Portland, ME:

On Saturday, March 18th, Educators for a Multilingual Maine (EMME) announced Laura Wittmann as their 2023 English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Teacher of the Year. The honor was bestowed upon Ms. Wittmann by Stephanie Carbonneau, EMME President, at the organization’s annual conference. This year’s conference was co-hosted by the Department of Linguistics at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.

Ms. Wittmann was nominated for this recognition based on her demonstration of best practices in teaching English, her participation in professional growth, and her service to students and the school district. In her role as the ELL District coordinator for Bangor Schools, she advocates for students and their families, by connecting them to social and cultural activities in the community as well as connecting them to social workers and local volunteer groups who facilitate social and medical services.

Ms. Wittmann is also a teacher at William S. Cohen School and Mary Snow School. In the classroom, she works to relate her students’ background knowledge to the curriculum content, in order to ensure that the students can access the material at the same level as their peers, regardless of their level of English proficiency. She feels that “as a Maine ESOL teacher, (she) love(s) to help students find their voices and tell their stories (in English), and create bridges between their respective home languages and cultures, and their new identities as Mainers.”

About EMME: Educators for a Multilingual Maine is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote and improve the teaching and study of languages and cultures of the world. EMME also strives to further the common interests of teachers, students and others in the state of Maine, for whom languages play an important role. EMME was formerly known as FLAME, the Foreign Language Association of Maine. Learn more about EMME at www.emmaine.org.