CT COLT Professional Learning Series - Yes, You Can! Practical Ways to Link Classroom and Community

CT COLT is excited to present a series of five webinars for the 2025–2026 school year, themed “From Proficiency to Purpose: Language as a Tool for Impact.”

We’re continue the series with our fourth session, “Yes, You Can! Practical Ways to Link Classroom and Community,” featuring Carolina Gieczewski. Carolina, 2025–2026 CT COLT World Language Teacher of the Year, is a trilingual educator with 20 years of experience teaching Spanish in West Hartford, CT. Born in Argentina, she integrates culture, family, and community into her classroom and helps students grow confident, proud, and creative in their language learning. She also advocates for early language access and shares practical strategies with colleagues to make instruction purposeful and rooted in authentic community engagement.

Session Abstract:

Learn simple-to-implement ways to link language classrooms with families and communities. This session shares strategies for authentic engagement: bringing families and community into the classroom and extending learning beyond its walls, so students live language with connection, immediacy, and tangible impact.

Registration for this workshop is free for CT COLT members. Please direct any questions to the CT COLT PD Committee at professionaldevelopment@ctcolt.org.