SAILN Announces Inaugural ELLA Award Recipients
The South Association for International Language Networks (SAILN) has announced the recipients of the inaugural Excellence in Less Commonly Taught Languages Award (ELLA), recognizing outstanding educators who have made significant contributions to less commonly taught language (LCTL) education.
The 2026 recipients are Alena Klimovich, who received the Community Schools award for her decades of leadership in Russian heritage language education at the Russian School of Orange County, and Junko Tokuda Simpson, who received the Secondary and Post-Secondary LCTL Educator award for her innovative teaching and leadership in Japanese language education at the University of California, San Diego.
The ELLA Award celebrates educators whose work advances language learning, cultural understanding, and multilingual communities across diverse educational settings.