Language immersion educators from the Lehigh Valley and beyond gathered for the inaugural conference hosted by Moravian Academy.

On Tuesday, August 17, 2021, dozens of educators and supporters of language immersion came together on the Merle-Smith Campus for a morning of networking and presentations.

Ana Sainz de la Peña, a Language Development Consultant for Global Education Consulting Group in Allentown and a Consultant for Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) in Harrisburg, gave the keynote address titled "The Exciting Journey as an Educator in Language Program Development." 

Moravian Academy faculty Marc Yerrington and Yuli Vanegas led the panel presentations: "Supporting Reading Fluency of a Bilingual Learner" and "The Power of the Pencil: How Writing Stimulates Foreign Language Acquisition," respectively. 

Students Roman Perrucci '27, Aaron Gordon '27, Oliver Ritchey '27, and Elijah Eckman '27, who were in Moravian's pioneering class of the Spanish Immersion Program (SIP), were recognized at the start of the keynote address for the role they played in the enduring success of the signature language-learning program. 

Thank you to our attendees, volunteers, SIP students, and their families for a successful inaugural event! We look forward to hosting this conference again in the future!