Orleans/Niagara BOCES ENL (English as a New Language) teacher Katie Leven has won the 2024 NYS TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Baecher Teacher Leadership Award.
The award is given to a teacher who demonstrates leadership beyond the classroom (at the school, district or regional level) that supports the academic and social well-being of English learners in New York State ESL (English as a Second Language) and bilingual programs. The leadership is not in an administrative role, but as a coach, professional development provider, curriculum designer or community organizer.
Mrs. Leven has been a teacher for 18 years and currently teaches at West Street School in the Niagara Wheatfield Central School district to students in the second, third and fifth grades. “I currently work with students whose native languages consist of Spanish, Arabic, Turkish and Russian,” she explains. “I teach them to read, write, speak and listen in English. It's not easy, but I love what I do.”
ENL programs, like the one run through Orleans/Niagara BOCES, is a highly specialized instructional program for students using methods, techniques and materials designed to celebrate the skills that they bring to the classroom, meet the students’ academic needs at school and support their social and emotional wellbeing. They basically act as a bridge between two or more languages and cultures by providing them with specially designed opportunities to learn, grow and succeed in a new society. “When I was in graduate school in the Spanish/TESOL program at the University at Buffalo, I became involved in a cultural ethnography project where I interviewed a student from Puerto Rico,” explains Leven. “He was really unhappy coming to America and did not want to be here. It really opened my eyes to the struggles that this student faced; I really began to understand his dilemma. I really wanted to help him through his culture shock, bridge that gap and help him thrive here, as that was what his parents wanted for him.”
Katie found her passion and never looked back. Her previous supervisor, Cassandra Barnes, noticed this dedication after one year and encouraged her to start leading the ENL Share Group at the Orleans-Niagara Teacher Center. Cheryl Herman, Director of the Orleans-Niagara and Tonawanda/Grand Island Teacher Centers had this to say, “Katie envisioned creating a collaborative support group for ELL (English Language Learners) teachers, and seeing that vision become a reality has been truly inspiring! The ENL Share group has experienced remarkable growth in popularity as educators eagerly seek guidance to better support the growing number of ELL students.”
Through there, she has offered numerous classes to any teacher of an ELL, helping colleagues on an ongoing basis to stay updated on current teaching methods, to best support student learning of academic English. “My goal is to make sure all educators, because we are all educators of academic language learners, have the support and framework to sharpen their teaching skills using evidence-based, research aligned pedagogy. I want them to walk away from our collaborative learning sessions with being able to put into practice the next day what we are discussing.”
Orleans/Niagara BOCES Special Programs Coordinator Shannon Baccari says that Katie is a real asset not only to Orleans/Niagara BOCES, but the district she services. “I cannot even tell you how wonderful she is. She is always willing to support her colleagues and she is a phenomenal mentor to our new teachers. The time and energy she devotes to working with her professional development group is so beneficial in helping teachers from across the East Coast find the best way to support kids. She is incredible and richly deserving of this recognition.”
In addition to the above-mentioned activities, Katie also produces The Intentional TESOL podcast with listeners in almost forty different countries. Episodes focus on different aspects of teaching multilingual learners of English. The most popular episode focuses on reading evaluations and how they are different when English is not the child's first language. You can listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Photo Caption: Katie Leven receiving her award from NYS TESOL. Photo courtesy of Leila Kubesch.