NEWS RELEASE

New Visions/New Realities Video Awarded

Longmeadow, MA. The Alliance for Community Media (ACM) has recently honored the partnership of the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA), Longmeadow Community Television (LCTV) and Bay Path College for their 2002 video production New Visions/New Realities: Real World Language Learning in the 21'st Century. The award was presented during the ACM's recent Northeast Region Sixth Annual Fall Video Festival in Portland, Maine. The MaFLA video was named among the top three educational videos of the year in the professional category from among dozens of entries from the six New England states and New York City. Gil Lefkovich, Executive Director of Longmeadow Community Television and Dr. John Jarvis, MaFLA Board Member and Liberal Studies Department Chair at Bay Path College, accepted the award on behalf of their organizations. The New Visions/New Realities video educates students, parents, teachers, school administrators, community leaders, and others about the essential need for better foreign language programs in schools and communities throughout New England in an increasingly global world. The video points out that if Massachusetts were an independent nation, it would rank as the 30th largest economy in the world. If the six New England states were a separate nation, they would possess the 17th largest economy on the planet, right ahead of Australia and behind Thailand. And yet over one-third of all international trade done by Massachusetts businesses is conducted in just four English-speaking nations. In our region, the doors are wide open for increasing our trade with over 200 other nations around the world where English is not the primary language. Employees who speak at least minimal levels of a foreign language are in high demand across the state. The video features Congressman Richard Neal of Massachusetts as well as York Mayo, a former Vice President of Marketing at American Saw in East Longmeadow, and his assistant, Anne Marie Noel of Agawam, who speaks four languages. It also showcased foreign language classroom shots of students and teachers from nearly two dozen schools across the state. Kindergarteners learning French at the Longmeadow Montessori school in Longmeadow demonstrate through a lively rock and roll version of Frère Jacques that it is never to early to begin foreign language study. Jarvis emphasized that credit for the success of the video goes to dozens and dozens of participants of all ages from Longmeadow and across the state. "From Kindergarten students at the Longmeadow Montessori School to fourth graders in Lexington, to middle school students in Wellesley, to high school students in the Boston area, to college students at Bay Path and Mt. Holyoke College, we had wonderful partners at every step of this project," he said. "This was a model community-based collaboration here in our area and statewide." Lefkovich was executive producer of the video. Jarvis was producer and director. P. Al Williams of LCTV did post-production editing. Dean Sias, the former voice of WGGB Channel 40 in Springfield, did the narration. Camera work was done by Danny Jarvis of West Springfield assisted by Dujlada Sukontasap and Natasha Ali of Bay Path College. The scriptwriters included Cherie Baggs, Karen Coby, Charlotte Gifford of the MaFLA organization.