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The National Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools, American University's Institute for Innovation in Education and TESOL Program in Washington, DC invited all to the 5th annual conference with a goal to make clear the importance of community-based heritage language schools in the United States and in the lives of language communities in this country and to build partnerships to make them stronger.
The coalition works closely with the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL); National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC) at UCLA; and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).
The Lithuanian team this year included G. Urbonaite-Narkeviciene (Director of Boston Lithuanian School), N. Baumiliene (Director of the Kazickas Family Foundation, NY), M. Newsom (Director of St. Casimir Lithuanian School), G. Genender (Director of A. Kazickas Lithuanian School), S. Newsom and E. Urbonaite (teachers at St. Casimir Lithuanian School).
The Lithuanian representatives have been coming to the conference for five years to represent Lithuanian language, share their experiences and knowledge as Lithuanian Heritage Schools in the US have been a leading example for many years to many other cultures in the US. Gaila Urbonaite-Narkeviciene and Neila Baumiliene were asked to join the National Coalition board of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools in an effort to represent a wide range of these schools (of 27 languages) in the US and to promote multilingualism.
A day before the conference G. Urbonaite-Narkeviciene, N. Baumiliene and G. Genender visited Lithuanian Embassy in Washington, DC where they met with Ambassador Rolandas Krisciunas, first secretary Jurate Useviciute and second secretary Tadas Kubilius to discuss Lithuanian schools' in the US work, Lithuanian Language Proficiency Test and other Kazickas Family Foundation's work. Lithuanian Embassy''s active role in Lithuanian education in the US is crucial to 44 schools and more than 2,000 students attending them.
Photo: Lithuanian language representatives with Linda Egnatz, Executive Director of the Global Seal of Biliteracy.