K-16 Partnerships: Reimagining Language Programs Beyond the Classroom (Sep. 23)

Presenters: Aurore Mroz, Univ of Illinois. Beckie Bray Rankin, ACTFL Board Member. If you've ever wondered how to get a language program out of the classroom and into people's lives, this is your blueprint. Three years ago, a small French club brought together for the first time 17 little Francophone and Francophile kids and two teachers in a library meeting room. Today, French Around the Corner is a full K-16 network with book funds, film festivals, undergraduate courses, and campus-wide events drawing 180+ elementary kids who are discovering that French belongs to them, not just to a syllabus. ACTFL Board Member Beckie Bray Rankin sits down with Dr. Aurore Mroz (Associate Professor of French, University of Illinois, and 2026 recipient of the Diversity and Engagement Award) for a live conversation unpacking how the project took root and spread: turning French from a grade on a report card into a reason to talk to your neighbor, the pivot from “conjugate the verb” to “connect with the person,” the funding strategy that kept it growing, and the stumbles along the way.

Descriptions on this page are excerpted from ACTFL's own published materials.