2007 SCOLT World Language Teacher of the Year

Atlanta, GA–Juan Carlos Morales, German teacher at Miami Palmetto High School in Miami, Florida, was named SCOLT (Southern Conference on Language Teaching) Language Teacher of the Year for 2007-2008. Mr. Morales teaches all levels of German from one through Advanced Placement. He also serves as an adjunct professor of Japanese and ESOL at Miami Dade College. He received his master’s degree in Linguistics from Florida International University and his bachelor’s degree in German and European Studies from Amherst College.

He has served as president of the Association of Florida Teachers of Japanese and will soon become president of the Florida Association of Teachers of German. Mr. Morales has given numerous conference presentations at the state, regional and national levels. “He is the teacher every student wants, the colleague everyone respects and the leader every school should have,” stated his colleague, María Elena Villalba. He has become known at his school for the positive rapport that he establishes in his classes. Perhaps one of his students said it best: “Mr. Morales has allowed us to enjoy German even more than we expected. He’s not just our teacher of the year, but the teacher of a lifetime.”

SCOLT congratulates Juan Carlos on being named regional Language Teacher of the Year and looks forward to his representing the southern region as he is one of five national candidates who will move on to compete for 2008 National Language Teacher of the Year. Candidates will submit a professional portfolio, a video of their teaching and will be interviewed as part of a mock press conference. The national language teacher of the year will be named at the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in San Antonio, Texas, in November 2007.