• Lincoln's Holiday - FEBRUARY 13, 2012
• School Site Council Meeting - FEBRUARY 15, 2012, 5:00 PM, ROOM 304A
• ELAC Parent Meeting - FEBRUARY 15, 2012, 6:30 PM, LIBRARY
• Presidents' Holiday - FEBRUARY 20, 2012
• Winter Sports Awards Ceremony - FEBRUARY 26, 2012, 2:00 PM, MAIN GYM
• 3rd quarter ends - MARCH 16, 2012
• Spring Break - APRIL 2, 2012 TO APRIL 9, 2012
• Memorial Day Holiday - MAY 28, 2012
• Last Day of School Minimum Day - MAY 30, 2012
• GRADUATION - MAY 30, 2012, 2:00 PM, SALINAS SPORTS COMPLEX

Recent News

HONORS BAND AND HONORS CHOIR MEMBERS

Congratulations to Daniel Chan for representing North Salinas High School as a member of the 2012 High School Honor Band and Natasha Limosnero for representing NSHS as a member of the 2012 High School Honor Choir.  The Honor Band and Choir consist of top young musicians from four counties who made the extraordinary effort to audition for these high caliber ensembles.

 

Both students represent the Vikings and are members of the California Association for Music Education (CMEA) Central Coast Section www.ccsmusic.org.

 

 

NATIONAL LANGUAGE TEACHER OF THE YEAR WINNER IS SALINAS, CA, JAPANESE EDUCATOR!

CONGRATULATIONS MR. AZAMA… WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!

November 18, 2011, Alexandria, VA – Yo Azama, a Japanese teacher at North Salinas High School in Salinas, CA, was named the 2012 National Language Teacher of the Year by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) at the organization’s annual convention held in Denver, CO.

The Teacher of the Year is chosen from a field of five regional winners from around the United States. 

“The world needs a deeper understanding of each other. One student, one colleague, one friend at a time, we are changing the world,” Azama told the teachers gathered at the Colorado Convention Center during the opening session. He also thanked his students for inspiring him every day and said he would keep his promise “to make them sushi next week.”

The 2012 ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year is a graduate of California State University in Monterey Bay, CA, and holds a single subject credential from that university’s program. He also has a multiple subject teaching credential from the New College of California and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Showa Academia Musicae in Kanagawa, Japan. From 1996 to 1999, he taught Japanese at Clarendon Elementary School in San Francisco, and from 1999 to 2000, he taught Japanese, English Literature and a cultural exploratory class at Gaviian View Middle School in Salinas. Since 2000, he has taught Japanese at all levels at North Salinas High School. He has published widely in the field of language education and culture. He was named Teacher of the Year by the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching and has received many awards since beginning his teaching career 15 years ago.

The National Language Teacher of the Year award, which is sponsored by ACTFL and publisher Holt McDougal, was created to recognize a foreign language teacher who exhibits excellence in language education. The selection process includes the submission of a portfolio and a teaching video. Nominees are first evaluated by their state language organization, after which each state submits its top candidate to one of five regional committees for additional review. Regional winners are evaluated and interviewed by the ACTFL awards committee. As a spokesperson for language education over the coming year, the winner of the 2012 award will deliver presentations at foreign language conferences, meet with policymakers, and appear at events to promote language education through the Discover Languages . . . Discover the World!® public awareness campaign.

In his essay of application, Azama wrote “my experience as a language teacher convinces me that today’s students are ready and more than willing to learn other languages and cultures, and prepare themselves to join a world that has no borders and offers them unlimited opportunities if they have the linguistic and cultural competency . . . Language connects us and as a result it binds us the global family that we are.”

The 2011 ACTFL Convention and World Languages Expo, held Nov. 18–20 at the Colorado Convention Center, hosts more than 6,500 language teachers and administrators and offers more than 600 program sessions and workshops, as well as more than 225 exhibits. Conference highlights include a keynote address by Dr. Milton Chen, senior fellow and executive director, emeritus at the George Lucas Education Foundation, and special feature sessions highlighting the latest research findings and developments in language education. 

ABOUT ACTFL: The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) is the national association for language education professionals from all levels of instruction and representing all languages.  For more information, visit the website at www.actfl.org.