A Program of the 
The 2019 Annual Convention and World Languages Expo for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages kicked off this week in Washington, D.C. and staff from the CLS Program were there to meet with our colleagues and alumni from across the United States, and all over the world. The event is attended by over 8,000 language educators from all around the world. Many language faculty and area experts visited the CLS Program booth to learn more about opportunities for their students to study critical languages and cultures abroad.
We also had the opportunity to reconnect with many alumni of the CLS Program who have gone on to enter the education and language services field, applying the diverse critical languages that they studied on the CLS Program to their work.
Program Officer Chris Stiles with Christina Cannon (Arabic 2014)
Christina Cannon participated on the CLS Program in Tangier, Morocco in 2014, before graduating from Brigham Young University and beginning a career as an curriculum designer and instructor of Arabic.
Program Officer Chris Stiles with Michael Marsh-Soloway (Russian 2011)
Michael Marsh-Soloway participated on the CLS Program in Ufa, Russia in 2011 as a graduate student at the University of Virginia. He is now director of the Global Studio at the University of Richmond's Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, which uses technology to enhance language learning for the University of Richmond community.
Program Officer Syejeong Kim with Iker Sedano (Korean 2018)
Iker Sedeno has been busy since participating in the CLS Program in Busan, South Korea in 2018. Following the program, Iker spent a year in South Korea teaching Spanish to Korean students. Since graduating with his Master's degree in Spanish from the University of Tennessee, he has been teaching Spanish to American K-12 students.
Program Officer Syejeong Kim with Tiffani Jones (Urdu 2008)
Tiffani Jones participated in the CLS Program in Lucknow, India as a graduate student at Howard University. Since then, she has been teaching French in D.C. Public Schools where she increased French enrollment by as much as fifty percent.
Program Officer Syejeong Kim and Sarina Haryanto (Indonesian 2018)
We were especially pleased to see Sarina Haryanto, a former Alumni Ambassador who since participating in the CLS Program in Malang, Indonesia in 2018 graduated from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business and began a position as a Program Coordinator at ACTFL's own Center for Assessment, Research and Development (CARD). We are so happy to be her guest at the ACTFL Convention this year!
The event has been a great success for raising awareness about the CLS Program and the study of critical languages in the global language education community and to meet with our colleagues from industry and academia alike. We look forward to seeing everyone again tomorrow!