[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 185 (Monday, November 13, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1551-E1552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 LEAH DEVINE NAMED OUTSTANDING WEST VIRGINIA WORLD LANGUAGE TEACHER OF 
                                THE YEAR

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ALEXANDER X. MOONEY

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 13, 2017

  Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the 
following article congratulating Leah Devine being named Outstanding 
West Virginia World Language Teacher of the Year.

                       [From the Inter-Mountain]

              Elkins Native Wins Teacher of the Year Honor

       Elkins--A local Spanish instructor and Elkins native 
     recently earned teacher of the year honor.
       Leah Devine, an online Spanish teacher with the West 
     Virginia Virtual School was named Outstanding West Virginia 
     World Language Teacher of the Year by the West Virginia 
     Foreign Language Teacher's Organization in October.
       ``Languages, culture knowledge and understanding 
     international customs all can broaden a student's perspective 
     and encourage the student to see the world through new eyes. 
     When students can reflect on the greater world, they can also 
     in turn reflect on their own language, communities, customs 
     and daily practices,'' Devine said about the value of 
     learning languages and developing global and cultural 
     literacy.
       Devine teaches virtually in five counties in the state, 
     including Randolph, Monroe, Greenbrier, Summers and Kanawha. 
     Within these counties, she instructs students at Western 
     Greenbrier Middle School, DuPont Middle School, Mountain View 
     Middle School and Peterstown Middle School, Pickens School, 
     Summers County Middle School and Summers County High School.
       ``Basically, the students are on online curriculum most of 
     the time, but three days out of the week, I call them and I 
     teach them,'' Devine said. ``When I teach them lessons, 
     they're seeing the same things I'm seeing and we're doing a 
     lot of the same skills we would be doing if we were in a 
     face-to-face setting--such as answer this question, ask your 
     neighbor this or tell me what color shirt you're wearing.''
       She went on to say the classes are proficiency based and 
     interactive while they are primarily conducted over phone or 
     online.
       While the majority of her teaching is done virtually, 
     Devine said she is able to visit her students three times per 
     year.
       Before she began teaching virtually, Devine taught for six 
     years in a face-to-face classroom setting. She is now in her 
     12th year of teaching.
       ``Part of what I do is I go visit my students and teach 
     them face-to-face, and when I'm there we do cultural 
     activities,'' Devine said. ``Some of the things I've done is 
     teach about the food made in Venezuela, and I was able to 
     bring the students from Pickens to El Gran Sabor for a field 
     trip.''
       She explained students were to order in Spanish when they 
     visited the restaurant, and several months later, the 
     students made Venezuelan cuisine for their parents.
       ``They were taking what they learned food-wise to cook and 
     prepare a meal using recipes in Spanish,'' Devine said.
       Devine earned a masters in instructional design and 
     technology from West Virginia University. She is also the 
     immediate past president of the West Virginia Chapter of 
     American Association of Teachers of Spanish

[[Page E1552]]

     and Portuguese, and the secretary of the West Virginia 
     Foreign Language Teachers' Association.
       When she was a student at Elkins High School, Devine 
     studied Spanish with Brad Martin, longtime language teacher 
     at EHS.
       ``I learned a great deal from Mr. Martin as his student, 
     and as I started my professional career I became increasingly 
     aware of how phenomenal of a teacher and role model he is,'' 
     Devine said. ``(Martin) has inspired other language teachers 
     around the area and has multiple former students currently 
     teaching world languages.''
       She also noted 20 years ago Martin was awarded the teacher 
     of the year award by the West Virginia Foreign Language 
     Teachers Association.
       In March, Devine will travel to Atlanta for the Southern 
     Conference on Language Teaching to represent the Mountain 
     State as teacher of the year and compete for the regional 
     title.
       ``I'll also attend workshops to learn things that will help 
     to improve our profession that I can bring back and share 
     with West Virginia students as well as my peers and 
     colleagues,'' Devine said.
       While she said she does not currently have plans to teach 
     any additional languages, she hopes to learn more, possibly 
     Italian and Portuguese.
       ``We live and teach in an interconnected world where 
     learning languages is a key to unlocking opportunities,'' 
     Devine said. ``It is our duty as language teachers to help 
     our students build confidence and skills that they can use to 
     explore the world around them and the global community.''

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