FEATURED NEWS

April 13, 2020 | KTNV Las Vegas
U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) joined U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) to co-sponsor the Coronavirus Immigrant Families Protection Act.

The bill would ensure that all communities have access to urgently needed COVID-19 testing, public health information, and relief benefits regardless of immigration status or limited English proficiency.

“We’re in the middle of a public health crisis, and protecting Nevadans from the spread of COVID-19 means protecting everyone in our state,” said the Senators. “Nevada is a beautifully diverse state, with families who have members from every corner of the globe, and we need to make sure those families can get critical support. We’re proud to cosponsor this legislation that will ensure everyone in Nevada has access to the testing, treatment, and information that will keep them, their families, and our communities as safe and healthy as possible.”

April 20, 2020 | NEH
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced new grant guidelines designed to rapidly distribute CARES Act funding to cultural nonprofits affected by the coronavirus pandemic. This new funding opportunity, NEH CARES: Cultural Organizations, will provide grants of up to $300,000 to sustain humanities organizations and preserve jobs in the cultural sector .

“We know that, across the country, so many cultural organizations and the staff they employ are suffering severe hardship due to the pandemic,” said NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. “NEH is working quickly to distribute emergency funds to strengthen the nation’s museums, archives, libraries, historic sites, universities, and other educational institutions, and to support the communities and economies that rely on them.”

April 22, 2020 | The Fresno Bee
Government agencies and interpreters have rushed to make sure information about COVID-19 is available in various languages — but some hospital patients are falling through the cracks, according to at least one Fresno-area advocacy group.

Naindeep Singh, the executive director of the Jakara Movement, says he’s heard several accounts in which medical providers rely too heavily on bilingual staff rather than provide interpretation and translation services.

Just like with other health issues, language access and literacy could affect health outcomes related to COVID-19 , research shows.

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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Stevens Initiative is happy to announce a  new plan  developed to support various stakeholders impacted by the coronavirus pandemic . This response consists of a funding pool to help launch new variants of virtual exchange programs that can connect students (including reconfiguring study abroad programs), training and mentoring for educators wishing to conduct virtual exchange, and a curated resource list for educators.

Thanks to the international partnership between Mexican Ambassador to the U.S., Martha Bárcena, and the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), teachers across the U.S. now have f ree access to hundreds of multimedia Spanish resources online , including complete textbooks, lesson plans, videoclips, maps and more. These video lessons, books, movies and TV shows are age-appropriate for both the K-12 settings and can be adapted to adult learning as well.

PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
First Webinar: April 28th, 2020

Fabrice Jaumont, who serves as Education Attaché for the Embassy of France to the United States and is executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Languages, Education, and Communities, will give  a series of webinars  on  creating dual-language programs .  


You can also watch the recording of the Webinar that he gave for the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools on  The Bilingual Revolution and the Future of Education in Two Languages  here, and see the notes from the discussion with him.  


In response to the COVID-19 situation, all of the CARLA’s Summer Institutes have moved online! CARLA is also offering a special Sequester Savings of $100 for all who register by April 24 .

The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota provides high-quality professional development for language teachers that link research and theory with practical applications for the classroom. This summer, CARLA's internationally known program will offer 12 institutes on a wide range of topics including: Using the Web for Communicative Language Learning, Developing Communicative Performance Assessments, Meaningful Portfolio Implementation, Heritage Language Education, Teaching Language Through the Lens of Social Justice, Foreign Language Literacies, Secondary Dual Language and Immersion Continuation Programs, and more !

FEDERAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
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Agency: Department of Justice
Office: JMD-PROCUREMENT SERVICES STAFF
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Response Date: May 5th
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Agency: Department of Defense
Office: DOD EDUCATION ACTIVITY
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Response Date: May 13th
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THURSDAY, April 23, 2020 ISSUE
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