Dr. June Carter

I am indeed honored and humbled to receive the 2020 Founders Award, and am happy to join previous recipients of this distinguished award.  It is hard to believe that twenty-four years have passed since I accepted a teaching position at the University of South Carolina Upstate. Having moved to South Carolina from Texas, a state quite active in foreign language education, I was eager to get involved in foreign language advocacy and curricula initiatives.  It was through my SCFLTA colleagues that I learned about SCOLT and was encouraged to become a member. I can recall the first SCOLT conference I attended, where I met a friendly and hardworking group of educators. What most impressed me about SCOLT was its support of language educators –new and longstanding, its advocacy efforts in world language study here and abroad, and its collaborative efforts on all levels of instruction to “advance the study of modern and classical languages and their literature and cultures.”  It has always been my goal to be an effective teacher, engaged scholar, and advocate for world language study in my university community, regionally, and nationally. Organizations such as SCOLT have helped me realize these goals throughout four decades of university teaching, and for that I am truly grateful.