A native of Royston, Georgia, Tracy Rucker was raised in Atlanta, and later studied French at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. There, as Mr. Rucker passionately learned to manipulate conditional sentences and nuanced subjunctive forms, he honed his craft by embracing cultural anecdotes from the Francophone world. He graduated with a B.A. in French in 1994, and later matriculated at Middlebury College where he also participated in theater and specialized in studies of the Francophone world. Since completing his studies, Mr. Rucker has led student trips to France, and he has studied Quebecois language and culture in Chicoutimi, Quebec as well as regional cultural influences in Bordeaux, France. When Mr. Rucker is not teaching, he enjoys grading Advanced Placement French Exams for the College Board.

Most recently, Mr. Rucker organized a 10 day French Exchange program with Charles de Gaulle High School in Dijon, France. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Mr. Rucker organizes an annual multicultural dinner for his school. In 2014, Mr. Rucker was awarded the prestigious Dorothy S. Ludwig Award. This award is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French and is given to one teacher in each level of education. In 2016, Mr. Rucker completed coursework to attain certification through Actfl (American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages) to become an OPI certified tester of French. In class, Mr. Rucker combines authentic resources with technology to encourage students to embrace 21st century skills. He believes in developing language skills through active participation, appreciation of world cultures, and quotidian values. Songs, films, video clips, pictures, and reading passages make up this master teacher’s repertoire, and he is eager to share some of his crafted techniques with you.

Bio coming soon

Prof. Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby is the Chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Kentucky, where she has worked for 20 years. She teaches all levels of Russian language as well as courses on folklore and linguistics. She holds a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in English, Russian and German from James Madison University. She is particularly interested in outreach to state language teachers and fostering connections that strengthen programs in schools and at the state\’s universities. She is a member of ACTFL, KWLA, ASEEES, SEEFA and edits the SEEFA journal Folklorica. She is also on the board of American Friends of Russian Folklore and the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research.

Yanhong was born in the city of Harbin, Heilongjing province, her husband, Xingyin Duan, was a businessman in Harbin and now a self-employer—house repair service at Lexington.  She got the bachelor’s degree in English Education from Heilongjiang University in China; a master’s degree in English Education from Harbin Normal University in China.  She was a key high school English teacher at Harbin No.12 High School for 13 years.

She got Chinese teacher certification from Northern Kentucky University and began to teach Chinese since 2007 until now.  She was the Chinese guest teacher at Jessamine career and technology center and Asbury University from 2007-2010 and is the Chinese teacher of FCPS now.  She has taught Chinese at Veterans Park Elementary School, Winburn Middle School, Bryan Station High School and Southern Middle School.  She teaches Chinese at Asbury University for the evening classes, too.

She has been a member of KWLA since 2009, joined in Chinese teacher STARTALK training at Nebraska University-Lincoln 2012 and 2014; at Holy Cross College in 2013; at McDaniel College in 2016, attended Asia Society Confucius Classroom Teachers Institute in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.  She has taught FCPS students at STARTALK Chinese camp since 2012, was named Teacher of the year by KACLT in 2014.

Jennifer teaches Spanish in Lexington, KY at Southern Elementary. In addition to being the Communications Director for KWLA, she is also the Southeast Regional Representative for the National Network of Early Language Learners (NNELL). At the district level, Jennifer has worked on the K-5 and Novice High Curriculum teams and writes and presents professional development as a district Proficiency Lead. Jennifer has also shared her passion for Rueda de Casino at the Kentucky Center’s World Languages and Arts Integration Academies and worked as an educational consultant for Kentucky Educational Television (KET). She is passionate about younger learners and think every child should get the opportunity to learn a second language starting in kindergarten. 

Madeline Griffitt teaches French at Eisenhower Elementary School in Louisville, KY is the Kentucky representative for the National Network for Early Language Learning and was NNELL KY Teacher of the Year in 2017.  She is passionate about engaging her young students in language learning to become a globally and culturally competent citizens.

Matthaeus Huelse grew up in Dortmund Germany and left his home-town for his studies at Transylvania University in sociology. Afterwards he continued his masters at the University of Kentucky in German Studies and Public Health. He has taught at the University of Kentucky, Georgetown College, and Eastern Kentucky University. Currently, Matthaeus Huelse is the German teacher at Cooper High School in Union, Ky.

Maria Consuelo ( Chelo ) Diaz Martin earned her degree from the University of Extremadura. Masters in Filologia anglogermanica, and a degree in the Art of Teaching ( Curso de Adaptacion Pedagogica)

She has been teaching Spanish for over 17 years now in KY, recently in Ryle High School and few years too in NKU.

She came with the visiting Teachers Program from Spain. Soon she felt in love with this community and her amazing, passionate students and her colleagues at her schools.

She is a College Board AP Ky advocate, a Table Leader at AP Spanish language and culture reading, an AAPPL rater, a member of ACTFL, KWLA, AASTP, and has been a Presenter in conferences in KWLA, SCOLT.

She is a Passionate Teacher that constantly encourages her students to immerse in the Spanish culture, provide them with the most appropriate resources to achieve their goal: to be able to communicate in the target language and to be prepared to be a Global citizen.

Jill Susini teaches French at Trinity Christian Academy’s Upper School. She is currently serving as a Regional Rep Liaison as well as Fayette Country Rep for Private Schools. She is also Vice President for AATF (American Association of Teachers of French), Kentucky Chapter. She lived 12 years in France and loves to share her enthusiasm of the language and culture with her students. She brings students to Normandy and Paris, France for a 10 day trip! This is a biennal voyage. She also helps her students run a very active French Club. Her students get together with the Kentucky Refugee Ministries Youth at least twice a year. They do a huge crêpe sale fund raiser to help provide new soccer balls for all the KRM Youth every spring. She loves seeing students impacted by using French inside and outside the classroom!