INDIANAPOLIS — Trine University Spanish lecturer Ana Boman went to Indianapolis thinking
she was going to be presented an award.
Instead, she received two.
Already at the Sheraton Hotel Indianapolis on Nov. 2 to be honored with the 2019 Indiana
Outstanding Spanish Teacher of the Year award for the university category of the American
Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), Boman was additionally
honored with the 2019 Indiana Foreign Language Teacher of the Year award by the Indiana
Foreign Language Teachers Association (IFLTA) in its collegiate division. The two
organizations hold meetings concurrently.
Boman said she was “unexpectedly surprised and honored” to receive the second award
and credited the support of Earl D. Brooks II, Ph.D., Trine University president;
John Shannon, Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs; Sarah Franzen, Ph.D., dean
of the Jannen School of Arts and Sciences; and Jeanette Goddard, Ph.D., chair of the
Department of Humanities and Communication.
“I am very appreciative of these awards, and I am very proud to represent our university
in the field of foreign language teaching,” she said. “I could not have done this
without the leadership of Dr. Brooks, and the continuing support from Dr. Shannon,
Dr. Franzen and Dr. Goddard. I also feel fortunate to educate our wonderful students.”
The IFTLA award recognizes the top teacher from the state representing all foreign
languages. IFTLA was formed in 1969 to serve teachers throughout the state of languages
such as Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese and Latin, both at the K-12 and
collegiate levels.
Photo: IFLTA award recipients at the organization’s conference on Nov. 2. From left, Amanda
Beck, first vice president, IFLTA; Mabel Ramos, MSD Lawrence Township Schools, IFLTA
Teacher of the Year, grades K-8; Akiko Tsugawa, Chesterton High School and Middle
School, IFLTA Teacher of the Year, secondary; Ana Boman, Trine University, IFLTA Teacher
of the Year, collegiate; Israel Herrera, president, IFLTA; and Megan Worcester, secretary,
IFLTA.