
looking for individuals to assist with Regional Conference planning, STAR Awards
planning, publicity, event registration and more! To help with any of these or other
tasks, please click the Volunteer page on the main menu.
Events
WNYFLEC/NYSAFLT Regional Conference Announcement 2009
Once again, WNYFLEC/NYSAFLT Regional Conference is scheduled to
coincide with National Foreign Language Week. This year's conference will be held
on Saturday, February 28, 2009 at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center in Getzville,
NY.
The conference will include approximately 15 workshops for foreign language teachers.
In addition, the conference design allows ample opportunity for participants to
browse exhibitor displays and shop for materials to enhance their students' learning
and achievement.
Please consider presenting a workshop at our conference this year.
We invite you to share your experience, enthusiasm
and expertise with us; you will have a highly interested audience and we are sure
that it will be well worth your time to join us!
To register as a presenter at this year's event,
please fill out our Presenter Form
and send it at your earliest convenience to the following address:
JoAnn Thomasson
5508 George Drive
Hamburg, NY 14075
You may also download the Presenter Form here, to complete and
submit via email to jthomasson@wnyflec.org.
I will also happily email you the registration form upon request. If you have any
questions, please call me at (716) 649-4653.
***Due to program design and printing schedules, the deadline for submitting
your workshop information is January 30, 2009. Thank you!
Sincerely,
JoAnn Thomasson
Conference Co-chair
KINSHASA STREET CHILDREN PILOT PROJECT: Ongoing - Get Involved!
Dr. Musindu Kanya-Ngambi, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and now a naturalized American citizen serving as adjunct faculty in SUNY Buffalo's Department of Romance Languages & Literatures, began a nonprofit, non-government organization called African Self-Help Community Schools Assistance, Inc., known as ASH-CASI. The organization's overall goal is to promote the creation, support and operation of community-based schools in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Africa. The DRC's government is still at war after 5 years of civil war that has brought over five million deaths and millions more of displaced persons. The country and its people are overwhelemed by social, financial and institutional emergencies, with education being one of its lowest priorities. In 1994 Dr. Kanya-Ngambi started in Kinshasa, the capital city (population approx. 10 million), a national NGO pursuing the same goal of initiating community schools for which citizens would organize and make contributions (money, materials, time and ideas) to operate them without waiting for government intervention.
In 1998 ASH-CASI submitted to the World Bank a Pilot Project for ten Congolese community schools around the country for a tentative budget of $6 million. The World Bank reviewed the project for funding and had reduced the budget to $3 million for approval when, unfortunately, the civil war erupted in the Eastern part of Congo. The World Bank to this day is still waiting for favorable circumstances to approve the project for funding. In the meantime, ASH-CASI has been collecting used computers, clothing and school supplies/equipment to ship to deprived schools of the DRC, with special focus on the street children of Kinshasa.
For more information, to donate computer equipment (new or used), clothing or school supplies, or to make a financial donation to assist ASH-CASI in paying the large shipment fees to send a sea container full of these donated goods to Africa, please contact Dr. Musindu Kanya-Ngambi by phone at 716-598-0129 (mobile), 716-645-2191 x1198 (office), or via email at didingambi@live.com.
To learn a little more about Dr. Musindu Kanya-Ngambi, click here.
CANISIUS COLLEGE 2009 FRANCOPHONE FILM FESTIVAL: FEBRUARY 17-22, 2009
The following information is excerpted from the original press release.
The Department of Modern Languages at Canisius College is pleased to announce its 2009 Francophone Film Festival. All films will be shown in the Montante Cultural Center located at the corner of Main Street and Eastwood Place. Each film screening is free and open to the public, and will include a discussion with a Canisius College faculty member. Parking will be available for the event in the college’s parking ramp at the corner of Jefferson and Delavan Avenues.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
PERSEPOLIS (2007): This Academy award-nominated animated feature follows the life of a young girl coming of age in Iran during the Islamic revolution. As she grows up, she must deal with the religious fundamentalism of her own country and issues of adaptation, homesickness, and prejudice as she attempts to speak against the hypocrisy she witnesses.
Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
LA FAUTE A FIDEL (2006): Nine-year-old Anna must adapt to some radical changes in her life when her parents become left-wing revolutionaries following her uncle's death by Franco's police force and her aunt's exile. Anna tries to hold onto the comfort she is used to while trying to make sense of the larger political events and their impact on her childhood.
Friday, February 20, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
LA MOUSTACHE (2005): Marc is a successful architect who has a wonderful relationship with his wife Agnes. As they prepare to join friends for dinner, Marc impulsively shaves off the moustache he's worn his entire adult life. However, no one at the dinner table notices the difference and everyone insists Marc hasn't worn a moustache for years, if ever. As Marc struggles to understand his friends' lack of reaction, they begin to question Marc's sanity.
Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
DELWENDE (2005): This mother-daughter tale focuses on the injustice of some traditional African practices and women's struggle for equality. Based on a true story, Delwende examines some traditional customs in Africa and the role women play in exposing the injustices perpetrated against them.
Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. Post-screening refreshments included.
L'ORIGINE DE LA TENDRESSE (2005-07): This selection of six short films depicts a variety of genres and subjects--from documentaries on an Algerian woman's immigration to France and the final day of a French factory's operation to fiction shorts depicting everyday people including Parisian commuters, a museum attendant, and a couple preparing a lobster dinner.
For more information about the Canisius College 2009 Francophone Film Festival, contact Eileen M. Angelini, PhD, chair and professor of modern languages, at (716) 888-2829 or Kennedy M. Schultz, PhD, assistant professor of modern languages, at (716) 888-2742.