The WAFLT Nominating Committee is pleased to present a ballot for WAFLT President-Elect for the biennium 2027-28 that carries the names of two dedicated language teachers with records of service to our association.
The candidate earning a plurality of votes will undertake a six-year period of service to WAFLT in the following two-year offices: President-Elect 2027-28, President 2029-30, and Past President 2031-32.
According to our constitutional requirement to rotate the presidency among the languages represented on the WAFLT Executive Board, this year’s nominees for President-Elect have been selected from colleagues teaching German.
Please read the qualifications of each candidate carefully. Vote for one candidate. You may cast your vote online.
PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
I have always been absolutely fascinated with language learning, ever since I was a kid, so it’s no surprise that I have ended up as a language educator. I have been teaching Spanish for 28 years, mostly in Madison at LaFollette High School, although my experience spans urban and rural districts and middle school through high school AP levels. Through my years as a student and professional I have dabbled in learning several other languages, including most recently, Persian and German. I have worked with many educators on developing techniques relating to Acquisition-Driven Instruction and Comprehensible Input, organization, and integration of technology (among others) through presentations and coaching at many conferences locally and nationally. I have been involved in WAFLT for many years in my “board-adjacent” status (close enough to help out wherever needed but with no actual specific duties, and most recently working with Kara Torkelson as Program Committee Co-Chair as we moved the conference to UW Oshkosh. I am honored to have represented WI as the 2025 Teacher of the Year candidate at Central States, and I am looking forward to being even more involved in WAFLT and forwarding language education in Wisconsin.
Cast your vote!
Kelly Ferguson | Tammy RiedelKelly Ferguson
La Follette High School
VISION STATEMENT
I have greatly enjoyed all of the amazing opportunities to learn and collaborate with other language teachers that I have had through involvement in WAFLT and attendance at our annual Fall Conference. While many fear the advent of AI as a death knell for language education, I am inspired by the rejection of many AI-produced images and videos by students. These students are learning to appreciate and value human-to-human connections even more, and to appreciate the wonderful, yet imperfect, work of humans rather than computers.
My vision is to capitalize on this desire for human connection by developing closer relationships with colleges and universities to support pre-service teachers and language students (who may not be considering becoming educators…yet) and to work closely with DPI to advocate for language instruction in K-12 schools across Wisconsin as a way to foster these human connections in cross-cultural and cross-linguistic ways. I would like WAFLT to help lead Wisconsin districts to grow in innovation, advocacy, and professional development for language education. WAFLT can help excite students across WI about the possibilities opened for language users, and expand opportunities for students to acquire and refine skills in a wider variety of languages and take advantage of chances to use their languages to connect authentically with other people locally and around the globe.
Tammy Riedel
Waterford School District
PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
I am a passionate World Language educator. When I was hired at my current position, the district was looking to start a Spanish program. I built the Spanish program at Fox River Middle School from the ground up—starting with an introductory course, expanding to Spanish I in partnership with the high school, and eventually developing an elementary language program. Beyond the classroom, I have led student immersion trips to Concordia Language Villages, mentored new teachers, guided curriculum design, and facilitated professional development for UW Parkside’s Strong Start program.
VISION STATEMENT
WAFLT is an organization supporting world language educators across Wisconsin. Language educators build cultural bridges, foster empathy, and prepare students for a stronger global economy. Building on WAFLT’s recent momentum, I would like to continue rotating our state conference to ensure equitable access for educators across all corners of Wisconsin. I would like to have WAFLT partner with DPI to promote language as an essential career skill, bring voice to at-risk and lesser spoken language programs. I foresee more opportunities for educators to use and understand AI integration in professional development. I look forward to dedicating my energy, experience, and vision to empowering our language community statewide.