Dear Colleagues:

Happy New Year! I wish all of you a very prosperous 2010!

I am very excited to be the President of the WAESOL Board for 2010. It has been my pleasure to serve on the board for the last six years, thanks to your confidence and support. These years have indeed been very productive for our organization. Some of the highlights of these years have been the extremely successful annual WAESOL conferences, numerous professional development opportunities, travel, and SPICY grants, and the popular Seattle 2007 TESOL Conference. There is no question that your support of WAESOL has been instrumental in making our organization what it is today. I am truly honored to serve on the board of such a successful organization.

In addition to the support of the general membership, the support of the WAESOL board is another reason for the success of our organization. I am lucky to be working with such a dedicated group of ESL/ELL professionals representing K-12, higher education, and immigrants and refugees. I would like to thank and acknowledge the services of the board members who have decided to pursue other venues in their lives; it is still sad to see them go. Their contributions will be missed greatly. I would also like to thank Elena Smith, our outgoing president, for her professionalism and dedication to ESL. I would like to welcome our newly elected board members and thank them for deciding to serve the organization. I am looking forward to working with every one of them and to their contributions.

Now looking forward to 2010! The WAESOL Board has a few major decisions to make that will impact our organization and the membership. One of these decisions is switching our annual conference back to two days instead of one, due to increasing numbers of presenters and attendees. Another issue is the location of our annual conference. Up until the WAESOL 2008 conference, Highline Community College charged our non-profit organization minimally for hosting the conference. However, due to the economic crisis, we had to pay full fees for our 2009 conference. A decision will have to be made whether we should explore other locations or stay at Highline. We will be looking for your input regarding these and other issues during 2010.

As you can see, we already have a full agenda for 2010. I am confident that, with your support, the board will make the right decisions about these and other issues, decisions that best represent your needs and desires.

Thank you again for supporting WAESOL. I am looking forward to serving and working with you. Have a great 2010!

Amal Mahmoud, Ph. D.
2010 WAESOL Board President