Executive Committee Elections

2021-2022

Candidates are listed by the office and then alphabetically by first name. All candidates are currently members of the American Classical League and will serve a two-year term if elected. Please view the biographies, personal statements and responses for each candidate below.

Nota Bene - members are reminded that ACL/ETC has a strict "no campaigning" policy.

Excellence Through Classics' Nominations Committee is happy to announce this year's election slate as follows:

Communications Chair Abigail Simone Kristin Webster	Program Chair Katy Reddick Connie Rodriguez
Information Chair Brad Savage (incumbent)	Public Relations Chair Kendal Ogles (incumbent)

Communication Chair Candidates | Information Chair Candidates | Program Chair Candidates | Public Relations Chair Candidates

Voting will open via google form on Friday, 6/17 5:00 pm EST and stay open until Sunday, 6/26 5:00 pm EST

Communication Chair Candidate(s)

ABIGAIL SIMONE

PERSONAL STATEMENT

Abigail Simone, a Latin teacher at Houston High School in Germantown, TN, has been teaching Latin for 19 years in public and private schools. She earned her undergraduate degree in Latin and History and a master’s degree in secondary teaching from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She also earned a doctoral degree in Leadership and Policy Studies from The University of Memphis. Dr. Simone has taught Latin I, II, III, and AP Latin in her current position for 15 years, where she also serves as the Director of the Houston Honors Academy program, an open enrollment program for advanced academics. She also functions as the school webmaster and manages the school’s social media presence. Dr. Simone received the Distinguished Latin Teaching Award from the Tennessee Classical League in 2011 and was named the 2019 Teacher of the Year by the Germantown Municipal School District. Abigail serves as the West Tennessee sponsor of the Tennessee Junior Classical League overseeing the graphic and creative arts convention competitions, the Tennessee Classical Association, where she is a past president, CAMWS and ACL.

QUESTIONS

Leadership Experience: How have you been a leader in your community, profession, and/or school? How have your unique strengths, professional, and volunteer experiences prepared you to serve on the Executive Board?

At school, Abigail lead the communications team and am responsible for developing ideas, creating deliverables and managing our website and social media presence. She possesses a wide array of technological skills, from graphic design and video editing to digital communications and email marketing. She has experience facilitating online meetings in Google Meet, Zoom, and Teams, and has served on the tech committee at the most recent ACL Institute. In Tennessee, she has served as the president of the Tennessee Classical Association, and the Graphic Arts chair for the Tennessee Junior Classical League for many years, where she organized the contests for local and state conventions. She is also a frequent presenter on technology integration and best teaching practices at state and local conferences.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: How have you worked to create an inclusive environment in your classroom/workplace/community? What is something you have done in professional or volunteer service that demonstrates your commitment to making changes?

At school, Abigail serves on the DEI team that works to ensure that works to build an inclusive school culture through events, focus groups, and professional development. Further, in her capacity as the Houston Honors Academy Director, she actively recruits underrepresented students and supports them as they matriculate through high school and as they complete independent projects that often highlight their communities. She fully supports welcoming diverse perspectives, embracing broad participation, and committing to exploring amplifying the voices both ancient and among our colleagues that may have been previously marginalized. She will ensure that ETC prioritizes resources and ensures that diverse perspectives are intentionally included across our offerings. To provide further diversity of voice in our future communication channels, she would like to highlight the work of traditionally underrepresented classics programs and educators through a regular series on our media avenues.

Helping the Profession: What initiatives or skills do you hope to bring to ETC that would serve the middle and elementary Latin class?

Abigail's skill set in social media, graphic design, and program promotion will help the ETC serve our colleagues and offer opportunities for teacher and student recognition, which are often on the back burner of a teacher’s “to do” list. Her goal is to promote both the ETC and to continue providing and promoting ready-made materials for teachers to promote and expand programming in their schools and communities.

KRISTIN WEBSTER

Akash Patel

Personal Statement

Kristin Webster has been teaching Latin for the past fifteen years to students of all ages, from elementary to undergraduate. In addition to receiving her BA from Bucknell University and her MA from Columbia University, she also studied classics at King’s College London. An active member of the American Classical League, she is also a member of the National Latin Exam Outreach Committee and a former member of the ACL Technology Committee. She is passionate about curriculum design, meaningful assessment, emotion & cognition, and differentiating instruction through the use of technology. Kristin currently teaches Latin at the Nightingale-Bamford School in New York City.

Questions

As an organized, outgoing, responsible, and hardworking individual, Kristin frequently finds herself taking on leadership roles. In the classics community, She has served as a leader in our field by working on various national committees, taking on responsibilities for local classics organizations, and regularly presenting at conferences to share ideas with her colleagues. She has worked for the National Latin Exam since 2015, first serving on the Advisory Committee and now the Outreach Committee; she also served on the ACL Technology Committee for five years. More locally, she has served as a judge of the NYCC’s Oral Recitation Contest and proctored their Sight-Translation Contests. She also worked on an Iter Musaicum for the Paideia Institute while teaching in the DMV. Finally, she has presented at the ACL Institute for many years, covering topics such as: Mind Brain Education, Evolution of the Classical Essay, Technology in the Latin Classroom, and (forthcoming) Practical Strategies for DEIB. In her schools, she has also taken on many leadership roles. At Marymount, she headed the Excellence in Teaching Committee, which was responsible for fostering teachers’ growth through feedback and professional development. At Saint Andrew’s, she wore many leadership hats, including: Teacher Consultant for the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning, Coordinator for the AIMS Accreditation Five-Year Review, Technology Integrator, Schedule Master, and Leader Advisor for Class IX. And most recently at Nightingale-Bamford, she was just appointed Class IX Homeroom Coordinator.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: How have you worked to create an inclusive environment in your classroom/workplace/community? What is something you’ve done in professional or volunteer service that demonstrates your commitment to making changes?

Creating a safe and inclusive space for all her students by ensuring they feel seen, heard, valued, and supported is one of Kristin's top priorities as an educator; it is also a topic that she feels very passionate about. In her classroom, she is vigilant about using inclusive language, reworking her curriculum to bring in marginalized voices, and confronting the problematic issues in our field through direct conversations about challenging concepts. She has published on how to create a positive classroom environment for all students in Think Differently and Deeply based on her own practices as a teacher and my research on the interconnectedness of emotion and cognition. She will also be presenting at the ACL Institute this year on a panel entitled “Practical Strategies for DEIB in the Latin Classroom.

Helping the Profession: What initiatives or skills do you hope to bring to ETC that would serve the middle and elementary Latin class?

Kristin is an extremely organized individual, who always plans ahead, thinks critically about her actions, and communicates proactively with others. She is able to listen actively and to record what she hears with clarity, accuracy, and thoughtfulness. She is not afraid to ask questions to facilitate open, clear, and two-way communication, and she strives to make sure all voices are heard and respected when working in groups. She aims to be kind, empathetic, and equitable, while also speaking out for her beliefs and pushing to change the status quo when necessary. A creative thinker and nuanced problem solver, she is incredibly diligent, hardworking, and dedicated to every task that she undertakes, and she would bring this passion, commitment, and drive to serving as Communications Chair for the ETC.

Information Chair Candidate(s)

BRAD SAVAGE

Brad Savage

Personal Statement

Brad currently teaches Latin I and II at Tempe Preparatory Academy, after spending 8 years teaching Latin to students prek-12 at a school near Chicago. Brad is also on the NLE Outreach Committee, has been helping to organize speakers for ETC Live this year, and is currently the Information Chair of ETC. He presented at ACL last year on making use of visuals to help students of all ages.

Questions

In addition to teaching duties, this year Brad was an assistant volleyball coach and brought back softball to our middle school students, serving as their head coach this year. Since he has such a variety of ages and experience levels at my last school, he created a great deal of curriculum which he has shared at conferences at on various Latin teacher Facebook pages.

Because Brad has created so many resources, he is sure to make them inclusive. He has taught using various methodologies, and he strives to create curriculum that can be used by multiple types of learners and teachers (and with various textbooks). He wrote an article for PRIMA that focused on ways to use novellae in the classroom in order to include a wide variety of student.

Helping the Profession: What initiatives or skills do you hope to bring to ETC that would serve the middle and elementary Latin class?

Since Brad used to teach 8 to 10 classes a day, he learned very quickly to streamline processes and to work efficiently. As Info chair, he has worked to streamline the budget process, and he has used the annual leadership report to suggest to our chair means by which we can streamline meetings. He is hopeful these sorts of innovations will encourage even more people to volunteer for ETC!

Program Chair Candidate(s)

KATY REDDICK

Personal Statement

Katy Ganino Reddick has spent her career teaching Latin to middle school students. She holds a B.A. in Art History and Classics from Williams College, a M.A.T. in Latin and Classical Humanities from Boston University, and a M.S. in TESOL from Southern Connecticut State University. Katy is an active participant in various Facebook groups for Latin teachers and uses various social media platforms to support her understanding of contemporary issues in the ancient world. A lifelong learner, she nourishes her passion for language, culture, and pedagogy through museum visits, professional reading, and professional organizations. She has presented at the annual meetings of the American Classical League, the Classical Association of New England, the Classical Association of Connecticut, the Connecticut Organization of Language Teachers, the Massachusetts Association of Foreign Language Teachers, and Connecticut Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.

QUESTIONS

In her school community, Katy has served on interview committees, advised students groups, led book groups, and created budgets. Katy was part of a team that initiated both a World Language Celebration Week at the middle school and an extracurricular World Languages Cooking Club. She has presented at the annual meetings of the American Classical League, the Classical Association of New England, the Classical Association of Connecticut, the Connecticut Organization of Language Teachers, the Massachusetts Association of Foreign Language Teachers, and Connecticut Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Katy has also served in various leadership positions for the Classical Association of New England, the Classical Association of Massachusetts, and the Classical Association of Connecticut. She has also contributed to various newsletters including ETC’s Prima, the New England Classical Journal, and Cambridge Latin Course’s Diversity and Inclusion in the Latin Classroom initiative.

Committed to social emotional wellness, Katy has advocated for and trained in restorative practices and participated in a leadership district program based in the Internal Family System model. As a result of her training, she has incorporated a number of practices into her classroom, including daily student wellness checks and the regular use of circles. She shared her learning on social emotional wellness at the 2019 ACL Annual Meeting.

Helping the Profession: What initiatives or skills do you hope to bring to ETC that would serve the middle and elementary Latin class?

Katy is a creative thinker who enjoys problem solving and thinking outside of the box. Her strong organizational skills and respect for deadlines are necessary for organizational planning. Her two decades in the field and active social media presence means that she has a strong sense of the community ETC serves.

CONNIE RODRIGUEZ

Akash Patel

PERSONAL STATEMENT

Dr. Connie Rodriguez received her B.A. in Classical Studies from University of Richmond (VA). She left teaching high school to pursue graduate work, and received her M.A. and Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University. During graduate school, she was a fellow at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and spent three seasons excavating on Cyprus. Shortly after joining the faculty at Loyola University New Orleans, she received an opportunity to teach Roman topography at the Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago for a year. She retired after 30 years on faculty at Loyola University New Orleans, where she served as department chair, having taught Latin, Greek, ancient history, archaeology (Greek, Roman and Egyptian) and a variety of other Classical Studies courses. Deciding she was not ready to retire, she returned to teaching at the secondary level and teaches Honors and Advanced Placement Latin at Benjamin Franklin High School, in New Orleans.

Questions

Connie has been a member of the Archaeological Institute of America since 1982 (Baltimore Society). She joined the New Orleans Society in 1988, first serving as secretary/treasurer, then President until 2019. She helped host 3 national meetings in New Orleans. She served on the Archaeology Magazine Committee and was a national Society Lecturer. She received the AIA Foot Soldier Award and the Joukowsky Distinguished Service Award. She served on the AIA Societies Committee, and several subcommittees. She was a Society Trustee on the AIA’s General Board of Trustees, before serving as Vice President for Societies. Additionally, she served on the board of the Louisiana Landmarks Society (as president following Hurricane Katrina). Currently, she is on the boards of the Louisiana Classical Association, New Orleans Caledonian Society and the Clan Urquhart Foundation. She also holds memberships in CAMWS, the American Classical League, Scottish Castles Association, Archaeology Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland. In November 2019, she was nominated for, and received, a Fellowship in the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Connie has been teaching at the university level for over 30 years and have only recently returned to the high school classroom. She was raised to respect everyone -- no matter their race, their gender, their religion, etc. She was raised to listen when someone speaks, not simply hear what they say, and accept that they may not always agree with me. She was raised to celebrate individuality. And she was raised to defend people who are bullied or harassed. This is what she brings to my classroom and my community as she shows students what it means to be respectful, listen and celebrate what makes each of us individual.

Helping the Profession: What initiatives or skills do you hope to bring to ETC that would serve the middle and elementary Latin class?

Connie has 30+ years of creating lecture programs, organizing agendas, presiding on committees and boards. She does not work in a vacuum, but actively seek the opinions, suggestions and thoughts on whatever committee she is involved with. In the end, the program or agenda is not hers, but "shared". As far as she can see from my time with ETC Live, the programming has been top notch. She is not sure how much of an initiative it would be, but she would like to continue recruiting excellent speakers and events to our membership and our students.

Public Relations Chair Candidate(s)

KENDAL OGLES

Akash Patel

Personal Statement

Kendall has been working with ETC in the PR position for 18 months and would like to continue as such. She is the 5th-8th grade Latin teacher at a small private school in Florida, ST John's Episcopal. Previous to that position, she worked in the state of Alabama at schools like WJ Christian and Mountain Brook High School.

Questions

Leadership Experience: How have you been a leader in your community, profession, and/or school? How have your unique strengths, professional, and volunteer experiences prepared you to serve on the Executive Board?

Kendal has held several positions on the Classical Assoc. of Florida Board, including secretary, and am currently State Chair. Also, with the NJCL, she has been working with Certamen as Open Certamen chair.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: How have you worked to create an inclusive environment in your classroom/workplace/community? What is something you’ve done in professional or volunteer service that demonstrates your commitment to making changes?

Working within the limits of my school, Kendal has created as comfortable and inclusive environment as possible in a tiny private school. From creating stories of people in lands abroad and creating a quiet space for students to engage with me and others, to ordering wiggle seats and desk fidgets, her classroom is a safe haven for diversity in many iterations.

Helping the Profession: What initiatives or skills do you hope to bring to ETC that would serve the middle and elementary Latin class?

Over the 18 months she has served in this position, Kendal has created a schedule for posts and organized my part of the shared drive space; my organizational skills are my biggest contribution.