Accruing half a century's worth of industry experience to her credit, Janet L. Glass served as co-coordinator of the World Language Professional Development Institute at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, in 2000. Ms. Glass retired from the World Language Institute at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, as an adjunct foreign language methodology and second-language acquisition theory professor in 2018, after serving in the role for nine years.
Ms. Glass began her teaching career as a Spanish teacher at Junior High School 189 Danial Carter Beard in Flushing, New York, in 1968, remaining in this position for five years before becoming a bilingual guidance counselor at Samuel Gompers Industrial High School in the Bronx, New York, from 1976 to 1979. Some years later, she served as the co-owner and co-director of Grapevine Language Instruction, Inc. in Cliffside Park, New Jersey from 1982 to 1986. Ms. Glass then taught Spanish Pre-K through 12th grade at the Dwight Englewood School in New Jersey from 1986 to 2013, also serving as adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University from 2000 to 2003 and New Jersey City University from 2006 to 2009.
Prior to embarking on her professional path, Ms. Glass pursued a formal education at the State University of New York at Binghamton, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish language and literatur in 1967. She went on to attend Queens College, City University of New York in Flushing, New York, where sho obtained a Master of Education in Spanish education in 1973. She also had the opportunity to complete semesters abroad at the Universidad Interamericana del Norte in Saltillo, Mexico, and Ciudad Unversitaria in Madrid. Ms. Glass was a certified Spanish teacher in the states of New York and New Jersey.
A lecturer in her field, Ms. Glass presented at a number of institutes over various summers throughout her impressive career. She presented at the New Jersey World Language Professional Development Institute in 1999, and with the Leadership Institute of the National Foreign Language Research Center of Iowa, held at Princeton University, in 2001. The co-coordinator of the New Jersey World Languages Professional Development Institutes at Farleigh Dickinson University in 2000, she served as a professor of methods and immersion at the Spanish Institute of Puebla in Mexico in 2002, sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Ms. Glass then presented at the National FLES Institute of Texas in Dallas between 2003 and 2007, the National Network for Early Language Learning Institute at Iowa State University between 2005 and 2006, and the Asociación de Educadores Latinoamericanos in San Josédel Progreso in Tutupec, Mexico, between 2009 and 2010. SHe was also the lead teacher of Hindi at the New Jersey STARTALK Institute in Edison, New Jersey, in 2008, and traveled professionally to numerous institutes worldwide.
A prolific writer, Ms. Glass contributed to "Model Lessons" among many other publications. She was interviewed for "Louder Than Words: How k-12 World Language Teachers Are Meeting New Challenges" by the Curriculum Update of ASCD in 2004, and served as co-chair of elementary Language for the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, beginning in 2000.
After her retirement from Dwight Englewood, Ms. Glass enjoyed translating Spanish literature into English. She especially enjoyed translations for her friend and noted Argentine poet, Jorge Luján. She penned English translations of a volume of Mr. Luján's poetry for children entitled "Con el sol en los ojos" / "With the Sun in My Eyes," and his novel "Salando el río con una cucharita" / "Sweetening the River with a Teaspoon."
In addition to her primary trade, Ms. Glass remains affiliated with various organizations in relation to her areas of expertise. She was a member of the executive board for the National Network for Early Language Learning from 2000 to 2006 and a board member and Northeast representative beginning in 1997, as well as a contribution editor for the Learning Languages Journal from 2002 to 2004. In 2006, she served as a reviewer for Viva el Español's textbook series, and as a member of a New Jersey state committee to create model online units and the AATSP screening committee to review proposals for its Summer Conference in Salamanca, Spain. Furthermore, Ms. Glass served on the committee for the ACTFL Woodruff Award for Exemplary Foreign Language Program in 2007, and lobbied for senators and congressmen in person on behalf of languages on Capitol Hill in 2008. In 2010, she served as a judge for the FLENJ Spanish student podcasting competition, a member on the executive board of the Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey, and vice president of Educadores Latinoamericanos.
In light of her exceptional undertakings, Ms. Glass has accrued many accolades and honors throughout her career. She received a fellowship in 1994 to study children's game songs in Mexico, in addition to several other research grants, from the National Endowment of the Humanities. In 2001, she was honored with an award for Outstanding Contribution to Foreign Language Education by the National Network for Early Language Learning. In 2008, the American Council for the Teacher of Foreign Language named her its National Foreign Language Teacher of the Year and inducted her into its Hall of Fame.
Ms. Glass was also a very active member of the Bergen County, New Jersey chapter of the Ethical Culture Society where she served as president from 2014 to 2017 and spent many years as a board member. She was a group facilitator for Ethical Culture and B-RAY (Bergen Rainbow Youth, serving gay and lesbian youth of New Jersey) for ten years, beginning in 1998. She also led a series of ongoing conversations about being white, white privilege and unconscious bias for the society, and served as the Ethical Culture chapter's liaison to Greenfaith: a global, interfaith movement for climate justice. Her steadfast commitment to protecting our environment led her to many demonstrations all over the tri-state area and eventually to organize a large climate rally in Hackensack, NJ in 2017.
The same boundless energy that allowed Ms. Glass to flourish professionally also made her a devoted and enthusiastic mother, grandmother, friend, and environmental activist. Janet Glass was an indomitable force for good and will be sorely missed.
To honor the work and career of the incomparable Janet Glass, ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year in 2008, this fund has been established to help elementary language teachers from Janet's home state of New Jersey attend the 2022 ACTFL Convention & World Languages Expo. Beyond 2022, the stipend fund will be available to any K-5 Early Language educator across the nation. Donate today to provide stipends for K-5 teachers to attend the ACTFL conference in Boston in 2022 and beyond!