Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, assistant professor of Italian and president of the American Association of Teachers of Italian, was one of two Arkansas representatives at the Joint National Committee for Languages-National Council for Languages and International Studies National Language Advocacy Days hosted on Feb. 3-5.

Joined by Jennifer Kilmore, past-president of the Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association, Calabretta-Sajder spent three days focusing on campaigning for languages (K-University) on Capitol Hill. Although conducted virtually this year, Calabretta-Sajder and Kilmore spent Wednesday learning about the JNCL-NCLIS's requests, which were four, for 2021:

1. World Language Advancement and Readiness Grants Program — The request is to support at $15 million in the FY22 Department of Defense Appropriations for the World Language Advancement and Readiness Grants Program (WLARA)
2. Seal of Biliteracy Programs — The request is to support forthcoming legislation that will provide federal funding for equitable implementation of programs to allow every student in America the opportunity to achieve a Seal of Biliteracy
3. Native American Languages Resource Center Act — The request is to co-sponsor the forthcoming Native American Languages Resources Act
4. America's Languages Caucus — The request is to join the bipartisan, bicameral America's Language Caucus for the 117th Congress.

On Thursday, Calabretta-Sajder and Kilmore met with Sen. John Boozman and Rep. Rick Crawford (AR-01), as well as staffers from Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Steve Womack's (AR-03) offices to discuss support for the previously mentioned bills/programs. The day ended with an awards ceremony.

On Friday, JNCL-NCLIS hosted a series of webinars aimed at advocating for language learning. The keynote address of the conference was delivered by former Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta. For more information on the JNCL-NCLIS, visit www.languagepolicy.org.