Jeannie Awono

🎓🌍 Congratulations to the 2,600+ MCPS graduates who earned the Maryland Seal of Biliteracy! Their achievement reflects dedication, multilingualism, & cultural connection across nearly 50 languages. MFLA celebrates these graduates, their families, & educators! #MultilingualMoCo

⏰ Less than one week left to apply for the MFLA Board of Directors! Share your voice, leadership, and passion for world language education across Maryland. Applications due May 31, 2026. Apply: bit.ly/JoinMFLA26 #MFLA #WorldLanguages #Leadership #MarylandEducators

📬 The latest MFLA Messenger is here! Inside this issue: ✨ Apply to join the MFLA Board 🎤 Fall 2026 Call for Proposals 💡 Proposal support webinar information 🌏 Celebrations of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month …and more! sites.google.com/mflamd.org/mfl…

Want help preparing a strong proposal for the Fall '26 Conference? Join From Ideas to Acceptance on June 4 at 4 PM with Caroline Schlegel, Past President & MFLA Best of Maryland 2025 presenter at NECTFL. FREE for MFLA members $5 for non-members Register: mfla.regfox.com/from-ideas-to-…

The Call for Proposals for the Fall 2026 MFLA Conference (10/24 in Germantown, MD) is now OPEN! Share your strategies, leadership, research, & successes! We welcome proposals from K-12, higher education, consultants, and WL organizations. Submit here: bit.ly/MFLAfall2026pr…

Interested in getting more involved with MFLA? Join the MFLA Board! Help support K–16 WL education, grow professionally, & make an impact across MD. 🗓 Apply by May 31, 2026 📍 bit.ly/JoinMFLA26 Questions? Contact the MFLA Membership Committee: mflamembership@gmail.com

⏳ Only 5 days left to register for the MFLA Spring Conference! 📅 March 28,. 2026 | 9:00am to 4:00pm 🔗 Session grid: bit.ly/MFLA2026Spring… 📝 Register: bit.ly/MFLAspring26 Don’t wait: onsite registration is at a higher cost! #MFLA

Please take the time to hear the brave words of a person who witnessed ICE agents shoot and kill Alex Pretti in broad daylight.  Everyone involved deserves justice.

Today marks the 15th anniversary of Ellen’s death. Here is a glimpse of what 15 years of trying to achieve Justice has looked like for Ellen’s family: 2011: Attempted to obtain more information from Philadelphia Police after the cause of death was abruptly switched from Homicide to Suicide weeks after Ellen’s passing. 2012: Reached to famous forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht on his opinion; Dr. Wecht published a report concluding that the death was “strongly suspicious of homicide.” 2013: After 25 years with the Pennsylvania State Police and FBI, acclaimed Private Investigator Tom Brennan starts leading Ellen’s investigative efforts on a pro bono basis. 2014: Larry Krasner, hired by Greenbergs prior to becoming the Philadelphia District Attorney, is continuously stone-walled by the Philadelphia City Solicitor after requesting documents from the city of Philadelphia. 2015: Former Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Guy D’Andrea discovers that there is a specimen of Ellen’s spinal cord saved at the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office. 2016: Josh Shapiro is elected as Pennsylvania Attorney General, hiring Jen Selber as his Executive Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania. Jen Selber had previously worked on the Greenberg’s case while with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, blocking the Greenbergs from accessing critical case files. 2017: Forensic Pathologist Dr. Wayne Ross examines the tissue in Ellen’s saved spinal cord and later drafts a report stating there was evidence of strangulation, there were bruises consistent with repeated beatings, and that the scene findings were indicative of homicide. 2018: World-renowned forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee publishes a report stating, “the number and type of wounds and bloodstain patterns observed are consistent with a homicide scene.” 2019: Stephanie Farr and the Philadelphia Inquirer publish a front-page investigation into Ellen’s death, the first many Inquirer articles updating the world about Ellen’s case. 2020: The Justice for Ellen Facebook page reaches 10,000 followers and starts to gain international attention (with YouTube videos sprouting up in different languages). 2021: As part of the Greenbergs’ lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia, there are depositions taken of Dr. Gulino (Chief Medical Examiner of Philadelphia), Dr. Osborne (Associate Medical Examiner of Philadelphia), Dr. Lyndsey Emery (Medical Examiner of Philadelphia), the Greenbergs, and Sergeant Cooney (Police Officer of Philadelphia). 2022: The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office releases a statement that they will not overturn the manner of death despite the recent deposition of a Medical Examiner stating that one of Ellen’s stab wounds occurred after she died (proving it was not a suicide). The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said that the Medical Examiner “misspoke” in her deposition. 2023: The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court determines that Ellen’s parents do not have “standing” to bring their claim against the City of Philadelphia, forcing the Greenbergs to appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. 2024: Tasked with investigating the case after Josh Shapiro admits to a material conflict of interest, Chester County uses an “expert” with an undergraduate degree in entomology (the study of insects) and a masters in criminal justice, but no medical training, to analyze Ellen’s case. 2025: Hulu releases a documentary on Ellen titled “Death in Apartment 603” – it rises to #1 on Hulu’s most watched list. 2026: New reports that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is engaging in a federal investigation of Ellen’s death. As Ellen’s mother Sandee said, “We used to lie awake wondering why this happened to us, to our only child. Now we ask how did we end up here, in this situation, years later, still asking for justice, still asking someone to care.” #JusticeForEllenGreenberg

What has unfolded in Minneapolis this past month betrays our most basic values as Americans. We are not a nation that guns down our citizens in the street. We are not a nation that allows our citizens to be brutalized for exercising their constitutional rights. We are not a nation that tramples the 4th Amendment and tolerates our neighbors being terrorized. The people of Minnesota have stood strong — helping community members in unimaginable circumstances, speaking out against injustice when they see it, and holding our government accountable to the people. Minnesotans have reminded us all what it is to be American, and they have suffered enough at the hands of this Administration. Violence and terror have no place in the United States of America, especially when it’s our own government targeting American citizens. No single person can destroy what America stands for and believes in, not even a President, if we — all of America — stand up and speak out. We know who we are. It's time to show the world. More importantly, it's time to show ourselves. Now, justice requires full, fair, and transparent investigations into the deaths of the two Americans who lost their lives in the city they called home. Jill and I are sending strength to the families and communities who love Alex Pretti and Renee Good as we all mourn their senseless deaths.

.@ananavarro reacts to the fatal ICE shooting of Alex Pretti: “For them, a camera is just as dangerous as a gun because they don’t want people to see the truth.”

My heart is with the families and communities impacted by the ICE raids and deportations happening right now. Everyone deserves to be treated with humanity and dignity, and no one should be living in fear. The way this is being carried out is devastating to witness, and it’s a clear sign that we need a more accessible path to citizenship, one rooted in compassion and not fear.

Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come.  This is one of them.

@ProsecutorsPod 🧡💚🙌🏼 Go Canes!

College football is the only sport I know of where people can't just enjoy the games. Every contest is a data point in a meta argument about which conference is marginally better or deeper, which teams were or weren't pretenders, etc., usually hanging that argument on a last second victory in an incredible game that maybe people should just try to enjoy.

Hope to see some @MCPSWorldLang teachers at this webinar!

Thank you, Mrs Pomeroy and BCC Seal team for this impressive result! You are bilingual and biliterate leaders! 🏆💐

So so proud of all the students and the work that the 💙🧡💙🧡 WL RT, IB DP and MYP coordinators, and the whole admin team @VCNajera @WMHSAPWiggins @MsRoberson_WMHS @NadyaBriggs @WMHS_SBA @AP_DrValverde @PrincipalDWA

AEHS RT Profe Peró is a consummate professional and led an outstanding effort to honor students learned, heritage, and hoke languages! Congratulations to the students, teachers, and school community!

So very proud of Sr. Ortiz Cabrera & the WHS Seal Team continuing the language legacy at Wheaton and with an outstanding result this year! Very impressive! Congratulations to students, educators, and families!

A strong showing from WCHS deserves applause! Fabulous results to the bilingual and biliterate bulldogs!