September 2026 Newsletter

MinneTESOL Conference Updates

The MinneTESOL Conference on November 20-21 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre brings together the brightest minds in ESL, Migrant Education, and Dual Language Immersion. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, MinneTESOL is going back to our roots by rebranding the event from MELEd back to the MinneTESOL Conference. We are excited to announce both our keynote speakers and scholarship/volunteer opportunities that can help make conference attendance more accessible.

Keynote Speaker Announcement: Welcome Superintendent Zena Stenvik and Dr. Michelle Benegas to the MinneTESOL Conference!
We are excited to share the lineup of keynote speakers for our upcoming teacher education conference! Joining us to share their insights, research, and ground-level leadership are two educational visionaries dedicated to equity, advocacy, and student success.

🌟 Friday Keynote: Superintendent Zena Stenvik

We are honored to welcome Zena Stenvik, Superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools. Superintendent Stenvik champions community-centered education and equitable learning environments.

  • Purpose-Driven Leadership: Leads comprehensive programming spanning Early Childhood through Adult Enrichment.
  • Equity & Belonging: Builds strong networks between schools, families, and community partners to ensure diverse student populations and multilingual families feel safe, valued, and empowered.

🌟 Saturday Keynote: Dr. Michelle Benegas

Michelle Benegas is Associate Professor and Co-Director of the TESOL Program at Hamline University. Starting her career with adult and secondary newcomer students, she is a leading national voice in advocate-driven TESOL education.

  • National Systemic Impact: Principal Investigator for the $1.5M ELM Project (preparing 400+ MN teacher leaders) and co-creator of the School-Wide English Learning (SWEL) model.
  • Acclaimed Author: Co-author of Teacher Leadership for School-Wide English Learning and Language of Identity, Language of Access (TESOL Press)
  • Local & Global Reach: 2024 U.S. Department of State English Language Specialist and former MinneTESOL President (2015).

💡 What You Will Gain by Attending the Keynote Presentations

Actionable Strategies: Build liberatory, inclusive classrooms for multilingual learners.
Leadership Models: Implement school- and district-wide systems for collaborative teacher leadership.
Equity Practices: Center your daily work on student safety, equity, and broad community belonging.

📅 Register for the MinneTESOL Conference Here

🎟️ Attend the MinneTESOL for Free or at a
Discount!

Join PELSB’s New Multilingual & World Language Licensure Working Group

The Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) is seeking educators, administrators, teacher preparation faculty, and community members for a new volunteer working group reviewing World Language, Heritage Language, Bilingual/Bicultural, and ESL educator licensure. Meeting monthly from November 2026 through March 2027, this advisory group will evaluate existing rules and recommend licensure updates to better address the needs of multilingual and heritage language learners. If you are  interested in shaping language education policy in Minnesota, submit your application online by Friday, October 23, 2026. Questions can be directed to Steven Rollin at PELSB.rules@state.mn.us.

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.

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