Mrs. Nolvia Ventura, Secondary Campus Foreign Language Faculty, shared her expertise at the Mississippi Foreign Language Association Conference. Held on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi on October 25-26, 2024, the MFLC provided opportunities for educators to connect from across the state. The two day conference included a networking and connections dinner for attendees and presenters. In addition to presenting, Mrs. Ventura attended six different sessions, learning more to add to her teacher toolkit! Mrs. Ventura shared her excitement for PCS’s commitment to expanding professional development opportunities, saying, “I am especially thankful this year because Presbyterian Christian School sent four educators to this conference.” Ventura shared about the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (Spanish Honor Society) and membership benefits for those schools who start and maintain a chapter. Ventura currently serves as the state director for the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, which is hosted by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). During the conference, Ventura was elected to serve as the incoming president of the AATSP chapter. Mr. Nathaniel Gonsalves, Spanish and history faculty, was also elected to a position for the state chapter of AATSP. He will serve as the state secretary of the K-12th section. PCS is proud to have our talented faculty serving in leadership positions at the state level.
Beginning with the 2024 academic year, PCS implemented Spanish into the elementary curriculum. All students in grades K5-12 now have foreign language education as a core component of their school day. Elementary Campus Director, Ginny Graham, shared her excitement for the addition of elementary Spanish, saying, “Our new Spanish program at the elementary school has been a really positive addition to our curriculum. Each morning you can hear students greeting their Spanish teachers in the morning carline with a bright and excited ‘Buenos Dias!’ It’s incredible to see how quickly they are absorbing this new second language experience.” As we expand our foreign language programs in the elementary and middle school, it is important to include the elementary team in professional development and training. Lorraine Jenkins from the elementary campus also attended the Mississippi Foreign Language Association Conference. Jenkins expressed her enthusiasm for the conference sessions, “Two sessions that I really enjoyed during this conference were “Silent Conversations” and the technology session using Quizaline and Diffit. Both of these sessions could be modified to be effective for student learning across the curriculum.” We are thrilled to have such talented foreign language teachers at Presbyterian Christian School.
PCS is fully accredited by MAIS and Cognia