CIMA CENTER AT K-STATE ANNOUNCES 2006 KATESOL/BE SPRING CONFERENCE

February 3-4 are the dates for the 2006 spring conference of the Kansas
Association
of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and Bilingual
Educators
(KATESOL/BE), to be hosted by K-State's Center for Intercultural and
Multilingual
Advocacy and a coalition of K-State departments and offices united by a
campus-wide
mission to promote the educational interests of culturally and
linguistically diverse
learners and families. "We hope that educators and volunteers from across
the
state will join us in Manhattan," said KATESOL president Dr. Della Perez,
"to share
ideas and strategies that empower and give voice to our English language
learners
in Kansas."

Co-sponsors of KATESOL 2006 are the K-State College of
Education, the K-State Division of Continuing Education, the Midwest Equity
Assistance Center,  and the CIMA Center.
Co-hosting the event will be the K-State Modern Language Department, the
K-State Intensive English Program, and the BESITOS Grants and Scholarship
Programs of Kansas State University. Already more than 100 educators
from Kansas and a five-state surrounding region have registered to take
advantage of early-bird rates in effect through the end of November.

The weekend event will kick off with several pre-conference institutes,
Friday,
February 3rd. Kathy Escamilla, past president of the National Association
of
Bilingual Educators, will lead an institute on literacy instruction in
elementary
schools. Mary Wood, director of the English Language
Program at K-State, is organizing an institute on how to build bridges
between
campus and community organizations. Diane Torres-Velasquez, a faculty
member of
the Center for Mathematics Education of Latinos and Latinas (CEMELA), is
leading
an institute on literacy for academic success in secondary school math and
science.
"The public and the media usually assume that the children we're advocating
for
are only immigrants," said Socorro Herrera, the conference chair for
KATESOL/BE
2006, "but 80 percent of the culturally and linguistically diverse students
in our
public schools are documented." Dr. Herrera, co-director of the CIMA
Center at K-State, is also bringing together leading scholars in applied
brain research for another pre-conference institute on Friday. "All of our
institutes will address concerns of crucial importance to children,
families
and communities," she explained. "These issues are transcendent and exist
beyond the scope of today's popular mainstream political rhetoric."

The opening ceremony on Friday evening will feature keynote presentations
as well as official announcement and recognition of the 2006 KATESOL/BE
Honor
Roll recipients. The KATESOL/BE Honor Roll acknowledges the instruction
and advocacy provided by dedicated educators across the state on behalf
of the culturally and linguisitically diverse learners and families of
Kansas.

Saturday there will be dozens of workshops and mini-sessions throughout
the day, with the annual KATESOL dinner at noon. Publishers from major
companies will also exhibit materials and resources to support the teaching
and learning of English, other languages, and multicultural education.

Registration for the KATESOL/BE conference is available through the
K-State Division of Continuing Education, either online
(https://www.dce.ksu.edu/cgi-bin/conf/katesol.cgi)
or by toll-free phone (800-432-8222). Full information and continual
updates
on the conference can be accessed at http://www.katesol.org/spring2006 .