California Language Student of The Year Award
By CLTA & CIEE
Every student brings something special to the classroom, and every year, some students stand out. Whether it is an enthusiastic beginner flying through levels, a heritage speaker sharing family traditions with classmates, or a hard-working student consistently growing semester after semester, language learners move us!
Today, California World Language Teachers‘ Association members can nominate one student to be honored at the 2024 CLTA conference. The winning student will be awarded a $5,000 scholarship to study abroad this summer with CIEE in one of 30 amazing global destinations! Two runners-up will also be awarded $2,500 scholarships.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to recognize a deserving student and celebrate the return to international travel and global education!
Every nomination counts! All nominees will be automatically offered a $200 travel grant to apply to any CIEE Global Navigator Summer Abroad program and can be considered for a standard Global Navigator scholarship too. Everybody’s a winner!
Frequently Asked Questions
Since 2018, CLTA partners with CIEE every year to celebrate California’s most deserving world language students, who are eager to bring their language skills to the real world through study abroad. The winner will be awarded a $5,000 scholarship to study abroad next summer with CIEE and be honored at the 2024 CLTA conference. Two runners-up will also be awarded $2,500 summer abroad scholarships. Past winners have already traveled to France, Spain, Italy, Japan, China, and Morocco!
Founded in 1947, CIEE is the U.S. largest nonprofit study abroad organization. Every year, close to 40,000 students study abroad on a CIEE program, in over 30 locations worldwide. CIEE also administrates the CIEE Global Navigator Scholarship Program, the largest of its kind, awarding more than $5.4 million to over 1,200 U.S. high school students every year. Learn more
To nominate a student, participating world language teachers need to be currently teaching high school students in the state of California and be a CLTA member in good standing. If you’re not a member or need to renew your membership, click here! The yearly CLTA membership only costs $25 and gives you access to the best professional network you could find in the state. And now, it includes an automatic $200 CIEE study abroad grant for a student of your choice, providing you nominate them to be California Language Student of the Year!
You can nominate any of your world language students, past or present, as long as they are in 9th, 10th or 11th grade during the 2023-2024 school year. They also need to be excited about studying abroad and eager to see the world! Talk to the student you have in mind before nominating them to make sure they are on board and available to travel next summer. Once nominated, it’ll be the student’s responsibility to complete a CIEE Global Navigator High School Summer Abroad application.
You can only nominate one student by December 5, 2023. Several students in your school can be nominated, but each should need to be nominated by a different teacher, who is also a CLTA member. It may be a tough choice, but you have to pick the best one! And don’t forget, any other student in your school can also apply for a standard Global Navigator scholarship. The award nomination process is about recognizing and honoring an outstanding student.
For a nomination to be valid, you’ll need to fill out the nomination form below by December 5, and your nominee will need to complete a CIEE Global Navigator scholarship application by January 24, 2024.
The most important thing for you to do now is to think about the student you’d like to nominate and have a conversation with him/her/them to make sure he/she/they are excited to be nominated and ready to travel abroad next summer if he/she/they win! Ready to nominate? Great! Simply fill out the form below and CIEE be in touch with you to help explain their programs and give you access to your personal CIEE teacher portal, where you’ll be able to provide a recommendation for your student and track his/her/their application progress.
Nominees can apply to any 2024 CIEE Global Navigator High School Summer Abroad Language & Culture program. The language of the program does not need to be the same one you taught them. We want to foster a love of language learning!
Nominations Start Here