Janis Jensen2004 State Supervisor of the Year
Janis Jensen, the World Languages Coordinator at the New Jersey Department of Education, received the 2004 State Supervisor of the Year Award presented by Pearson/Prentice Hall and the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL) on November 17, 2004, at the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held in Chicago.
This award is given based on three categories: leadership, innovative contributions, and service. Jensen built partnerships and put world languages into the minds and onto the agendas of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and the National Association of State Boards of Education. She serves as the president of the National Network for Early Language Learning, on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Joint National Committee for Languages, and is Immediate Past President of the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages. Janis currently represents NCSSFL as a member of the National Coalition on Asia and International Studies in the Schools.
Innovative contributions include her creation of regional roundtables of district supervisors, establishment of model programs to serve as resource centers, and development of a statewide advocacy initiative to gain the support of parents and non-language educators for the New Jersey world languages standards.
A colleague said, “She is the catalyst to many positive changes. She has always spoken her mind and pushed for initiatives that are important to the profession.” A New Jersey teacher added, “Without her energetic leadership, we might have squandered our opportunity to bring world languages to the forefront of education.”
Jensen has served as the statewide leader for the teaching of world languages at the New Jersey Department of Education since 1997. Prior to her employment at the Department of Education, Jensen was a primary and secondary level teacher of French and Spanish.