April 2026 Newsletter

MinneTESOL June 2026 Newsletter

Letter from the President

Dear MinneTESOL members,

2026 has been one of the most difficult years of our professional lives. Yet, only four months have passed. Between the trauma of Operation Metro Surge, ongoing elevated immigration enforcement, global conflict, and looming budgetary cuts, our field does not appear in line for any sort of relief.

However, I have hope. I am inspired by the numbers of our communities’ members volunteering as legal observers, mutual aid distributors, fundraisers, and advocates. I know many of you have been showing up for your communities, and it makes me so proud to be part of such a caring and dedicated organization of educators. Together, we can accomplish great things.

2026 is an important year for MinneTESOL as we celebrate our 50th anniversary as an organization. Our annual conference will rebrand to its previously used name, The MinneTESOL Conference. Though our conference will once again be named after our organization, I want to stress that our organization is more than an annual conference. That’s where you come in.

My primary goal as MinneTESOL President is to build the organization’s capacity and ensure we are meeting the needs of all of our members. To achieve this goal, I have a couple of actionable items. First, we must fill our executive board. We are currently in need of a Treasurer and six Regional Officers (Northwest, Northeast, Metro, Southwest, South Central, Southeast). We also need one or two Adult Interest Section Leaders. With our board filled, and all regions of Minnesota represented, we can start holding smaller scale events across the state to reach MinneTESOL members who may not be able to attend the annual conference. If a leadership position is not right for you, I encourage you to get involved with our Interest Sections and Standing Committees. Throughout the year, we hold various gatherings to bring together like-minded members for professional development and networking opportunities. I would love to see more of you there! If you’re interested in any of the positions mentioned above, or have any suggestions for how the organization can better serve you, please contact me at president@minnetesol.org.

Thank you all for being members of MinneTESOL and everything you do supporting the multilingual learners of Minnesota. I hope you all can join us to celebrate MinneTESOL’s 50th anniversary, so please start those discussions early with your schools, districts, or administrators.

Take care, stay safe.

Nick Reishus
President, MinneTESOL 2026

Events News

🌟 Save the Date: The MinneTESOL Conference 🌟

November 20-21, 2026 | Saint Paul RiverCentre

The MinneTESOL Conference brings together the brightest minds in ESL, Migrant Education, and Dual Language Immersion. It will be held November 20-21, 2025 at the Saint Paul Rivercentre. Look for a Call for Proposals in June. Registration will open in August.

9th Annual MinneSLIFE Conference April 25

Don’t miss the 9th Annual Minnesota SLIFE Conference, which will be held on Sat., Apr. 25, 2026, at Minnesota Transitions Charter School, 2872 26th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55406. The conference focuses on supporting K-12 through adult educators of multilingual Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE) and all immigrant & refugee students. 30+ outstanding presenters from several states and representing many immigrant communities will share their work on such topics as advocacy, best practices in instruction and assessment of SLIFE, culturally sustaining teaching, heritage language revitalization, trauma-sensitive practice and self-care, student and family mental health, school responses to Operation Metro Surge, and related topics. School districts giving presentations include Columbia Heights, Shakopee, and St. Paul Public Schools.

The day starts at 8:00 with coffee/tea and networking time, followed by Welcome and Introductions at 8:30. The keynote address by WITESOL President Natalija Krsteva begins at 9:00 am. Breakout sessions run 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. CEUs for the day, as well as specific CEUs for 2 mental health sessions, will be available at the conference.

The conference is free and registration is required. All are welcome, no membership required, and attendance is capped at 300 people. Here is the registration link. A free light lunch is available for registered participants, catered by Wally’s Deli (halal/kosher). Ample free parking is available in front of the school. There will be a drawing for door prizes: SLIFE-appropriate materials from Saddleback Educational Publishing.

The conference is sponsored by the MinneSLIFE Standing Committee and Secondary Interest Section of MinneTESOL, Minnesota Transitions Charter School, Hamline University’s ATLAS Center, and Saddleback Educational Publishing.

Check out the Latest Issue of MinneTESOL Journal!

Featured Articles

In “Caminos hacia el biliteracy: Developing critical consciousness through Youth Participatory Action Research,” Deborah Palmer, Laura Meinzen, Maya Milán, and Michelle Renée Valladares discuss the merits of engaging multilingual youth in action research about language policy. They argue that it supports biliteracy development, communication, and research skills, as well as inspiring advocacy for themselves and others.

In “Leading from within: The promise of teacher-led communities of practice,” Betsy Parrish shares how, as a teacher educator, she applied community of practice (CoP) principles across diverse educational settings, creating the conditions for teachers to exercise agency in their professional growth. Parrish includes steps that all teachers can use to create their own teacher-led CoPs.

MinneTESOL Journal call for papers

Now is your chance to publish an article in the upcoming MinneTESOL Journal, a practitioner academic online journal. See Writing for the MinneTESOL Journal for more information.

Journal submissions are accepted on a rolling basis.

Did you know?

Past MinneTESOL newsletters can be found on our website, at http://minnetesol.org/minnetesol-newsletters

We want to hear from you

We are always looking for information to share from our members. Please send newsletter submissions to admin@minnetesol.org.