Recommendation letter for Fran Siracusa from Ted Gillette

1. 11499 131st Street North, Largo, Florida 33774
May 28, 2013
American Council on the Teachng of Foreign Languages
1001 North Fairfax Street, Suite 200
Alexandria, VA 22314
Dear ACTFL Board members:
As the Head of Country Day World School in Largo, Florida, it is my privilege to write this letter to
nominate Fran Siracusa for consideration for the ACTFL Award for Excellence in Foreign Language
Instruction Using Technology with IALLT (K-12). Fran is the World Languages Department
Chairperson, a Spanish teacher, and the Co-Director of International Programs. She joined us three years
ago, and has brought forth a plethora of innovation and initiative to our World School academic
program.
Here at Country Day World School, the phrase "capturing the best of both worlds" makes multiple
references, including: both Spanish and Chinese World languages; traditional learning and virtual
learning designs; and class group experience and ability-based small group activities. The Country Day
World Language Spanish I, Spanish II and Chinese courses are distinctive in setup, using a blended
learning approach that function as a model in the future of effective education. As one of few schools in
Florida using Rosetta Stone in K-8 education, Country Day utilizes the world-renowned software
through our web-hosted classroom sites. Through personalized learning, students quickly acquire new
language skills through genuine immersion instruction with fully interactive, multimedia technology
methods. The program combines the voices of native speakers, written text, and vivid real-life images to
teach new words and grammar inductively through a process of creative discovery.
As amazing as the Rosetta Stone program is, it is our faculty that bring the lessons to life with their
passion, expertise, and collaboration with students. Our competitive world language study program
indeed has something to offer every student and encompasses the national World Language standards
known as The Five Cs: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities, as well
as the Florida Sunshine State Standards. Students are challenged according to their ability in differing
levels of instruction and learn to apply the four basic linguistic skills of speaking, reading, listening, and
writing. Within the goals of “communication” in particular, our students exceed local and national
standards in the realms of the interpersonal, interpretive and presentational modes.
Not only does Fran develop global awareness and oral and written communication skills within our
students, but she is instrumental in forming authentic interactions between our students and peers across
the globe. Whether on a digital Skype or Nearpod lesson with peer Spanish classes, or studying
alongside students in Spain or Costa Rica, Fran provides students with genuine interactions from which
to glean target language development.

2. Fran is part of our talented and scholarly faculty who are caring individuals dedicated to their students'
intellectual growth as well as their emotional and social development. Keenly attuned to the needs of
each child, she is a teacher entrenched in Montessori philosophy; she is an observer that strives to
educate and challenge the whole child as well as a facilitator who encourages children to explore and
find their own solutions in learning.
We find Fran’s work ethic and lesson planning to be fabulous, and we truly enjoy seeing our students
experience the top-notch World Languages program under her direction. We have always admired her
work and the way she embraces opportunities to use new technology with students. The students are
lucky to have such an innovative, caring and creative teacher as Fran!
Please let me know if you need additional information.
Sincerely,
Ted Gillette
Head of School