The Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures (MCTLC) is pleased to announce its 2019 World Language Teacher of the Year has been awarded to Pang Yang, a Hmong language and literacy teacher from Park Center High School in Osseo, Minnesota. The award presentation was held during the MCTLC 2019 Fall Conference in Plymouth on October 26, 2019.

Pang will represent Minnesota at the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures in Minneapolis in March 2020. Dr. May Vang, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater had this to say about Yang, “Pang Yang is deserving of the teacher of the year award for her leadership in bringing together Hmong World Language teachers and communities and her advocacy for Hmong language development. Not only did she take the initiative to seek ways to develop this work, but her unyielding efforts to reach out nationally and locally to leading Hmong language teachers and community organizations demonstrate her ability to bring together people with a shared vision to develop this less commonly taught, but equally important, language.”

The award for the World Language Teacher of the Year is intended to elevate the status of the language teaching profession at the state, regional, and national levels by creating opportunities for recognizing the most accomplished members of the profession. The Teacher of the Year becomes a spokesperson for the language profession in order to increase the visibility of the importance of learning languages and cultures to the general public.

“MCTLC is very proud of the impact that the Teacher of the Year Program has had in bringing local, regional and national attention to the importance of language education for all students. It is an excellent example of collaboration in our field from the state to the regional to the national level,” said Grant Boulanger, MCTLC’s President. Boulanger continued, “We congratulate Pang Yang for tirelessly advocating for and uplifting the Hmong language and community, locally, regionally and beyond. She is a leader who understands the power of collective struggle to unite, sustain and strengthen our communities through languages and cultures. We look forward to working with Ms. Yang over the next year in her new role as World Language Teacher of the Year and are confident that she will be a strong candidate in the bid for Regional TOY.”

About the Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures: MCTLC is the state association for language professionals from all levels of instruction and representing all languages. MCTLC represents over 3,000 professional language educators in Minnesota and promotes quality professional development opportunities to enhance teaching and learning languages.