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Last winter, CLTA and the California
foreign language community lost one of its consummate professionals,
Sidney Gorman. She was a teacher of French, German and American
Sign Language at Hopkin's Junior High School in the Fremont Unified
School District, but her fame far exceeded the bounds of her
district.
Sidney was dedicated to the teaching profession, especially to
the development of new teachers and the professional growth of
her colleagues. She was a frequent presenter at ACTFL, FLANC
and CLTA Conferences, as well as a member of CFLP's East Bay
Foreign Language Project, presenting at summer seminars and in
their training programs. It seems only yesterday that I became
a presenter under the formidable tutelage of Gorman, Sparks,
Wingard, Silva and Scherf-so Sidney holds a special place in
my heart.
To those of you who knew Sidney, it was no surprise when she
co-authored the Spanish textbook ¡Dime! Sidney's
passion for languages enabled her to contribute to language development,
regardless of the language. As we all know, the success of this
series was phenomenal, especially with Sidney providing the teacher
training for the ¡Dime! Program.
Sidney loved working with new teachers. Thus, it is most fitting
that her legacy includes a gift for them. Her family, in conjunction
with CLTA, is establishing a new scholarship in her honor. It
will be a way of encouraging new teachers to participate in professional
growth opportunities by providing the funding to make this possible.
This endowment fund will be available to assist new teachers
to participate in CLTA and CFLP activities such as the conference,
the summer seminar and the CFLP sites' seminar series.
Sydney's family will establish
the funding of this endowment. At this time, CLTA will be encouraging
contributions from Sidney's colleagues and all of our members.
Contributions can be sent to
Sue McKee, CLTA Treasurer
2430 Avenita Alpera
Tustin, Ca 92782
CLTA members will be able to
request funding from the CLTA Awards Committee. Applications
will be available in the CLTA News. The first awards
from this endowment will be made at the 2004 CLTA Conference.
Many thanks to Sidney's family.
What a wonderful way to honor her memory and to continue her
work!
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