TCLP alumni have made an impact in their home countries through collaborative projects and trainings that benefit their fellow educators and students. Working together alumni have been able to deliver workshops or cultural exchange opportunities for their local communities. In helping to facilitate collaborations and communication between fellow alumni, cohort leaders play a special role in sharing program opportunities and information. Alumni cohort leaders also reach out to their peers for updates on their professional careers or initiatives they are pursuing. TCLP is pleased to announce the new alumni cohort leaders for the 2018-2019 group: Gao Zixin and Mohammed Etify. Gao Zixin taught Chinese language and culture to approximately 607 students at Batesville Primary School in Batesville, IN through regular classroom teaching and conducted some 154 hours of interdisciplinary outreach. In addition to exploring numerous teaching methodologies, she also participated in about 212 hours of professional development. Ms. Gao brought both Chinese language and culture to her elementary students throughout the year. In the Fall, Ms. Gao integrated the Mid-Autumn Festival into vocabulary lessons and, in the Spring, she executed a Chinese New Year celebration at her school as her capstone project. Students, parents, community members, school district administrators, and Mayor Mike Bettice attended the celebration. Ms. Gao also led multiple cultural outreach activities at schools in her district including co-teaching art and mythology classes at Batesville High School (BHS) with BHS faculty. In November, 2018 Ms. Gao provided assistance to Mayor Bettice and a Chinese delegation from Batesville’s sister city in Zhejiang Province, China. Ms. Gao was recognized for her contributions to her host school by the Batesville Community School Corporation (BCSC) at the BCSC Staff Recognition Banquet and by Mayor Bettice at the Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Family and Community Night. Batesville Primary School’s principal reported, “Gao Laoshi’s (honorific for addressing a teacher) impact cannot be measured. In a rural, predominately white community, students and educator have little firsthand experience with the Chinese culture. The education she has provided has created a cultural awareness that did not exist prior to her visit.” Mohammed Etify taught Arabic language and culture to approximately 98 students through regular classroom teaching and conducted some 48 hours of interdisciplinary outreach. In addition to exploring numerous teaching methodologies, he also participated in about 205 hours of professional development. Mr. Etify incorporated active learning into his classroom throughout the year. With the support of a Critical Language Project grant, Mr. Etify established an extracurricular Arabic club and built a partnership between his host school and Cumberland International Early High School, which also has an Arabic program, through virtual classroom exchanges. After meeting virtually, Mr. Etify’s students joined their peers on a joint field trip to a local Middle Eastern market, restaurant, and bakery where they practiced speaking Arabic with native speakers. Additionally, he conducted interdisciplinary outreach activities at his host school and in the community. Anne Chesnutt Middle School’s principal emphasized the “valuable information imparted by Mr. Etify… in outreach activities with our Social Studies, Art and World Language Department by promoting the culture and language of the Arab World.” Throughout the year, Mr. Etify was committed to improving his teaching practices and attended two conferences, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) conference in New Orleans, LA and the Southern Conference of Language Teaching (SCOLT) conference in Myrtle Beach, SC, where he attended multiple panels and sessions on using technology in the classroom, project-based learning, and other pedagogical methods. Due to his efforts in growing the school’s Arabic program, the school has secured funding to hire a full time teacher after graduating with TCLP. Ms. Gao and Mr. Etify are looking forward to reaching out to their cohorts and building supportive links between alumni. One great way to begin collaborating is with a CLP project! Check out the alumni resources pages for information on applying for the next round of CLP alumni grants. You can also find the profiles for all TCLP alumni cohort leaders by clicking this link: http://tclprogram.org/alumni-resources/cohort-leaders